Cembalo Fortress (Crimea): description, photo, history

Chembalo - a fortress on the Crimean coast, is an architectural monument, which is located in the city of Balaklava. At this point in this place are the ruins of an ancient building, serving as the main attraction of the city.

The citadel on the mountain is a bright representative of medieval structures on the Crimean peninsula. The complex of defensive buildings, located on Mount Kastron, above the famous bay, inspires respect and veneration even in the form of ruins.

Crimea - fortress Cembalo

At the turn of the millennium, the Bay of Castron is mentioned in the writings by such famous men as Strabo, Ptolemy, Pliny the Elder and others, but none of them mentioned any village, even the smallest. The first mention of the settlement on the mountain dates back to the X-XIII centuries.

The fortress Cembalo is separated from the city by a deep cleft. Near it, recently found graves, dating from the time preceding the appearance in these places of the Genoese.

Any other buildings that would confirm the appearance of human sedentary settlements before this period were not found. It is necessary to carry out more thorough archaeological excavations that can confirm or deny the existence of camps or settlements of people in the area of the mountain and the bay of Castron before the 10th century AD.

How did Balaklava?

In the city people have lived since time immemorial. So, it is known that the Greeks who came to the outskirts of the city, found on these places Taurus, who were engaged in fishing and piracy.

The Greek village was independent until the first century AD, until it was occupied by Roman troops who decided to end pirate attacks of the Taurians.

During the archaeological excavations in 1996, the temple of Jupiter, built by the Romans, was found, which, together with the settlement, existed until the IV century.

Fortress Cembalo. History of occurrence

According to historical records Genoese appeared in the Balaklava area in 1343, taking the land from the Greek aristocrats. In the northern part of the mountain new owners dug a moat, arranged a rampart and dug it all with a wooden palisade.

On the north-eastern side of the mountain they built a stone tower with a gate. Until now, tourists can contemplate these buildings, or rather, what is left of them.

In 1354, eleven years after the Genoese established their camp on Mount Kastron, Khan Dzhanibek, one of the Horde warlords, approached their walls. The Latins did not want to enter into conflict with him and left their shelter, and the khan just burned the remaining buildings that were vacant.

Two years later peace was concluded between the Tatars and the Genoese, and the former masters returned to their place.

The Balaklava fortress Cembalo was soon restored, and in 1357 it was replenished with new defensive structures.

Appointment of a defensive structure

The fortress helped the Genoese safely trade with the Black Sea territories and control the local population. Over the years, sustained repeated sieges and tough battles Cembalo. The fortress was conquered in 1433 by Prince Alexei, the tsar Theodoro. A year later, troops sent from Genoa, returned it to its former owners. But already in 1475 it again took over, only now the Turks.

In the middle of the XIX century, under its walls, a battle broke out between the British and the Balaclava Greek garrison, which fought to the last bullet. In 1941-1942, the fortress housed a Soviet rifle regiment, which held defenses against the advancing German divisions. It was at this time that the fortress of Cembalo was the most severely damaged during its entire existence. Even with a powerful earthquake in 1927, not a single tower was destroyed in the fortress.

Cembalo - a museum under the sky

At present, the ruins are a major monument of military architecture of the Middle Ages, which can be visited by anyone at any time.

The fortress of Cembalo, the description of which was preserved in ancient annals, was built in a convenient place according to strategic parameters. On one side there is a steep cliff in the sea, and on the other is a bay. This location of the structure allows maximum use of the folds of the terrain to defend the fortress and bay, as well as to control the sea routes. After all, it was worthwhile to put a strong wall on the land side, as the building was almost impregnable. By the way, a medieval fortress structure in Sudak has a similar construction. There, the citadel has only three walls, and instead of the fourth, an inaccessible precipice. By the same scheme is built and Cembalo.

The fortress begins with the embankment, from the ancient market and the port. In the ancient era, its walls served as a protection for residential areas of a small settlement. The walls are built of Crimean stone with the use of a lime mortar.

Fortress structure

Sixteen stone towers were placed along the perimeter of the defensive structure, the ruins of some of them can be seen even today. At the top of the mountain is the highest building of the citadel, called the dungeon. The structure was protected by eight additional towers, located in a circle. The fortress Cembalo, whose photo is in the article, had inside the consular castle, customs and church, most likely serving as a burial place for eminent residents.

The Donjon, as planned by the architects, would become the last refuge if the fortress walls were captured or destroyed. It was three-tier, with a flat roof. The ground floor was built in the form of a cut cone, inside of which was a container with water. The inhabitants of the fortress took water from Kefalo-Vrisi, still serving as a source of water for modern Balaklava.

On the second floor of the citadel there were living rooms. Recently there were found the remains of a fireplace. On the third floor there was a watchman. At night or in bad weather, the central tower served as a beacon. Under the donjon were numerous cellars, which were intended for the storage of food and ammunition.

The Citadel in our days

Now the fortress of Cembalo is in ruins, there are four towers, some of the retaining and defensive walls, as well as the ruins of the church. In 2008, due to heavy rain, which eroded the old depression in the masonry, the north-eastern wall of the citadel collapsed.

This fortress is one of the most visited places by tourists who come on an excursion to Sevastopol and its surroundings.

If you climb to the top of Mount Kastron, where the fortress's donjon is, then an amazing panorama opens to the city of Balaklava, which snugly settled in the bay, on the surrounding striking terrain.

Each summer, there are numerous excursions, and in the fall on the ruins of an ancient fortress, knight tournaments are held.

Near the ruins there is a tourist path leading to the famous balaclava beaches, called Golden and Silver, as well as in the area of Fig.

From 2004 to 2007, Ukraine spent about 2.5 million hryvnias (about 8 million rubles) for the reconstruction and restoration of serf ruins, but these funds are insufficient to completely restore the ruins and turn them into a tourist complex that reflects the architectural defenses of the Middle Ages and is able to attract more More visitors.

Road to Balaclava

For travelers and tourists there are no difficulties to visit the fortress of Cembalo. How to get to the ruins? For this purpose it is only necessary to get to Sevastopol, because Balaklava is its suburb. Further all is simple. In a cozy town in the bay of the Black Sea with ancient ruins there is a bus four times a day. Time on the road is 25 minutes. You can get and hitchhike, because along this road there are many shuttle buses.

You can go to Balaklava via Yalta by car. The distance between the cities is 75 kilometers. You can drive from one city to another in one hour.

There is another route that allows visiting the fortress of Cembalo in Balaclava. We'll have to go from Simferopol, the capital of the peninsula, one of the buses that run four times a day. The journey takes 2-2.5 hours.

Excursion routes to the fortress

To get to the fortress Cembalo, you can use three popular excursion offers:

"The Secret Balaclava." The route starts with a factory for repair and re-equipment of underwater vehicles, then a sea walk and at the end - a visit to the ruins of the fortress. The duration of the tourist route is six hours, of which not less than half is a walk in the open sea and bathing. The length of the route is 50 kilometers.

- Bay Listrigonov. The duration and length of the excursion is the same as in the previous itinerary. The distinction of this way is that a sea voyage is carried out on a yacht to Cape Fiolent - a heavenly place on the Black Sea coast.

- The third excursion route begins with the sights of Balaklava and continues with a sea voyage to Cape Aya and the tract "Lost World". The excursion to Mount Kastron ends, where the Genoese fortress of Cembalo used to be, whose ruins with the remains of towers and walls tourists can see in our time.

Interesting historical facts about Cembalo

The fortress itself was divided into two parts: the Upper City, dedicated to St. Nicholas and located on the top of the mountain, and the Lower - named after St. George, located on the slope of the hill.

In the Upper City, all the administrative buildings necessary for the functioning of the fortress were built, and in Nizhny Novgorod - residential houses for the inhabitants of the citadel.

In the fortress lived two treasurers, a judge, a bishop, an elder, as well as messengers, trumpeters and several dozen riflemen.

The main population of the bastion was the Genoese, who had all the power in the region, including in trade. Also in the fortress there were Greeks, Tatars, Jews, Armenians and Slavs.

Conclusion

For those who want not only to plunge into the intoxicating beauty of the nature of the southern coast of the Crimea, but also to touch the memory of the medieval Balaklava, to feel the spirit of ancient structures that have seen in their time numerous battles and sieges, victories and defeats, it is recommended to visit Mount Kastron and standing on it The ruins of the Cembalo Fortress. The view that opens up from the top of the mountain will not leave a single person indifferent.