The Southern Crimean Coast

On Saturday 11th, we were collected by Anna and taken on a tour of the southern coast of the Crimea. It was yet another cloudless, sunny day of about 27 C.

Inside an underground submarine pen

First stop was Balaclava, a small town south of Sevastopol which has been occupied for 2500 years. The remnants of the 15th century Genoese fortress of Cembalo can be seen on the hills above the harbour. The town has a brilliant natural harbour that made it attractive to seafarers - narrow and easily defended, with a S-shaped sweep of water and with the entrance largely concealed from the sea. It's too small for large ships, but it attracts many pleasure craft. It's shape also attracted Stalin, who ordered construction of an underground submarine storage and maintenance facility here during the cold war.

Michael & Anna in the underground arsenal

We visited the Balaclava submarine facility, which was decommissioned at the end of the Soviet era. The underground submarine pens are only large enough for the small diesel-electric subs that the USSR operated in the Black Sea, but the facility seems very secure, with large blast doors, and very well equiped, with dry docks, maintenance facilities and an arsenal. Apparently the USSR stored nuclear munitions in the arsenal.



From there, we crossed the Balaclava battlefield valley and drove along the southern coast of the Crimea, with the road perched between rugged montain cliffs and the sea below. We paased through Foros, which has two attractions of note. It contains Gorbachev's dacha, where he was held under house arrest during the abortive 1991 coup attempt and also the small gold-domed Church on the Rock, perched high on a crag overlooking the sea.



Alupka Palace view

Next stop was Alupka Palace. Built by the immensely wealthy regional governor, Count Vorontsov over ten years from 1830, ths palace is part Scottish castle and part Mugal fantasy. Winston Churchill stayed here durng the Yalta conference in 1945. The palace has a wonderful garden with great views, stretching steeply down to the sea.

We had a great lunch at a restaurant with spectacular views. The main sight was Swallows Nest, a tiny "castle" precariously placed on the very edge of a sheer cliff overlooking the Black Sea. We had an feast of caviar, vodka, chicken kiev and crimean white and enjoyed the sunshine and the views.

The Yalta decisions were made at the far table

Next stop was the Livadia Palace near Yalta. This was the site of the 1945 Yalta peace conference which detemined the shape of post-WWII Europe and various displays reflect that conference. It was also the favourite holiday destination of Nicholas II and his family. It doesn't feel like a palace, but much more like a family home, with rooms that are wood panelled and "family sized".

Yalta beach

We drove to Yalta and had a strll along the waterfront promenade. There is very little beach; just two small sections of pebbles, both packed with people sunning themselves like a tightly packed group of seals. An ugly restaurant shaped like an Eqyptian boat on tall stilts protruded out from the promenade across the water. The promenade was crowded with tourists enjoying the Saturday sun. Yalta must be impossible at the peak of the season in July/August. Most tourists here are Russians, though there were some French from a cruise ship in Yalta harbour.



From Yalta, it was home to Sevastpol via the same cliff road. This is a fishing area, so we had a good fish meal at a harbourside restaurant.