SEVASTAPOL and the Crimean War
Sevastopol nestles near the foot of the western side of the Crimean Peninsula. It has been home to navies and – in Soviet times – was a key port for the Russians.. For such a strategic military location, it is surprisingly scenic, especially if you arrive by boat where a gentle hill rises behind a quaint fishing harbour.
The whole area surrounding Sevastopol resonates history – think Alma, Balaklava, Inkerman and the ‘Valley of Death’ battle scene depicted in the epic film “Charge of the Light Brigade” and immortalised by poet Alfred Tennyson.
The Crimean War which began in 1854 is principally remembered for three reasons: the Charge of the Light Brigade, maladministration in the British army, and Florence Nightingale.
It was a complex war fought by an alliance of Britain, France, Turkey and Sardinia troops against Russia, over a region of strategic importance and compounded by religious differences.
The Siege of Sevastopol during the war lasted for nearly a year. A young Russian army officer who later went on to write, among many works, “War and Peace” and “Anna Karenina”, described what he experienced during the siege in Tales of Sevastopol. His name was Leo Tolstoy.
Apart from being an amazing work of art, the Panorama at Sevastopol lets you view the war from behind “enemy” lines – from the Russian perspective – and walk in the shoes of a Russian soldier. Both sides had their heroes and both sides suffered terrible losses. The Panorama occupies most of the circular building in a park on Istoricheskiy Bulvar (Historic Boulevard). It’s a huge 360 degree re-creation of the defence of Sevastopol, consisting of a 4m high painting which forms a 115m circular backdrop to a life-size reconstructed view of the defences. The painting is cleverly merged into the foreground model work, creating a real sense of perspective. You stand at the centre with and the battle surrounds you.
The Panorama was created in 1905 by the painter France Alekseevich Rubaud. He researched the battle locally, talking to eye-witnesses, and then went to Germany to paint the enormous canvas. When the exhibition opened in May 1905, veterans of the actual battle were among the first to view it.
The Balaklava Naval Museum complex in Sevastapol was once a secret Soviet nuclear submarine factory. Concealed behind a concrete opening in the harbour wall is the mouth of the so-called “fish’s nest”, a natural underwater cave and harbour inside the hills. Until the early 1990s it was one of the most secret residential areas in the former Soviet Union.
Almost the entire population of Balaklava at one time worked at the base and even family members weren’t allowed to visit the town without a specific reason and proper identification. The base remained operational after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 until 1993 when the decommissioning process started and nuclear warheads and low yield torpedoes were removed. In 1996 the last Russian submarine left and guided tours began around the base. Visitors could breach the huge, nuclear-blast proof doors and explore 600m of former maintenance docks, mess rooms and the empty nuclear arsenal.
PADI-approved dives were offered through the sinister, watery channels of the factory – very James Bond.
