The resort of Sudak is well known to all loyal fans of vacationing in Crimea. On its territory is the most grandiose Genuezskaya fortress, of those that built on the South Coast colonizers from the Apennines. The town is famous for its quartz sand beaches, vintage and champagne wines produced at the State Enterprise of the same name, which is part of the Massandra concern, as well as for its rose oil, which is as good as Bulgarian.
Unfortunately, of those 180 thousand people who prefer to do recreation in Sudak, few know about one more treasure, «hidden» in the house number 1 on Ushakov Street. This is the «Sudak Historical Museum», located in the so-called Funk Mansion. Its builder is the Prussian Baron Joachim Funk, who on his father’s side was a relative of the famous Walter Funk — President of the Reichsbank, Minister of Economy under Hitler, sentenced to imprisonment during the Nuremberg trial.
The Crimean Funks did not set up the German military industry, but were engaged in studying the influence of the local climate on the human body. One of the components of effective recreation the baron considered the aesthetic factor, so he built his own two-storey house in the traditional German romantic style, reinforcing the construction with a number of Gothic details — turrets, characteristic long, rounded windows and stone decorations.
Unlike many of its colleagues — architectural beauties of the XIX century, the house is restored and looks no worse than the mansions of the nouveau riche, who have taken in the siege of the park sanatorium «Sudak». During the Soviet Union in the former Funks’ ambassade there was organized an inter voyage hotel for sailors of the Yalta Sea Port, and after Ukraine gained independence the house was turned into a city historical museum.
The exposition of «Sudak Historical Museum» consists of 13 sections and is located in 4 largest rooms of the former mansion of Prussian baron. In the first room created a giant wall map of «Archaeological monuments of Sudak region», its own copy of which has long been acquired by each local «black archaeologist». In the showcases of the museum guests can see items recovered from the cultural layers of Paleolithic sites, the settlement of the Taurians, the sanctuary of the Goths, the Greek fort and the burial ground of the Alans. The first hall is the Sudak region from the Stone Age to the ancient period inclusive.
The second hall of the former Funk’s house is dedicated to Sudak as a Byzantine fortress, and the fortress as the residence of the viceroy of the Khazar Khaganate in Crimea. The third room contains exhibits belonging to the time of the Venetian Trade Republic. The room itself is designed as the office of the Doge, decorated with knight’s armor, fireplace, forged elements and characteristic door and window openings. The last, fourth room exhibits materials telling about the legendary principality of Theodoro, and scanty documents characterizing the culture and life of people who inhabited Sudak kadylik — one of the small administrative units of the great Ottoman Empire.
Thanks to such a museum, holiday in Sudak can be a great opportunity for parents with children to awaken in the latter a passion for the school course of history. As a result, both sides will benefit: parents who have a rest at the resort will work better, and students who are passionate about the subject will be able to better prepare for the STE in history, which is second in demand after the Ukrainian language and literature.