Sevastopol - City Information
Sevastopol info
The hero city of Sevastopol is situated on the Black Sea coast of the Crimean peninsular. Its population is 388.5 thousand people who are proud of the city's history and beauty. The name of Sevastopol is of Greek origin and means "city of glory, majestic, worthy of worship". Founded in 1783, it has since justified its name. The territory of Sevastopol was settled at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. The remains of Tauri fortifications confirm the 1st settlements of these sea-shore pirates appeared here on 9th century BC. The first Greek cities were founded on the north coast of the Black Sea in the 7th-6th centuries. One of them was Chersonessus, which appeared in the 5th century BC. Medieval Cehrsonessus or Cherson as it was called at that time was the chief Byzantine bastion in the Crimea until the 13th century and being under the influence of Byzantium, remained a political, economic and cultural center on the north coast of the Black Sea for many centuries. Another Greek settlement existed on the territory of Present Sevastopol. Its name was Symbolon-Limne. It appeared in ancient times at the place of a Tauri settlement and was located to the south of Chersonessus. It formed a part of the polis and was connected with the city for 1,500 years. Now it is the town of Balaklava, situated in the administrative territory of Sevastopol.
In the 13th century Byzantium started to decline and the polis withstood numerous Tatar assaults, but could not survive all of them. In the last decade of the 14th century the Tatar Khan Edighey put the Crimean towns to the sword and burnt them to the ground. Cherson was left in ruins. In 1350, according to an agreement with the Byzantine emperor, the ruined city of Chersonessus was given to Italians from Genoa together with the Greek settlement in present Balaklava. At that time Crimean peninsula fount itself at the center of important trade routs and the Genoeses that came there to take up mediatory trade earned much money.
Then the Turks took over this area and till the victory of Russian troops in Russian-Turkish war 1768-1774 there was a Crimean Khanate under the rule of Guirey dynasty. In 1783 Khan Guirey abdicated from the Crimean Throne and the Crimean peninsular started to be joined up with Russia. On June 3, 1783 on the western shore of the bay named Southern the 1st stone constructions of the future city were laid. This day is considered to be the birthday of Sevastopol. It was built by the sailors at 1st, later by serfs sent to Sevastopol from different parts of Russia.
The name of the future city was given by the Russian Empress Catherine II. First she decided to name it Cherson in the memory of ancient Chersonessus and it was decided to give a name of Sevastopol to another city, laid in the mouth of the Dniper River. The 1st Russian ships were being laid there at that time. But the envelopes with Catherine's decrees were mixed up and sent in the wrong directions, so the supposed Sevastopol became Cherson and the future Cherson was named Sevastopol. On learning the mistake the Empress changed nothing.
Having been found as the base of the Navy, the city of Sevastopol connected its destiny with the Navy for ever. So the Navy determined its appearance, biography and those severe sufferings that made Sevastopol world know. The history of the city is for ever connected with the names of Admiral F. Ushakov, who was the Commander-in Chief of the Black Sea Navy, and the ports, Admiral M. Lazarev, a military Governor of Sevastopol. Admiral Lazarev created a special school that trained officers for the Black Sea Navy. He paid a lot of attention to the city and its development.
Admiral Lazarev brought up whole galaxy of outstanding Russian officers, future heroes of the Synop battle and the 1st defense of Sevastopol during the Crimean War 1854-1855. They were Admirals P. Nakhimov, V. Kornilov, and V. Istomin. The defense lasted for 349 days, during which the inhabitants of Sevastopol did not yield, holding in check the advance of the numerous enemy troops and demonstrating the examples of courage, heroism and inflexible will. The war was lost and under the Paris Peace Treaty Sevastopol was returned to Russia in exchange for the fortress of Kars, which returned to Turkey. For 20 years Sevastopol laid in ruins, but after the point of the Paris Peace Treaty concerning Russian Navy was cancelled and the railway connected the base of the Black Sea Navy with the center of the country in 1875, the city began to rise from ashes.
The February revolution of 1917 and the overthrow of the tsar became known to the population of Sevastopol only in March and the Soviet power established in Sevastopol on December 29 1917, but it did not last long. The German troops took the Crimean peninsular and Sevastopol. Until 1920 Sevastopol was under interventionists, then the White Guard of General Denikin, the general Wrangler established a military dictatorship in the Crimea and then the Southern front under M. Frunze took Sevastopol.
Peaceful life was interrupted on June22, 1941. Great Patriotic War began. Some hours before war was declared Sevastopol had been bombed. The advance of Hitler troops on Sevastopol started on October 30, 1941. For 250 days and nights the enemy was unable to even approach the city. Sevastopol was liberated from the invaders on May 9, 1944. By the beginning of 1957 the city was practically restored from the zero level. It was a real labor exploit as far as after the liberation there were hardly 10 buildings uninjured during the war. Historical and architectural monuments were restored from the ruins; new blocks of buildings and districts were built. Therefore Sevastopol looks so young.
In 1954 Sevastopol together with the Crimea was given under the power of Ukraine. The collapse of the USSR was especially painful for Sevastopol as it has always been referred to as a Russian city and most of the population is Russians.
Nowadays Sevastopol as well as Kiev is under the administrative power of the State of Ukraine. But it still remains the main base of the Black Sea Fleet of Russian Federation.
The crash of the military industry negatively affected the economy of Sevastopol. Quite recently Ukrainian government has started to invest in the city as in the future tourist center. A famous airport Belbek was opened for civil flights, a new by pass highway over Inkerman was built. A city is becoming a center of extreme tourism, including mountain biking, mountaineering, speleology, gliding; war and historical excursions, sea voyages. The city citizens give their numerous holiday homes for rent at a quite high level of comfort, not to say about a big number of resort houses around Sevastopol. In the last years the number of tourists coming to Sevastopol increased considerably. Earlier it was rather difficult to come here. Sevastopol was a closed city because it was the base of the Navy and one had to get a special permission to get into Sevastopol. In 1996 it was opened finally and became of special interest to tourists from both CIS and foreign countries.
Among the other branches of economy, agriculture is in good condition. Local canned fish, sausages confectionery are also very good. High Quality wines are produces in Sevastopol region. The Balaklava wine-making plant named "Zolotaya Balka" and Inkerman vintage wine winery are word-known.
Sevastopol is also a serious scientific center. The city is the center if international oceanography. The Institute of Marine Hydrophisics is the only research institute in the CIS, occupied with the studying of the Ocean's physics. The institute of biology of Southern Seas is the only oldest ones on the territory of the CIS. In the city there are several high educational establishments - Sevastopol National Technical University, Naval institute that trains officers for the Ukrainian Navy, the institute of Nuclear Energy and Industry which trains specialists to work at nuclear power stations, the department of Moscow State University.
Sevastopol is rich in tourist attractions, historical, architectural landmarks, natural wonders and modern resort facilities.
Sevastopol sights
The monument to Captain A. Kazarsky is the 1st monument of Sevastopol, built on the first city boulevard, called Matrossky ("Sailor's") in 1834-39. The monument perpetuated for every of the heroic deed of the small 18-cannon brig "Mercury", which Kazarsky was a captain of. On May 26 1829 it had to begin the fight against superior forces of the 2 large Turkish battleships which outnumbered the Russian ship 10 times. The end of the battle was predetermined. And also it will seem unbelievable; the Russian brig won that battle and returned to the port of Sevastopol. On the pedestal, that bares a symbolic ancient military vessel, there is a laconic inscription "An example for posterity". As there was no deed courageous likes that in the history of Navies.
One of the most attractive sites of Sevastopol is Aquarium museum. It belongs to the Research institute of Biology of Southern seas and occupies the ground floor of the institute, situated in the center of Sevastopol. For years the museum told the visitors about the history of the Aquarium and the work of the institute. Flora and Fauna of the Black sea was represented there. The museum now consists of 4 beautiful modern halls, where one can see tropical sharks, the tiger python, from South west Asia, the American lizard of Iguana, a turtle with flat shell, fish of the piranha family and other unusual sea animals. In 12 wall-tanks there live the stone crabs, bright wrasses, eelpouts, scorpena and sea horses. In the central hall there is a big basin, where bigger fish like sturgeon, a flat fish and a big striped perch from the Atlantic Ocean live. There is also a rich collection of exotic animals, inhabitants of Mediterranean and the Red sea, the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans.
The memorial to admiral Pavel Nakhimov, is in the central part of the city, in the square named after the famous admiral, who a participant of the Synope and Navarino battles, the hero and the main leader of the Crimean war of 1854-1855 and a national hero. A 6-meter bronze figure of the admiral is facing the central part of the city and the open sea symbolizes the courage and military valor of the Russian fleet.
Historical Boulevard is in general known as a monument to the heroes of the 1st defense of Sevastopol, it is the name of the picturesque park nowadays and the territory of the 4th bastion, a fortification erected during the Crimean war 1854-1855. The monuments, restored fortifications and memorial walls are set along the line of defense. It is the place where the Panorama "The defense of Sevastopol is 1854-1855" is located. You can also see there an Obelisk devoted to the defenders of the 4th bastion, a monument to Leo Tolstoy, an outstanding Russian writer who took part on the Defense of Sevastopol being a 26-yesr old officer of the artillery. In another part of Historical Boulevard there is a monument to General E.Totleben, one of the famous heroes of the 1st defense. He was a talented military engineer and fortificator, under his leadership the defense line around Sevastopol was built on land. Every year a City Day combined with the Day of Historical Boulevard is celebrated here. There are military and historical, concert and entertaining, exhibition, sport, children's competitive programs. Broad interest aroused by the reconstruction of uniforms shown by military and historical clubs and the re-enchantments of medieval battles. Those of the periods of the 1st and second defenses of Sevastopol, of the Civil war in Russia, etc.
Sevastopol and its bays are inseparable. It there had not been its wonderful bays, the city-legend would not have existed; there would have been just a city, one of the thousand. Artillery bay is situated in the city center and is one of the most attractive. After the foundation of the city the artillery ammunition storages, that were later used as artillery workshops were situated on the shores of this bay. Nowadays the part of the Artillery bay is a beautiful embankment, with Primorskiy Boulevard, a great number of cafes and restaurants, and the boat stations where you can take ferry boats to Uchkuevka beach and Radiogorka residential area.
The Monument to the Scuttled Ships is the emblem of Sevastopol, its visiting card. The monument erected in the main bay is devoted to the Russian sailing vessels sunken in the bay in September 1854 and February 1855. Such a difficult action for the Russian sailors and such an unexpected one for the enemy prevented the more powerful Allied British and French Navy from entering Sevastopol Bay. After that the enemy had to besiege the city for a long time. The monument is 16.66 m in height and is situated on the artificial rock in the water, not far from the shore of the bay. The pillar of the Corinthian order rises above the sea. A bronze eagle with extended wings is on the top of it. The eagle keeps a wreath of laurel in its beak. The monument survived the WWII.
Malakhov Hill (Malakhov Kurgan) is a huge park area and an open air memorial complex dedicated to 2 defenses of Sevastopol- during the Crimean war of 1854-1855 and WW II. A complex unites Kornilov’s bastion, a defensive tower (the only construction made of stone), cannons of the 1st heroic defence of Sevastopol, a monument to admiral Kornilov, mortally wounded on the defense line.
Diorama "assault of Sapun Hill on May 7, 1944" It is a part of museum complex situated on Sapun hill. The site is 6 km away from the central part of Sevastopol and there during the 2nd defence of the hero city in 1941-1942, and during the time of liberation of the city in spring 1944 this natural 8-km long obstacle on the way to Sevastopol became the scene of fierce fights. A museum of Diorama is a semi-circular building containing diorama itself and an exposition devoted to 250-days heroic defence and liberation of Crimean peninsular. 25-mete long and 5 meter in height canvas depict one of the episodes of the battle for the liberation of Sevastopol from the Hitler’s troops, which took place on the slopes of Sapun Hill. The battle was led literally for every meter of Sevastopol land. An object plan of the immense diorama has 83 m2. Besides the building of Diorama, the Museum complex includes an open air exposition. It is possible to see models of weapons and equipment (tanks, artillery, military naval armaments) and also models of captured German weapons. Behind the building of Diorama there is a memorial complex with the Eternal flame at the Obelisk of Glory. A Chapel of St. George built in honor of 50-year anniversary of the Victory of the Soviet people over facts Germany is nearby.
The cape Phiolent is one of the most picturesque places in Sevastopol and one of the best beaches around the city. There is no unanimous opinion as to the origin of its name. The today's name of the cape is to some extend an echo of the old legend about the bloody sacrifices committed by Ifigenia in the Tauri sacred place – "Voilent" in Latin means "cruel". The Tauri threw the miserable foreigners, unfortunate enough to turn out themselves near the cost of the Tauris, down into the sea from the high rock. Cape Philent is also famous by the grotto of Diana and cross Rock. The legend says that in 890 several Greeks were captured by a horrible storm on the rock eastwards the Phiolent Cape. Feeling inevitable death, the miserable people started to pray George the Winner asking for protection. A miracle occurred: the storm was immediately over and the image of St. George appeared on the rock. A year later the saved set up a small cave monastery and started to call the rock itself the rock of the Saint Image. In the 19th century in commemoration of the 1.000 anniversary of setting up a monastery, it was restored and in addition they installed a stony cross with the image of George the Winner killing a dragon on the rock of the Saint image.
Chersonesus Taurica is an ancient Greek colony founded approximately 2500 years ago in the southwestern part of Crimea, known then as Taurica. The ancient city is located on the shore of the Black Sea at the outskirts of Sevastopol. Chersonesus' ancient ruins were excavated by the Russian government, starting from 1827. They are today a popular tourist attraction, protected by the state as an archaeological park. The buildings mix influences of Greek, Roman and Byzantine culture. The defensive wall is hundreds of meters long. Buildings include a Roman amphitheatre and a Greek temple. The largest portion of the site is "Chora", several square kilometres of ancient but now barren farmland, with remains of wine presses and defensive towers. In 2007 Chersonesus tied for fifth in the Seven Wonders of Ukraine poll.
On the territory of the Chersonese of Taurida, right by the sea shore there is crossbeam with a huge bell installed on the two massive supporting columns. It is famous "foggy" bell cast from the trophy German anon in 1776. During the Crimean war it was brought out with the other bells taken from the bell-towers of the city. In 1913 the bells turned out to bee in Notre Damme Cathedral in Paris. On 6 December the same year the “prisoner” returned to Sevastopol. It was installed on the bell tower of Chersonese Monastery. After the monastery was closed in 1925 and the bells dismantled, this copper giant was installed on the shore for running during nasty weather and warning of danger the ships floating by the shore. Now it is a symbol of Chersonese.
St. Vladimir's Cathedral is the most significant building on territory of Chersonese.
More about Sevastopol at Wikipedia
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