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The fortress, built by the Turks in the 18th century, once protected the Kerch Strait and the passage to the Sea of Azov. Now it is a picturesque ruin on the outskirts of Kerch with partially preserved bastions.

History of construction

In the 18th century, the territory of Crimea was owned by the Ottoman Empire. In the 15-17th centuries it was the largest and most influential state in the Mediterranean. It occupied almost the entire territory of the former Byzantium: northern Africa, Greece, all of Asia Minor. Many countries were under its influence. For example, the Crimean Khanate - the state that was the "heir" of the Golden Horde, and the Italian colonies of the Northern Black Sea coast fell under the influence of the Ottoman Empire from the 15th century. In 1475 the Turks landed in the Crimea, seized the Genoese colonies and forced the then Crimean Khan - Menli Girey - to recognise his dependence on the Horde. It was then that the territory of the Kerch Strait became part of the Ottoman Empire.

At the very beginning of the 18th century, the Turks built the fortress of Yeni-Kale here to protect the Kerch Strait. "Yeni-Kale" is literally translated as "new fortress". The old fortress was here once too. It was called Kilisejik. By the beginning of the 18th century from it remained only ruins and foundations - the fact that it was blown up back in 1631 during one of the clashes with the Zaporozhian Cossacks. But the fortress on the narrowest place of the strait was vital for the Turks: it controlled the passage for ships to the Sea of Azov.

We know the name of the architect - it was Italian Goloppo. Not much else is known about him - we also know that he did not just offer his work as an engineer to the Turks, but converted to Islam. He built the fortress itself in the French tradition. It is a pentagon with five half-bastions and sits on the mountainside, meaning it has several levels. Powerful walls around the perimeter surrounded the moat. The fortress could accommodate up to a thousand people of the permanent garrison and occupied two and a half hectares. It had everything necessary for life: a mosque, baths, arsenals, powder depots.

Fortress construction was not exhausted - under the fortress by the sea was a small port, and around the fortress grew a vast settlement. In order to distinguish them, it is customary to write the name of the fortress through a hyphen - Yeni-Kale, and the city and neighbouring territories merged - Yenikale. The only serious disadvantage was dependence on fresh water. The fortress had its own small well, but it could not provide water for the entire population. The water tanks were filled with water from a spring that was located quite far away and outside the walls. The water came to Yeni-Kale through karmic pipes.

Russo-Turkish War

In the 18th century, the growing confrontation between the Ottoman Empire and Russia turned into a war. Russia needed to gain access to the Black Sea. However, the war began not by a direct clash between the two powers, but by a dispute over Poland. Troubles began in Poland, Russia intervened and introduced troops there. And then the Barska Confederation, formed by the Polish Catholic nobility, which categorically opposed Russian interference in their affairs, turned to Turkey for support.

The diplomatic crisis came at a time when hostilities between Russia and the confederates spilled over into Turkish territory, to Balta and Dubossary. In 1768 war was declared. It began with raids by Crimean Tatars on Novorossiya (and at the same time on Polish territories), and on the Russian side with the occupation of Taganrog.

The Russian army was better armed and prepared and, although Commander-in-Chief Golitsyn preferred to proceed with caution and more defence, several victories followed. For example, in August the fortress of Khotin was taken, almost without a fight - the Turks simply abandoned it, and the Russian garrison had to bury their dead. During 1770, the Russians continued to win on the territory of Moldavia and southern Russia. The battles were not only land battles. In July 1770, the Russian fleet defeated the Turkish fleet in Chesmenskaya Bay. This is one of the grandest victories of the Russian navy in general, a day long remembered.

The year 1771 was marked by military actions in the Crimea. On the Turkish side we were opposed mainly by the troops of the Crimean Khanate allied with Turkey. In June, Perekop was taken by the Russians. The Tatar troops retreated to Feodosia, and the Crimean Khanate itself left Crimea altogether, taking refuge in Constantinople. 21 June 1771 detachment, commanded by Prince Fyodor Fedorovich Scherbatov, took first Kerch, and then the fortress of Yeni-Kale. The Turks surrendered the fortress without a fight, leaving here almost all the artillery. It turned out that the fortress, which was to protect the strait from the enemy fleet, was occupied from the land.

In 1772, a peace agreement was concluded between the Crimean Khanate and Russia. This took place in the city of Karasubazar (now Belogorsk). The Crimean Khanate remained independent, but came under the patronage of Russia, and the territories of Kerch and Yenikale became Russian. It turned out that these places became the very first Russian possessions in Crimea. In Kerch almost immediately began to build another fortress. Now it is Kerch fortress on Pavlovsky Cape. But Yeni-Kale continued to retain its importance for the control of the strait.

The Russo-Turkish war was ended only in 1774. A peace treaty between the Russian and Ottoman empires was signed at Kyuchuk-Kainajir. This treaty confirmed the agreement of 1772: neither Turkey nor Russia interfered in the affairs of the Crimean Khanate, and the territory of Kerch and Yenikale went to Russia.

Despite the terms of the treaty, Crimea remained a territory claimed by both empires. Turkey did not withdraw its troops from Crimea, Russia introduced its troops. The Crimean Tatar nobility supported the idea of returning under the patronage of the Ottoman Empire. Two contenders fought for the Khan's throne - the Russian protégé Shahin-Giray and the old khan Davlet-Giray. Shahin-Giray established himself on Taman, but soon with allied Russian troops landed at the fortress of Yeni-Kale, and then took the throne. He tried to rule in the European way, to change the old customs, to carry out reforms, but was characterised by cruelty and sharpness of character.

As a result, in 1777 a rebellion was raised against him, which had to be suppressed by Russian troops led by Alexander Suvorov. Russian garrisons settled in all the fortresses (including Yeni-Kale). In 1779 a new agreement with Turkey was reached. The Crimean khan became Shahin-Girey, and Russian troops were withdrawn from the Crimea. Garrisons remained only on our territories: three thousand men each in Yeni-Kale and Kerch. But four years later, after a new uprising and the abdication of Shahin-Giray, the Crimea was finally annexed to Russia.

A small town with a fortress in it gradually begin to be perceived as a satellite city of Kerch. Here in 1797 the baroque Trinity Church was built. Since 1825 the fortress finally loses its strategic importance and becomes a fortified hospital. In the Russo-Turkish War, the hospital successfully shot back from the fortress from an Allied landing, and the fortress was not surrendered. But by the 1880s the hospital had become dilapidated and was no longer needed. The fortress was abandoned, and the fishing village below it, which then had four thousand inhabitants, also began to slowly decline.

The fortress at present

The town of Yenkale was an independent entity until 1968. In 1948 it was renamed to the village of Sipyagino, and since 1968 it became part of the expanding Kerch. The Trinity church was blown up in 1935.

During the Great Patriotic War, the fortress again became a military facility, it was defended by a group of partisans for quite a long time. In general, there are many catacombs under Kerch: these are natural caves, and numerous remains of ancient burials, which are also caves, and underground passages. During the occupation there was a fierce struggle with the Nazis and catacombs served as a shelter for groups of partisans. The fortress of Yeni-Kale was convenient for hiding. Working cisterns with water were still preserved in it. In 1943-44 years there were battles with the Nazis. As a result of the Kerch-Eltigen landing operation, these territories were liberated first - and became a bridgehead for Soviet troops, from which the rest of Crimea was cleared of invaders.

Now from the fortress survived several picturesque fragments: three gates, one-storey hospital building. The most famous and beautiful part - bastion with towers by the sea above the Kerch Gate. Through the territory of the fortress is a railway, its embankment served as a rampart. It is this road that leads to the crossing of the strait. In Soviet times, a small restoration was made, part of the territory was cleared, but in general now the fortress lies in ruins. On the one hand, its historical appearance is hard to imagine now, but on the other hand - here is a unique opportunity to freely climb the ruins and remains of the walls.

On the cape itself, which is so called - Cape Lantern, there is a lighthouse. The lighthouse itself existed here since the 1820s, but the old building was blown up during the war: the lighthouse was defended and diverted the attention of German artillery from the Taman side. However, already in 1944 a temporary lighthouse was installed, using part of the old equipment. Immediately after the war it was a twenty-metre wooden tower with a lantern compartment on top. The present white-washed lighthouse was put up in 1953.

Next to the lighthouse is a memorial, erected in 1944 in memory of the liberation of the Cape and surrounding areas from the Nazis.

On a side note

  • Location: City. Kerch, 1st Beregovaya Street.

  • How to get there: from the bus station of Kerch by route buses №1 or №19 to the stop "Stroygorodok".

  • Entrance is free.