Description of the attraction
Cape Sukhumsky is located in the northwestern part of the city and borders the Sukhum Bay, cutting deeply into the Black Sea. On the shores of the convenient bay there were Greek, Roman and Byzantine settlements. With the development of regular navigation, a lighthouse was erected on the cape, warning sailors about the coastal rocks and at the same time serving as a navigational sign, especially at night and in bad weather.
The specialists of the famous French company Ernest Couin made a signal structure from riveted steel sheet. The construction on the promontory of a stone tower with an internal cast-iron spiral staircase lasted about five months. With the help of powerful screw piles, the base of the lighthouse was fixed in the sandy soil of the cape and an illuminating tower was installed, and in 1861 an oil lamp of the lighthouse illuminated the water area of the Sukhum Bay. The more powerful lantern and reflector system installed later were dismantled and taken by the Turks in 1887, but after six months the functionality of the lighthouse was restored.
The total height of the lighthouse reaches 37 meters; you can climb to the observation deck by overcoming 137 well-preserved steps of the spiral staircase. The lighthouse's illumination horizon is more than twenty kilometers. On the observation deck, even as part of a group, you can enjoy the amazing panorama of Sukhumi, New Athos and the Sukhum Bay, and from a bird's eye view you can recall the famous lines about proudly flying petrels.
Due to insufficient funding in 2000, the lighthouse was temporarily closed, but now it again receives tourists and is one of the attractions of this resort region.
