Description of the attraction
The Genoese fortress in Sudak is a monument of medieval architecture of world importance, it is the only Genoese citadel that has survived in the Crimea. This picturesque fortress, located on a cone-shaped mountain, is now a museum.
Byzantine Sugdeya
The fortress itself in these places existed long before the Genoese - at least from the 7th century. Was here Byzantine city of Sugdeya - a crowded shopping center, already protected by fortifications. There was a Byzantine customs office in the city.
The inhabitants of the city themselves erected its foundation by the 3rd century AD. NS. Indeed, during archaeological excavations it was found altar of Poseidon on the shore. Apparently, there really was some kind of fishing settlement, a port and a temple, but little has survived from these times. Sugdeya was also a large Christian center; it had its own bishop. One of the Sugdean bishops is Stephen, who lived in the 8th century. e., canonized and is now considered the heavenly patron of the city - Stefan Surozhsky.
Since the XI century, the city ceases to be considered Byzantine - it pays tribute to the Polovtsy. Polovtsi in response, they are ready to defend it - for example, at the beginning of the 13th century, a battle between the Polovtsy and the Seljuq Turks took place under the walls of the city. In 1239 Sugdeya was captured by troops Batu and became a member of Golden Horde … But the Venetians controlled these places until at the beginning of the XIV century they were expelled from the city, and their fortifications were destroyed. Shortly thereafter, taking advantage of the fact that the Horde is busy with internal turmoil, the Genoese come here.
Genoese
The Genoese Republic was one of the most powerful states in the Mediterranean in the 13th-15th centuries. A huge fleet, established trade relations - all this only strengthened her power. Genoese merchants supplied the whole of Europe with money and expanded their possessions at the expense of the islands of the Mediterranean Sea, and from a certain time began to take control of the northern Black Sea region.
In the middle of the XIII century, the Genoese received, under a treaty with Byzantium, advantages in trade in the Black Sea. They begin to trade through the Crimea with the Golden Horde. They found their colony in the Cafe (this is modern Feodosia). In the XIV century, they occupied Balaklava, recapturing it from the Greeks. They called her in Italian - Cembalo. The Genoese colony of Vosporo existed near present-day Kerch. In 1365 they captured Sudgeya - modern Sudak. Soon, these seizures were officially recognized by the Golden Horde. Part of the territory of the Southern Crimea around Sudak began to be called "Captaincy Gotia". The Genoese are gradually taking over the vast Crimean trade. This is honey, wax, wood, and above all - bread.
Crimea, as in ancient times, remains a Mediterranean breadbasket, the Byzantine Empire was rigidly dependent on grain supplies from Crimea - and hence from Genoa. This continued until the 15th century and the Ottoman conquest. V 1473 year The Crimean Khanate, to which these colonies formally subordinate, is part of the Ottoman Empire. The Genoese resist desperately, but are forced to surrender the city.
Fortress
The very first mention of the fortress in written sources is "Description of Tataria" (ie Crimea) by Martin Bronevsky, Polish diplomat and writer. He twice came to the Crimean Khan from Poland with the embassy of 1578-1580, in total he spent more than a year in the Crimea and wrote a book describing everything that he saw.
The fortress was built in the 15th century in place of the destroyed previous one. It had two lines of fortress walls. Some surrounded the citadel, the second - the nearby territory and port. The outer walls have 15 towers. The walls themselves are up to two meters wide, the towers up to fifteen. The towers of the outer wall were named after the rulers-consuls under whom they were erected. This is evidenced by slabs with inscriptions preserved on some towers. Once the territory (it was called "the city of the Holy Cross") was filled with houses, warehouses and churches - now it is empty.
Inner citadel Is a castle surrounded by four towers, itself having two towers, a courtyard and a free-standing donjon. The citadel was called castle of St. Elijah.
This place is described in more detail by the famous traveler P. Pallas already at the turn of the XVIII-XIX centuries. By the end of the 18th century, when he comes here, Sudak is a small port city, and the fortress is almost completely abandoned. There is a small Russian garrison located in barracks built of fortress stones. Pallas first takes a trip to the south of Russia, the Caucasus and the Crimea - and draws up a detailed description of it, and then completely settles in Sudak. He creates a school of viticulture here and is enthusiastically engaged in winemaking. Pallas is interested not so much in history as in geology - he describes in detail the gray sandstone and other rocks that he discovered in the vicinity and writes about their possible origin.
Pallas Fortress also describes. It has only 10 towers (the rest at this time, apparently, are in ruins and completely overgrown). Describes, made in a beautiful Gothic script, on the surviving towers, and writes that many lovers of antiquities take plates with these inscriptions with them.
Mosque, church, museum
One of the most interesting structures of the fortress is the so-called "Temple with an arcade", which now houses the exposition of the museum. The building has existed since at least the 13th century, and during this time it was radically rebuilt several times. Nobody knows what it was originally and whether it was a temple at all. Perhaps it was just a free-standing tower.
According to the most widespread version, at first it was a mosque built by the Seljuks. It is even accurately dated - 1222 - just when the Seljuks were trying to recapture the city from the Polovtsians. It is believed that later it became an Orthodox church. The Genoese converted the temple from Orthodox to Catholic (according to another version, they used it not as a temple at all, but as a public building for meetings). And when the Turks seized the territory, they made of it Padishah Jami Mosque.
After the establishment of Russian rule, the place changed again - now there was an Orthodox church of st. Matthew … By arrival Alexander I in the Crimea in 1818, they urgently carried out an audit of all buildings and repairs of everything that could be repaired. But this dilapidated church was not even repaired, it was simply closed.
In 1883, the building came in handy again. Now it was Armenian church, which was already closed by the field of the revolution - in 1924.
Another surviving temple is a small church of st. Paraskeva … Its foundations also date from around the 13th century AD. Fragments of ancient frescoes were discovered here not so long ago. Now the church is active.
Fortress in the XIX - XXI centuries
In 1839 g. Vorontsov, Novorossiysk governor and the actual "owner" of the Crimea created a "society of history and antiquities" in Odessa. Members of the society were actively involved in the study of Crimea. In 1868, the ruins of the fortress were transferred to the jurisdiction of the society and in fact became one of the first museums.
In the 1890s, there was a fairly significant restoration of everything that survived the onslaught of time. This is done Alexander Lvovich Berthier-Delagarde, a member of the Society of History and Antiquities and one of the most prominent explorers of the Crimea. He himself was engaged in excavations - in Chersonesos, in cave cities and here, he collected Crimean antiquities, wrote many works dedicated to the Crimea. A. Berthier-Delagarde carried out excavations and restoration at his own expense.
After the revolution, the fortress remained museum, only a few times passed from one department to another. The most significant part of its history is the restoration of the 60s. Since the 50s, excavations and research have been carried out, then the "Ukreprestavratsiya" institute began work. It was one of the highest quality and most thoughtful Soviet restorations of historical monuments. As a result, the original appearance of the fortress was reproduced surprisingly accurately, and what was not restored was mothballed to stop the destruction. The restoration was carried out under the guidance of an architect-restorer Elena Ivanovna Lopushinskaya.
Now it is Museum-Reserve "Sudak Fortress" … In addition to the open area available for inspection, there is also a closed museum exposition. This is, first of all, an archaeological collection housed in four museum halls. She tells about the history of this place from the most ancient times, starting from the Crimean Paleolithic. The museum also runs an exhibition hall in Sudak itself.
Genoese fortress in the cinema
This place is so picturesque and falls out of modern times that several historical films were filmed here: "The Gadfly", "The Odyssey of Captain Blood", "Primordial Rus".
In the film adaptation of "The Master and Margarita" by Vladimir Bortko, the fortress played the role of Herod's palace, and the Sugar Mountain not far from it played the role of Golgotha. In the cordon of Golgotha there were officers of the Sudak militia - it was they who played the Roman legionnaires.
In 1981, the Kazakh film "Year of the Dragon" was filmed here, about the battles of the Uyrugs with the Chinese. It is the Sudak fortress that the Chinese troops storm in the final. For filming, a whole herd of horses was brought here from Moscow by train.
Interesting Facts
The Genoese infantry fought as part of the Russian troops on the Kulikovo field.
Under the Venetians, the uncle of the famous traveler lived in Sugdei Marco Polo … They say that Marco Polo himself sailed here to visit a relative.
On a note
- Location: Sudak, st. Genoese fortress, 1.
- Official website:
- Working hours: in the summer from 8:00 to 20:00 seven days a week, in the winter - from 9:00 to 18:00. Excursion groups are recruited every hour.
- Entrance fee: adult - 200 rubles, concessionary - 100 rubles.
Description added:
panoram360ru 26.05.2016
Virtual tour of the Genoese Fortress:
