Fortress Kerch

Yesterday we took a little excursion to the fortress in Kerch that is usually referred to as, "no, the other one." I posted earlier about the 18th century Turkish fort of Yenikale which is by far the more famous fortress in Kerch (so famous that it is the photo you see in our banner at the top of the page), but yesterday we got to visit a newer but vastly more interesting location. Part of my fascination with "Fortress Kerch" is that I literally cannot find any information about it online...the internet doesn't know a thing about it; at least not in English. I can't even figure out when it was built. I'll give as much as I know and show some of the pictures that either we took or I was able to find online.




According to the pieces I was able to hear and retain from our tour guide (who was one of the 3 caretakers of this location), this fortress was built during the Imperial Russian era at some point. I personally saw soldier's inscriptions dated 1890 and have been told that there were some much older. The confusion I had with dates may stem from the fortress having been an ongoing project, constantly being revised, updated and renovated over a long period. At the very least, it was a base for Russian/Soviet soldiers for several major wars in Crimea.





The entire complex used to contain over 300 buildings, most of which were at least partially underground. Today about 150 structures still remain. With its green rolling hills and grassy meadows, the area doesn't look at all like a military base. Part of this is from lack of use (it was closed to the public for a long time), but also because it was intended to be a confusing labyrinth of concealed magazines, bunkers and garrisons all connected by subterranean tunnels. Much of the area has a basement level of additional facilities underneath even the tunnel system. It was designed to be able to withstand an assault by a far superior force through constant troop movement, confusion and pre-determined ambush points. The thought and planning that went into its construction are remarkable. We were told that the walls were as thick as 7 meters (about 22 feet). The masonry is fantastic with large lengths of limestone (I think) walls still standing perfectly straight. I would almost say that with some new windows and doors, some of the structures would be every bit as nice as many of the inhabited buildings in Kerch itself...and that's after the Nazis assaulted the fort!





This place is by far the most interesting historical location I've seen in Ukraine and I will endeavour to discover more about it's background and military significance. Until then, here are some of the pictures that I found or took. Some were "borrowed" from some kind person who uploaded them to Google Earth.


This is the kind of strange architecture that is found in most of the facility. Relatively ornate walls fronting mostly underground buildings. The large opening is a tunnel to another open area of the facility. We have pretty much the same picture but I snagged this one since the grass was a little greener (isn't that always the case).

To give you an idea of the scale of this fortress, we spent 2 hours with the tour guide moving quickly from one point of interest to the next and I don't believe I ever saw this particular building.

I never did figure out for sure, but this is a bunker either for personnel or for long-range, vehicle-mounted missiles...I guess maybe both. Either way, it is clearly one of the more modern portions of the facility.

Structures like this are a dime a dozen here but each is still amazing.
The tour guide is on the far right of the main group in the brown coat. His interest in the fortress is largely due to his father having served there during WWII. At the time of the photo, he is describing an incident in which his father was smoking while standing guard at this gate. A commissar (sort of a Communist Party representative within the Soviet military), thinking he was using the cigarette to signal the Germans, stood him up against this wall, intending to execute him on the spot for treason. His life was only saved by the commissar's discovery that he was part of some secret spy/commando team that was based at the facility.

After walking in the cold sea air for over 2 hours with a tired 2 year old, we were less than pleased to learn upon the conclusion of the tour that the bus wouldn't be back for another hour. Since we would just be waiting by the road and it looked like rain was coming, we decided to start walking back to the camp. I figure the walk would have been about 3 miles had the bus driver not returned early and picked us up about a mile into our trek. I never knew how heavy 35 lbs of child could be after a while...

Does anyone care about these random historical explanations of the Crimea? If not, I can certainly put more time between them.