Or Qapi Fortress is a ruined

fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere ...

located near the settlement of

Perekop Perekop ( Ukrainian & Russian: Перекоп; ; ) is an urban-type settlement located on the Perekop Isthmus connecting the Crimean peninsula to the Ukrainian mainland. It is known for the fortress Or Qapi that served as the gateway to Crimea. ...

on the

Perekop isthmus The Isthmus of Perekop, literally Isthmus of the Trench ( uk, Перекопський перешийок; transliteration: ''Perekops'kyy pereshyyok''; russian: Перекопский перешеек; transliteration: ''Perekopskiy peresheek ...

connecting 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 Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied by Ru ...

n peninsula to the Ukrainian mainland.

History

The Or Qapi fort was built in the 15th century by Mengli Girai and his son

Sahib I Giray Sahib I Giray (1501–1551) was Khan of Kazan for three years and Khan of Crimea for nineteen years. His father was the Crimean Khan Meñli I Giray. Sahib was placed on the throne of Kazan by his ambitious brother Mehmed of Crimea and driven ou ...

. Or Qapi Fortress used to be of great military importance as the key to the

Crimean Khanate The Crimean Khanate ( crh, , or ), officially the Great Horde and Desht-i Kipchak () and in old European historiography and geography known as Little Tartary ( la, Tartaria Minor), was a Crimean Tatar state existing from 1441 to 1783, the long ...

. During the Russo-Turkish War (1735–1739), the Russian field marshal Burkhard Christoph von Munnich successfully stormed the fortifications on June 17, 1736, and left the Tatar fortress in ruins. In 1738, it was taken again by Russian General Lacy. This was a serious, if not mortal, blow to the independence of the Crimean Khanate. In 1754, it was rebuilt by Qirim Giray. In 1771, the fortress was captured decisively by Russian General Dolgorukov. During the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

, it changed ownership between

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

and

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

References

{{Reflist Forts in Ukraine