Sevastopol and surroundings: the most detailed guide to the city, beaches and interesting places

Sevastopol covers the area from Cape Lukull in the north to Cape Sarych in the south. The length of the coastline is about 70 km

August 2, 2022

The Sevastopol (Akhtiarskaya) bay cuts into the depths of the peninsula for 8 km. To the south – the bays of Korabelnaya, Yuzhnaya, Artilleriyskaya, Karantinnaya, Streletskaya, Kazachya and several others.

The bays divide the city into three parts, or “sides”: Northern, Ship and Southern (Central, or City).

History

After three hundred years Ottoman rule and several long wars for access to the Black Sea, as a result of negotiations, Crimea joined Russia in 1783.

By decree of Catherine II, on the site of Chersonese and around it, along the shores of bays convenient for navigation and defense, they began to build Sevastopol – a fortress city.

The military base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, laid by Field Marshal Grigory Potemkin, grew and developed. It soon became a powerful fortress on the turbulent southern borders of the Russian Empire.

September 14, 1854, English, French and Turkish troops landed in the Evpatoria region and moved to Sevastopol.

The most difficult 349-day defense of the city ended with the capture of Malakhov Kurgan, where the main Russian forces were located, and the evacuation of the Russian army, exhausted in battles.

South Side

The historical center of Sevastopol — Nakhimov Square (1), a monument to the legendary admiral. Excursions usually start from here.

In front of the monument to Nakhimov, a Memorial Wall (2) was built in honor of the defense of the city in 1941–1942. Near the Eternal Flame, granite boards with the names of the Heroes of the Soviet Union who defended Sevastopol, the names of their military units and ships.

From Admiral Nakhimov Square, you can go down to the water by walking along the Count's Quay(3). This elegant pier, colonnade, granite staircase with marble lions was built in 1846 on the site of a wooden pier and named after the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Count Marko Ivanovich Voinovich. Every day he got into the boat at this pier and went to the ships.

By the arrival of the Empress, they tried to rename the pier into Catherine's, but this new name did not take root.

Orders of Ushakov and Nakhimov

Monument to the Scuttled Ships

Almost everyone who comes to Sevastopol on an excursion descends from boulevard to the sea and take pictures at the Monument to the Scuttled Ships (6) (L. G. Adamson) – an obelisk in the water on an artificial stone island, installed in 1905, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Crimean War.< /p>1/2

The Monument to the Scuttled Ships is a column with a Corinthian capital crowned with a bronze eagle holding a laurel wreath in its beak

September 23, 1854, in order to close the entrance to the bay to enemy ships, five battleships and two frigates had to be sunk in it . These were old ships, everything that could be useful was removed from them in advance, primarily guns. And still the townspeople wept. The bronze eagle at the top of the monument holds a laurel wreath in its beak, as if preparing to lay it on the water.

Sevastopol Aquarium Museum

“Primbull”, as sailors traditionally called it, passes by the elegant building Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas. A. O. Kovalevsky (7) (the first director after 1917).

This is one of the oldest biological institutions in the world for the study of marine life. It originates from the Sevastopol biological station, created on the initiative of N. N. Miklukho-Maclay himself in 1871.

In 1963, the station was transformed into a research institute, it included the Odessa and Karadag biological stations.

In the basement of the building there is an “Aquarium” with sea water. It consists of a central pool and 12 large aquariums along the walls. Walking in a circle, you can see plenty of fish, mollusks, jellyfish, crabs living in an underwater tropical forest of colorful algae.

This is the flora and fauna of the southern seas – Black, Mediterranean, Red, these are “trophies” scientists after traveling in the Pacific, Indian, Atlantic oceans.

The next building on Primorsky Boulevard is the Palace of Childhood and Youth(8), in the left wing of which the Academic Dance Theater is located. The building was built before the revolution as the Institute of Physical Methods of Treatment; after the war, it was restored only in 1967.

Academic Russian Drama Theater. A. V. Lunacharsky

An even more elegant building of the Sevastopol Academic Russian Drama Theater them. A. V. Lunacharsky (9). The creative team of the theater was created in 1921 with the participation of famous artists.

The Art Museum. M. P. Kroshitsky

On the other side of Nakhimov Avenue in 1965, based on the art gallery, the Art Museum. M. P. Kroshitsky. There are more than 5,000 works of painting, graphics, sculpture, applied art.

Above Primorsky there is a small Matrossky Boulevard, one of the oldest in Sevastopol. In 1834, the first monument in the city (now there are about 2000 of them) was erected on the hill in honor of the commander of the legendary brig “Mercury”, Lieutenant Commander A. I. Kazarsky, the hero of the Russian-Turkish war of 1828-1829.

In 1829, the brig “Mercury” patrolled in the Bosphorus and was overtaken by two Turkish ships. They had 184 guns, on the brig – 18. The captain ordered aimed fire at the enemy masts to disable their ships.

Skillfully maneuvering, the brig “Mercury” lasted 4 hours, received 297 damage, in including 22 through holes, but won. For the Kazarsky monument (10) 12,000 rubles were collected through a voluntary subscription, which was started by Vice-Admiral Lazarev.

From Matrossky Boulevard you can climb the City Hill. From the stairs you can clearly see the Artillery Bay, where city holidays are traditionally held. On such days and evenings (especially in summer) there are many people here.

Rebuilt under Admiral Lazarev, this hill became officially called the Admiral's Hill.

The best midshipman

Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev (1788–1851) after graduating from the naval cadet corps, among the best midshipmen, he went on an internship to England.

At the age of 31, he was already the commander of the Vostok sloop and a member of a new round-the-world expedition, marked on the world maps as the Bellingshausen and Lazarev Way.

The fame of the discoverers of Antarctica came to both sailors.

In 1832, Mikhail Petrovich became the chief of staff of the Black Sea Fleet, and a year later he became the chief commander of the Black Sea Fleet and the ports of the Black Sea, the military governor of Sevastopol and Nikolaev.

In 1834 he was promoted to the rank of full admiral.

The sailors brought up by Lazarev, among whom were naval commanders P. S. Nakhimov, V. A. Kornilov, V. I. Istomin, tried to be like their teacher in everything.

Diorama “Assault on Sapun Mountain on May 7, 1944”

The natural barrier for the enemies of Sevastopol was Sapun Mountain (translated from Turkic – soap mountain). It was named so because of the soapy kil clay, which was mined here and exported to Turkey.

One of the roads was laid along Sapun Mountain – the exit from the hero city. The line of defense passed here in 1941–1942, and the most important battles during the liberation of the city were fought on the same slopes.

Having launched an offensive in mid-April 1944, the Soviet troops used the tactics of a distracting strike from the north and the main one – on Sapun Mountain. On May 9, exactly one year before the end of the war, Sevastopol was liberated.

Where the fiercest defensive and offensive battles were going on, the diorama “Assault on Sapun Mountain on May 7, 1944” was opened on the site of the Military Field Museum.

The authors of the diorama are the artist P. T. Maltsev and Moscow artists of the M. B. Grekov studio. The canvas depicts real people & nbsp; – the heroes of the liberation assault; the picture is complemented by genuine relics from the battlefields: our and German weapons (tanks, guns, wartime trucks), clothes, ammunition. Chapel of St. George the Victorious.

At the top of the City Hill, battered by bullets and shell fragments, standing Vladimir Cathedral(12) & nbsp; – a functioning Orthodox church, open to parishioners and tourists. The tomb of Admirals M.P. Lazarev, V.A. Kornilov, P.S. Nakhimov, V.I. Istomin was arranged in its lower floor. The building is considered the topographic center of Sevastopol.

Malakhov Kurgan

From the hill you can clearly see the tree-lined elevation on the Ship Side – Malakhov Kurgan. It received its name after the uprising of 1830. At this place, midshipman Malakhov, very respected by the sailors, was shot. There is another version: under the mound there was a house of no less respected skipper Malakhov. He was evicted from Sevastopol after the same uprising.

From it you can go to the neighboring, third bastion on the other side of the Dock ravine. English troops were unable to take this bastion. Scout Petr Koshka made his legendary “forays” into the camp of the enemy from him.

Further along the City Hill we will pass by the Lutheran church and the city school-gymnasium No. 3 – the former Konstantinovsky real school. Nearby, the house with a round tower on the roof is a civil hydrometeorological center, the tallest building on the Central Hill.

On Bolshaya Morskaya Street, it is worth stopping in front of the Intercession Cathedral(13) (1905). The building is unusual for Crimea, built in pseudo-Russian style. During the Great Patriotic War, the Church of the Intercession was partially destroyed. It was restored (the southern aisle was rebuilt) only at the beginning of the 21st century.

We go down one of the roads to Ushakov Square. We immediately see a catchy building with a spire – this is the Sailor's Club (14).

Now it houses the Sevastopol Drama Theater named after Boris Lavrenev. On the club building there is a clock with chimes playing the anthem of Sevastopol.

Panorama “Defense of Sevastopol in 1854–1855.”

On the Historical Boulevard, and throughout the city, the main museum is the panorama “The Defense of Sevastopol in 1854–1855”(fifteen). It was created by a group of artists led by Russian painter Franz Roubaud.

The creation of the painting began in Munich, in a specially built pavilion. The canvas was brought in 1902 from Belgium, the pieces were sewn into a single roll with an area of 1610 m2. The canvas depicts a successful reflection on June 6, 1855 of the assault on the fortifications of the third bastion of the Malakhov Kurgan.

The panorama was created for the 50th anniversary of the end of the Eastern War and was opened on May 14 (27), 1905. To place the panorama on the site of the 4th bastion, a majestic cylindrical building was specially built according to the project of the military engineer F. O. I. Enberg (1859–1937). Unfortunately, in 1941-1942 it served as a target for Nazi bombers.

On the north side of Ushakov Square is the city library named after. Leo Tolstoy(16), located in a beautiful building with a semicircular rotunda. If you go down Lenin Street (formerly Ekaterininskaya), you can see the South Bay with ships, and behind it – the Ship side and the Lazarevsky barracks.

The big crossroads – Suvorov Square with a bust of the great commander. It was Suvorov who assessed the location of the future city, he proposed to build here the main Russian military port and fortress on the Black Sea.

Vladimir Alekseevich Kornilov

In 1849, with the rank of rear admiral, Kornilov became chief of staff of the Black Sea Fleet and ports.

In 1854, he led the defense of the North Side, then became the chief of staff of the Sevastopol garrison.

He supervised the construction of reliable defensive structures, appointed the best commanders to batteries and bastions, and to check the quality of work and to maintain military spirit in The defenders himself traveled around the positions daily.

September 25 is considered the first of 349 days of the defense of Sevastopol. Already on November 17, the enemy began the first of five bombardments of the city. And on the same day, Vice Admiral Kornilov was mortally wounded on Malakhov Hill.

The bastion on which he was wounded was named Kornilovsky. The square between Artbukhta and Bolshaya Morskaya became known as Kornilovskaya, and a monument to the admiral was erected on Malakhov Hill.

Destroyed during the Great Patriotic War, it was rebuilt in 1983, on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of Sevastopol.

Tauric Chersonese Nature Reserve

Chersonese (ancient Greek peninsula) Tauride was founded at the end of the 5th century BC. The city arose on a large cape between the current Karantinnaya and Pesochnaya bays. Its heyday falls on the IV-III centuries BC. e.

The last time the Chersonesites were conquered in the XIV century by the Lithuanians, led by Prince Olgerd. They destroyed the walls, killed the inhabitants, plundered the city treasury and took away all property, including church property.

The Genoese finished off the inhabitants of Chersonesus, moreover, without attacks and without bloodshed. They destroyed the city-state, conspiring with the Byzantine emperor Palaiologos for the right to duty-free trade on the Black Sea, thereby depriving Chersonese of the main income. Well, the Tatars, with another raid at the end of the 14th century, burned everything that was still called the remnants of the glorious city.

Above the cliff near the sea are the columns of the basilica of the 6th-10th centuries, restored in the 30s and 60s of the 20th century. The ruins of an ancient theater for 3,000 spectators are impressive. Built in the middle of the 3rd century, it served for half a century, then it was closed and dilapidated.

The so-called temple with an ark in the shape of a cross was built on the site of the stands. But the ancient theater has been partially restored and is still working. Plays by N. Gumilyov, Gr. Gorin, Sophocles, Euripides.

There is also the Mint, a large reservoir, a “barracks” (or, possibly, a customs house), temples and basilicas, crypts, fish-salting tanks, fortress gates, as well as a historical museum, consisting of two departments – antique and medieval. All interesting and valuable exhibits are collected there – everything that is found on the ground, underground and under water.

Zeno's Tower, the largest defensive tower in Crimea, was built in the 5th century in the most vulnerable place for the city&nbsp ;- at the foot of Maiden's Hill. Tower diameter 23 m.

In the 10th century, after a three-month siege by the army of Prince Vladimir, Chersonese surrendered . It is believed that Vladimir was baptized here and from here Christianity began to spread throughout Russia.

Later, in the 19th century, in memory of this event, the largest Vladimir Cathedral in the present Crimea was built on the site of baptism. Construction began in 1861, under Emperor Alexander II, and completed in 1894, under Alexander III.

North side

It is very easy to get to the North Side by boat from the Artillery Bay and from the Grafskaya pier.

The entrance to the bay is guarded by a large Konstantinovsky fort. Near the pier, to which passenger boats moor, you can see the building of the Mikhailovsky battery.

Radiogorka separates Matyushenko and Konstantinovskaya bays. The Russian physicist, the inventor of the radio A. S. Popov, came here from St. Petersburg to complete successful experiments on communication between warships.

The ultimate goal of the inventor was to equip the fleet with radio equipment.

Walking along Bogdanov Street, you can go to the Fraternal Cemetery of the Defenders of Sevastopol 1854-1855. It occupies the southern and southwestern slopes of the hill, on top of which there is a temple of St. Nicholas in the form of a pyramid with a granite cross (architect A. A. Avdeev).

Inside the temple, marble plaques with the names of 943 dead officers, outside – with the names of the units that defended Sevastopol, the time of their participation in the defense and the number of losses.

About 500 mass and 118 individual graves have been preserved here. Sailors and rescuers from the battleship Novorossiysk, which died in an explosion in 1955, are buried in the upper part of the hill.

The main institution in the North is the Institute of Nuclear Energy and Industry.

In the district of Sevastopol

Balaklava

Balaklava is located 12 km southeast of Sevastopol in a small cozy bay, almost imperceptible from the sea. The city has almost completely preserved the buildings of the late XIX – early XX century, when Balaklava was a popular resort.

The Temple of the Twelve Apostles was built by the Genoese in 1357. On the high eastern shore of the Symbols Bay, several towers of the old fortress remain. It was founded by the Byzantines.

In the XIV century, having agreed with the local Tatars, this land was occupied by the Genoese. In 1433, these towers with walls were captured by the Theodorites, but in the middle of the XIV century, the Genoese regained an important fortress for them.

In 1475, the Chembalo fortress, along with the rest of the Genoese fortifications , captured by the Turks. It was they who gave the whole village the name Balyk-Yuve (Fish's Nest).

The Balaklava Naval Museum Complex has recently been opened. Here, under the arches of Mount Tavros, during the Cold War era, an arsenal of nuclear warheads was hidden to supply Soviet submarines and a top-secret factory for their repair – the world's first and only underground harbor. It could simultaneously accommodate 7–9 of the largest submarines in the Black Sea Fleet.

On Cape Fiolent is St. George's Balaklava Monastery. According to legend, it was founded in 891, but the first written mention of the monastery dates back to the 16th century.

Inkerman

Inkerman is a city to the east of Sevastopol, on the banks of the Inkerman Bay and the Chernaya River flowing into it. According to legend, in the 1st century, Emperor Trajan exiled the Roman Bishop Clement here to hard labor for professing Christianity.

Here, in a quarry, he carved the first church of the current Inkerman monastery from stone, and after his death he was canonized saints. In 655, Pope Martin, exiled here by Emperor Constantine II and also canonized as a saint, died in the Inkerman cave.

The monastery began to operate under the name of the Inkerman Skete of Saints Clement and Martin . This fortress was conquered by the Goths, then by the Khazars. In 864, it was visited by the educators of the Slavs Cyril and Methodius.

In the 20th century, Inkerman became a workers' settlement. Here and now, with a population of 12.5 thousand people, there are several factories, a heat and power plant, an oil depot, a metal depot, two freight stations for Sevastopol cargo and almost 50 private and small enterprises.

It has long been mined in Inkerman and continue to extract building limestone – white “Inkerman stone”. The Great Livadia Palace was also built from it.

Underground Sevastopol

When German bombs and shells destroyed Sevastopol in 1941-1942, life in it did not stop only thanks to the underground city. Hundreds of shelters gave shelter to people, factories and workshops worked in adits and tunnels.

On the western shore of the South Bay, at a thirty-meter depth, a telephone exchange operated. Hospitals, headquarters, economic services, schools and even a cinema were hidden underground.

With the beginning of the era of nuclear weapons, a plan appeared: to create something like an underground duplicate under each military facility – headquarters, enterprise, military unit – something like an underground duplicate.

According to experts, about 60 protected command posts, communication centers, automatic telephone exchanges, at least 100 fortified coastal batteries, underground structures for rocket launchers, over 100 powder magazines, storage facilities for missile and torpedo weapons were built near Sevastopol.

In addition, about 150 utility rooms for technical equipment, fuel, food, more than 200 shelters for the population and for the personnel of the fleet should remain underground.

Material published on the Vokrug Sveta website in December 2015, partially updated in August 2022

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