The Hero City of Sevastopol has repeatedly served as a powerful naval base and outpost. Its inhabitants repeatedly performed miracles of courage and heroism. To protect the Sevastopol raid, several defensive fortifications were erected, among which was the Alexander Ravelin.
On the raid
In the northern part of the Sevastopol Bay on Konstantinovsky Cape, a historical fortification has survived to this day - a two-tiered ravelin, the interior of which is divided into small rooms - casemates. They are located along a long corridor and are connected to each other according to the enfilade principle.
In the blind stone walls at a great height there are small slit-like holes - loopholes or loopholes designed for combat both on distant and near approaches.
The battery has a horseshoe shape that follows the shape of the tip of the cape.
The well-thought-out design of the battery was the key to successful military operations. After allKonstantinovsky ravelin with similar Alexandrovsky and Mikhailovsky guarded the entrance to the Sevastopol Bay. There were five such ravelins in the Sevastopol Bay, but only two have survived to this day. Both of them and the now non-existent Alexandrovsky were named after the grandchildren of Catherine II - Alexander Pavlovich, Mikhail Pavlovich and Konstantin Pavlovich.
Not the first one here
Konstantinovskaya battery was erected on the site of its predecessor - a stone and earth fortification, which appeared in the Sevastopol Bay thanks to the great Russian commander A. V. Suvorov. Before the stone-and-earth construction, there was also a fortification here, only it was built from the earth.
Amazing craftsmen worked on the creation of strongholds. Suvorov fortification was built according to the project of Franz Devolan. And the Konstantinovsky fort was built by military engineers Karl Burno, Felkerzam and Pavlovsky with the personal participation of Nicholas I. They used local natural building material, mined nearby - in Kilen-balka.
Ensuring combat readiness
The armament of the Konstantinovsky ravelin was no less thoughtful. The horizontal roof of the structure along the perimeter was limited by a parapet wall with combat slots, behind which artillery pieces were well camouflaged. The total height of the walls reached twelve meters.
The roof of the main "horseshoe" was flanked on both sides by impregnable square towers. Only the defenders could go down to the courtyard from them - along special ramps. Even a two-story barracks is set up in such a way thatwhich helps to protect the fortification. And from the outside it is strengthened by a moat with a scarp wall.
The battery is reinforced with 94 artillery pieces of various caliber and power. Artillery garrison of the fortress - 479 people.
The role of the fort in the Crimean campaign
The battery first fought and suffered considerable destruction in 1854, when it confronted the English fleet of eleven battleships. Against her forty-odd guns, more than four hundred and twenty-five were put up. Half of the battery cannons were disabled during the battle.
The assault on the fortress from the sea was stopped thanks to the idea of Admiral Kornilov. The naval commander suggested sinking seven dilapidated and technically obsolete ships at the entrance to the bay.
Contribution of Konstantinovsky fortification to the fight against fascism
In the summer of 1942, the fascists who seized the territories of the Crimean peninsula settled on Radiogorka and near Mikhalovsky ravelin. From there, they began a massive shelling of the Konstantinovskaya stronghold, including with the help of tanks. A large number of the fort's defenders died, which is now reminded of by a monument erected in the very corner of the fortress territory, where a mass grave was later dug.
70 Soviet fighters ensured the withdrawal of the Russian fleet from the Sevastopol Bay to the very last ship, and then blew themselves up right with part of the fortifications. The body of the commandant of the fortress Ivan Kulinich was hanged by the Nazis onparapet wall. It must be said that the defenders of the fortress were given the command to leave the fortress, but they could not do this, since the Nazis broke all the boats and rafts.
On the heroic days of the defense of "Small Sevastopol", the writer Yuri Strezin wrote the book "Fortress of the Black Sea".
After the Great Patriotic War, the fortress lost its combat capability and was used as an observation post: a lighthouse was equipped here. Warehouses and cage-like structures were also set up off the coast to house fighting dolphins.
Ravelin Museum
Severely damaged during the Great Patriotic War, the Konstantinovsky ravelin of Sevastopol served as an observation post for a long time. But thanks to the Russian Geographical Society, it was restored in 2017. It took 780 million rubles to restore it. A historical museum was opened in the building.
First of all, the main premises of the ravelin, the basement and the observation deck were put in order. In the future, it was promised to repair the second floor, berths and other premises. During the restoration work, observation towers were also dismantled.
At the moment, free movement around the exposition of the Konstantinovsky Ravelin Museum in Sevastopol is prohibited. You can get here individually or with an excursion group, but always accompanied by a guide. Here you can see the exhibits of two exhibitions. The first one is dedicated to the historyKonstantinovsky ravelin until its restoration. The other concerns the history of the Russian Geographical Society. Konstantinovsky ravelin is open daily from 10 am to 5 pm in winter and from 10 am to 6 pm in summer, with division into days for group and individual visits.
It so happened that over time, the ravelin passed into the possession of a private company Ravelink LLC. As a result, the fate of the inclusion of the building in the historical museum project-park "Patriot" has become very illusory. And people visiting the museum, restored with the money of a state organization, buy tickets at commercial prices.
But even those who do not get to the museum of Konstantinovsky ravelin can join the old Sevastopol tradition - the noon shot of a cannon from the parapet of the fortification. It should be noted that it was the Sevastopol cannon shot in 1819 that laid the foundation for this tradition in other port cities, including St. Petersburg.
