Balaklava is a satellite city of Sevastopol on the shores of the Balaklava Bay of the Black Sea. Known as a former submarine base. The main element of the local landscape is the ruins of the Chembalo fortress, from the mountain slope of which a wonderful view of the southern coast of Crimea opens up.
By bus
The main and practically the only way to get to the
city is to take minibus No. 9, departing from the 5th kilometer stop
in Sevastopol (travel time 15 minutes, interval 10-15 minutes, 20
rubles). A much rarer minibus No. 94 departs from Nakhimov Square in
Sevastopol (travel time 35 minutes, interval 25-30 minutes, 20
rubles).
The only bus that does not travel from Sevastopol
starts its journey in Dzhankoy, passes through Simferopol and
Bakhchisarai, runs twice a day.
The final stop of fixed-route
taxis from Sevastopol, pl. May 1st.
By car
From
Sevastopol, from the stop "5th kilometer" of the Balaklava highway,
go along the R-27 highway to the interchange, then turn right onto
the highway that leads to Balaklava. The turn is marked with a sign.
Distance - 12 kilometers.
On the ship
There are no regular
flights. However, during the holiday season you can get pleasure
boats from Sevastopol, Batiliman, Laspi, Foros, Yalta.
The only type of public transport operating within the city is
minibuses and buses traveling from Sevastopol. They pass through the
whole city, even entering sleeping areas.
Flight boats. They
work only in summer.
Balaklava - Near Beach - Golden Beach
(8:00 - 19:00, every hour, 50 rubles)
Balaklava - Vasili Beach -
Jasper Beach (9:00 - 19:00, every two hours, 150-200 rubles)
1 "Cembalo Fortress", on the top and slopes of Mount Fortress (At
the end of the Nazukin embankment there is a staircase that allows
you to climb the Barnabo Grillo tower). One of the Genoese
fortresses of Gazaria. The first fortifications were built in the
middle of the XIV century. The fortress consisted of 2 cities: at
the top of the cliff there was a city-citadel, surrounded on one
side by a cliff, and on the other side by powerful walls with eight
towers, and two towers stood apart and were not connected to the
walls, inside the citadel there was a consular castle-tower
(presumably about 15 m high). Below on the slope of the mountain was
the second city, which was also surrounded by walls with six towers.
Below in the bay housed the port and the market. In 1475, the
fortress was captured and passed to the Turks, since that time it
has been known as Balaklava. After the annexation of Crimea to the
Russian Empire, the territory of the fortress was used to
accommodate the soldiers of the garrison, and later fell into decay,
losing its strategic importance. Now half destroyed.
2 Nazukin
Embankment Wikidata element, starts from May Day Square and ends
with a turn to Rubtsova Street. The main embankment of Balaklava. In
its current form, it was built mainly in the 1880s and 1890s at the
expense of the city. Entertainment facilities are concentrated on
the embankment - restaurants, cafes, bars, there is a yacht club, a
diving center, a city beach, a cinema, berths for private yachts and
skiffs, as well as passenger boats. The Nazukin embankment overlooks
the Balaklava Bay and Mount Kastron with the ruins of the Chembalo
fortress.
3 Tavricheskaya Embankment. Another embankment. It is
already located on the other - the western shore of the Balaklava
Bay.
4 Church of the Twelve Apostles, st. Rubtsova, 41. ☎ +7
(8692) 63-77-12. It was built in 1794 on the foundations of an old
church from 1357. During the Crimean War it was damaged. In 1875 it
was restored and consecrated. Currently, it is the courtyard of the
Inkerman St. Clement Monastery. Particles of the relics of the
saints are kept here: the holy blessed Basil, the holy reverend
Sergius of Radonezh and the holy hieromartyr Clement of Rome.
5
The hunting lodge of Prince Yusupov. Built at the very beginning of
the 20th century. Now in a deplorable state.
In Balaklava you can go diving, take part in cycling tours, regattas,
horseback riding, sea fishing, just ride a boat, take part in various
festivals.
1 Underground Submarine Repair Museum Complex,
Tavricheskaya embankment, 22 electric vehicle). ☎ +7 (8692) 63-75-90, 10
56 +7 (978) 889 10 56. 10:00–18:30, ticket office closes an hour and a
half earlier. Adult 300 rubles, students 100 rubles. An underground
complex designed to shelter, repair and maintain submarines of the 613th
and 633rd projects, as well as to store ammunition intended for these
submarines. The underground facility's 602-meter-long channel could
accommodate up to seven submarines. The complex also included a repair
and technical base intended for the storage and maintenance of nuclear
weapons. After the collapse of the USSR, the object as a military unit
lost its relevance and was disbanded, after which an underground museum
complex was opened. The duration of the walking tour is 1 hour 20
minutes, the length of the route is 900 m. During the tour you will see
the first in the Soviet Union underground anti-nuclear, top secret
facility for sheltering submarines from an atomic explosion, a 600-meter
underground sea navigation channel penetrating through Mount Tavros from
north to south, and the only arsenal of nuclear weapons of the USSR Navy
that has survived in Europe, in the premises of which museum expositions
are currently located.
2 Wine tours to the factory of sparkling
wines "Zolotaya Balka", st. Krestovsky, 66 (by minibus No. 9 from May
1st Square, go to the Zolotaya Balka stop). ✉ ☎ 06 40 8 (800) 500 06 40.
10:00 – 18:00. 800 rubles - a one-hour tour of the vineyards with a
tasting of 6 types of champagne, 1300 rubles - an hour and a half tour,
where light snacks are added to the previous set. You can try champagnes
and sparkling wines: white, red, muscat. Winemakers talk about the
features of the production of sparkling wines, about the benefits of
wine and the culture of their consumption.
3 Balaklavsky center
of culture and leisure , st. Kalicha, 21. ☎ +7 (8692) 63-73-79, +7
(8692) 63-73-52. Various events are held for children and adults: city
and regional competitions, entertainment programs, literary lounges,
theme evenings, art exhibitions and photo exhibitions.
4 Center
for active recreation "Academy of espionage", st. Nazukina, 29 (at the
end of the Nazukina embankment opposite the fish restaurant "Rybaka's
Hut"). ☎ +7 (978) 700 33 02. 11:00 - 20:00. the price for the attraction
is 100-250 rubles. An entertainment center with a rope park, a cave and
a climbing wall, a mega-swing, a bungee jump, a zipline (bungee flight),
a powerfan (free fall), a shooting range and an interactive photo
studio.
5 Sea kayaking. 9:00 to 19:00. 200 rubles/hour, 1000
rubles/day per person. It is possible to train, rent, as well as one-day
and multi-day trips with an instructor on the following routes: to Cape
Fiolent and back, to Cape Aya and back, Cape Aya-Laspi and back by bus,
Cape Fiolent-"Blue Bay" and back by bus, Laspi-Cape Aya-Balaklava, "Blue
Bay" - Cape Fiolent-Balaklava. As a deposit, you must have a passport or
driver's license with you.
✦ Club "On the Wave" , Marble Beach. ☎
+7 (978) 818-48-38. Half-day route - 450 rubles / person, full day - 600
rubles / person. You can arrange for the kayaks to be brought to another
place where the swim starts, for example, Fiolenta or Golubaya Bukhta.
✦ Blackseakayak, Marble Beach. ☎ + 7 (978) 75 00 867, +7 (978) 0810592,
blackseakayak. Kayak rental from 500 rubles for half a day, one-day
routes from 1000 rubles.
Inside Balaklava Bay
6 City beach, Nazukin embankment. The only
beach located directly in the city center. But it has several drawbacks:
concrete pavement, dirty water due to the abundance of ships passing
nearby, and many visitors.
7 Marble Beach (Western side of
Balaklava Bay, at the end of the Tavricheskaya embankment. Public
transport does not run, so you need to get off at the Obolon stop, turn
onto Marble Street, then walk along the bay). Another beach inside the
Balaklava Bay, but already located much closer to the open sea. Beach
with small pebbles. Kayak rentals are available on site.
Main
beaches in the open sea
The two main beaches that are reached by boat
or go along the mountain path are Silver and Golden beaches.
How to
get there: from June to mid-September, you can take regular boats
departing from the pier at the end of the Nazukin embankment. The trip
duration is 15 minutes to the Silver Beach, 20-25 minutes to the Golden
Beach. In addition, at any time of the year you can get there by private
boats.
On foot, it will take 40-60 minutes to reach the beaches:
at the end of the embankment, climb the concrete steps to the Cembalo
fortress, then follow a well-visible path along the sea. The descent to
the beaches is marked with signs.
8 Silver Beach (Middle). It is
strewn with large and small pebbles. Equipped with locker rooms, there
is a rescue station, a tent with drinks.
9 Golden Beach (Far). Pebble
beach, equipped with a mooring for boats, sheds, changing rooms. During
the season there is a tent with drinks and a rescue station.
10
Jasper Beach. Pebble. There are changing rooms, tents with drinks, a
children's trampoline, awnings. Boats, kayaks and rafts are available
for rent. From the beach you can get to Balaklava by regular boat. In
addition to the main large boat, small private ones sometimes go. Some
private traders are ready to arrange a short excursion along the coast.
In addition to the water, there is a land route from the stop "5th
kilometer of the Balaklava highway" on buses No. 3 and 79 to the stop
"Monastyr", from there walk about a kilometer to the St. George's
Monastery, and from there down the stairs about 750 steps.
Hard-to-reach and therefore little-visited beaches.
11
Vasilyevskaya gully (Vasili) beach, 1.5 km west of Balaklava bay. Small
pebbles and sand. There are changing rooms on the territory, in the
season there is a tent with drinks and ice cream, lifeguards work. You
can pitch a tent.
How to get there: public transport stop "Obolon",
then on foot to the Marble Beach, then along the road uphill, through
the pass, along the camp site of the Mining Administration, and then go
down to the beach along 288 concrete and stone steps. Another option is
a boat trip from Balaklava Bay, which lasts no more than 15 minutes.
12 Shaitan Beach. A small pebble beach under the rocks at the entrance
to the Balaklava bay.
How to get there: walk along a steep path in
the Shaitan-dere gully (Devil's Yar), between the Fortress Wall and
Mount Spilia, the last section is down a 10-meter ladder attached to the
rock.
13 Fig Beach. A strip of several beaches (no more than 150
meters in total) with huge boulders randomly located along the coast,
between which there are narrow passages to the sea. Vacationers most
often stop not on the shore, but higher - in a pine forest.
How to
get there: by skiffs from the Nazukin embankment. Or by a scheduled boat
to the Golden Beach, then - along the path between the rocks and stones
towards Cape Aya.
Balalkava Wine Fest, October 1-2. Performances by artists, DJs, wine
tasting and dishes prepared by famous chefs.
Music festival "Zolotaya
Balka", August 3-4. Concert with the participation of famous groups (in
2017 - including "Leningrad"), various performances.
Lots of souvenirs on the waterfront.
Market "Kadykovka",
Balaklava. The market has both products and manufactured goods. Prices
are quite democratic.
Supermarket "PUD", st. Nevskaya, 2. around the
clock.
ATM RNKB, st. Krestovsky, 35 (Grocery supermarket "Wild Med").
The only ATM in the city. Accepts cards issued by Russian banks.
Even at the beginning of the 20th century, Balaklava was famous for
its cafes and restaurants: travelers praised the town for its bohemian
atmosphere, in which the main notes belonged to fried fish, coffee and
wine. Today is very different from past days: it is very difficult to
find a restaurant with delicious food and an acceptable level of
service.
Cheap
At the very beginning of the embankment on May
1 Square, there is a Dolce bakery with cheap pastries. Next to it and
further along the embankment they sell shawarma for 150-200 rubles.
Also, near a public transport stop, you can find a small cafe "Balaklava
Burger", which prepares good burgers.
1 Cafe "Pogrebok", st.
Krestovsky, 35. Second courses 160-240 rubles. Tasty and inexpensive.
Nice atmosphere. There is no alcohol on the menu, but you can bring your
own.
2 "Wolves-Sheep" , St. Rubtsova, 1 (on the first floor of the
hotel "Gomer"). ☎ +7 (978) 748 44 07. Coffee 80-120 rubles, sliders
(chiabata sandwich with filling) 190-250 rubles. A small cafe at the
hotel, there are a few tables on the street. Prepare delicious
sandwiches and slightly less tasty salads. Visitors praise.
3
Cheburechnaya, st. Construction. Chebureks 70-90 rubles. Pasties with
very different fillings, such as mussels. Visitors praise. Extremely
unattractive interior.
4 Cafe Listrigon, st. Kalicha, 6. 100-150
rubles. Soups, salads, etc. cheap food, good quality. The interior is
without any frills, not counting the bar in the form of a ship's side.
Aug 2018 edit
Average prices
5 Art-cafe "Scenery" , st.
Novikova, 3 G (in the courtyard of the hotel "Fordewind"). ☎ +7 (989)
082 39 03. 9:00 – 24:00. Pleasant staff. Huge portions. Well prepared.
6 Sushi restaurant "Sakura", st. Novikova, 10G. Sets 200-300 rubles.
Good sushi for a reasonable price. But some visitors are unhappy with
the quality of the food.
7 Restaurant Fisherman's Hut ,
Naberezhnaya Nazukina, 33 (at the very end of the embankment). ☎ +7
(8692) 45-50-49, +7 (978) 70 38 66 7. 11:00 - 24:00. Fish 200-400 rubles
per dish. Fish restaurant with a large selection of seafood dishes.
Located right next to the sea with great views. Two halls on the first
and second floors and a summer terrace outside. Nevertheless, visitors
often have complaints about the quality of food.
Expensive
8
Fish restaurant "Balaklava", st. Kalicha, 21 (pl May 1st). ☎ +7 (8692)
63-78-34, +7 (978) 749-23-66. 10:00 - 00:00. First courses 230-500
rubles, second courses 250-1300 rubles. Fish restaurant with a cozy
interior in a marine style. The menu has a large selection of dishes
from fresh Black Sea fish, including fish soup, seafood, meat, an
extensive wine list, including French champagne and European wines.
Delicious food, the highest ratings in rating systems. Excellent
service. Nice view from the terrace.
9 Egoist Art Restaurant,
Nazukina Embankment, 1. ☎ +7 (8692) 46-58-94, +7 (978) 805 18 86.
10:00–23:00. Good service. Tasty food. Large portions. But the prices
are too high: more expensive than the average along the waterfront.
10. Tatyanin Mys Restaurant, Naberezhnaya Naberezhnaya, 8. 11:00–00:00.
Fish restaurant. Outwardly, it resembles a small white steamer. Closed
main hall and open terrace on the second floor. Live music in the
evenings. Contradictory reviews: someone is delighted with the food,
someone thinks that there is nowhere worse.
11 Prince Restaurant ,
Naberezhnaya Nazukina, 1a. ☎ 58 18 +7 (978) 105 58 18. 12:00–02:00. Main
dishes 280-1000 rubles, salads 160-600 rubles. A floating
restaurant-ship moored in the central part of the Balaklava embankment.
It bears the name of the British sailing and screw frigate "Prince",
which died in 1854 during a storm near Balaklava. The restaurant is
located on three levels. The first deck is an indoor hall, the second is
a covered summer terrace, the third is an open terrace with a good view
of Balaklava Bay. Fresh Black Sea fish, kvass, fruit drink and homemade
compote. They cook quite tasty, but there are complaints about both food
and service.
12 Drake's Tavern, Tavricheskaya embankment, 17 (at the
hotel of the yacht club "Mriya"). ☎ +7 978 722 11 62. 9:00–00:00. Main
dishes from 350 rubles. Seafood oriented. Decorated in a "pirate style".
Delicious, but not for everyone. There are complaints about the service.
Cafe bar "Donjon" , st. Novikova, 2-A. 150-250 rub. A simple bar with a summer terrace. The menu is dominated by alcoholic drinks, there are dishes on the grill.
Prices are highly dependent on the season, here they are indicated at
the very beginning of the tourist season.
Cheap
1 Motel
"Listrigon" , st. November 7th, 5d. ✉ ☎ +7 (978) 827-19-11, +7 (8692)
63-71-69. Double economy 600 rubles, quadruple economy 800 rubles,
double room 1600-1750 rubles. Most economy rooms are equipped with bunk
beds. The hotel offers a magnificent view of the Balaklava Bay and the
Genoese towers, spacious (from 15 m²) room terraces, a cozy cafe
(European and Oriental cuisine), free parking for guests, luggage
storage, rental office, conference room, telephone, satellite TV, taxi
call, 200 meters to the embankment and boat dock.
✦ Hostel
"Sloboda", st. Rubtsova, 16 (At the hotel "Rybatskaya Sloboda"). Bed in
a multi-bed room 650-700 rubles. Cozy atmosphere, everything is new and
of high quality, expensive linens, hygiene kit (slippers, shampoo, gel,
soap, paste and brush), good wi-fi. Very clean.
2 Sanatorium-preventorium "Cembalo", st. Zhukova, 26 (away from the
embankment, on a hill). ☎ +7 (8692) 53-86-65, +7 (8692) 95-30-63. Double
room 600 rubles, suite 1000 rubles. Soviet type sanatorium with fairly
clean, simple rooms. On the territory there is a dining room, a sauna, a
gym, 3 tennis courts, an indoor pool, billiards. It is unknown if this
establishment is still open in 2017.
Average prices
3 Hotel
"Fordewind", st. Marble, 2 (in the center of Balaklava, 400 meters from
the embankment). ✉ ☎ +7 (8692) 63-71-71, +7 978 813 82 43. Double
1900-2150 rubles, triple 2400-3500 rubles. It is located next to the
minibus stop, between the two embankments of Balaklava, not far from the
submarine museum. Polite staff, clean rooms. But sometimes they complain
about a weak Wi-Fi signal in the rooms and poor sound insulation: you
can hear what is happening in neighboring rooms and how trains run. But
in general, visitors are satisfied.
4 Hotel "Mriya", st. Marble,
17. ✉ ☎ +7 978 722 11 62, 84 25 +7 (8692) 93 84 25. Double room 2000
rub, junior suite 2900 rub. Quiet, calm hotel on the seafront with
rather simple rooms, which have a balcony, and some of the rooms have a
sea view. But poor breakfasts, and only one socket in the room.
5
Guest House in Balaklava, st. Krestovsky, 26a. Double 1700-3500 rubles,
triple 3800 rubles. The hosts offer free pick-up and drop-off. There is
a kitchen in the courtyard, but sometimes there are not enough utensils.
New furniture in the rooms. Wi-Fi is available only on the ground floor
and in the courtyard. Rooms are rarely cleaned.
6 Apartment
"Balaklava", st. Kirova, 11. Studio for 1-3 people 1600-1900 rubles,
apartments for 4-5 people 2200-3500 rubles. The location is secluded and
isolated from noisy restaurants, but at the same time - a two-minute
walk from the embankment. There is a full kitchen with everything you
need. Of the minuses: in the apartments of the 1st floor there are no
windows in the room, the balcony is shared with other rooms, there is no
sea view.
Expensive
7 Guest House «KuprInn», Kuprina str.,
5. Double room 3500, junior suite 5000 rub. Nice view from the balcony,
there is a garden around the hotel. Spacious rooms with interesting
design, cozy atmosphere. Friendly hosts and delicious breakfasts. There
are barbecue facilities, sauna. High ratings.
8 Hotel "Dakkar" ,
st. Kalicha, 13. ☎ +7 (8692) 63-77-63, +7 978 810-88-87, dakkar-resort1.
Single room 3000 rubles, double room 2800 rubles, junior suite 4500
rubles. Excellent service. Very friendly and well trained staff. Good
breakfast. View of the Balaklava bay. High marks from visitors. But
sometimes they complain about the noise near the hotel.
9 Hotel
"Dionysus", st. Krestovsky, 87a. ✉ ☎ 03 25 +7 (8692) 63 03 25, +7 978
748 59 57, dionis-crimea. Double 3000-3400 rubles, quadruple suite
5000-6000 rubles. The hotel is located in a closed area with a total
area of more than 0.5 hectares and has 17 rooms of various levels. In
each of the rooms: bathroom, refrigerator, telephone, TV, satellite TV,
automatic security system, as well as the necessary household services
from the hotel staff. It offers clients an outdoor pool, sauna,
phytobarrel, restaurant, barbecue, billiard club, playground, parking.
10 Hotel "Gomer", st. Rubtsova, 1. ☎ +7 (978) 828-71-99. Double room
2100-3000 rubles, suite 4800 rubles. New hotel, convenient location near
the embankment, fast internet. Excellent reviews in which visitors
highly praise the staff. The hotel has a hot tub, Turkish bath, bar.
Delicious breakfasts.
11 Hotel "Rybatskaya Sloboda", st. Rubtsova, 16
(90 meters from the embankment). ☎ +7 (978) 0689202. Double junior suite
2625-3100 rubles, quadruple junior suite 4200 rubles. Clean rooms, good
staff, convenient location 50 meters from the embankment, enough
furniture in the room, very high ratings in booking systems. But not all
rooms have a sea view, despite the statement that it is in all. No
breakfast, audibility of neighboring rooms and the street, slow
internet.
The Baidarsky reserve is the largest reserve in the north-east of
Balaklava. Includes Baidarskaya valley and the Black River basin. 45 km
of hiking trails.
Foros is a small village famous for its park
and the Church of the Resurrection of Christ, located on the edge of a
cliff.
1 Fort "Southern Balaklava". It was built before and
during the First World War. It is a fortification structure, consisting
of concrete rooms, gun platforms and ditches 2-3 meters deep. One of the
elements of the fort is the so-called "Barrel of Death".
2 "Barrel of
death". The "barrel" with a diameter of 1.8 m and a height of 2 m, made
of thick sheet armor, hangs on a rock over a 360-meter precipice. The
walls and floor are equipped with slots for observation and firing.
There is a popular legend according to which the Nazis shot captured Red
Army soldiers in a “barrel”, from where, supposedly, the ominous name
“Barrel of Death” appeared, but there is no evidence for this. From here
a panoramic view of the Ayazma tract, Cape Aya and the entrance to the
Balaklava Bay opens.
3 19 Drapushko Battery, at the very exit from
Balaklava Bay on its western shore. It was built in 1912-24 and could
hit cruisers and battleships at a distance of up to 20 km. Until now,
four gun ports have been preserved, under which underground
communications are located. In an abandoned state.
4 "Death Valley".
Place of the Battle of Balaklava in 1854 - one of the largest battles of
the Crimean War of 1853-1856. During which, due to illiterate command,
more than 2/3 of the attacking British were killed. After the war, a
memorial sign was erected at this place. There is also an English
cemetery here. Winston Churchill came here in 1945 after the Yalta
Conference.
5 Cape Aya State Landscape Reserve. Created in 1982, it
occupies an area of 1132 hectares and the adjacent water area. It
includes the natural monument of local importance "Pitsunda pine and
high juniper grove on Cape Aya", "Batiliman tract" and the reserved
tract "Stankevich's pine grove". The flora of the reserve includes up to
500 species of plants, of which 28 species are listed in the Red Book of
Ukraine. Relic Stankevich pine, high juniper, 16 species of orchids,
pollenhead, small-fruited strawberry, Pontic needle, cistus, yellow
sumac, buckthorn, Abraham's tree, pistachio pistachio, and the like grow
in the coastal strip near the cape.
According to one version, the name of the city comes from Turkish
(“balyk” - fish) and Greek “lava” - fishing; according to another
version, the name comes from the Crimean Tatar language, in which the
expression "balıqlı ava" literally means "fish weather". According to
O.N. Trubachev, the toponym originates from the Indo-Aryan language of
the ancient Taurians, where the name of the city Παλάκιον (it is
believed that it was located on the site of the current Balaklava)
sounded like *Palakia and meant '(City) belonging to King Palak'.
The modern toponym takes its name from the Genoese fortress
XIV-XVIII Cembalo ("cymbal-shaped bay"). After the capture in 1475 by
the Turks, the fortress was named Balyk-yuv (“Fish's nest”, “fish
place”). Emidio Dortelli d'Ascoli in 1634 in the "Description of the
Black Sea and Tataria ..." and Vincenzo Maria Coronelli on the globe of
1693 already mark the bay as Balaklava.
Probably for the first time Balaklava is mentioned in
Homer's Odyssey as the harbor of Lamos, the city of the Laestrigons (X,
77-99). To make such an assumption, the author's acquaintance with the
short northern nights and the description of the bay allow:
We
entered the glorious harbor: it is formed by cliffs,
Steep on both
sides rising and moving beside
Great mouths, against each other from
the dark abyss
Seas with protruding stones, blocking the entrance and
exit.
My people, having penetrated the spacious harbor with ships,
They were approved in its depths and tied, close to the shore
Putting
next to: there the waves are never great or small
No, there the sea
bosom shines like a plain.
Homer, Odyssey (translated by V. A.
Zhukovsky)
In the 1st century A.D. Pliny the Elder in "Natural
History" when listing the surrounding cities of Chersonesos calls the
harbor Syumbol (Symbolum portus). Strabo writes about "a harbor with a
narrow entrance, where the Taurians used to gather their bands of
robbers, attacking those who fled here", under the title Συμβολων Λιμήν
(Geography, VII, 4, 2). This name, apparently, should be translated as
Signal Bay, since the entrance to the harbor is hidden behind the rocks
and is not visible from the sea. Until the 1st century A.D. e. it was a
fishing village, the main population of which were Greeks and Taurians.
The latter were forced out only with the arrival of the Romans.
In the 60s of the 1st century A.D. e. (between 63 and 66) the Roman
legions under the command of the legate of the province of Lower Moesia,
Plautius Silvanus, defeated the Taurus-Scythian army that besieged
Chersonese. Shortly thereafter, the Roman garrisons were brought into
Chersonese, and the fortress of Kharaks was erected on Cape Ai-Todor,
and a military camp appeared in Symbolon Bay. It is from this time that
the dating of the Chersonese and Roman coins found on the territory of
Balaklava begins. Several Roman buildings were also found - a one-story
nine-room building (the so-called "state house"), which was covered with
tiles with the emblems of the legions, as well as a temple dedicated to
Jupiter Dolichen.
After the Roman troops left the Crimea in the
mid-240s, the city did not become empty, the Greek population remained
there until the 370s, when the Northern Black Sea region was devastated
by the invasion of the Huns. However, already at the beginning of the
7th century, the Byzantine settlement of Yamboli was recorded here. In
704, Emperor Justinian II, who fled from Chersonese, was hiding here.
The name Yamboli is a corruption of the Latin Simbolum.
In 1345, Yamboli was captured by the Genoese, who, however,
did not hold the city for long, since they were driven out of there by
the Tatar troops. However, in 1357, the colony was again in the hands of
Genoa: it was this year that the construction of the Cembalo fortress
began - this is how the Italians adopted the name Yamboli. In 1380, the
Golden Horde Khan Tokhtamysh, seeking to enlist the support of the
Genoese, gave them possession of the entire southern coast of Crimea -
from Alushta to Balaklava; this territory was called the captaincy of
Gothia. However, the territory of the Chembalo consulate was limited to
the outskirts of the city and the Balaklava valley with the village of
Nehora (Kadykoy).
After the plague of 1429 and the drought of
1428-1430, the Greek population of Cembalo in the autumn of 1433 raised
an uprising against the Genoese rule, during which the Principality of
Theodoro captured the city. The 16th-century Italian historian Umberto
Folleta wrote of this event:
“This year [1433], the Greek inhabitants
of Cembalo, the city of Tauride Chersonesus, plotted against the Genoese
rulers of the city, suddenly taking up arms, and, having driven the
Genoese, they handed over the city to some Greek Alexei, the ruler of
Fedoro ... "
By decision of the Senate of Genoa and the Bank of
St. George, a squadron of 20 galleys was sent with a landing force of
6,000 hired soldiers under the command of condottiere Carlo Lomellini.
On June 4 (13), 1434, the Genoese took and plundered Cembalo, capturing
the son of Prince Theodoro Alexei. Then the army headed north and
captured the only port of Theodoro - the fortress of Kalamita, but on
June 22 (27) it was defeated in the battle of Solkhat by the five
thousandth army of Hadji Gerai, who then laid siege to Kafa. According
to the peace concluded in 1434, all territories in the Crimea remained
behind Genoa, for which she recognized Haji Gerai as the Crimean Khan
and paid a ransom for the prisoners.
Around 1474, the city was
visited by Afanasy Nikitin, who mentioned it in his travel notes
“Journey Beyond the Three Seas”.
In 1475, the
Ottoman Empire seized the Greek and Italian possessions in the Crimea:
the Principality of Theodoro and the Genoese colonies. Three years
before the capture of Chembalo by the Turks, Afanasy Nikitin visited
there, who recorded the Tatar name of the city - Balikaya.
In
1624, Balaklava was captured by the Zaporozhye Cossacks. In the summer
of 1625, the Astrakhan governors P. Golovin and A. Zubov wrote to the
Ambassadorial order:
"This year, in 7134, about two thousand Don
Cossacks went to the sea in the autumn, and with them they landed on the
sea in 300 plows with 10,000 Zaporizhian Cherkasy. they fought the war
against the cities of Tur and took the Turian 3 Pomeranian cities:
Trabizon, and they will not mention the names of other cities [Balaklava
and Kafa]. beaten with 800 people. And from the sea de, sir, the Don
Cossacks came to the Don to their towns. Yes, after de, sir, they soon
came to the Don with a Cossack from the sea and Zaporizhzhya Cherkasy
with 500 people and wintered with the Cossacks on Don."
In the
Periplus d'Ascoli of 1634, the place is described as follows
"Baluklava is famous for its harbor, galleons of large displacement
(grandissimi Galioni) are made here to send them to Alexandria, as well
as galleys (galere), every year 5 pieces [...] Currently this city is
uninhabited, only shipbuilders live there, but even then from case to
case, and after the end of seasonal work they go to another place "
On June 23 (July 5), 1773, during the first Russian-Turkish war, a
naval battle took place near Balaklava: a Turkish squadron of four ships
was attacked by two Russians: Koron and Taganrog. After a stubborn
six-hour battle, the Turkish ships, having received heavy artillery
damage, were forced to retreat. The battle of Balaklava was the first
victory of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea.
According to the Kyuchuk-Kainarji peace, the Crimean Khanate gained
independence from the Ottoman Empire and a protectorate of Russia was
declared over it. The Turkish garrison left Balaklava - Cossacks came in
its place. Balaklava Bay became the first place of deployment of the
Russian fleet in the Crimea, even before the founding of Sevastopol. By
order of Catherine II (“correcting Balaklava as it is, to keep it
settled here by the Greek army”), the Greek battalion of Balaklava,
formed from the Greeks who entered the Russian service, was stationed in
the city; he was called upon to guard the southern coast of Crimea. The
Greeks were allocated allotments near Balaklava, then fixed for life
use.
During the journey of Catherine II across the Crimea in
1787, according to the plan of Potemkin, the Empress was met by the
“Amazonian army” at Balaklava under the command of the wife of the
captain of the Greek battalion, Elena Ivanovna Sarandova. Here is how
she herself described the event:
"the Mason company was composed by
order of His Serene Highness Prince Potemkin-Tauride, who followed in
the name of the commander of the Balaklava regiment, Prime Major Chaponi
and consisted of noble wives and daughters of the Balaklava Greeks,
including 100 persons, in March-April, 1787<...> Meet The Empress was
supposed to be near Balaklava near the village of Kadykovka, and the
company under my command was built at the end of the alley lined with
orange, lemon and laurel trees. First, the Roman Emperor Joseph arrived
on horseback to inspect Balaklava Bay and the ruins of an ancient
fortress. Seeing the Amazons, he rode up to me and kissed me on the
lips, which caused great excitement in the company. But I reassured my
subordinates with the words: "Quiet! What are you afraid of? You saw
that the Emperor did not take away my lips and did not leave his." The
word "Emperor" affected the Amazons, who did not know who was driving
in. After examining the bay and surroundings, the crowned traveler
returned to the Empress and had already arrived for the second time to K
Adykovka with Her Majesty and Prince Potemkin in Her carriage. At
Kadykovka, the Empress was met by Archpriest of the Balaklava Regiment,
Fr. Ananias. Without getting out of the carriage, the Empress called me
to her, gave me her hand, kissed me on the lips and, patting my
shoulder, deigned to say: “Congratulations, Amazon captain! Your company
is serviceable: I am very pleased with it"
During the visits of
the Crimea by Alexander I in 1819 and 1825 and by Nicholas I in 1837,
the Greek battalion was entrusted with guard duty under the emperor, for
which the Greeks were generously rewarded: land allotments were
expanded, compensation was paid for dead soldiers, salaries were
increased, in addition, schools.
In 1808, customs and quarantine
were established in Balaklava, but the city never became a powerful
trading port. In those days, the city was more like a village: only one
street passed through the city, and there were a little more than a
thousand inhabitants. In 1851, the engineer-captain Yu.K.
During the Crimean War, Balaklava was occupied by the British army.
After the battle on the Alma lost by the Russian army, part of the
British troops, without meeting resistance on their way, headed for
Balaklava. On the night of September 13 (25) to September 14 (26), 1854,
the vanguard of the British army entered the city and, unexpectedly for
them, was fired upon by fire from the Genoese fortress, where Colonel
Manto sat down. Totleben later wrote about this event:
“While the
British were approaching Balaklava, the commander of the Balaklava Greek
infantry battalion, Colonel Manto, sat down in the ancient ruins. With
one company of his battalion, including 80 combatants and 30 retired
soldiers. They had 4 copper half-pood mortars with them. <...> The enemy
avant-garde, approaching Balaklava, was unexpectedly met by the fire of
the Greek shooters.
After a six-hour skirmish, the defenders of
the fortress (about 60 people, including Colonel Manto, almost all of
them were wounded) were taken prisoner. Part of the Greek battalion
broke into the mountains and then joined the Russian army in Yalta.
On October 13 (25) in the valley north of Balaklava, the so-called
Battle of Balaklava took place: the Russian army sought to capture the
English camp and thereby cut off the supply of the British. The place of
the battle was later called Death Valley, in 1856 the British installed
a memorial sign there and there is an English cemetery, which Winston
Churchill visited in 1945 after the Yalta Conference.
Until the
end of the war, the British army and navy were based in Balaklava. The
British built a wooden embankment (now the Nazukin embankment is located
on this site), water supply was also carried out and highways were
built. In the village of Kadykovka (now part of the city) there were
shops, hotels and entertainment establishments. In addition, in
February-March 1855, the British built the first Balaklava railway in
Crimea, 12.8 km long, it connected Balaklava Bay and a military depot in
the Sapun Mountain area. After the war, the railway was dismantled and
sold to the Turks.
On November 2 (14), 1854, during a severe
storm, 11 ships of the English fleet, which were in the roadstead at the
entrance to Balaklava Bay, were thrown onto the coastal rocks. Among the
sunken ships was the legendary three-masted steamship Prince, which, on
its maiden voyage, brought winter clothing, supplies, and a secret
weapon to blow up the sunken Russian ships blocking the entrance to
Sevastopol Bay. Of the 150 crew members, only seven survived. According
to legend, the "Prince" was supposed to deliver a large amount of gold
for the salary of British soldiers. In April 1855, a detachment of
British nurses arrived in Balaclava under the leadership of Florence
Nightingale.
On February 8, 1855, on the initiative of the private English firm
"Peto, Brassey and Company", the construction of the first railway in
the Crimea for the delivery of guns and shells to the places of siege
work began. On January 19, 1855, the first batch of workers arrived in
Balaklava from England with the chief engineer James Batty, from where
they delivered 1800 tons of rails, 6000 sleepers, 300 tons of boards and
about 2000 tons of various cargo, including cranes, platform wagons,
trolleys and even cars for driving piles. Construction was completed in
seven weeks - by March 26, 1855.
The railway ran along the
western shore of Balaklava Bay. Then the double track went to the
village of Kady-Koy, turned left, skirting the French hill, went to the
crossroads of dirt roads, where now the 10th kilometer of the Balaklava
highway, passed by the farm of General Braker and reached the
Vorontsovskoye highway (the old Yalta road). Traditionally, the length
of the railway was considered to be seven miles, that is, 11 kilometers.
But, according to the English engineer Brian Cook, together with the
branches, the railway was twice as long - about 14 miles (22.5 km).
To speed up the transportation of goods from the UK, steam
locomotives were delivered, each of them had the name: "Commonwealth",
"Victory", "Swan" and "Black Diamond".
After the end of the
Crimean War, the railway was dismantled and sold to a Turkish company.
According to some reports, the British themselves did it, according to
others, the Russians.
In May-June 1856, the allies left the city, and soon the devastated
Balaklava, together with Kadykovka, was transferred to the category of a
provincial (non-district) city of the Yalta district of the Tauride
province. The revival of Balaklava took place at the end of the 19th
century and is associated with the development of the city as a resort.
In the 1860s, the imperial family acquired Livadia, and already in the
1870s, the southern coast of Crimea became a fashionable vacation spot
for the aristocracy.
The first person to appreciate the potential
of Balaklava as a resort was K. A. Skyrmunt: in the 1870s, having
settled in the city, he opened a boarding house in his house; in
addition, the Skirmunt family acquired plots in the Balaklava Valley and
began to plant Hungarian and Rhine grape varieties there. In 1888, K. A.
Skyrmunt opened a mud bath on the embankment.
In 1887, on Novaya
Embankment (now Nazukin Embankment), in house number 3, the first hotel
in the city, the Grand Hotel, was opened. Then the Rossiya Hotel
appeared (21 Novaya Embankment), owned by the mayor Spiridon Ginali. The
Ginali family also owned baths, to which in 1904 a building with 12
rooms was added for taking sea baths.
In 1903-1905, on the
western shore of the bay, almost at the very entrance to the harbor,
according to the project of Academician N.P. Krasnov, the architect of
the Livadia Palace, a dacha of Count Matvey Apraksin was built in the
then popular neo-Greek style. The building was cut into the rock, the
cottage was surrounded by terraced gardens, there was a small pier on
the embankment. Before the Great Patriotic War, the headquarters of the
artillery battalion was located in the villa. Leaving Balaklava, the
German troops blew up Apraksin's dacha - the foundation, the retaining
wall and the remains of the garden were preserved.
In the early
1900s, the so-called “hunting lodge” of the Yusupovs was built there, on
the western coast; probably, N. P. Krasnov was also the architect of
this dacha. None of the Yusupovs has ever lived in this house.
Currently, the dacha is in private ownership, which, however, does not
affect its appearance.
At the same time, in the first decade of
the 20th century, the dacha of the actress Sokolova was built on Novaya
Embankment, in the wing of which (not preserved) Lesya Ukrainka lived in
the fall of 1907, as well as the dacha of Maretskaya - now the Library
named after A. I. Kuprin.
In addition, the territory between the
old part of the city and Kadykovka was actively built up: a large number
of dachas were erected in the so-called "New City". In total, more than
100 dachas were built in Balaklava from 1900 to 1910. According to the
data of 1904, 2240 people lived in the city: 76.2% of them were Greeks,
17.4% were Russians, 4% were Jews, 1.1% were Germans, 0.7% were Tatars
and 0.2% - Poles. And in 1911, 2895 people lived in Balaklava (together
with Kadykovka), there were 4 churches, a one-class zemstvo school (in
the building of the city government), a parochial school in Kadykovka
and a private school of L. V. Sinelnikova. In the same year, Dr. V. L.
Pedkov opened a private light and hydrotherapy clinic and a power plant
in Balaklava.
On the eve and at the beginning
of the First World War, the Southern (Balaklava) group of land
fortifications was built near Balaklava: two forts of the “dismembered”
type (the author is military engineer Polyansky). The "Northern" fort is
located at an altitude of 212 m, and the "Southern" - at an altitude of
386 m. The fort "Southern Balaklava" was called the "Barrel of Death":
here, according to legend, executions were carried out during the Great
Patriotic War. At the same time, not far from Balaklava, at Cape Fiolent
and at Cape George, construction began, respectively, of coastal
batteries No. 18 and 19; it ended only in the 1920s.
After the
signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Balaklava fell into the zone of
German occupation, and after the withdrawal of German troops, it ended
up in the zone of French intervention. After the defeat of the white
movement in the Crimea, Soviet power was established in November 1920.
In 1924, Balaklava became the birthplace of EPRON (Special Purpose
Underwater Expedition), created to search for the Black Prince with a
cargo of gold: the first diving courses in the USSR were opened in the
building of the Grand Hotel. In 1930, on the basis of these courses, the
EPRON Paramilitary Diving College was opened, which trained diving
personnel and was engaged in research activities. At the beginning of
World War II, EPRON was reorganized into the Navy's emergency rescue
service.
From 1936 to 1942, the 1st Naval Border School of the
Junior Commanders of the NKVD operated in Balaklava, the personnel of
which almost completely died heroically during the defense of
Sevastopol.
The defense of Balaklava during the Great Patriotic
War lasted from September 1941 to June 1942 - the city was abandoned
only on June 30, 1942. Balaklava was liberated from the invaders in
April 1944 as a result of the Crimean operation.
In 1953-1963, an
underground plant for the repair and equipment of submarines was built
in Balaklava - the so-called "Object 825 GTS", as well as "Object 820"
for the storage and preparation for combat use of six types of nuclear
weapons. It is located inside a rock on the western shore of the bay and
also has an exit from the sea. The plant would not have suffered even in
the event of a direct atomic strike with a power of up to 100 Kt, it
could accommodate up to three thousand people and had a deployed life
support system. Up to seven submarines can enter the plant at the same
time. The depth of the channel reaches 8 m, the width varies from 12 to
22 m. The total area of all premises and passages of the plant is 9600
m², the area of the underground water surface is 5200 m². In 1994, the
last submarine left Balaklava, the plant ceased operations and was
looted. Now part of the plant is a museum.
Since the plant was a
secret facility, on May 10, 1957, Balaklava was included in Sevastopol
and therefore lost the administrative status of the city and became a
closed territory. Until the end of the Cold War, Balaklava remained a
closed part of the city of Sevastopol.
After the annexation of
Crimea to the Russian Federation in 2014, Balaklava again became a
separate settlement (as part of the constituent entity of the Russian
Federation - the federal city of Sevastopol), but a more precise status
- which particular settlement it became - was not established. By the
law of the city of Sevastopol dated July 23, 2019 No. 518-ЗС, amendments
were made to the administrative division of the city of federal
significance of Sevastopol, giving Balaklava the status of a city.
The fortress was founded on Mount Kastron, located at the eastern
entrance to the bay. At the top of the cliff was the City of St.
Nicholas - a citadel surrounded on one side by a cliff, and on the other
by powerful walls with eight towers, two of which stood alone and were
not connected to the walls. Inside the citadel there was a consular
castle-tower (presumably about 15 m high), a massaria (customs) and a
church, which probably served as a burial place for noble residents. The
consul was elected in Genoa for a year and was the head of the executive
and judicial authorities of the city, he also, together with the
castellan of the Castle of St. Nicholas, was the head of the garrison,
which consisted of 40 crossbowmen. The personal guards of the consul,
apparently, were several Tatar cavalrymen.
On the slope of the
mountain was the City of St. George, in which most of the townspeople
lived - artisans, merchants, fishermen. The lower city was also
surrounded by walls with six towers, and from the south it was also
protected by a cliff. Below, under the mountain, in the bay, there was a
port and a market.
In the 1460s, the fortifications of the City
of St. George were rebuilt, and a citadel was erected in the southeast
corner with a powerful donjon tower, which was located at one of the
highest points, on top of a cliff, and today has been preserved to its
full height (about 20 m). The donjon had four tiers: the first was
occupied by a water tank, the second served as an arsenal, the third was
residential (there were remains of a fireplace), the upper tier was
occupied by a watch, it is possible that the donjon was also used as a
lighthouse. Water entered the cistern through a clay pipeline from the
Kefalo-Vrisi spring (Greek Κεφαλή Βρύση - head [beginning] of the
source), which is located at the top of the beam of the same name, on
Mount Spilia (Greek Σπήλια - cave); the source is still used to supply
water to Balaklava. The same cistern for collecting water was probably
located in the lower tier of the consular tower.
The donjon was
significantly damaged in the summer of 1942 and in the spring of 1944
during the defense and battles for the liberation of Sevastopol during
the Great Patriotic War. From 2004 to 2007, restoration work was carried
out on the tower. On the night of July 16-17, 2008, part of the donjon
tower collapsed after a heavy downpour.
In addition to the fortress, a church has been preserved in
Balaklava since the time of the Genoese domination - now the temple of
the Twelve Apostles (Rubtsova Street, 41). According to one version, it
was built in 1357, as the inscription on a stone found under a layer of
plaster during the restoration says: castellan." In 1794 the church was
restored and a portico appeared. It is not known in whose memory the
temple was originally consecrated; at the end of the Crimean War, the
church was consecrated in honor of St. Nicholas.
In Soviet times,
the Pioneers' house was set up in the church, and then the Osoaviahima
club. After the church was handed over to the Church in 1990, it was
re-consecrated in the name of the Twelve Apostles.