Balaklava

Balaklava(UkrainianandRussian:Балаклава,Crimean Tatar:Balıqlava,Greek:Σύμβολον) is a settlement on theCrimean Peninsulaand part of thecityofSevastopol. It is an administrative center ofBalaklavsky Districtthat used to be part of theCrimean Oblastbefore it was transferred to Sevastopol Municipality. Population:18,649 (2014 Census).
Balaklava has changed possession several times during its history. A settlement at its present location was founded under the name of Symbolon (Σύμβολον) by theAncient Greeks, for whom it was an importantcommercialcity.
During theMiddle Ages, it was controlled by theByzantine Empireand then by theGenoesewho conquered it in 1365. The Byzantines called the town Yamboli and the Genoese named it Cembalo. The Genoese built a large trading empire in both theMediterraneanand theBlack Sea, buyingslavesinEastern Europeand shipping them toEgyptvia the Crimea, a lucrative market hotly contested with by theVenetians.
The ruins of aGenoesefortress positioned high on a clifftop above the entrance to the Balaklava Inlet are a populartouristattraction and have recently become the stage for a medieval festival. The fortress is a subject ofMickiewicz's penultimate poem in his 1826 cycle ofCrimean Sonnets.
In 1475, Cembalo City was conquered by the Turks and was subsequently renamedBalyk-Yuva(Fish's Nest) which then became Balaklava.
During theRusso-Turkish War, 1768-1774, the Russian troops invaded Crimea in 1771. Thirteen years later, Crimea was definitively annexed by theRussian Empire. After that, the Crimean Tatar and Turkish population was forcefully replaced by Greek Orthodox people from theArchipelago.
The town became famous for theBattle of Balaclavaduring theCrimean Warthanks to the suicidalCharge of the Light Brigade, a Britishcavalrycharge due to a misunderstanding sent up a valley strongly held on three sides by the Russians, in which about 250 men were killed or wounded, and over 400 horses lost, effectively reducing the size of the mounted brigade by two thirds and destroying some of the finest light cavalry in the world to no military purpose.Alfred, Lord Tennysonimmortalized the battle in verse in hisCharge of the Light Brigade.
Thebalaclava, a tight knitted garment covering the whole head and neck with holes for the eyes and mouth, also takes its name from this settlement, where soldiers first wore them. Also numerous towns founded in English-speaking countries in later parts of the 19th Century were named "Balaklava" (seeBalaklava (disambiguation)).
In 1954, Balaklava, together with the whole ofCrimea,was transferred from the Russian FSFR to the Ukrainian SSR. In 1957 it was formally incorporated into the municipal borders of Sevastopol by theSovietgovernment and lost city status. Upon the break-up of the USSR, the town, along with the entire Crimean peninsula, became constituent parts of the modern state of Ukraine. There are dozens of monuments in the town dedicated to the remembrance of military valor in past wars, including theGreat Patriotic War, theCrimean Warand theRussian Civil War.
Since theinternationally unrecognized2014 annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, Balaklava, along with rest of Crimea, is administered by Russia. In 2019 Russian authorities granted Balaklava status of a city within Sevastopol.
One of the monuments is an underground, formerly classifiedsubmarine basethat was operational until 1993. The base was said to be virtually indestructible and designed to survive a directatomicimpact. During that period, Balaklava was one of the most secret residential areas in the Soviet Union. Almost the entire population of Balaklava at one time worked at the base; even family members could not visit the town of Balaklava without a good reason and proper identification. The base remained operational after thecollapse of the Soviet Unionin 1991 until 1993 when the decommissioning process started. This process saw the removal of the warheads and low-yield torpedoes. In 1996, the last Russian submarine left the base. The base has since been opened to the public as theNaval museum complex Balaklava.