«… to the Governor-General Prince Potemkin… with the expansion of the borders of the Empire of All-Russia it is necessary … and to secure them by appointing new fortresses according to convenience….. Fortress big Sevastopol, where now Akhtiyar and where should be Admiralty, shipyard for the first rank of ships, port and military village …»
Words from the rescript of Catherine II February 10, 1784g.
Despite the military history of glorious Sevastopol full of clashes and battles, its main military architectural treasure — Sevastopol Fortress — has survived since the founding of the city. Today it is of great interest to the city’s guests, who always enjoy visiting the place that played a huge role in world history.
Sevastopol Fortress — one of the main attractions of the city, now on its forts are conducted excursions, and in one of them opened the Naval Museum. Tourists’ interest in the city’s main military site has not waned for decades, and everyone who comes to Sevastopol includes its visit in their itinerary. However, in addition to this, today it continues to play its direct role as a functioning military fortification, the home of an active military unit of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
This makes the Sevastopol Fortress a truly unique ancient military site, of which there are not many preserved in the whole world today.
The construction of the Sevastopol fortress began in the distant 1778 even before the foundation of the city on the orders of the great Russian commander A.V. Suvorov. Talented military Suvorov knew in advance that this place needed coastal fortifications that would cover one of the most strategically important points for the Russian Empire in the Black Sea. The same need after the foundation of Sevastopol realized and Empress Catherine the Great, which was confirmed by her decree of February 10, 1784. Catherine II ordered to erect on the shores of Sevastopol Bay (in those days it was called Akhtiarskaya) military settlement, port, shipyard, admiralty and fortifications. The bay itself was then deserted, keeping only the memory of such ancient cities as Khersonesos Tavricheskij in the form of ruins.
The works on the construction of the fortress were led by outstanding people: besides Suvorov, M.P. Lazarev, D.N. Senyavin, F.F. Ushakov participated in the construction. Russian engineers, soldiers, sailors, craftsmen through hard work erected powerful fortifications in the North and South of Sevastopol Bay for only 70 years — in 1854, the construction of the fortress was completed, and it was a great success, because the Crimean War began, the victory in which later would have been impossible without the main base of the Black Sea Fleet.
The complex of the Sevastopol fortress consists of many fortification buildings located on different sides of the Sevastopol bay: on the North side of the city are Mikhailovsky Fort, Northern Fortification (one of the oldest in the fortress) and Konstantinovsky Fort. On the southern shore of the bay there are fragments of buildings from the period of the first siege of Sevastopol: a section of the defensive wall (Saperny Lane), half-tower (6th Bastion Street), defensive barracks I bastion, a section of the berm and moat of the 10th earth battery at the Quarantine Bay. The fortress also includes Nikolayev and Alexander fortifications, several batteries, but nowadays it is customary to divide the fortress into 3 parts, which are best preserved: Konstantinovsky and Mikhailovsky forts and the Northern fortification.
Both forts are two-tiered and were erected in 1840 and 1846 respectively. In Konstantinovsky Fort and the Northern fortification today are placed active military units, and in Mikhailovsky, where in 2010. were carried out restoration work, is now open to tourists Military-historical complex «Mikhailovsky Battery» — a branch of the National Military History Museum of Ukraine. The museum offers exciting excursions, exhibits weapons, military uniforms, ship cannons, machine guns, knives, documents, books and letters of different military periods.
The excursion around the territory of the fortress and the museum will be remembered even by those who are alien to the interest in military art: casemates, barracks and other buildings keep within their walls the memory of tragic and glorious events, carrying a unique atmosphere, which can be only in such ancient and large military facilities. This fortress Krym is said to be one of the most interesting to visit.