The town is located 358 km from Kyiv, 89 km from the regional center and 12 km from the district center.
The name of the town reflects the features of the terrain and geological structure of the area. The local Nadzbruchany mountains with rocky cliffs were a serious obstacle for the enemies. Unlike the surrounding area, where limestone deposits belong to the Tovtrov ridge (once a barrier reef of the ancient Sarmatian Sea, which belongs to the Neogene Cenozoic period), in the Rock itself they are a heritage of the Silurian. The outcrops of the Silurian period near Skala-Podilsky Castle have been protected by the state since 1996 as a geological monument of local significance.
Archaeological monuments of the Holigrad group of the Thracian Hallstatt were discovered near Skala-Podilska.
According to research conducted in the 1920s by Polish archaeologists on the castle grounds, the Slavs have settled here since at least the 8th century. A large cult site with an altar was excavated. According to scholars, the sanctuary operated in the VIII-IX centuries. A considerable layer of ashes from the sacrificial hearths and numerous remains of votive objects indicate that it was an important sacred center.
1360-1370 - Skala-Podilsky Castle was built. After the Tatar attack it was rebuilt with the assistance of the Koriatovych princes.
On June 13, 1395 - the first written mention of Skala - King Wladyslaw II Jagiello gave Spitka from Melshtyn the estates of Podolia.
In 1395, Grand Duke Vytautas of Lithuania occupied Skala after the escape of Prince Fedor Koriatovych
1443 - After the transfer of Skala to the rule of the Polish Crown, King Wladyslaw III Varnenchyk granted the city the Magdeburg right. The settlement was devastated during the attacks of the Tatars (1497, 1516, 1539, 1615).
In 1515, King Sigismund I the Elder transferred the town to Stanislaw Lyantskoronsky, the elder of Kamenets.
In 1518 Skala received the right to weekly auctions on Tuesdays and the annual fair on the feast of the Ascension of the Lord and became the center of Skala eldership; Sigismund I the Old granted a new privilege, which restored the Magdeburg right to the Rock (the old was lost during the wars
In 1539, after its burning by the Wallachians, the city was exempted for one year from paying, in particular, rent.
In 1615, lustration recorded the devastation of the city as a result of an attack by the Tatars (many women and children were taken to Yasir).
In 1620 the attack on the Rock of Janissaries was repulsed.
During the attack of the Budzha horde on the Western Podillya in winter. During the Budzhak Horde's attack on Western Podillya in the winter of 1624, Stefan Khmeletsky was sent on reconnaissance with the men of Tomasz Zamojski and 4 Cossack banners of Crown Hetman Stanislaw Koniecpolski to the Skala-Chortkiv district.
In August 1648 (during the Khmelnytsky region) the Rock was captured by Cossack-peasant detachments.
1657 - The rock is taken by the troops of the Transylvanian prince György II Rakoczi.
1672 - The rock is taken by the Ottoman army of Sultan Mehmed IV. Then, until 1699, Skala was part of the Ottoman Empire, and when Podillya returned to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the local castle lost its defensive significance, and subsequent owners (Adam Tarlo and his descendants) used it as a residence.
1770 - The Rock suffers heavy losses from a plague epidemic that depopulates the city and declines its economy.
