Cape Fonar (russian: Мыс Фонарь, uk, Мис Фонар, crh, Fener, Фенер, gr, Παρθένιον) is the easternmost point of the

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 pop ...

n peninsula. The cape is located on the western shore of

Kerch Strait The Kerch Strait, uk, Керченська протока, crh, Keriç boğazı, ady, Хы ТӀуалэ is a strait in Eastern Europe. It connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, separating the Kerch Peninsula of Crimea in the west from ...

near the exit to

Azov Sea The Sea of Azov ( Crimean Tatar: ''Azaq deñizi''; russian: Азовское море, Azovskoye more; uk, Азовське море, Azovs'ke more) is a sea in Eastern Europe connected to the Black Sea by the narrow (about ) Strait of Kerch, ...

. The cape was named ''Fonar'' (russian: фонарь) that means lamp or light since it was often used as a base for

navigation Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navigation, ...

cressets A cresset is a metal cup or basket, often mounted to or suspended from a pole, containing oil, pitch, a rope steeped in rosin or something flammable. They are burned as a light or beacon. Cressets mounted on the walls of Renaissance palaces in ...

. Nowadays the Yenikalsky Lighthouse is located on top of Cape Fonar. Unpopulated rocky coast of Cape Fonar attracts large amounts of

seabird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same enviro ...

s, also

dice snake Dice (singular die or dice) are small, throwable objects with marked sides that can rest in multiple positions. They are used for generating random values, commonly as part of tabletop games, including dice games, board games, role-playing ga ...

s are common there. The cape is occasionally visited by tourists and local fishermen.

History

According to

archaeologists Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

Cape Fonar area was populated since the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

. Sites of ancient settlements of that period have been discovered near the cape. During the

Bosporan Kingdom The Bosporan Kingdom, also known as the Kingdom of the Cimmerian Bosporus (, ''Vasíleio toú Kimmerikoú Vospórou''), was an ancient Greco-Scythian state located in eastern Crimea and the Taman Peninsula on the shores of the Cimmerian Bosporus, ...

period a town named Parthenion (Παρθένιον) was located at the cape. It was mentioned in the

Periplus A periplus (), or periplous, is a manuscript document that lists the ports and coastal landmarks, in order and with approximate intervening distances, that the captain of a vessel could expect to find along a shore. In that sense, the periplus wa ...

Scylax Scylax of Caryanda ( el, Σκύλαξ ὁ Καρυανδεύς) was a Greek explorer and writer of the late 6th and early 5th centuries BCE. His own writings are lost, though occasionally cited or quoted by later Greek and Roman authors. The peri ...

, dated 350 BC. In 1820, the Yenikalsky Lighthouse was constructed. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, several battles between the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

and

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

took place in Cape Fonar area. In 1943, this area was used by the

Soviets Soviet people ( rus, сове́тский наро́д, r=sovyétsky naród), or citizens of the USSR ( rus, гра́ждане СССР, grázhdanye SSSR), was an umbrella demonym for the population of the Soviet Union. Nationality policy in th ...

as a starting point of the Kerch–Eltigen Operation. New buildings of the Yenikalsky Lighthouse were built in 1953 as a replacement of the original tower destroyed in World War II. On 23 July 1995, a

bulker A bulk carrier or bulker is a merchant ship specially designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargo — such as grains, coal, ore, steel coils, and cement — in its cargo holds. Since the first specialized bulk carrier was built in 1852, economi ...

''Doja'' belonged to a

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

n ship owner sank near Cape Fonar. The ship capsized in stormy sea due to a cargo shift. According to the locals all crew members rescued using onboard life saving equipment. The ship was built in 1962 by

Burntisland Shipbuilding Company The Burntisland Shipbuilding Company was a shipbuilder and repairer in Burntisland, Fife, Scotland that was founded in 1918. In 1969 it was taken over by Robb-Caledon Shipbuilders, which in turn was nationalised in 1977 as part of British Ship ...

(

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

), she was delivered to

James Fisher & Sons James Fisher and Sons plc () is a British provider of marine engineering services, listed on the London Stock Exchange. It also remains a major shipowner, based in Barrow-in-Furness since the 1840s. History The company was founded by James Fisher ...

as ''Leven Fisher'', latter names: ''Haj Jassan'' (1982—1989), ''Allah Kareem'' (1989—1994), ''Doja'' (since 1994). In 2011, Cape Fonar was considered as a prospective area for the

Crimean Bridge The Crimean Bridge ( rus, Крымский мост, r=Krymskiy most, p=ˈkrɨmskʲij most), also called Kerch Strait Bridge or Kerch Bridge, is a pair of parallel bridges, one for a four-lane road and one for a double-track railway, spanning t ...

construction project, but after the 2014 annexation of Crimea Russia opted for different route.

References

Fonar Kerch Fonar {{Crimea-geo-stub