Fortress-Museum, Ukraine, Sudak
- Country: Ukraine
- City: Sudak
- Address: Genoese Fortress, Sudak
Sudak’s citadel Museum is one of the most famous objects in the Crimea, visited by tourists. Built by the Genoese for more than six centuries ago, the citadel over the last few decades, having the right branch of the National reserve “Sophia,” began to acquire the form, close the original. A unique monument of medieval defensive arts every year attracts to admire more than 120 thousand people. Exceptionally crowded sometimes in the days of jousting “Genoese helmet”, which are held here annually.
Sudak’s citadel is surrounded by high walls with jagged towers, massive gates reinforced with solid metal. The fortress is situated on the steep gray rock, also performed majestically and powerfully as before. At the first sight of the majestic citadel, it seems that the sound of voices outside the fortress walls, the voices of medieval Orava inhabitants Soldayya, continue its familiar order of life, regardless of the flying centuries.
Also at the gate visitors are greeted by a stern guard, as well as in the middle of the century witness the territory of the citadel, not to miss the Dodgers, have not paid duty. First, every merchant bringing goods into Soldau, it was necessary to pay a fee for entrance to the city. Fee for the fee was made not in money and goods brought by traders. For example, the merchant had brought to the city firewood for sale, had to throw from his who one wood. Encumbrance by using a “wood tax” was allowed to heat social building.
But modern visitors enter the Sudak’s citadel Museum, of course, getting through the admission ticket, the one that is presented at the input of a harsh guard, dressed in shorts and a baseball cap.
The first steps in the fortress start from the visitors from the entrance to the main gate, pre-visit Barbican. In the middle of the century such a method of protection in front of the town was quite famous. In order to attack the town, had to get close to the gate. But to get there was via the semicircular area of the Barbican, with a width equal to the flight of an arrow. With two towers located over gates, because teeth of the battlements, the archers fired at the enemy.
Walking through the Central town square, tourists are not even aware that there were once some buildings. Deep beneath the layers of grass and earth hidden from the eyes of travelers remnants of former structures, not as magnificent as the citadel, but nonetheless, played the main functional value of a social nature. Then next to the market was the town Hall, around which was a custom and two temples. One was meant for Catholics, it was called the “virgin Mary”, the second – for the Greek name “Hagia Sophia”. In those days the territory was not bigger than 20 hectares with a population equal to only eight thousand people, which for that era was considered an impressive figure.
Today in the Central square are jousting. Almost every territory of the former Union, the participants come for the international tournament of historical fencing “Genoese helmet”. In the days of the tournaments many tourists zealous to go on interesting excursions to the citadel Museum in order to see the extent of staging battles involving hundreds of knights, showing their agility and remarkable strength.
Other participants of the festival, which is called “Knight of the Palace” shows a model of combat clothing and different weapons, and different craftsmanship inherent in most diverse Nations, the Burgundians and the Bavarians, the Slavs, and the Scots, nomads and crusaders.
Tower Pasquale Giudice is a brilliant example of most of the fighting towers of the citadel, only she was lucky to survive great from others. There are three walls with four levels with the entrance to the tower on the second tier level of the wall. In the lower level of stored weapons, probably the same place was situated the guardroom, as evidenced by the remains of furnaces for heating. The second tier was occupied by the men shooting from bows and crossbows through close loopholes. On the third level window, in contrast, was rectangular and much broader than they were intended for firing giant crossbows, methane logs and stone core with a weight of 6 kg. the Upper level was also fighting.
Survivors stove Pasquale Giudice Towers, founded in the beginning of the construction according to the customs that existed in the Genoese were able to give us very valuable information. According to the description on the plate of the tower, historians have been able to read the date of the Foundation plate, which is dated August 1, 1392. The first plate ordered to lay dear Consul Soldayya Pasquale Giudice.
Another equally well-preserved building was presented to the visitors of the Consular Palace, which performed, in addition to housing functions, and defensive. The Palace consists of 3 towers, the largest of which is called by the Turks, Qatar-Kul or the Cursed tower, probably from the fact that they killed many Turks in 1475. According to the legend during the capture of the citadel by the Turks, and the surviving defenders escaped, having gone through the underground passage of the castle directly to the sea. The intruders were the Turks not found there is not a single warrior… Maybe it’s just a legend, like any other medieval castle, but it is likely that there are underground galleries.