Wonders of Balaklava

By Iryna Pustynnikova
www.castles.com.ua

The sea is always quiet here: there are no storms that could get through the twisted meanders of the Balaklava Bay. Birds can enjoy the blue-and-green view of the earth spreading its arms around the sea in the shape of an “S”. Balaklava landscapes are spectacular, and the Fiolent Cape, which has been printed on thousands of postcards, looks even more breathtaking when it appears before your own eyes. However the ancient inhabitants of the bay, the Tauros (who are likely to be prototypes of the scary Laistrygones), did not care so much about the beauty of the sea as they were busy with their favourite occupation: piracy. Who knows, maybe one day they will attain the same screen glory of the famous Pirates of the Caribbean…
Not a lot is left in Balaklava from ancient times; the memories find their roots in mythology rather than in architecture. People say that somewhere around the Fiolent Cape there used to be a Temple of Iphigenia. That may be why ancient Greeks used to call Balaklava Bay “Sumbolon-limne”, or “The Bay of Symbols”. Ancient Romans built the Hercules Temple, the remains of which can be found here. Only thirteen such sanctuaries are known to exist in the world.
The pages of ancient history are followed by those of the Byzantine era. For some time Byzantine monks used to live here.
Next comes the period that can open a whole chapter in the book of Balaklava’s history. In the 14th century, Genoese merchants fought tooth and nail with their competitors, the Duchy of Feodoro, for this cosy narrow bay. However, the Duchy did not want to accept defeat and for a long time tried to recover the Bay of Symbols. This even caused a war in 1433. Then the Chembalo stronghold was built by the Genoese on the 200-metre-high Kastron Mountain to protect the bay. The Turks, who conquered Crimea in 1475, gave their own name to the bay – Fish Nest, or Balyk-Lav in Turkish, which was later transformed into Balaklava.
Chembalo Fortress seemed to have magnetic power over the Zaporozhian Cossacks who invaded it in 1625. The longest the Cossacks managed to stay here was in the 18th century; following the orders by Catherine II they were supposed to protect Crimea from the Turks. The Empress herself visited Balaklava in 1787. She was greeted by Amazons (local Greek women disguised to please the Tsarina); it was a special gift from her favourite Grigoriy Potemkin.
Let us keep turning the pages of our book. The Crimean War of 1853 – 1856 brought the best forces of the British Army to Balaklava’s banks – and sadly covered fields and vineyards with obelisks on soldiers’ graves. The English were the ones who built the first railway in Ukraine in record time in Balaklava, built the embankment and covered it with little shops and casinos. When their work was finished, they called it “Little London”. The Battle of Balaklava took place near Kady-Koy Village on October 13th, 1854. The English frigate “Black Prince” that sank in the bay waters has been rising in the dreams of many local boys. In their imagination, its actual cargo of medication and food has been replaced with dozens of barrels crammed with gold.
In the 19th century, the former village became a fashionable holiday resort where the dachas of Russia’s wealthiest men were built as well as institutions for mud cures. One local civil servant even had a wish to establish an independent Balaklava State, of which he informed Tsar Alexander ІІІ by official letter. The Tsar said “no” in a very diplomatic way: “Bite it”.
Later, Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, painter Ivan Aivazovskiy, and Ukrainian poetess Lesya Ukrainka have been attracted to Balaklava by the magic beauty of the bay and adjacent capes of AiYa and Fiolent.
The 20th century has drastically changed the looks of Balaklava. In 1957-1961, Moscow metropolitan engineers drilled the mine for a submarine repair plant in one of the rocks of the western coast. The plant, covering 5 100 square metres (an underground city!), was designed for the simultaneous repair and maintenance of seven submarines. It could shelter 3 000 people in case of attack and could operate autonomously for three years! This unique classified facility was guarded so carefully under Soviet rule that the whole city became a “secret” and disappeared from the world.
Only recently Balaklava, right next to Sevastopol, is getting back its fame as a resort. The underground submarine base is now one of its major attractions and is open for visits. The transparency of the Balaklava Bay waters around the rocky cape AiYa and the size of the local crabs never fail to amaze divers. Cape AiYa defines the southern border of Balaklava, separating Big Yalta and the Sevastopol Region. It has an outstanding climate and flora (28 representatives of the local flora are registered in the Red Book of Ukraine). Dolphins are regularly seen in the bay.
The road from Balaklava to Yalta will take you to Fiolent Cape (“Tiger Cape” in Turkic) hosting the ancient St. George’s Monastery founded in 891AD. From the Monastery, you can walk down to the Jasper Beach down the 800-step stairs. As the adverts say, it is a 2 in 1 deal: exercise for your legs and indescribable pleasure for your eyes. Here you understand how the Cape got its name: its soil is covered with stripes just like the pelt of a tiger. And you should see the amount of sun you can get here! The sun shines above Balaklava for 2300 hours a year!

GETTING THERE

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