The Defense of Sevastopol

Author: Tamara Eidelman
Translator: Nora Favorov
Russian Life: Jul/Aug 2005
Department: Russian Calendar
Page: 20   ( 2) pages

Summary: Russian soldiers held off the French at Malakhov Kurgan for 349 days, before it fell, 150 years ago this month. The end of this battle brought an end to the Crimean War.

Sevastopol is a city layered in history. The remains of the ancient Greek city of Khersones are here, as are those of the medieval Byzantine fortress of Kalamita, known now as Inkerman, Turkish for "cave fortress." Roman legionnaires also walked these lands. In the middle ages, Genoese traders took note of the area's excellent natural harbors and placed a fortress here. The paths of Byzantine, Italian, Tatar and Turkish merchants — as well as many others — all intersected here; cultures mixed, they built churches and mosques, harbor fortifications and warehouses.

At the end of the 18th century, the lands of the Crimean Khanate became part of the Russian Empire. Empress Catherine the Great, like many of her predecessors, appreciated the strategic significance of this place by the sea, whose steep and jagged coastline was easily defended. And so, in 1783-84, a port was built here and Catherine gave it the Greek name of Sevastopol — "city worthy of veneration."

Catherine, born a German princess, was inspired by the ancient dream of Russia�fs tsars....