Hi, @SublimeSunday сommunity, it's my first post that is both my greetings here and a nice part of our common Sublime Sundays, I hope;)
This Sunday was special for our family because we visited a special place. We had an excursion to one of the main sight-seeings of Kerch, Crimea and Russia in general - to the fortress Kerch.
The main feauture of it that the square of the fortress is really huge! It has dozens of kilometres of length but....we don't see almost anithing being on the ground because....it's UNDER the ground. It's impossible to see it from the sky, and all the constructions are covered with grass and soil. Even when we were diring there, the road was NOT just a road. It was a road ON the fortress....
Underground miracle!
do you see a part of the fortress here?? Look better, it's there! But it's covered by the ground so carefully... The best protection from enemies!
Now I'll show you main shots from there, and then I'll make another post with main artectural beauty of it. There are so many photos from that place because it's worth of it!
My son and we all are in love with it!
It's an unbelievable place with long interesting history and important role for cultury, architecture and history of Russia. This unique place is a real treasure for all tourists and local people. And it's a diamond of my city without any doubt!
what we saw from the upper part of that place, 200m+ above the sea.
It's located on Cape Ak-Burun on the shore of the Kerch Strait in its narrowest part. The fortress was built in the 18th century to protect the southern borders of the Russian Empire.
The first fortifications on the shore of the Kerch Strait were built in 1771. In 1867, the Kerch fortifications received the status of a fortress.
The prerequisites for the construction of the fortress were the prohibition of Russia to have a fleet and military fortresses on the shores of the Black Sea, but the fortresses on the shores of the Kerch Strait in the Sea of Azov were not formally banned.
On this basis, in 1857, the construction of the Kerch fortress began. It took more than 20 years to build this grandiose structure, and it cost more than 12 million rubles.
Only by the beginning of the Russian-Turkish war in 1877 was the construction completely completed, all the fortifications were in full readiness, and the garrison was manned.
However, the fortress did not have a chance to take part in hostilities during the 19th century.
At the beginning of the 20th century its main function was a warehouse, after the revolution, political prisoners were kept here, and in the 1930s naval warehouses were organized in the premises of the citadel.
The real test was ahead. During the Great Patriotic War, the fortress was repeatedly shelled and bombed, and fierce battles were fought on its territory. Despite numerous attempts to blow up the fortification, it did not happen. After the war, warehouses were again located here, and then - a disciplinary battalion.
one of the rooms there
all the excursion was organised in such underground tunnels. There are hundreds of them there! We were going after the guide directly because it's very easy to be lost there!
my favourite place there... Just magical, yeah?
The main pride of the Kerch fortress is the underground passages, which are associated with many chilling legends and stories.
The territory around is very picturesque too.
We can see the whole city from there! Even my house;)
We had unforgettable feelings about this excursion. We spent about 2 hours there and could see just 10% of all that is hidden underground! The full excursion can last more than 12 hours!
My son liked this day very much. He even wasn't tired because he was absolutely involved in the guide's stories about the fortress.
A nice lesson of history;)