Balaklava ( uk, Балаклáва, russian: Балаклáва, crh, Balıqlava, ) is a settlement on the Crimean Peninsula and part of the

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be de ...

Sevastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...

. It is an administrative center of Balaklava Raion that used to be part of the Crimean Oblast before it was transferred to Sevastopol Municipality. Population:

History

Balaklava has changed possession several times during its history. A settlement at its present location was founded under the name of Symbolon () by the

Ancient Greeks Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...

, for whom it was an important commercial city. Balaclava Panorama

During the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, it was controlled by the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantin ...

and then by the

Genoese Genoese may refer to: * a person from Genoa * Genoese dialect, a dialect of the Ligurian language * Republic of Genoa (–1805), a former state in Liguria See also * Genovese, a surname * Genovesi, a surname * * * * * Genova (disambiguati ...

who conquered it in 1365. The Byzantines called the town Yamboli and the Genoese named it Cembalo. The Genoese built a large trading empire in both the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on th ...

and the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, ...

, buying slaves in

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, wh ...

and shipping them to

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...

via the Crimea, a lucrative market hotly contested with by the Venetians. The ruins of a

fortress positioned high on a clifftop above the entrance to the Balaklava Inlet are a popular

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism ...

attraction and have recently become the stage for a Medieval festival. The fortress is a subject of Mickiewicz's penultimate poem in his 1826 cycle of '' Crimean Sonnets''. In 1475, Cembalo City was conquered by the Turks and was subsequently renamed ''Balyk-Yuva'' (Fish's Nest) which then became Balaklava. During the Russo-Turkish War, 1768-1774, the Russian troops invaded Crimea in 1771. Thirteen years later, Crimea was definitively annexed by the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

. After that, the Crimean Tatar and Turkish population was forcefully replaced by Greek Orthodox people from the

Archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archi ...

. The town became famous for the

Battle of Balaclava The Battle of Balaclava, fought on 25 October 1854 during the Crimean War, was part of the Siege of Sevastopol (1854–55), an Allied attempt to capture the port and fortress of Sevastopol, Russia's principal naval base on the Black Sea. The en ...

during the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included t ...

thanks to the suicidal

Charge of the Light Brigade The Charge of the Light Brigade was a failed military action involving the British light cavalry led by James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan, Lord Cardigan against Russian forces during the Battle of Balaclava on 25 October 1854 in the Crimea ...

, a British cavalry charge due to a misunderstanding sent up a valley strongly held on three sides by the Russians, in which about 250 men were killed or wounded, and over 400 horses lost, effectively reducing the size of the mounted brigade by two thirds and destroying some of the finest light cavalry in the world to no military purpose. Alfred, Lord Tennyson immortalized the battle in verse in his ''Charge of the Light Brigade''. The balaclava, a tight knitted garment covering the whole head and neck with holes for the eyes and mouth, also takes its name from this settlement, where soldiers first wore them. Also numerous towns founded in English-speaking countries in later parts of the 19th Century were named "Balaklava" (see

Balaklava (disambiguation) Balaclava or Balaklava most often refers to: * Balaklava, a town in Crimea ** Battle of Balaclava, a battle during the Crimean War ** Balaklava District, an administrative raion (district) of the city of Sevastopol * Balaclava (clothing), a for ...

). In 1954, Balaklava, together with the whole

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a p ...

, passed from Russia to Ukraine. In 1957 it was formally incorporated into the municipal borders of Sevastopol by the Soviet government and lost city status. It became part of the independent state of

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...

in 1991. There are dozens of monuments in the town dedicated to the remembrance of military valor in past wars, including the Great Patriotic War, the

and the

Russian Civil War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Russian Civil War , partof = the Russian Revolution and the aftermath of World War I , image = , caption = Clockwise from top left: {{flatlist, *Soldiers ...

. Since the internationally unrecognized 2014 annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, Balaklava, along with rest of Crimea, is administered by Russia. In 2019 Russian authorities granted Balaklava status of a city within Sevastopol.

Underground submarine base

One of the monuments is an underground, formerly classified submarine base that was operational until 1993. The base was said to be virtually indestructible and designed to survive a direct atomic impact. During that period, Balaklava was one of the most secret residential areas in the Soviet Union. Almost the entire population of Balaklava at one time worked at the base; even family members could not visit the town of Balaklava without a good reason and proper identification. The base remained operational after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 until 1993 when the decommissioning process started. This process saw the removal of the warheads and low-yield torpedoes. In 1996, the last Russian submarine left the base. The base has since been opened to the public as the

Naval museum complex Balaklava Naval museum complex Balaklava ( uk, Морський музейний комплекс "Балаклава", Russian: Музей холодной войны, "The Cold War Museum", designation K-825) is an underground submarine base in Balak ...

. Image:Balaklava-camp.png, Army camp at Balaklava during the Crimean War Image:Balaklawa.JPG, Modern Balaklava - view from the Genoese fortress Image:Балаклава музей ЧФ.jpg, Entrance to submarine Soviet navy base Image:Балаклава вход в базу подлодок.jpg, Tunnel

Notes

External links

*
Balaklava and the Sevastopol Inquiry, 1855, by Commander W.Gordon, R.N.
*
Balaklava Photoalbum
*

* Russian underground Submarine Bas
Englishrussia.com
(photos) * Russian underground Submarine Bas
Iconicarchive.ch
(iconicarchive gallery) *

*
Photos of underground Submarine Base
{{Authority control Crimean War Territories of the Republic of Genoa Seaside resorts in Ukraine Seaside resorts in Russia Former municipalities Merged settlements in Ukraine Former closed cities