The town of Chortkiv and the name of its founding family were derived from a myth that took place here. The legend tells of how God was creating the river Seret and the devil tried to thwart his efforts. In the ensuing struggle the devil fell into the river and was trapped on the bottom where he remains today. The valley is called Chortova Dolyna, which means the Devil’s Valley. The Chortkivskyi family built a wooden castle here in the 16th century.
By the 17th century the town belonged to the Hilskyi family and the stone castle replaced the wooden castle, built by the Rus voevode Stanislav Hilskyi in 1610. But a quick look around and one will see that the castle was built in the wrong location. With the hill extending above the castle, it could easily be bombarded from above.
The castle soon came into the possession of the Potocki family who reinforced its defenses, but it was easily taken by Cossack forces in 1648, by Russian forces in 1655, and then again by Turkish forces in 1672. The war between Poland and the Ottoman Empire came to an end in 1672 with the Treaty of Buchach. Under the treaty, Chortkiv remained in possession of the Turks. The castle served as the residence of the sub-pasha of Podiliya until the Potockis retook the castle in 1683 and the town was restored to their family in 1699. They rebuilt the castle and turned it into a residence.
Eventually the castle was rented out to the Austrian government who used it as a prison and storehouse. Over the years the castle has been ignored and has fallen in disrepair so that all that is left are the walls and two dilapidated towers. In the courtyard today there is a gas-heating center.