700 years back, guys! Here and now! This place is worth of watching it for sure!
Genoese fortress in Feodosia invites you to enjoy its ancient beauty, friends.
We went to Feodosia last weekend especially for this very fortress. My son adores different castles and fortresses, and we chose this one for him to vsiti and enjoy.
Reviews in the web are different. Some of them are super positive - come and see, it's great, fantastic!
Others are just the opposite - don't waste your time, it's destroyed and there is nothing to see there.
We decided to make our own opinion and see it by our own eyes.
Moreover, Feodosia is our neighbour, and it takes us about 90 min to get there by car.
And moreover, Feodosia itself is a small but very nice and comfortable town with special mood and modern atmosphere combined with ancient glory.
And, guys, we didn't regret! Genoese fortress has become our love at once!
Yeah, it's destroyed greatly, because it's 700 years old!! But what is remained is still huge, proud and very mysterious.
Can you imagine how much these walls saw during their long 700 years history?? Especially I feel deep respect to this place and events that happened there.
a brief history:
In the Middle Ages Feodosiya's Genoese Fortress was one of the most powerful fortification systems in Europe. Over time it lost its former grandeur and impregnability, but even today its threatening towers and walls, standing in different parts of the town, make a strong impression.
The massive defensive complex was built here in the 14th century by the Genoese, which needed to protect their largest property in Crimea - Kafa (former name of Feodosiya). The fortress was well fortified and had two lines of defensive constructions: inner, or citadel, and outer. Medieval town's administrative center was situated in citadel, which formed a ring around the rocky Quarantine Hill near the Black Sea coast. There were consular castle, mint, bishop's residence, court building (from its balcony consular decrees were announced), as well as storages and shops, for Kafa was an important transit point of international trade. Citadel's solid walls were up to 718-meter long, 11-meter high and 2-meter wide.
The outer defensive belt consisted of 26 towers and walls that connected them, stretching for 5,5 kilometers. According to Genoese tradition, each tower had its own name derived from the governing consul's name, or from one of Popes' names. The fortress's walls also had several land and sea gates to Kafa. A deep ditch filled with water was dug around the fortress for extra defense. It was multifunctional: being a defensive construction, it also served as a channel for directing storm overflows into the sea.
In the late 18th century - after Crimea's annexation to the Russian Empire - the fortress lost its defensive importance and many of its buildings were pulled down. The largest Genoese Fortress's fragment that remained until now is citadel's southern wall with gates and two towers: the St. Clemens and the Crisco. The first one protected citadel's gates and was named in honor of the Pope Clemens VI, who sponsored fortress's construction. The second one - the Crisco Tower - served for fortification of wall's central part.
and now photos!
and me;)
it was very windy there because it's situated on the hill, but still it was sorth of walking there and see it by our own eyes!❤️
