B alaklava. The name of a small town 15 km. from Sevastopol is known almost all over the world. After all, it was on this land that fascinating legends were born, bloody military battles took place and the most beautiful romantic stories happened.
A quiet bay surrounded by mountains and close proximity to the sea attracted the Taurus - the ancient inhabitants of Balaklava as early as the 8th century. BC e. It is with them and their home that Homer's myth about the Odyssey is associated, where one of the places visited by the protagonist is Balaklava Bay.
The history of Balaklava is truly amazing. Starting from the 6th century BC, it was claimed by almost all the empires that ruled at that time. The Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Turkish periods were replaced one after another in the life of this picturesque bay. It suffered destruction, and then prospered, besieged and liberated again, classified as a military base and as a result - now it is a first-class tourist destination, with its unique history and sights of previous eras.
Now Balaklava is a region of Sevastopol, which is part of the Sevastopol bays. The bay is surprisingly reminiscent of a European port city. Perhaps by crystal white yachts, and multi-level fish restaurants located along the pier, a soft atmosphere and friendly faces of tourists. For an introductory walk, you can take an excursion on a small yacht along the bay.
… Not everywhere in Balaklava there are “very crystal white yachts”, but many are very beautiful and funny. Photo: travel-hystory.com The guides know this town as themselves and with sincere pleasure will answer all the travelers' questions. After their words, such a mysterious Balaklava becomes a new bright discovery, because each building or ruins remaining from it, rising above sea level, are filled with events of centuries ago, each has its own drama or a happy story.
The Naval Museum will be interesting to visit.
Balaklava Naval Museum, Photo: static.panoramio.com The construction of the complex began in 1957 and belonged to the secret state level. The project was an underwater harbor for sheltering and repairing submarines. The building was equipped with warehouses for storing food products, fuel storage, caches for military equipment and military shells.
Submarine Museum in Balaklava Photo: krym4you.com The complex is a colossal structure and is hidden under 120-meter thick rocks and is thus designed to withstand an atomic bomb.
Almost 1000 people worked in the tunnels hidden from the outside world. For its intended purpose, the building was used for almost 30 years, and now it is a museum complex, ready to accept everyone.
Balaklava is a city of military glory and throughout its territory there are monuments and steles to soldiers and sailors - heroes who held the defense of Sevastopol, who fought in the Battle of Balaklava and bravely sacrificed their lives to save many people.
Balaklava. Stele dedicated to the courage and resilience of Soviet submariners, photo: Sergey Nikitin On the eastern side of the bay, at the top of the cape, there is a Genoese fortress called Chembalo. The first mention of the creation of these particular fortifications was discovered in 1343. Over the centuries, the fortress was captured, set on fire and destroyed countless times, but with the same zeal it was restored and its more powerful elements were built. At present, ruins remain of the Genoese fortress, but it is in them that so many epoch-making events are laid and local old-timers and guides will gladly tell you in detail about all the historical secrets.
View of the city from the tower of the Cembalo fortressBalaklava, like a magnifying glass that gathers together the flow of sunlight, unites the beauty of nature, a rich historical past and a glorious present as a popular southern resort at one point on the map. Monuments of antiquity give this settlement an amazing charm, and numerous beaches, yacht clubs, cafes, restaurants and hotels - the spirit of modernity, which attracts tourists with invisible threads, and who come here with pleasure, having no doubts that a vacation on the southern coast of Crimea will stand out bright , interesting, intense and they are unlikely to be bored.
Not far from Balaklava are the Crimean Mountains with their well-worn hiking trails. And from the ruins of the ancient Genoese tower of Chembalo, which are located on the Fortress Hill, there are wonderful views of the surroundings, including the resort town itself. From here you can see Cape Aya, protruding into the sea for 13 km and bordering the southern coast of Crimea from the west, the Shaitan-dere ravine separating the Spilia and Krepostnaya mountains, the famous Balaklava bay, at the entrance to which the coast makes several graceful turns, and, of course, a beautiful water smooth surface. There is so much sea here that you want to embrace it as something dear and dear. Or, on the contrary, to unite with him into one whole, dissolving all worries, sorrows and worries in his gentle waves.
Climate and weather
If you do not know that you are in Balaklava, it may seem that you are resting somewhere in France, Italy or Spain - the local climate is so similar to the Mediterranean. In summer, the resort is mostly dry, if precipitation falls, it is very rare. However, the sultry weather is easily tolerated by vacationers, since the generosity of the sun is diluted with dry air and cool breezes blowing from the sea. The average monthly temperature indicator varies between + 20 ° ... + 22 ° Celsius. Sometimes it is very hot: 36-38 degrees above zero. The driest month in Balaklava is traditionally May.
With the onset of autumn, sharp changes in weather should not be expected, this time of the year is mild and warm, with a velvet season that lasts until mid-October. Thermometer columns during this period show 25-27 degrees with a plus sign, which is quite comparable with summer temperatures. When winter comes into its own, cold comes, but it cannot be called chilling: from –5 to +8 ° С. As for the water temperature, it reaches +20 ... + 26 ° C in summer, and does not fall below +20 in autumn.
But spring in Balaklava is noticeably cool, the heat cannot break through here almost until mid-April. But already in May the temperature can soar to summer heights of 30-32 degrees above zero, which for many serves as a kind of signal: it's time to start the swimming season! The hottest month is July, which is the height of the holiday season. The population of the city, numbering 24,300 people, grows several times in the summer - due to holidaymakers who come mainly from other regions of Russia.
Balaklava history
In ancient written sources, mentions of a settlement on the site of present-day Balaklava are found more than once. One of the very first can be called Homer's poem "The Odyssey", in which the author, describing the events of the XII century BC, points to a beautiful, but narrow harbor, surrounded on both sides by a continuous wall of rocks, and that "there we met the bloodthirsty Lestrigones tribe" ... It is clear that Homer is talking about Balaklava Bay.
Another well-known reference is found in the ancient Greek epic, which tells of two friends - Pilate and Arrest, who arrived on these shores a decade after the expedition of Odysseus. Young people, according to the plot, intended to steal the statue of Artemis, which turned out to be a difficult task, since the already mentioned Laestrigones lived here. Historians later agreed that this was a tribe of Taurus, from which Crimea received one of its earliest names - Tauris (or Tauria), which was used until the Middle Ages.
The rule of the Taurus and Scythians came to an end only in 145 AD. BC, when the rulers of Chersonesos were helped by the emperor Antoninus Pius and the remnants of the tribes were thrown back to the north and east of the peninsula, and the power of the Roman Empire increased in Balaklava itself. In 240, the Romans left Tavria, transferring the settlement and all the levers of government to the Greeks, who until that moment had no real influence and were mainly engaged in trade.
In 1204, when the Byzantine Empire disappeared from the map, the Genoese seized the trade routes to the Crimea, who began to build a fortress in Balaklava. They also introduced a permanent watch of warships in the bay, ready to instantly repel the attack of any enemy and defend the capital - Chersonesos. But the future resort still fell, only it happened only in 1475 under the pressure of the Turks. The siege on their part was long, and the Ottoman Port was entrenched in these parts for many years. The conquered settlement was called "Balikaya" by the Turks.
Two hundred years later, the city was captured by the Cossacks, who partially plundered it. Ottoman dwellings were especially damaged, which were set on fire, but the Greek ones as a whole remained intact. Apparently, the Cossacks did not plan to establish themselves here, because after a short presence, they, taking everything of value, returned to the island of Khortitsa, where their capital was located.
In 1773, when the first Russian-Turkish war was going on, our ships "Taganrog" and "Korona" attacked the Sultan's ships just near Balaklava, defeating them completely and forcing them to retreat. This victory was Russia's first military success in the Black Sea. It was achieved in conditions when our country was inferior to the Ottoman Empire in power. After the triumphant battle, Balaklava was destined to become the first Russian port on the Crimean Peninsula. Catherine II, who visited him five years later, wrote that the settlement is "the key to the Crimea" and ordered the military to build fortifications here.
The black streak in the history of Balaklava came in 1854, when it was besieged by an English squadron. Russian sailors put up fierce resistance. Part broke through the encirclement of the enemy and reached Yalta, where our army was based, and part surrendered to the mercy of the winner. However, this did not end well: some sailors were killed, others were used by the British for hard work to restore the city. The spirit of the invaders was broken only a year later, when during the battle they suffered heavy losses. True, they kept Balaklava, calling the place of the clash with the Russians "Death Valley".
The British planned to settle here for a long time. They built the first wooden embankment in the city, favored crafts and trade. They also built the first 13-kilometer railway on the entire peninsula, connecting Balaklava with Sapun Mountain. But the local population actively resisted the invaders. They were afraid of him and the British sailors practically did not go alone - only in groups. Murders were frequent, and public executions by hanging were just as common. In 1856, unable to withstand the "good" life, foreigners began to hastily leave Balaklava, having thoroughly plundered it. The railway was dismantled and sold to the Turks.
The restoration of the city after foreign domination lasted for years, ending only in 1871. The Russian aristocracy began to flock here, making it one of their favorite vacation spots. The first hotel, the Grand Hotel, was built in Balaklava sixteen years later. A year later, Prince Felix Yusupov Sr. (aka Count Sumarokov-Elston) built a hunting lodge on the opposite side of the bay. Balaklava as a resort continued to gain popularity, but the First World War prevented its further development. First it was occupied by the Germans, then by the French.
Russian sovereignty over the city was restored only in the 1920s. Its revival began in 1931, when the first diving school in the Soviet Union was built in Balaklava. With the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, the city held its own for almost a year, and when the Red Army left it, it was almost completely destroyed. In 1945, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill paid a visit here, honoring the memory of his compatriots who died in the "Valley of Death".
In the 50s, Balaklava "changed her registration" twice. First, in February 1954, in connection with the transfer of the Crimean region from the RSFSR to the Ukrainian SSR, then in 1957, when it was transferred under the jurisdiction of Sevastopol. In 1963, the construction of the Object 825 GTS tactical submarine base was completed here, which lasted a whole decade. These ships carried nuclear weapons on board. In this regard, Balaklava received the status of a restricted (closed) city.
After the collapse of the USSR in 1991, the future resort, along with the entire peninsula, remained a part of Ukraine according to the internationally recognized borders between the former Soviet republics that existed at that time. The secret submarine base was plundered, and the ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet were redeployed to other bases.
In November 2013, a political crisis began in Ukraine in connection with the Maidan, and nationalist forces came to power. The response of the population of the peninsula to these events in 2014 was the March referendum on independence, as a result of which the authorities of the newly formed Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol turned to Russia with a request for reunification, and it was satisfied. So, six decades later, Balaklava returned to its historic harbor and received a new impetus for development - already as a popular resort, where every vacationer is welcome.
Attractions Balaklava
Balaklava has long attracted researchers and travelers, poets and writers. The winding bay attracted them like a magnet, and they were all inspired by the amazing and simply fantastic beauty of the local nature, the gently rustling waves of the sea, the grandeur of ancient ruins and ancient architecture. Over the years, nothing has changed: the old town still attracts romantic natures who combine relaxation on the beaches with exploring local attractions.
One of the most recognizable symbols of Balaklava, from which acquaintance with the city usually begins, is the Cembalo fortress. Its towers rise patronizingly over the settlement and, being visible from any point of it, give the local landscape a unique flavor. The history of the object dates back to the time of the presence of the Genoese here, that is, from 1347. The colonialists built on the top of the mountain the so-called Upper Town, which bore the name of St. Nicholas, in whose castle the consul lived. The perimeter of the Lower City (aka the Fortress of St. George) is outlined by majestic 18-meter towers. From the side of one of them, the upper one, Balaklava Bay is perfectly visible, from the side of the second - the panorama of the coastal mountains up to Cape Aya.
Another religious building of the city is the St. George Monastery, located on Cape Fiolent. Its buildings and courtyard are at a height of 200 meters, and the first written mention of the monastery dates back to 1578, although the monastery is probably much older. At one time, members of the imperial family, the poet Pushkin, the writer Chekhov and other famous personalities set foot on its land. Particularly impressive is the fact that the monastery is located at the very edge of the cliff, resembling a giant bird that is about to soar over the rocks and the sea. A unique sight that you should definitely see with your own eyes during a visit to Balaklava!
Cape Fiolent itself, one of the most beautiful places in the west of Crimea, deserves a separate mention. It is considered legendary - in the sense that many legends were born here. In ancient times, the Hellenes built a temple of Artemis here, where the priestess, according to myths, was the daughter of King Agamemnon, who was the son of the Mycenaean ruler Atreus and Queen Aeropa. She only served in the temple against her will, being a captive. She was freed by Pilad and Orestes, after which two coastal rocks were named after them.
Many legends are associated with the fabulous Cape Aya. It is located in one of the most inaccessible places on the entire southern coast of the peninsula. According to legend, the steep cliffs were inhabited by monsters that frightened the ancient sailors. Maybe they are still there today - who knows. Only the prospect of a possible meeting with them does not in any way scare modern adventurers who continue to reach out to this corner of wild, truly virgin nature. Cape Aya, remote from the beaten track, is replete with rare representatives of flora and fauna, many of them are listed in the Red Book. There are also species that do not live anywhere else.
Moving east from Aya, you find yourself in a truly amazing and picturesque place - the Batilaman tract. Until the beginning of the last century, no man had set foot on its slopes. Over time, although civilization got here, it did not change anything much. The mountains surrounding Batilaman are covered with a thick forest blanket descending to the very shore. The air here is not polluted by anything and has healing properties, and dolphins love to frolic in clean sea water. On the territory of the tract there are recreation centers, boarding houses and children's health resorts. In summer, here and there, like mushrooms after rain, campgrounds, in which fans of "wild" rest, settle.
Having visited the historical center of Balaklava, which has preserved the spirit of the old city, do not pass by the Church of the Holy Twelve Apostles. It was erected back in 1794, which gives every reason to consider it the oldest functioning temple on the peninsula. The church was built by the Genoese, using the foundations of Byzantine times. If we take into account the age of the foundation, then the cult building can be attributed to the early Middle Ages, namely the VI century AD. e. The Church of the Holy Twelve Apostles is distinguished by its original architecture, in which a cross-domed building in the classical style and a portico with four columns are surprisingly harmoniously combined.
You can also admire the architectural appearance of Balaklava on the famous Nazukin embankment, which also belongs to the city's tourist attractions. Buildings built at the turn of the last century and the century before last give it a ceremonial look. Walking along its cobbled pavement, you will see numerous cafes in which the aristocratic spirit of old Balaklava is present, which before the 1917 revolution lived its own special measured life.
The names of many prominent personalities are associated with the history of this small resort town. Among them were the writer Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin, who lived in Balaklava for a year, and the poetess Larisa Petrovna Kosach-Kvitka, known under the pseudonym Lesya Ukrainka, who wrote many of her works here. Monuments have been erected to both writers in Balaklava. The architect Mikhail Aleksandrovich Wrangel also lived here, who later became the chief architect of Sevastopol and restored the city of Russian glory literally from ruins.
Recreation and entertainment
Rest in Balaklava cannot be imagined without local beaches. This is despite the fact that the coast is steep and rocky, more suitable for defense purposes than swimming and sunbathing. However, between the seemingly impregnable cliffs, there were still flat coastal areas, on which magnificent beaches are equipped.
We will start our acquaintance with them from the City and Mramorny beaches, which, due to their location in the Balaklava Bay, were called "internal". The first one is located not far from the ruins of the Genoese fortress Cembalo, the second is on the opposite bank, opposite Cape Aya. These beaches are small, their length is 50 and 100 meters, respectively. The urban pavement is concrete, the marble one is pebble. Lazy tourists prefer to rest here, that is, those who do not want to be too far from the city. And they pay for this with some discomfort, since boats and ships constantly enter the bay.
One of the most remote is Jasper, or Monastery beach. It is not only the most popular among vacationers, but also the most comfortable in Balaklava. This resting place is located next to the legendary Cape Fiolent, and a stone staircase with 800 steps has been laid to it from the plateau, which, without exaggeration, can be called a separate attraction. The named stone and pebble beach stretches for as much as half a kilometer and has all the necessary infrastructure for a comfortable stay.
The beach closest to Balaklava is located on Vasilyevskaya Balka and is called Vasili. It stretches west of the bay and south of the limestone quarry; it is inferior in length to Yashmovoy - only 200 meters. Moreover, the infrastructure is just as developed. Vasili beach has a pebble cover (stones differ in size), in some places interrupted by sandy "bald patches".
But the largest in Balaklava is the Golden Beach, which stretches for 800 meters. Despite the sonorous name, it is covered not with sand of the corresponding color, but with pebbles. Plus, there are many boulders here. West of it is the Near Beach, the name of which also does not reflect reality (the closest to the city, as we said, is Vasili). It is quite long and wide, it also has all the conditions for a good rest.
In addition to relaxing on the beaches in Balaklava, you can find many more interesting entertainments to your liking, such as diving. Everything is provided for doing it by nature: there is clear water, beautiful rocks, and a rich underwater world. And the choice of a place for diving - Cape Aya, Golden Beach, Cape Fiolent, Batilaman Beach and a number of others - is yours. Even those who have never done it can try themselves in diving. Practically in every club, beginners are offered trial dives accompanied by an instructor. No special training is required, you will only be instructed.
The depths of the sea in the vicinity of the resort hide a lot of interesting things, ranging from rock fragments to numerous caves, grottoes and crevices. Particular affection is caused by underwater inhabitants, among which there are algae and anemones, not to mention schools of colorful fish, swiftly, like a meteor, sweeping nearby. Fans of wreck diving will not be left "at a loss" - this is the name of the type of diving, in which the descent to sunken ships or other objects is performed. Before them, in silent grandeur, will appear ships from the times of the Crimean and Great Patriotic Wars: Russian and Soviet, German, Italian and French.
Balaklava, of course, is a seaside resort, but on land tourists will not be bored either. One of the most popular types of recreation can be called horseback riding, which are carried out with different durations and along predetermined routes. For these purposes, horses are taken from the stable of the village of Oboronnoye, which is not far from the city. An alternative to horseback riding is riding motorcycles with a breeze, bypassing the most picturesque places. After such an active and eventful rest, it is imperative to recuperate, that is, to have a tasty and satisfying meal. There will certainly not be any problems with this in Balaklava, taking into account that there are many bars and restaurants offering guests a varied menu.
Wellness in Balaklava
People come to this wonderful city on the southern coast of Crimea not only to soak up the beaches or go in for underwater sports. Balaklava is a real find for those who want to improve their health. Its dry and mild climate is considered to be healing in itself.
Hiking in hilly terrain is beneficial for the cardiovascular system, not to mention the musculoskeletal system. The air saturated with sea salt and iodine compounds is beneficial for the whole body, and primarily for the thyroid gland and respiratory organs. The sea air helps to strengthen the immune system, therefore it is recommended to come here with children, who often catch various viral infections.
Specialized treatment and health improvement is provided in local sanatoriums-preventoriums, where guests can receive a whole range of procedures - of course, according to medical indications. Each such institution is equipped with saunas, massage rooms and rooms for physiotherapy exercises. More active holiday-makers, if their health and age allow them, can use gyms, swimming pools and tennis courts.
What to bring as a keepsake?
Most of the Balaklava souvenir shops are concentrated on the Nazukin embankment, so you won't have to look for them for a long time. The most popular local souvenir are balaclavas, which owe their name, oddly enough, to British soldiers. Despite the fact that the climate on the peninsula is far from arctic, English warriors during the Crimean War were constantly freezing and it was these hats that became their salvation from the cold weather.
Tourists love to buy various kitchen utensils made of wood and ceramics from local shops, as well as magnets and jewelry, bags and T-shirts, towels and even oil paintings. The latter are generally very expensive - from several thousand rubles per canvas. Small presents are quite affordable for everyone: a fridge magnet or a keychain for keys cost from 100 rubles and more. Images of mountain and sea landscapes of Balaklava are often applied to souvenirs.
Vacationers, especially the fair sex, stock up on essential oils and teas, for the preparation of which medicinal plants growing only here were used. But the representatives of the strong half of humanity must visit the branded wine shops of the city of Inkerman, of which there are two in Balaklava. The most popular “wine” purchases are a bottle of Red Riviera or Legends of Inkerman.
As for shopping in the traditional sense - with visiting super and hypermarkets, where a wide range of expensive things and household appliances of famous brands is presented - it will not work in Balaklava, since there are no large shopping centers or brand boutiques in the town.
Hotels and accommodation in Balaklava
For a full and civilized rest at this resort, all conditions are really created - both natural and man-made. And so that nothing will spoil it, each tourist needs to decide in advance, even before leaving, with a place of residence. The choice of vacationers is both budget and luxury hotels and hotels. Moreover, both those and others, in addition to cozy rooms, can offer guests excellent service.
The most famous Balaklava hotels include Listrigon and Dionysus, among the hotels - Rybatskaya Sloboda and House by the Sea. Alternatively, you can stay in the private sector during your vacation. And although the prices for rented apartments are quite high during the season, they are still lower than in boarding houses. The final choice depends on both your preferences and the wallet.
The best mini-hotels in Balaklava are considered the three-star Dakkar (22 rooms), Homer (18 rooms) and KuprInn Guest House (6 rooms). All of them are located on the eastern side of the bay. The last two are located at a distance of 250 and 200 meters from the embankment, and the first is located at its very end. The hotel "Dream Bay" deserves a special mention. It is located in Laspinskaya Bay, between the capes Aya and Sarych, and has three swimming pools and a private beach.
How to get there
In administrative terms, Balaklava is part of the district of the same name of Sevastopol and at the same time is located at the greatest distance from its "metropolis", therefore, a round trip, without exaggeration, can be called not an intracity, but a suburban trip.
There are four direct bus routes Sevastopol-Balaklava during the day. Departure from the bus station in the city center, travel time from half an hour to 40 minutes. It should be remembered that in the summer this direction is congested, so many have to wait for the next flights.
Direct bus service connects Balaklava with the capital of Crimea - Simferopol. Buses leave daily from the Airport bus station, it is located at the following address: Airport Square, 1. There are usually few flights, their number increases only in summer due to the growing demand for tickets. Travel time is about two hours.
The history of Balaklava is rooted in deep antiquity. Myths and ancient legends, testimonies of scientists and travelers, historians and archaeologists, surround everyone who has touched its secrets.
Ancient Greek, and later Byzantine historians referred to Balaklava Bay under the name of Syumbolon Harbor (Simbalon, Symbolon). Sumbolon Limena is a haven of symbols, omens. Strabo, Pliny the Elder, Polienus, Ptolemy, Flavius \u200b\u200bArrian wrote about this ...
The name of the city Balaklava is usually derived from the Turkic Balyk (fish) and yuve (lava) - nest, cage - "Fish nest". For the first time this toponym was mentioned back in 1474 by my fellow countryman Afanasy Nikitin in "Voyages across the Three Seas", who, returning from India, visited Kafa (Feodosia) and "Balykae" (Sukhanovskiy izvod). In the 17th century, the city was also known as Balukoy, Baliklagy-yuvech ... In Genoese documents, on European maps of the XIV-XVI centuries, among the local population it was called Yamboli (healthy, health - Greek), Cembalo, Tsembalo, Tsembaldo. The modern name Balaklava was assigned to the city only in the 18th century, not long before the annexation of Crimea to Russia.
Based on the statement of the writers of the 1st century. n. e., Strabo and Pliny the Elder, academician P.-S. Pallas, followed by the archaeologist I.P. Blaramberg and other researchers associated the name of Balaklava with Palakion, believing that this is nothing more than a reinterpreted and distorted name of an ancient fortification - from Palak, the son of the Scythian king Skilur (II century BC).
According to Strabo, Palakion was founded by the Scythian kings among the fortresses to fight the generals of the Pontic king Mithridates VI Eupator. Strabo does not indicate the date of its birth, but, apparently, this happened in 112-110. BC e. Somewhere in 109 BC. e. Palakion was captured by the Pontians and, possibly, the Chersonesians. In the museum of the national reserve "Chersonesus Tauricheskiy" there is a tombstone of the Chersonesos that perished near Palakion. Actually, Palakion - Plakia, as a fortress and a city, is a reality and it is quite possible that it was located on the territory of modern Balaklava. Pliny the Elder mentions the Taurus city of Plakia (1st century BC - 1st century AD). Let us recall that the first written evidence of the Taurus belongs to Herodotus (484 - 425 BC), who argued that the Taurus sacrifice the shipwrecked and all the Hellenes captured in the high seas to the Virgin Goddess. He adds that they live by robbery and war. Let this mark of Herodotus remain on his conscience. However, Strabo, speaking of the narrow bay of Symbols, also writes that they set up their ambushes and dens near it. Drawing parallels with the subsequent history of Balaklava, I would like to ask a question: what if they guarded their territory, fortress and their city?
Information about the origin of the brands is very contradictory. A number of researchers - F. Brun, S.A. Zhebelev, V.N. Diakov ... believed that the Taurus are the descendants of the Cimmerians, who, under the onslaught of the Scythians, were forced to retreat to the mountains. There was an opinion about the Thracian trace of the Taurus, about their migration to the Crimea from the regions of the North Caucasus in the 9th century. BC e., but one way or another they gave the names to the modern Crimean peninsula - Tavrika, Tavria, Tavrida, and then the Tavricheskaya province.
According to the testimony of archaeologists, near Balaklava, west of the Bay of Symbols, there was an early Taurian settlement (about the 8th century BC). The name of the Tavros height has been preserved until recently. In 1938, archaeologist A.K. Takhtai excavated it. The finds of ceramics, flint triangular knives, and a low-sided frying pan made it possible to attribute this settlement to the early stage of development of the Taurus culture.
The oldest sites and burials found in the vicinity of Balaklava, Inkerman, on the territory of the modern Balaklava region, belong to the Middle Stone Age - the Mesolithic. To the east of Balaklava, near the village of Alsu in the Murzak-Koba grotto, in 1938 a well-known Mesolithic site was explored, which was named the grotto. They also found a pair burial of a Cro-Magnon man and woman. In the vicinity of Balaklava there are a number of ancient settlements: a catacomb cultural and historical community at the eastern outskirts of the town, in the Kefalo-Vrisi tract; late rugged culture of the end of the 2nd millennium BC. e. and kizil-koba culture of the 7th-6th centuries. BC e. at the mouth of the Vitmer gully, southeast of the modern Stroitelnaya street.
The land is ancient, the land is mysterious, the bay is comfortable. Therefore, both the Greeks and the Romans did not ignore them.
Back in 1990, the author of these lines, based on a number of finds: pithos and a fragment of an inscription in Greek, a tombstone of a Roman cavalryman, a gold coin depicting the emperor Nero (1st century AD) and the cautious assumptions of some researchers, wrote that , "It can be assumed that there was a camp of Roman legionaries." And, as it turned out, he was not far from the truth. In the summer of 1992, during excavation work, they accidentally discovered the remains of ancient structures, investigated by an archaeological expedition of the national reserve "Tavrichesk Chersonesos". From 1992 to 1999, excavations were carried out, at first by the staff of the reserve under the leadership of O. Ya. Saveli, then together with the Institute of Archeology of the University of Warsaw (head of the excavation - Tadeusz Sarnowski).
The results were simply stunning: archaeologists unearthed the Roman military base of the I Italian Legion and the sanctuary of Jupiter Dolichen.
Quite recently, relying on ancient authors and archaeological finds, it was believed that only two Roman military bases of the time of the Principate are known in the southern and southwestern Crimea: in Chersonesos Tauride (on the territory of modern Sevastopol) and on Cape Ai-Todor, where the Roman fortress was located Charax, mentioned by Ptolemy.
Actually, until 1992, no one disputed the facts fixing the presence of Roman troops in Chersonesos and on Cape Ai-Todor. But “the lost fragments with a Latin inscription found at the source of the Mikhailovskaya Balka on the North Side in Sevastopol, the remains of the sanctuary of the Thracian gods at the headwaters of the Cossack Bay on the Heraclean Peninsula, a fragment of buildings from the 2nd-3rd centuries. n. e. with eleven hallmarks of the XI Claudian Legion on the tiles from the settlement of Alma-Kermen (Zavetnoye), about 50 km northeast of Chersonesos, suggested that Roman troops in Taurica were stationed not only in Chersonesos and on Cape Ai-Todor ”(5). Excavations carried out in 1992-1999 confirmed the assumptions of historians and scientists: in Kadykovka on the northern outskirts of Balaklava and at the Cossack height of the Heraclean Peninsula, previously unknown archaeological sites associated with the presence of Roman troops there were discovered. And apparently a fairly large garrison was located in Balaklava. Archaeologists managed to unearth a building with a number of rooms, a powerful cultural layer and ancient building remains. They found wrought iron nails, fragments of amphorae of the 2nd-3rd centuries. n. e., red-lacquered vessels, lamps, kitchen utensils, tiles with stamps. A rare find awaited them. In one of the corners of the building, archaeologists found a treasure: 57 Roman silver denarii. He allowed to date the date of the death of the premises of the Romans. The treasure was hidden in 223 or a little later.
“In terms of its composition, the treasure is a kind of collection of coins, collected over 30 years, from 193/194 to about 223 years. The coins of the hoard are striking in a variety of reverse ... The vast majority of coins have perfect preservation. It can be assumed that in this case we have one of the ancient numismatic collections (6).
Excavations showed that the building, built by the soldiers of the Vexillation (the unit - the Lower Mesian army, was located on an already inhabited territory. The walls contained reused slabs and limestone blocks of the Sarmatian tier from the quarries of the Heraclean Peninsula.
In June 1996, during the construction of a house a few meters east of the Roman complex, the sanctuary of Jupiter Dolichen was discovered. The material in the temple, including numerous ceramics, made it possible to quite accurately determine the chronological framework of the temple's existence: it was restored or reconstructed in 139-161. n. BC - during the co-reign of Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius and were used somewhere until 223 AD. e. Copper and silver antique coins were found in the sanctuary - Chersonesus and Bosporan ones, terracottas - cult figurines of the goddess Cora-Persephone and satyr, lamps, fragments of container, dining and kitchen ceramics, architectural details, including Ionic capitals. In the Balaklava sanctuary, a statue of Hercules and fragments of images of an eagle, bull, Moon, Minerva, Hercules, Mithra and altars: Vulcan and Hercules were found. The most valuable material was given to archaeologists and epigraphic monuments from the temple of Jupiter Dolichen.
So, on the pedestal of the statue of Hercules there is an inscription (translated from Latin):
“Dedicated to Hercules. For the health of Emperor Antoninus Augustus and Marcus Aurelius Caesar, Anthony Valens, military tribune of the I Italian Legion (set) with the help of Novius Ulpian a centurion, of the same legion (ie, I of Italica ”(7).
The discovery, albeit accidental, of the internal development of the Roman military camp and the outside sanctuary of Jupiter Dolichenes, “showed that Rome was engaged in securing not only sea communications, but also the borders of one of its most important allies on the northern coast of the Black Sea. Thanks to the discoveries in Balaklava, a much clearer understanding of the Chersonesos defense system in the first centuries of our era and control over the approaches leading to the city from the depths of the Crimea was acquired, where, in addition to the Taurus, the Scythians lived for a long time, and where then the Sarmatians appeared quite early, and later the Goths " (eight).
The data obtained as a result of excavations in Balaklava also expanded the knowledge of specialists about the Roman system of commanding military contingents, about their life in strong points, about religion and, of course, about the meaning and role of the Roman military presence on the territory of the allied Greek city in the Crimea - Tauric Chersonesos.
The further fate of the future Balaklava is closely connected with the Genoese. On the Eastern Cape, which dominates the entrance to the bay, rises the majestic remains of their fortress, Chembalo.
In the second half of the XIV century. trade routes linking the countries of Western Europe with the East, partially moved to the shores of the Azov and Black Seas. At this time, Crimea was a connecting link in the economic and political relations of Byzantium and the Slavic states on the Balkan Peninsula with the Russian lands. Therefore, the Crimea becomes the object of the aggressive policy of the Tatar-Mongols and two competing Italian republics - Venice and Genoa. For a long time, the Italians waged an irreconcilable struggle with Byzantium for the Black Sea trade routes and markets. In March 1261, the Genoese concluded a treaty with Michael Palaeologus (emperor of the Nicene Empire - the Greek state in Asia Minor), according to which eternal peace was proclaimed between Byzantium and Genoa. In July of the same year, Palaeologus' troops captured Constantinople. The Genoese were given the right to duty-free trade and the opportunity to establish colonies on the lands of the empire. Already in 1266 they firmly settled on the site of ancient Feodosia. Under an agreement with the Golden Horde Khan, the Genoese founded their trading post Kafu. In 1318 they established themselves in the Bosporus. Probably at the same time, a Genoese colony appeared in Balaklava, but their position was legally formalized much later.
The Crimean Khan, having concluded a peace treaty with the Genoese in 1380, recognized their right to own the fortress, which from that time began to be called in the Genoese documents Cembalo (Tsembalo, Tsembaldo). This is evidenced by the Genoese chroniclers, as well as the Venetian traveler Iosaphoth Barbaro, who visited the Crimea in 1437.
Having founded a new colony, the Genoese began building a fortress. It is possible that they used fortifications that the Greeks might have erected earlier. At the top of the cliff, they build the city of St. Nicholas, or the Upper City - the administrative part of Chembalo. There was a consular castle, a town hall and a small church. The consul's castle, built at the very top of the cliff, was a square tower about 15 m high; in its basement there was a reservoir, the water into which was fed by gravity through ceramic pipes from a source located above the fortress, on the slope of the neighboring Spilil mountain. This place is still called Kefalo-Vrisi, translated from Greek - the Head of the source, or Mane-tunero - the Mother of the waters.
The lower town, or the fortress of St. George, was surrounded by a fortress wall with three towers (or half-towers) with narrow loopholes. The top of the towers ended with a parapet with battlements. On the towers, marble plaques were installed with the inscriptions and coats of arms of the consuls, under which they were built or reconstructed.
“1463 This building was built by the venerable, noble lord BARNABA GRILLO. Consul".
“1467 This building was built during the reign of M. de OLIVA, the venerable consul of SIMBALO. This tower with a wall. "
The towers are built of local rubble stone and lime mortar.
The highest administrative and military power belonged to the consul Chembalo, who until 1398 was elected for three months from the local nobility, then, like the consuls in Cafe (Feodosia) and Sogdaya (Soldaye; Sugdeya) - Sudak, began to be appointed from Genoa. The activities of the consuls and the administration of the colonies were regulated by statutes.
The administration consisted of two treasurers, or massarii, one of whom was supposed to be a Genoese, and the other a local resident, a vicar - an assistant to the consul, who was involved in judicial affairs. Under the consul, there was a council of eight elders, there were two trumpeters and one messenger (9). The bishop exercised spiritual authority in Chembalo.
Local residents were engaged in agriculture, including cattle breeding, as well as crafts, trades and trade. Fishing occupied a special place among the trades. In the Charter of 1449, among the articles common to all colonies of Genoa in the Crimea, articles are singled out concerning only Chembalo, including about fishing. The charter ordered the bailiff to take a certain amount of fish from any catch: from a barge - no more than 1/10 of the catch, from a caught flounder - no more than two fish. One of them was intended for the consul. In Chembalo there were special premises where dried and salted fish were procured for export. Apparently, the colony had a small shipyard for the repair of warships and fishing boats.
There was a brisk trade in Chembalo, including slaves. The Charter says that the objects of trade were "land, things, goods and people."
The Genoese asserted their power with the help of a small garrison, consisting of mercenaries (socialists and scholars). According to the Charter of 1449, the city had 40 shooters armed with ballistae.
In each fortress - upper and lower - there were commandants, to whom the soldiers who carried the guard duty were subordinate.
At the end of the XIII century. Cembalo becomes an important outpost of Genoa in the Crimea. In the second half of the XIV century. the principality of Theodoro (whose capital was located on Mangup) also strengthens its influence. At this time, most of the fortified settlements located around Chembalo and in the Baydar Valley entered the Mangup principality. In an effort to gain a foothold at sea, the princes Theodoro build their port at the mouth of the river. Black, in 1427 to protect it, the Kalamitu fortress in Inkerman was reconstructed.
Difficult relations with the Genoese led the Theodorites to an armed conflict. Enlisting the support of the Crimean Khan, Prince Alexei in the fall of 1433 apparently helped the townspeople of Chembalo prepare an uprising against the Genoese. The implementation of the plans of the Mangup prince was facilitated by the following circumstances: the plague that broke out in the Cafe in 1429 spread to Chembalo and claimed the lives of many of its inhabitants. In the years 1428-1430. there was a severe drought in the Crimea. All these disasters led to a sharp deterioration in the economic situation of the local population of Chembalo and to the intensification of their exploitation by the Genoese.
In 1433, a popular uprising began in Chembalo and in a number of surrounding villages. Genoese chroniclers of the 15th century told about him. John Stella, Giustiniani and Folleta. The latter writes: “This year (ie 1433) the Greeks - the inhabitants of Chembalo of the city of Tauride Chersonesos conspired against the Genoese rulers of the city, suddenly taking up arms, and, having expelled the Genoese, they handed the city over to some Greek Aleksey, ruler Fedoro. .." (ten).
The Genoese colonies in Crimea were unable to suppress the Chembalsk uprising on their own and turned to Genoa for help. At this time, she was waging an unsuccessful war with the Aragonese kingdom, so only in March 1434, a six thousandth army under the command of Carlo Lomellino in 10 galleys, 2 galiots and 9 smaller ships left Genoa (11).
On June 4, 1434, the squadron reached Cembalo and stopped at the roadstead. The next day, after a fierce battle, the Genoese cut the chain blocking the entrance to the Balaklava Bay, entered it and laid siege to the fortress.
June 6 Lomellino failed to break the resistance of the rebels. Then the Genoese, using ship's artillery, fired at the city. They managed to destroy one of the towers, the fortress wall and break into Cembalo.
Paduanian Andrei Gatari described this battle as follows: “On Tuesday morning (June 8), the battle resumed and one of the gates was occupied by the besiegers. Seeing this, the son of Prince Alexei, who was among the besieged, retreated inside the fortress with 70 soldiers. The soldiers then entered the fortress and, pursuing the enemy, occupied the hill, producing a great massacre. Only one son of Prince Alexei, his entourage and one Kandiot (a resident of the island of Kandia) was given mercy ... ”(12).
In 1453, the Turks, having captured Constantinople, closed the Black Sea straits to Genoese ships. Weakened by the wars, the Genoese republic could not provide assistance to the colonies in the Crimea, so it was forced to sell them to its main creditor - the Bank of St. George.
The Turks, having concluded an alliance with the Crimean Khan, demanded tribute from the Genoese. Chembalo also paid an annual tribute to the Crimean Khan. Using all the means of diplomacy, the Genoese obtained permission from the Sultan for the passage of their ships through the straits. The Genoese used the resulting respite to conclude an alliance with the principality of Theodoro, Moldavia, to get closer to the Crimean Khan, and also to strengthen the fortress.
In Cembalo, curtains and towers, the walls of the lower and upper city are being reconstructed. These works were completed in 1467.
But all the efforts of the Genoese were in vain. In the summer of 1475, the Turks captured the Genoese colonies in the Crimea, including Chembalo, giving it a new name - Balyk-juve (Fish nest or fish cage). Some researchers translate it as Balyk-kaya (haya) - fish rock. The captured Genoese were taken to Constantinople, but a small part that went to the mountains mixed with the local population. During the Turkish rule, Balaklava, as well as Inkerman and Chorgun (Chorgun) were part of Mangup Kadalyk (or district).
A Turkish garrison was located in the fortress, unwanted Crimean khans languished in prison. In the summer of 1625, during a major joint campaign, the Zaporozhye and Don Cossacks for a short time captured Balaklava and Kafa. In subsequent battles with the Turkish fleet, they were defeated, having lost about 800 Zaporozhian Cossacks and 500 Donets killed (13). In the second half of the 18th century. Balaklava falls into desolation.
The description of the fortress in 1578 was made by the envoy of the Polish king Martin Bronevsky, in the fall of 1665 the Turks Evliya elebi, in the middle of the 19th century. - Greek 3. Arkas, who counted eight surviving towers.
The Dominican monk Dortelli d "Ascoli, who lived for ten years in the Crimea (1624-1634), wrote:" Balaklava is famous for its port and the vastness of the surrounding forests, representing such a variety of timber that it is really amazing to see them. Every year large gallots are built there. for the supply of thick logs to Alexandria. In recent years, galleys have also been built there "(14).
Currently, on the Fortress Hill, we see the remains of defensive and retaining walls and four towers.
In 1991, the head of the Chembalo branch of the Tavrichesk Chersonesos National Reserve excavated a small church there.
At the end of Rubtsova Street, a church has survived, the construction time of which was judged by some researchers by a stone found in the temple with the inscription:
"1357 on the day of September, this construction began during the management of the humble husband Simone de Orto, consul and castellan" (15).
This block with the text in 1861 was identified by the famous researcher of the Crimean Middle Ages V.N. Yurgevich. The discoverer of this monument indicates that it was found near the church doors, in the wall and was covered with plaster. It is possible that this is a reusable block that got into the masonry during the construction of the building. Perhaps this saved the monument from the Sardinians of the expeditionary corps during the Crimean campaign of 1854-1856. Their commander-in-chief, Alphonse La Marmora, ordered before leaving the Crimea to break all consular building signs from the walls of the Cembalo fortress and send them to Genoa.
Discovered by V.N. Yurgevich, after the church was closed, the stone was kept in the Sevastopol Museum of Local Lore (Proletarskaya St., now Suvorov St.), then it was transferred to the Chersonesos reserve, where it is still located. Recently, some researchers have had doubts that a stone with a building inscription was found in the temple of the Twelve Apostles. It is suggested that it was found in the ancient, possibly Genoese, church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, closed in 1924 and dismantled for building material in the 40s of the 20th century (16).
Based on field studies, some scientists tried to date the temple to 1793-1797. The reference book of the Taurida Diocese states that the church was built in 1794. It is known that on the eve of the Crimean War it was rebuilt. This can be judged by the published photograph of Roger Fenton.
On June 8, 1875, the restored church was consecrated in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. At the beginning of the XX century. to this temple were assigned (17): the chapels of the Holy Trinity (in the center of Balaklava) and in the name of the Holy Prophet Elijah (one verst from the town), a church in honor of the Exaltation of the Life-giving Cross of the Lord, built in 1903 on the territory of the cemetery (st. Marble) at the expense of Spiridon Ginali and an old church in the name of St. Apostles Peter and Paul. It was located in an ancient, possibly Genoese cemetery. Only the crypt and part of the apse remained from it (st. Kalicha, 67).
In the church of St. Nicholas, the banners and other relics of the abolished Balaklava Greek battalion were kept. During the years of Soviet power, the temple housed the House of Pioneers, a club, OSOAVIAKHIM. In 1990, the Kiev architect Y. Lositsky developed a project for the restoration of the temple as an architectural monument of the 18th century. The building is a unique example of religious architecture, which has no analogues in the Crimea and neighboring regions. This is a four-pillar cross-domed temple built of rubble marble-like limestone. The entrance is decorated with a four-column portico of the Tuscan order with a triangular pediment made of Inkerman stone. The supporting columns of the interior are also of the Tuscan order, there are no paintings. On July 13, 1990, Archpriest Alexander (in the world A. Polovetsky) held the first service in many years on the temple holiday. The church under the name of the Twelve Apostles was revived, now it is the courtyard of the Transfiguration Monastery.
And this ancient restored temple, and the powerful defensive walls, and the towers of the medieval fortress still excite the imagination of everyone who has visited this town, taking them back to its historical past.
For many centuries Russia waged a stubborn struggle for access to the Black and Azov Seas. Its strengthening on the southern borders ran into fierce resistance from France, England and Austria, who saw the Russian state as a dangerous enemy to their interests in this region.
In 1768, Turkey, incited by European countries, entered the war with Russia. During its June 23, 1773, a sea battle took place, known in history as Balaklavsky. Two Russian ships - "Koron" and "Taganrog" - under the command of Captain 2nd Rank Jan Heinrich Kingsbergen (Dutchman in Russian service), while cruising, met a Turkish squadron of three battleships at Balaklava: two - 52-gun, one - 36 -cannon and 24-gun shebeks with a landing. Despite the fact that the Russians were armed with only 32 guns against 164 Turkish ones, they boldly attacked the enemy. After a six-hour battle, the Turks began to flee. It was impossible to chase the faster enemy ships. The commander reported after a brilliant victory: “It would have been easier to catch the moon than to catch up with the sailing ships with my two flat-bottomed machines. If I had a frigate, then Her Majesty would have two more ships ”(18). The Russians in the battle lost 1 officer and 3 sailors killed, 26 sailors were wounded. The losses of the Turks turned out to be more significant. For this feat, the captain of the 2nd rank Kingsbergen was awarded the Order of St. George, 4th degree.
Balaklava Bay became the first haven for Russian ships arriving in Crimea even before its official accession to Russia. "For command of the start-up fleet in the Black and Azov Seas," the hero of the Battle of Chesme, Vice-Admiral F.A. Klokacheva. For a long time, they were looking for a place to base the Black Sea Fleet. Ten years before the founding of Sevastopol, the ship "Modon" arrived in Balaklava, commanded by F.F. Ushakov. "Descriptive batch" from this ship, under the direction of navigator I.V. Baturina examined and drew up the first "Map of the Akhtyarskaya harbor with soundings". The handwritten map of Ivan Baturin, preserved to this day, at that time, apparently, was not appreciated by the command. A.V. was one of the first to draw attention to the convenience of the bay for basing the fleet and building a fortress. Suvorov, who appreciated her merits.
He and F.F. The Ushakov did a lot to strengthen Balaklava. Commanding the deck boat "Courier", in 1772 Fyodor Ushakov sailed from Taganrog to Balaklava Bay. Appointed the following year as commander of the 16-gun ship "Moreya", then the 1b-gun ship "Modon", he was in Balaklava harbor in case the fortress was protected from the expected Turkish landing.
As in Genoese times, the entrance to the bay is barred with an iron chain. And already as a rear admiral, having assumed command of the ship's fleet based in Sevastopol in April 1789, he paid attention to the safety of Balaklava.
In the report of G.A. Potemkin F.F. Ushakov writes: “And as at Balaklava harbor, there are no armed and other ships, the entrance to the harbor is not protected by cannons, what your lordship has heard about ... would you like to order one armed corsair ship to be put there, also on the eastern cape? Balaklava harbor to make a small battery in the same place where it was during the last war. If there are no others, you can give two or three guns to the local port ”(19).
Back in 1771, the troops of Prince V.M. Dolgorukov entered the Crimea. The next year, on November 1, in Karasubazar (Belogorsk), an agreement of friendship and alliance was signed between the Russian Empire and the Crimean Khanate. After suffering a series of defeats on land and losing the fleet in the Battle of Chesme, Turkey made concessions. The treaty between Russia and the Crimean Khan also pushed the Turks to conclude a peaceful Kuchuk-Kainardzhiyskiy treaty in 1774. The Crimean Khanate was declared independent from Turkey. In the Crimea and the Kuban, liberated from Turkish rule, Russian troops were firmly established under the command of the great Russian commander A.V. Suvorov.
The main apartment of the Russian troops was in Bakhchisarai. In Balaklava and the St. George Monastery, the Cossack Don regiment of Prime Major I.I. Kharitonov, in Balaklava and Inkerman - the Ryazhsky infantry regiment was quartered, and in the villages of Karan and Kamary - a battalion of rangers.
To prevent the landing of Turkish troops in the Crimea, A.V. Suvorov strengthened his positions along the shores of the Black Sea: he laid earth batteries, skillfully deployed troops, determined the places of posts, patrols, cordons.
Suvorov chose the place for installing the guns at a height, on the western bank, at the entrance to Balaklava Bay. A closed earthen fortification was built in the form of an irregular quadrangle with bastions at three corners, with a deep, wide moat, a steep escarpment and a counter escarp. The moat had to be carved into the rock. To the west of this fortification, on the sheer coast of the sea, a lunette was built (20).
Peace with the Turks was very shaky. Turkish ships often appeared off the coast of Crimea. On September 8, 1778, a two-masted Turkish postal ship was detained in Balaklava while inspecting the fortifications. And the next day A.V. Suvorov informs P.A. Rumyantsev: “Finally, from the Turkish fleet, the ships began to appear in different places near the local shores, which now, according to actual reports, arrived at the Kefin Bay (Feodosia - ed.) large and small up to a hundred, there are five ships to the Balaklava harbor, but to this time they have not attempted to land on the coast, and now there is no response from their superiors to me. All precautions from the Russian troops have been taken and will be done according to the orders given to me from your Excellency. Lieutenant-General Alexander Suvorov "(21).
The Turks, seeing the Russian batteries, entered with A.V. Suvorov in negotiations, trying to go ashore, ostensibly in order to replenish fresh water supplies. However, the composure and restraint of the commander, who showed himself to be a delicate diplomat, led to the fact that the Turkish squadron was forced to get away from the shores of Taurida.
In 1783, the tsarist government made a decision to annex Crimea to Russia, enshrined on April 8 by a decree of Catherine II. Taking measures to protect the newly acquired land, they did not forget about Balaklava. In the decree of the Empress G.A. Potemkin "On the construction of new fortifications along the borders of the Yekaterinoslav province" dated February 10, 1784, it was said: "Balaklava, correcting it as it is and keeping it settled here by the Greek troops ..." (22).
They were formed in 1776 from the Greeks of the islands of the Archipelago, who participated in hostilities on the side of Russia during the Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774. Eight battalions of the Greeks under the command of Stephen Mavromichali, having transferred to the ships of the Russian fleet, commanded by Count A.G. Orlov, fought in the Battle of Chios, in the Battle of Chesme. After the conclusion of the Kuchuk-Kainardzhiyskiy peace treaty, Russia accepted its Greek allies as citizenship, and Count Orlov transported them to the Crimea. The Greeks were settled in the Northern Black Sea region, creating military units from them in Odessa and Balaklava. The Balaklava Greek battalion consisted of three companies. Initially, they were commanded by Majors Dusi, Kandioti, Naponi. The first commander was Lieutenant Colonel S. Mavromikhali, who rose to the rank of general. The Greeks carried out cordon service on the Black Sea coast of Crimea, participated in the Russian-Turkish wars and in the Crimean War of 1853-1856. The battalion consisted of 1,194 men, in the 30s. - 1379 soldiers and officers. The battalion headquarters was located in Balaklava.
In addition to Balaklava, the Greeks lived in the villages of Kady-Koy, Kamara, Karan, Laka (located south of Tepe-Kermen) and Kermenchik (a small fortress) - between the Belbek and Kacha rivers, as well as in Autka, Alsu and other places.
So, in Balaklava, a kind of militarized settlement of the Greeks was formed. There was a special cantonist school for training military personnel.
In their free time, the Greeks were engaged in agriculture, trade and fishing. The battalion commander was entitled to 240 acres of land, officers - 60, privates - 20. Those who retired, as well as those who did not serve in the battalion - 10 acres each.
In 1822, the Balaklava Greek battalion received an additional 14,152 tithes of land in the Tauride province. Many Greeks rented these lands. Some of them have become very wealthy people. The commander of the Greek battalion F.D. Revelioti acquired a number of lands on the southern coast of Crimea, including Livadia and Oreanda, then sold them to Livadia - L.S. Pototsky, Oreanda - A.G. Kushelev-Bezborodko.
After the Crimean War, in 1859, the Balaklava Greek battalion was abolished.
By 1864, the total number of Greeks living in Balaklava and its environs was no more than two thousand. The core of the community consisted of members of the dissolved Balaklava Greek battalion, their families and old-timers who remained on the peninsula or returned to Crimea after the resettlement in 1778.
Back in 1777, during the uprising of the Tatar nobility against the last Crimean khan Shagin-Girey, many Greeks who helped the Russian army suffered. And in the event of a military conflict with Turkey, the fate of the Greek population was not difficult to predict. This is how the plan for the Resettlement of Christians to the Russian Empire appears. According to the authors of this project, the move will protect the Orthodox from Muslim violence and undermine the economy of the Crimean Khanate.
This mission was carried out by Lieutenant-General A.V. Suvorov, assigned to the peninsula to prepare for its annexation to Russia.
Suvorov found himself in a difficult situation. Maneuvering between P.A. Rumyantsev - the commander-in-chief of the army in the Crimea and the Kuban, under whose command he served, and G.A. Potemkin, the Governor-General of Novorossiysk, to whom he was obliged to obey, Suvorov solved very complex military, diplomatic and administrative problems.
In June 1778 A.V. Suvorov received an order from P.A. Rumyantsev on the resettlement of Christians to the Azov region. However, the latter emphasized that he was forced to give it under pressure from G.A. Potemkin.
Without much enthusiasm, but with his inherent energy, A.V. Suvorov took up the task entrusted to him. He faced a difficult task: the Greeks had to be resettled to the Azov steppes, the Armenians to the Don, the Armenian Catholics to Yekaterinoslav. In his actions, Suvorov managed to enlist the support of the local clergy: Archimandrite Peter Karkosov, Priest Jacob and, of course, Ignatius Gazadini (Gazadinov), the last Metropolitan of the Gotfei-Kefai Diocese, initiator of the resettlement of Crimean Christians.
Ignatius arrived from Constantinople on April 25, 1771 to the Balaklava St. George Monastery, and a day later went to his residence - the Assumption Monastery near Bakhchisarai.
It was he, who became the head of the diocese, on October 29, 1771, wrote a petition to the Holy Synod, and on October 8, 1772 - to the Russian empress. In them, the Metropolitan asked to "release from the hands of the Christ-hating Tatars" the Christians of Crimea, who "from first to last ask not to leave them alienated from the sovereign patronage of Russia." He twice traveled to St. Petersburg, where he met with Catherine II.
The Empress, having considered the request of Ignatius, in every possible way contributed to the resettlement of Christians to Russia. The Metropolitan wasted no time either. In his sermons, he urged Christians to voluntarily accept the citizenship of Russia, and his nephew Ivan Gazadinov, later an officer in the Russian army, secretly bypassed the cities and villages of the Crimea, telling about the promises given by Catherine II to Metropolitan Ignatius. And these promises could seduce anyone: "The inviolability of property, complete security of life and good name, freedom of movement, conscience, processions of the cross, do not take the Greeks for a century, exempt from taxes for ten years ...".
Not surprisingly, relatively quickly Ignatius obtained the consent of Christians to resettlement. He handed the document to A.V. Suvorov and on April 23, 1777, on the day of the Great Martyr George the Victorious, announced the time of his upcoming departure.
Some Tatars also left with Greeks, Armenians, Georgians and Bulgarians. A.V. Suvorov wrote to P.A. Rumyantsev: “The Tatars who secretly receive baptism leave together with Christians for Russia; in many of them a recurrent desire grows, in which I am not ordered to put obstacles in place ”(23).
After leaving their habitable places, 31,449 Christians left.
The surroundings of the St. George monastery were also deserted. Balaklava was abandoned by 82 people, Karan - 331, the village of Kamary - 475. In Balaklava and the surrounding villages, Lieutenant Colonel of the Dnieper Jaeger Regiment Yurgens David Nikolaevich, later Major General, supervised the resettlement. However, not all Christians left Crimea: after a year and a half, 27 thousand remained on the peninsula. In 1780, the empress's decree No. 1817 followed. They assigned a place for the Greeks in the Azov region. The city of Mariupol and 23 Greek settlements were founded there.
In 1787, Catherine II made a long journey from St. Petersburg to Taurida to inspect the “precious pearl of her crown”. The empress's huge retinue included the Austrian emperor Joseph II; the penultimate lover of the empress, the charming Dmitry Mamonov, who was fit for her grandchildren, the governor-general of the Novorossiysk province, Prince Grigory Potemkin.
Determined from childhood to the clergy, he studied at the Smolensk Seminary, but instead of the monastic hood he preferred the Life Guards uniform. Having taken part in the palace coup that elevated Catherine II to the throne, and becoming her favorite, he quickly reached high ranks and positions. Soon, however, Potemkin amazed everyone, went “to the Alexander Nevsky Monastery, put on the cassock of a monk, let go of his beard and announced that he was exchanging the shiny courtyard for a monastic cell. His hermitage continued for a few days. Catherine called Potemkin from the monastery cell, and since then his fate has been decided: he was the first among the courtiers ... "(24).
Appointed by the governor-general of the Novorossiysk province, G.A. Potemkin organized a grand trip for the Empress to Taurida. In January 1787, Catherine II left Petersburg. We carefully prepared for the voyage. They even published a guidebook, which indicated the remarkable places of Taurida and gave their descriptions. Balaklava and the St. George Monastery were also not forgotten.
Having set off in January 1787, the cortege, consisting of 14 carriages and 164 sledges (17), reached Sevastopol four months later.
At noon on May 22, the travelers appeared in Inkerman, where, by order of Potemkin, they built a small elegant palace. It had a beautiful view of the Akhtiarskaya harbor. For this, the "lordship" even donated one of the towers of the Kalamita fortress. She covered part of the bay and suffered for this. It was simply demolished ...
Hiding from the heat of May in the halls, the guests enjoyed delicious food and drinks, listening to the melodies of the orchestra of the Most Serene Highness. In the midst of dinner, “the curtain was pulled back, covering the view from the balcony, and thus suddenly and unexpectedly the view of the beautiful Sevastopol harbor was opened. In the roadstead there were 3 ships, 12 frigates, 20 small ships, 3 bombardment boats and 2 fire ships, 40 warships in total. Shooting from all the cannons opened. Looking at the fleet, Catherine drank to the health of her best friend, Emperor Joseph, to whom, as she claimed, she owed the acquisition of Crimea ”(25).
Catherine II was beaming. The faces of the foreign ambassadors and Count Falkenstein were by no means cheerful. The unchanging skeptical smile disappeared from his face. Count Segur, amazed by what he saw, with barely concealed annoyance said that a fleet built in only two years is some kind of miracle. They did not expect such quickness from the "lordship".
In a boat specially ordered in Constantinople, Catherine II arrived in Sevastopol.
After the festivities in the capital of the nascent Black Sea Fleet, the Empress and her retinue examined Balaklava.
Near Kady-koi, the travelers were met by a horse detachment of armed "Amazons", consisting of one hundred Balaklava Greek women. They were dressed in green velvet jackets trimmed with gold lace, crimson velvet skirts, white turbans with gold sequins and ostrich feathers. The exotic "company of Amazons" was commanded by the wife of an officer of the Balaklava Greek battalion, Elena Ivanovna Sarandova, whose magnificent forms did not at all fit with the mythical "chestless" Amazons. Shocked by the extraordinary spectacle, spectacularly prepared by order of Prince Potemkin, Catherine II conferred the rank of "captain of the Amazons" on Sarandova, and later presented her with a diamond ring. Until the end of his long life, E.I. Sarandova (after her second marriage Shidyanskaya) will remember the benefits of the Empress and her eminent companions. However, Joseph II confined himself to a royal kiss. Then, along an artificial alley of orange, lemon and laurel trees, covered with laurel leaves, they followed to Balaklava.
A cozy azure bay, the ruins of a Genoese fortress and wonderful weather made a pleasant impression on travelers. According to A.G. Brickner, the tireless Prince of Nasau-Siegen and Count Segur also visited the St. George Monastery, although A.L. Berthier-Delagarde doubted the reliability of his information. Catherine II, alas, drove past the ancient monastery. Soon, by the way, which was called "Catherine's", she returned to her capital.
Since 1784 there was a trading port in Balaklava. In 1808, a customs outpost and quarantine appeared in it, but the port did not receive further development due to the peculiar position of the harbor and the competition of the trade ports of Feodosia, Evpatoria and Kerch. At that time, a little more than a thousand inhabitants lived in Balaklava, and it looked like a large village. There was only one street in the city, rather narrow and without any remarkable buildings.
In 1851, engineer-captain Yu.K. Amelung drew up a master plan for the improvement of the Balaklava Bay, but they did not have time to implement it - the Crimean War began.
After the war, in 1859, Balaklava with the village of Kady-koy was transferred to the category of a provincial town in the Yalta district. A few years later, its revival begins: agriculture develops, new residential and public buildings appear.
If by 1870 only 180 acres of land were cultivated in Balaklava, occupied mainly by vineyards, then by 1890 there were already 1240 of them. Much credit for this belonged to Kazimir Aleksandrovich Skirmunt, who settled in Balaklava "not of his own free will." He started vineyards and, after conducting meteorological observations, established the uniqueness of the Balaklava climate. It turned out that compared to the southern coast of Crimea, the climate here is more severe, but there are also advantages: an abundance of sunny days, a more moderate temperature in summer and rare fogs. The average temperature in July in Balaklava is 3 degrees lower, and precipitation falls 1.5 times less.
Having opened a boarding house in his house, Skirmunt began to promote it in print. Others followed the example of the enterprising Pole. Balaklava begins to develop as a resort town. The city published the "Balaklava resort leaf", published by the Balaklava department of the All-Russian League for the fight against tuberculosis (editor - Dr. AS Kushul).
By this time, the city administration of Balaklava was abolished, making it the 6th police station of the Sevastopol city administration. The mayor began to be called the headman. But this decrease in rank did not greatly affect its further development. Under the city headman K.S. Ginali part of the land northeast of Balaklava towards Kady-koi and the western rocky coast of the bay breaks up into plots, which were quickly sold out. Between the old part of the town and Kady-koi, the New Town begins to grow. From 1900 to 1910 alone, at least a hundred summer cottages were built. I must say that before the revolution there were only a few street names: Naberezhnaya, Bazarnaya, First, Second and Third ...
The landscape of Balaklava had a significant impact on the historical planning and development of the city. The placement of buildings on the seashore led to the fact that the sea views became dominant in its architectural appearance. The mountain environment is of no less importance for Balaklava in this respect. The sea and mountains formed the basis of the architectural composition of the town. An exceptional role in the magnificent views of Balaklava is played by the surface of the sea, the cliff and the rock with the fortress, blocking the entrance to the bay, are the most important dominants actively participating in the formation of the architectural appearance of Balaklava, the steep slopes of the coast, breaking into the sea depths.
It is against this amazing background that luxurious dachas and more modest mansions appear, which have changed the city and gave it a completely unique look.
Not far from the exit from the Balaklava Bay, in a hollow, a vast beautiful ensemble of dachas "Priboy" by Count Matvey Alexandrovich Apraksin is being built. The main Neo-Greek building stood on a high artificial arcaded terrace made of rough stone, which was the basement. A portico with a balcony - an altan, Doric columns, combined with details and forms characteristic of rationalist architecture, created an original image of a dacha complex. It was built by the architect N.P. Krasnova - the author of the Livadia handsome white-stone palace on the southern coast of Crimea. Until recently, little was known about the talented architect. In the former Yugoslavia, where Nikolai Petrovich Krasnov spent the last years of his life, they know much more about him.
After graduating from the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, Krasnov came to Yalta in 1888, where he worked as a city architect for eleven years. Being engaged in private practice, he built several villas and so-called "hunting lodges" for the high society nobility. One of them has survived to this day in the village of Sokolinom (formerly Kokkozy). It belonged to Prince F.F. Yusupov (one of the murderers of Grigory Rasputin), married to the niece of Nicholas II, Grand Duchess Irina Alexandrovna. F. Yusupov had the same "hunting lodge" in Balaklava. The building, heavily rebuilt, has survived on the West Bank of the bay. It is likely that the author of the project of this building is also N.P. Krasnov. Count M.A. Apraksin, a passionate yachtsman and a great lover of flowers, was the godfather of Nikolai I, who visited him in Balaklava. The tsar mentions this in 1913 in his diary, calling him "Motei". Unfortunately, Apraksin's dacha has not survived: it was destroyed during the war.
In Balaklava, the estates of "Kaliva" of Prince K.D. Gagarin (on the site of the dacha the boarding house of the Balaklava mining administration named after A.M. Gorky was built), the palace and the “hunting lodge of Count Naryshkin, a relative of the tsar, the dacha of the princesses Vera Leonidovna and Sofia Leonidovna Muravyov, designed in stylized forms of the Italian Renaissance. The mansions of Rear Admiral P.P. Feodosyev (he also had a house in Sevastopol - Sobornaya St., 15) and his wife Olga Timofeevna, who taught German, music and singing, actress Sokolova.
On the western coast of the bay, the palaces of the industrialist Pshenichny and the engineer A.M. Zavadsky. The surviving dacha "Fata Morgana" by Zavadsky, despite the losses, still retains the main features of its vibrant exotic architecture, recalling the image of a fabulous Arabian palace-mirage.
In the northwestern part of Balaklava, back in 1873, a dacha was built, with its originality attracting attention to itself in our time, entrepreneur I.P. Zusman. The presence of the ruins of the Genoese fortress Cembalo in the town undoubtedly determined the architect's choice of motive - the architecture of northern Italy of the early Middle Ages. The building resembles a miniature fortress with a parapet in the form of fortified battlements. The retaining walls of the site are designed like the walls of a fortress and were previously completed with a complex parapet. The house was badly damaged during the war. In 1941-1942. it housed the headquarters of the 2nd battalion of the 456th rifle regiment (commander - Major A.V. Ruzhnikov), as evidenced by a memorial plaque installed in 1967 (Vasily Zhukov St., 9). The urban environs were also transformed, where numerous estates and farms began to appear. In the area of \u200b\u200bthe sixth kilometer of the Balaklava highway there was a farm of Generals O.P. de Rossi, near the estate Zolotaya Balka, and near the modern forestry zag - the honorary citizen of Balaklava - V.E. Shitta.
In February 1919, during the Anglo-French intervention of Sevastopol, his daughter Tamara Shitt married "an English subject, Lieutenant of the Fleet Lesley Ashmore" (26). They got married in St. Nicholas Church (now there are 12 Apostles). The witnesses were very eminent: from the groom's side - the commander of the British fleet, Captain Persh Royderg and staff captain N.A. Chirikov, brides - Colonel A.L. von Nolcken and Count M.A. Apraksin. In 1996, the First Lord of the British Royal Navy, Admiral Edward Ashmore, and his brother, Master of the Royal Court, Vice Admiral Peter Ashmore, the sons of Leslie and Tamara Ashmore (Sheath), who were looking for traces of their parents' presence on Balaklava land, visited Balaklava in 1996.
Not far from Balaklava, in Chorgun (now Chernorechenskoye), back in Potemkin times, the first commander of the Balaklava Greek battalion, Stefan (Stephen Bey) Mavromikhali, who belonged to an ancient Greek family, received an estate. Their coat of arms depicted a Byzantine double-headed eagle against the background of the prince's mantle. S. Mavromikhali was married to the daughter of Count Ya.N. Bulgari. Their son - Pavel Stefanovich (1770-1822) served in the navy under the direct command of F.F. Ushakov, then transferred to the civil service, was an employee of Duke A.E. Richelieu was his friend. P.S. Mavramikhali joined his fate with the Greek woman K.M. Stamati (1785-1851), had seven children: son Constantine (born 1803), daughters - Maria (1809), Elizabeth (1813), Alexandra (1816), who married K. N. Anastasyeva, A.F. Revelioti, I.A. Treasury, as well as Catherine (1810) and Elena (1811). The latter became the wives of cousins \u200b\u200b- M.I. and I.F. Blarambergs.
Since 1786 the estate was owned by the prominent Russian scientist and statesman Karl Ivanovich Gablits. After the annexation of Crimea to Russia, the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences sent Gablitsa to Crimea to describe the peninsula. Arriving in Taurida in 1784, he visited all its corners, including Balaklava, collecting scientific material about the natural resources of the region. In 1785 he was commissioned to compose a historical description of Taurida. Prince G.A. Potemkin granted Gablitsa an estate in Chorgun. In December 1784, the Senate appointed K.I. Gablitsa was an adviser to the criminal chamber of the Tavrichesky regional administration, he was also the vice-governor of Crimea.
The house of Karl Gablits, built "in the Turkish style" was located near the now preserved Chorgun tower. Having left the Crimea in February 1797, Gablits owned the Chorgun estate for another twelve years, which was called Karlovka in the first half of the 19th century.
Gablitsa's daughter, Anna Karlovna, was famous for her extraordinary beauty. The last Crimean khan Shagin-Girey offered her a hand and a heart, but was refused. From the marriage of Anna Karlovna with the actual state councilor N.I. Serov, the future composer Alexander Nikolaevich Serov was born.
During his service in the Crimea from 1845 to 1849. Deputy Chairman of the Tavricheskaya Criminal Chamber A.N. Serov visited the former estate of his grandfather. In Crimea, he met and became interested in Maria Pavlovna Anastasyeva, the granddaughter of Stefan Mavromikhali. The everyday obstacles encountered on the way interrupted their relationship, but they remained friends and corresponded for a long time.
Mavromikhali had family ties with the famous scientist, topographer, explorer of Central Asia I.P. Blaramberg (1800-1878). Then the estate passed to his son - the composer Pavel Ivanovich Blaramberg, the author of five operas: "Tushintsy", "Skomorokha", "Demon", "Maria of Burgundy" and "Maid-Mermaid". His operas Tushintsy and Maria of Burgundy were staged at the Bolshoi Theater. His wife, Minna Karlovna (nee Baroness Wrangel), is a gifted singer on the stage of Chernov, she studied singing in Paris.
Having settled in Chorgun, Blaramberg took up agriculture, his wife - teaching. He died in 1907 in Italy. The urn with the ashes was buried in the family crypt in the Chorgun estate. Soon, in 1909, Minna Karlovna was also buried there, who could not stand loneliness and, according to doctor S.A. Nikonov, who committed suicide. The house and the family crypt were destroyed during the Great Patriotic War. After their death, the estate passed to the brother of M.K. Blaramberg - to Alexander Karlovich Wrangel, whose life is closely connected with Balaklava. On Kalicha Street, 19, there is a three-story mansion that belonged to his relative, the architect Mikhail Alexandrovich Wrangel. After graduating from the Institute of Civil Engineers in Petrograd, he worked in Balaklava from 1918. On November 15, 1920, he was appointed "city engineer" of the Balaklava Revolutionary Committee, and in January 1922 - the city architect of Sevastopol.
Balaklava continued to develop as a resort town. This was also facilitated by the fact that the town was part of the so-called Jewish Pale.
In 1887 the first Balaklava hotel of K.S. Ginali "Grand Hotel" with 45 rooms (now Naberezhnaya Nazukina, 3), the owner of which A. Akhobadze lured guests with the cheapness of the rooms: one ruble per day, 25 - per month. A float restaurant was built opposite her on the shore. Later, the Rossiya Hotel appeared - Naberezhnaya, 28 (now Naberezhnaya Nazukina, 21), with a pavilion on the shore of the bay. The owner of the hotel was L.G. Bisti - the grandfather of Dmitry Spiridonovich Bisti; a native of Balaklava - People's Artist of Russia, designer of the "Library of World Literature" including "Iliad" and "Odyssey" by Homer. There were also furnished rooms "Monplaisir" on the Embankment (the building has not survived).
In 1888 K.A. Skirmunt begins to build a mud bath at the end of the Balaklava bay. Near the baths owned by K.S. Ginali, in 1904 a building with 12 rooms for taking sea baths appeared (now there is a rescue station in this building).
The city had a zemstvo hospital, M.O. Zolotnitsky (Nazukina Embankment, 1), three doctors: city doctors - A.S. Kushul, K.G. Holbershteidt (lived in the house of Athanasius Christopulo), Zemsky - V.A. Glinka (rented an apartment in Novy Gorod at Turchaninova's dacha) and paramedic E.M. Aspiz (lived on Bazarnaya Street in the Vasilkioti house). There were also doctors in the city: V.L. Pedkov, M.M. Kostrov, B.D. Kogan and midwife A.I. Alexandrova.
In 1896 a library was opened in Balaklava, in 1910 - a city club, a city meeting.
In the same year, a power plant was built (st. Kalicha, 3). The building is especially typical of industrial architecture of the early XX century.
It was very curious that Balaklava was supplied with water: it came by gravity from a source from a mountain hanging over the town from the east, filling four reservoirs located on the coast of the bay in the area of \u200b\u200bPushkin Square. From these bodies of water, it was pumped back up the mountain into the pool. And already from the pool, from a height of about 110 meters, water again flowed by gravity through the pipes of the water supply network.
In 1911, for 2500 people of the population in the city and the nearest villages there were four churches: St. Nicholas (now 12 Apostles), Mariinsky - in the village. Kamara, Troitskaya in Kady-koe and Konstantino-Eleninskaya in Karani. In the building of the city government there was a 1-class zemstvo school, in the village of Karan - a zemstvo school, in the village. Kamary - a 1-class primary rural school, a parish school in Kady-koe, as well as a private school of L.V. Sinelnikova. A cinema "Monpepos" appeared in the city (my rest) AM Angelova. The building, designed in the form of early Art Nouveau, has survived. Today it is the Rodina cinema.
By 1890, the Progress theater was built in Balaklava, in which, in addition to the permanent troupe, visiting celebrities played: M. and V. Petipa, P. Orlenev ...
Balaklava residents loved their city. It was distinguished by its cleanliness: the streets were swept and watered daily.
Along the bay, Pushkin Square was laid out, which was a continuation of the best street in the city - Naberezhnaya.
They made a road to the Utes, a favorite place for walks of Balaklava residents and visitors, arranged a buffet there, and installed benches.
In August 1896, a telephone connection was also organized, and 10 telephone sets were installed in Balaklava. From May 4, 1901, between Sevastopol and Balaklava, the movement of malpost (post carriages) began. They departed from Balaklava at 6.30 am and 8 pm, from Sevastopol - at 7 am and 3 pm. The fare in the first class cost 50 kopecks, in the second - 40. In June 1912, the first car (taxi) of the Balaklava resident Korvin-Krukovsky began to run. At the service of visitors there were also the lines of the Greek Easter.
On church holidays the ferry “Belbek” went from Sevastopol to the St. George Monastery, and from Balaklava to the same monastery there was a boat number 90. In 1914, the Balaklava skiffs got a competitor: a small steamer that went every two hours to the nearest beach. This pleasure cost 15 kopecks.
The attention of enterprising people was attracted by the nearest spaces from Balaklava, lying near the sea. Near Cape Fiolent, at the initiative of entrepreneur G.I. Aparina, on the lands of the St. George Monastery, summer cottages appear: the Dzhanshiev farm, Alexandriada, Maloye Zhemsi, and all together - the Aparinsky farms. G.I. Aparin, with his associates, dreamed of building a "sanatorium" and a "climatic winter station" here. They organized a society "Dzhanshiev settlement", which had its own charter and administration, located in Moscow. By 1904, the tenants cultivated 30 acres of land, planted orchards and vineyards, built several houses, cut passages and slopes in the rocks to the sea and then led a highway to it for the passage of carriages.
In 1912, in Batiliman, covering like a fort with Cape Aya - from Balaklava, lawyer V.P. Plansson and the Kulakovs couple - Lyudmila Sergeevna - daughter of a doctor and public figure in the Crimea S.Ya. Yelpatievsky and the editor-in-chief of the publishing house "Public Benefit" - Peter Efimovich, organized a bathilim resort community. Sharechikov has accumulated 28 people. Among them were V.G. Korolenko, E.N. Chirikov, V.I. Vernadsky, A. f. Ioffe, G.F. Morozov, artist I. Ya. Bilibin, artists of the Moscow Art Theater: K.S. Stanislavsky, O. L. Knipper-Chekhova, L.A. Sulerzhitsky, P.N. Milyukov is one of the leaders of the Cadet Party, V.A. Kravtsov and other well-known representatives of the Russian creative and technical intelligentsia.
Having purchased the slope of the mountain and part of the coast in the northern part of the Laspinsky tract from the Tatars of the village of Haitu (now Tylovoe) for forty thousand rubles, they divided them into sections and, dividing them by lot, began to build. Bilibin was the most fortunate: on his land, near the sea, there was a small house built by Balaklava fishermen - the artel of Georgy Konstantinovich Paratino. Soon the fishing hut turned into a cozy cottage, near which the artist planted magnolias and roses, and laid out a vineyard.
“The construction of houses did not go as fast as we would like. By 1918, the dachas were built by S.Ya. Elpatyevsky, P.E. Kulakov, I. Ya. Bilibin, E.N. Chirikov, V.D. Derviz, V.G. Korolenko, G.F. Morozov, V.A. Kravtsov, P.N. Milyukov, Redko. Some of these houses were not completed, and many shareholders did not have time to build at all ”(27). The events of the seventeenth year interfered. Some of the Batilimans ended up far from their homeland, in a foreign land. In 1927 in the south of France; reminiscent of the emigrants on the southern coast of Crimea, in the town of La Favier they acquire a small piece of land by the sea. Among the shareholders, we again meet the Batilimans: P.N. Milyukov, Kravtsovs, L.S. Elpatievskaya, I. Ya. Bilibin, Titovs. They were joined by: the poet Sasha Cherny (Klikberg), professor S.I. Metalnikov, writer Grebenshchikov, O. N. Mechnikov - the wife of I.I. Mechnikov, composer N.N. Cherepnin ... (28).
Lack of money prevented A.I. Kuprin. His daughter Ksenia writes in her memoirs about her father: “My father, who always dreamed of settling on the ground, caught fire. He writes to Wrangel-Elpatievskaya: “Sasha and Masha seem to have abandoned the land, promised me to sell their land. But - the question is, will I strain to buy 600 fathoms? Soon there will be a general meeting, where the land will be divided, and then it will be necessary to deposit money within 10 days. Who has not brought - out of the game. I am waiting for a crow that will come down from the sky with banknotes in its beak. " Unfortunately, the raven did not come, and Sasha and Masha Cherny bought a plot with a tiny vineyard.
Those who had the means built houses reminiscent of Batiliman's dachas, others, and there were a majority of them, built huts (29). The summer cottage village in Batiliman was not lucky: the dachas of V.G. Korolenko and V.I. Vernadsky, a landslide destroyed V.A. Plançon, several summer cottages burned down during the war.
In 1948, in Batiliman, it was decided to build a sanatorium for scientists of the USSR Academy of Sciences, but due to the lack of fresh water, they abandoned the idea. Only one dacha was restored - V.A. Kravtsova.
The main occupation of the Balaklava people remained agriculture and fishing. Skilled fishermen - the Greeks caught mullet, mackerel, sultanka, beluga, herring, flounder. In 1892, a cannery of Joseph Semenovich Kefeli was opened in Balaklava.
In fifteen quarries, 55 to 80 workers worked, mining about 1,500 cubic fathoms of stone per year. The Greeks Athanasius Christopoulo and Christopher Lioli had lime kilns. The remains of the latter remained until recently at Gasfortova Gora.
Tobacco growing and viticulture developed. Tobacco plantations occupied about 200 acres of land. The largest vineyards were owned by K.A. Skirmunt, brothers Georgy Fedorovich and Nikolay Fedorovich Aroni, Major General Alexander Nikolaevich Vitmer - honorary citizen of Balaklava.
A native of St. Petersburg, he graduated from the Nikolaev Military Academy, taught at it. In 1878, due to illness, on the advice of the surgeon N.I. Pirogov, moved to Crimea, became a prominent entrepreneur: engaged in construction, viticulture, winemaking, growing high varieties of tobacco, for which he received the Gold Medal, founded the first Russian oyster factory "New Holland" in Sevastopol. At the expense of Vitmer in Balaklava, the buildings of the city council and the elementary school (now the House of Children's Art) are being built. He gives the city his estate "Grace". Three months before the death of A.N. Vitmer writes to his son Boris in St. Petersburg: “Dear friend Boris! I decided irrevocably, while still alive, to donate my hotel "Oreanda" to Yalta, as a fund for the capital of the society for the encouragement of inventions and disabled workers "(30). Passionate theater and music lover, collector and hunter, writer and scientist, died in 1916 in Yalta. The museums of Sevastopol and Yalta keep the paintings he collected, in Yalta and Balaklava there are still those built by Major General A.N. Witmer beautiful buildings. According to the memoirs of M.K. Kuprina-Iordanskaya, his son B.A. Vitmer, journalist, employee of the magazine "Peace of God", later a member of the editorial board of "Contemporary World", was close to a group of legal Marxists: P.B. Struve, M. I, Tugan-Baranovsky. Boris Vitmer's wife, Olga Konstantinovna Grigorieva, once studied with N.K. Krupskaya. Nadezhda Konstantinovna became the godmother of the youngest daughter of the Vitmerov - Nina.
Communication with Sevastopol remained a sore spot for the Balaklava residents for many years. On July 17, 1914, the newspaper Krymsky Vestnik wrote: “The problem we have is with the means of transportation: the Noah's arks - that is, the rulers - are cheap, to be sure, but who has the courage to shake in the present heat for two and a half hours in clouds Sevastopol is already a feat ”. An attempt to establish decent transport links was made, oddly enough, by the French. “In March 1900, the French company, represented by its representative, the French vice-consul Ge, proposed to the mayor to organize a bus service between the two cities, with 12 flights a day (6 flights there and 6 back). She applied for a 25-year concession. Balaklava city administration in June of the same year agreed and set a fare along the entire line one way 30 kopecks. The Sevastopol Duma, although it agreed to this, demanded the abolition of the exclusive right to operate this line by a French company ”(31). The deal did not take place, the French abandoned this transport venture.
However, the road serpentines to Balaklava still began to stretch. On the eve of the First World War, the construction of fortifications begins in the area of \u200b\u200bthe town - the Southern (Balaklava) group of land fortifications. It consisted of two “dissected” forts. The author of the project is a military engineer Polyansky. The forts were named “Severny” at an altitude of 212.1 (above Krestovsky St.) and “Yuzhny” on Mount Spilia (386.0). The forts have approximately the same structure. They consist of a system of ditches carved into the rock, partially concreted, reinforced concrete casemates and open positions for field guns. In the North Fort there is a huge underground shelter, in the South there are two armored observation posts. They did not manage to complete the construction. On the Western Cape, where A. Suvorov once laid the battery, and in the area of \u200b\u200bCape Fiolent, construction of two more batteries (later BS-18 and BS-19) began. Roads were led to all these structures. One of them received the most curious and not yet deciphered name from local residents: "The Road of Three Ambassadors" She also passed by the Balaklava St. George Monastery.
The history of Balaklava is about 3000 thousand years old, it is difficult to name the exact date of the city foundation. It is known that the coasts of the bay have been densely populated since ancient times.
According to the testimony of Greek, Polish and Arab chroniclers, the city was known far beyond the Crimean peninsula. Perhaps, on the territory of the modern city there was a port of the Listrigones of Lamos (known from ancient Greek myths as the place of the man-eating giants that Odysseus fought during his travels).
In the VI century BC. Chersonesos was founded, around the Balaklava Bay there was also a settlement, which in Greek was called "the port of omens" - Syumbolon Limen.
An entirely new period, the Roman, began in 63 BC. after the conquest of Asia Minor and the Balkan region by the Roman Empire. During this period, the city flourished and became a famous trade center. But the peace period did not last long. With III begins the great migration of peoples to the Crimean peninsula, where the fearless regiments of the Huns and Goths rushed. Since the 6th century, Balaklava belonged to the Byzantine Empire.
In 1357, the magnificent Chembalo fortress (from the name Syumbolon) was erected in Balaklava by the Genoese. Also, a few years later, the Temple of the 12 Apostles was built near the fortress. Balaklava was an important strategic site of Genoa, but in 1433 the Greek population of Balaklava began to protest against the colonization of Genoa. The rebels were able to hold the fortress and the entire city for a whole year, but the next year the army of Genoa recaptured Cembalo in their possession.
In 1453, the Ottoman Empire defeated the great Byzantium, and from 1457 the fortress was taken over by the Turkish armada. From this moment, the Turkish period of rule begins in the city. The name of the city was changed to "Balyklagy", which means a nest, a fishing place. From time to time Balaklava managed to capture the Zaporozhye Cossacks, but they did not manage to hold the defense for a long time.
In 1771, by means of diplomacy and the signing of treaties, Turkey surrenders the city of Balaklava to the possession of Prince Dolgorukov. Since that time, the famous bay has become an important haven for the Russian navy. Three years later, the Turkish authorities recognize the independence of the Crimea, and in 1783 the entire Crimea was annexed to Russia (after the signing of the manifesto of Catherine II).
During the Crimean War, the city was captured by the British, who built the city's first railway, shops, entertainment centers and hotels. In the fall of 1854, the famous Battle of Balaklava took place, in which the British were defeated and lost a significant part of their cavalry. A few weeks later, a great storm arose, which sank the ships of the invaders. This incident gave rise to the legend of the "Black Prince's gold", for the study of which a Special Purpose Underwater Expedition was organized.
During the Great Patriotic War, Balaklava became an important object for the fascist troops. The 72nd Infantry Division, accompanied by heavy artillery, was assigned to capture it. The domestic defenders were defeated and moved to the area of \u200b\u200bthe Genoese fortress, which played the role of an important defensive shield. So in November 1941, the Soviet troops managed to repel numerous German attacks without a single loss of life. The defense lasted until 1942, and in 1944 Balaklava was completely liberated from the fascist invaders.
After the end of the war, the city turned into a secret military base, and a division of submarines was organized in Balaklava Bay, which contained nuclear weapons. Also, an underground plant for the repair of sea transport functioned in the thickness of the rock. The entrance to the territory of this facility was closed, and only since 1995 was the last Russian submarine withdrawn.
Today, when all military secrets have been declassified and the city has acquired the status of a resort place, more and more tourists want to explore the picturesque bay, walk through the ruins of the Genoese fortress, and just sunbathe and swim in the clean warm Black Sea.
Balaklava is a compact but very picturesque settlement in the Sevastopol region. It is popular with tourists because of the luxurious nature, cozy beaches and the possibility of outdoor activities. This article contains all the useful information about Balaklava - how to get there, what to do, Balaklava attractions with photos and descriptions, the history of the resort.
The history of the resort
Homer first mentioned a beautiful harbor surrounded by rocks in his Odyssey. The ancient storyteller named the settlement located here Lamos and mentioned that the bay is completely hidden from the sea, and the water is always calm here.
The coast passed from hand to hand many times. Until the 1st century. n. e. its main inhabitants were the Taurus, who founded the fishing village. Among the subsequent "owners" were the Romans, Greeks, Byzantines, who founded the village. Yamboli, Italians who built the famous Cembalo fortress.
In the XIV century, during the uprising of the Greek population of the fortress, it passed to the principality of Theodoro, and then became part of the Ottoman Empire. Probably, then a toponym arose: the Turks called the fortress "Balyk-yuv", which means "fish nest".
In 1624 the Cossacks seized the fortress, and then it passed into the possession of the Russian Empire. During the Crimean War, the town was captured by the British, who built a wooden embankment, a water supply and the first railway on the peninsula.
After the British left the city, Balaklava was part of the Yalta district for some time, and then developed as a resort. Boarding houses, hotels were opened, at the beginning of the XX century. the dacha of Count Apraskin and the hunting lodge of the Yusupovs, land fortifications that were used during the wars were built.
Many military facilities (including a classified base) appeared during the Soviet period, so the settlement was closed for some time. And in 1957 Balaklava officially lost the status of a city.
Attractions Balaklava - photo with description
The majority of Crimeans perceive Balaklava as a separate city, although administratively it is a region of Sevastopol. There are many sights here that are definitely worth visiting if you have chosen a vacation in Crimea.
First of all, the settlement is famous for the Balaklava Bay, the most convenient on the Black Sea coast. There are never storms in it, the rocks completely hide the bay from prying eyes. Previously, submarines were based here, and now ships of the Black Sea Fleet are located.
A beautiful embankment, named after the war hero I.A. Nazukin.
Not far from the Balaklava embankment is the oldest church of the Twelve Apostles currently operating on the peninsula, built on the site of a Byzantine temple that stood here in the 6th century. The temple has its roots in the Genoese period, and it owes its temple architecture to the 18th century and is considered unique. During the reconstruction of the building, a stone was found with an inscription stating that the church was erected in 1357.
During the Crimean War, it was destroyed, and was completely restored only by the end of the 19th century. It was decorated with porticoes and consecrated in honor of Nicholas the Wonderworker, who is the patron saint of sailors. After the victory in the Crimean War, the Greek Balaklava battalion kept its banners here.
The temple is famous not only for its centuries-old existence. Its architecture was recognized as unique, which has no analogues in the world, and is in the register of architectural monuments of the 18th century. The building was built in the form of a cross with a dome located in the center, the walls are made of marble rubble limestone. There are white stone columns at the entrance to the temple, and the interior remains snow-white, not affected by frescoes for several centuries.
In the USSR, the church was closed and various organizations were located in its building. But in 1990, the architect Yuri Lositsky presented his project for the reconstruction of the building, and by the summer of that year, for the first time in many years, a divine service was held there.
Stepping on the land of Balaklava, you will certainly hear the traditions and legends of the famous fortress Cembalo. The remains of its towers located on Mount Castron are still visible from afar. At one time, this citadel made Balaklava Bay an unattainable harbor. According to the chronicles, its construction began in the middle of the 14th century, and ended in the second half of the 15th century, as evidenced by the consular inscriptions preserved from that time. It is possible that the Genoese could build a fortress on the ruins of foundations that remained from the time of the Romans and Greeks, the presence of which is confirmed by archaeological excavations.
A stone staircase leads to the first tower, along which even children can climb, but the next one will have to be reached along a mountain path. But from above, an incredible view of the village and the Black Sea opens up.
The representative office of Chembalo was located between the citadel of Kalamita, which is near the Black River and Cape Sarych. On the cliff were built above and below defensive cities, which were a well-fortified palace.
The city at the top bore the name of the patron saint of sailors Nicholas. The entire administrative body of the colony was located there. In the Consular Castle, on the ground floor, there was a large container for storing drinking water. In the lower city, defensive walls were built, which reliably protected the castle, it was named after George the Victorious.
The remains of Cembalo are perfectly visible from the embankment, there are steps, along which you can climb to the highest point of Castron and, ascending, imagine what the fortress was like during its formation. It took its origin from the old port and market that were in the bay, the first tower was the beginning of the walls of the fortress, in total Chembalo was surrounded by 16 towers.
Above, from the tower-donjon, amazing beauty opens, from a bird's eye view you can see the sea to the very horizon, Cape Fiolent is visible on the right side of the mountain, Aya is on the left, and when you turn back you can see the whole Balaklava in all its glory.
Unfortunately, all the Crimean monuments that belong to the Genoese period, not an exception, and Chembalo, have long been turned into ruins and continue to collapse. So far no one has been willing to restore them.
Balaklava Underground Naval Museum Complex
Most vacationers in Crimea come to Balaklava to visit the Balaklava Naval Museum Complex, which became a museum in 2002. It was created on the basis of an underground plant designed for the repair and maintenance of submarines located in adits.
This is a unique landmark of Balaklava, as a kind of monument to the Cold War, military history, technology of those years, that Balaklava, which was a secret base of nuclear submarines (GTS # 825).
The bay became a military base even before the war, and already in the 50s they began to build an anti-nuclear facility here. To create a secret base, Balaklava was chosen - a bay completely isolated from prying eyes, closed by a small strait. Unique defensive structures were made in the shortest possible time, in the most difficult conditions, underground in just 8 years and are a brilliant indicator of engineering work.
Here, at a sufficient depth, in the rocks, an artificial water source, dry docks, technical areas in which submarines were serviced and repaired, fuel depots, a secret mine and torpedo unit were made. It was possible to get out of Mount Tavros through two exits, one led to the bay, the other to the open sea, both exits were well camouflaged.
At the end of the last century, in connection with the rearmament of the fleet, the object ceased to be secret and lost its significance. Here, from the few that have survived, they organized exhibitions dedicated to the historical significance of the Black Sea Fleet and the country's submarine forces. Some areas next to the underground canal, premises that were former factory workshops and an arsenal of torpedoes and nuclear warheads were opened for inspection. Also here you can see models of warships and some types of equipment and weapons of that time.
Here, in one of the caves, there is an exposition of rare exhibits related to the Crimean War, which were kindly provided by the Sheremetyev family from Kiev. Here you can see military ammunition, uniforms, awards, some types of different weapons. Here on the maps of battles you can see the routes of that war, read the letters of soldiers and much more.
Cape Fiolent and St. George Monastery
One of the most beautiful places on the peninsula is Cape Fiolent, which attracts with its picturesque landscape, clear sea, white beach and rocks at the bottom of the sea, which are overgrown with marine vegetation. It is especially pleasant to watch the sea here in calm weather, at this time the water in the sea is completely transparent.
It was formed as a result of an eruption that existed here in the prehistoric period, a volcano, as evidenced by frozen lava flows on its surface, on the slopes already covered with limestone, veins of semiprecious minerals.
The cape is overgrown with many legends and names, and everyone chooses a legend to their liking. Initially it was called Partennum and according to legend it personified Iphigenia, brought here by the goddess Artemis to sacrifice her to the gods, who later became the priestess of the temple of the Virgin. According to another legend, he began to be called Saint George after Saint George appeared to the sailors who were in wreck and helped them.
Having landed on the cliff, they found the face of George on it and after that, the surviving sailors, in gratitude for their salvation, erected a monastery here in his honor. But it began to be called Fiolent not very long ago, and to this day there are disputes about where this name came from, whether from God's country, or from the violent nature of the cape.
To understand what Cape Fiolent is, you need to imagine a very high mountain with the sea at the foot and an old staircase of 800 steps, if you go down it, you can see sheer cliffs above the beach, the sea and a rock in it, with a towering cross placed there in ancient times.
Cape Fiolent On the rocks of Fiolent above Jasper Beach there is the St. George's Rock, here stands the one-of-a-kind St. George Monastery, where a pagan temple previously stood. According to legend, it was built at the end of the 9th century by sailors who were helped by St. George to save themselves. Priests (chaplains) for the fleet came out of this monastery, many emperors of Russia visited it, and Pushkin, who had visited this land, left overwhelmed with impressions.
In commemoration of the millennium anniversary of the monastery in 1891, on the rock, where the sailors saw the appearance of St. George, they erected a cross on which the saint strikes the dragon and the date 891-1891. In the early 20s of the last century, the monastery was given to the military unit of the Black Sea Fleet, and in the 90s it began to revive again. The restoration work is still underway, but the monastery welcomes everyone who wishes to attend the service.
Waterfall Merdven-Tobe in the vicinity of the village of Rodnoe (Balaklava district)
Really unlimited supplies of Crimean attractions. There is their full abundance in the Baydar Valley. One of these is the Merdven Tobe waterfall, which literally means an inverted staircase, it got this name due to its shape.
The shape of the rock, from which jets of water gracefully flow down, falling with special grace into the green surface of the lake, in fact, is very much like an inverted staircase. The green shore of the lake resembles a tropical landscape, there is something Hollywood in it.
Here, under the canopy, there is an ivy-covered grotto Koba-Chair, in which you can find coolness even on the hottest day. If you look at the waterfall from the grotto, you will see an amazing spectacle of water playing with the sun. In a very hot summer, the waterfall practically dries up, so it is better to admire its beauty in March-April.
But, despite this, the lake remains at the disposal of vacationers. The place for rest is very well equipped, there are tables, benches, changing rooms, i.e. everything you need for a good rest. The waterfall is located near the village of Rodnoe, so the locals call it Rodnovsky waterfall. Not far from it there is an ostrich farm, where you can hear a lot of interesting things about ostriches, go fishing and relax in a camping.
A beautiful dilapidated building has been standing on the Tavricheskaya Embankment in Balaklava Bay for many years. They call it the Yusupov hunting lodge, although the word lodge does not fit this building well.
Back at the beginning of the 20th century, the Yusupov family, who loved Crimea very much, replenished their collection of houses here with another summer palace. Their dynasty was the wealthiest in tsarist Russia. Unfortunately, not a single member of the Yusupov family lived in this house.
The only heir to this dynasty, Felix, was involved in organizing the assassination of Grigory Rasputin and their entire family, like other members of the Romanov family, were taken to England. Later, the heir and his wife moved to the capital of France, where they remained until the end of their days.
Now this architectural monument is not suitable for visiting tourists, but, nevertheless, the majestic walls of the once beautiful palace remember those times of the great empire.
What else to do in Balaklava?
Balaklava is popular with tourists. First of all, they are attracted by the wonderful beaches, which can be reached by ordering a boat trip. Several swimming spots are easily accessible on foot. For example, the City Beach is located in the center, and a little further, 4 km from the central square, there are comfortable Matrossky and Marble beaches.
Tourists are encouraged to go fishing, book an ATV excursion, ride horses or fly with a paraglider. Yachting and diving are well developed.
There are many canteens, cafes and restaurants in Balaklava, which specialize mainly in fish dishes. Balaklava fish soup is famous all over the coast. Having tasted local delicacies, it is worth taking bus number 126 and heading to Inkerman, where you can taste vintage wines.
Helpful information
The season in Balaklava begins in late spring and lasts until September. There are direct flights from Simferopol. Buses run from the bus station, but there are only four flights per day. Easier to get from Sevastopol: from pl. Nakhimov there are city buses No. 2a, 12, 14, 20a, 120. You should go to the stop. "5th km of Balaklava highway", then by minibus No. 9 - to the stop. "1st May Square". It is not far from it to the bay.
