Balaklava is a former city on the Crimean Peninsula and part of the city of Sevastopol which carries a special administrative status in Ukraine. It was a city in its own right until 1957 when it was formally incorporated into the municipal borders of Sevastopol by the Soviet government. It also is an administrative center of Bakalava Raion that used be part of the Crimean Oblast before it was transferred under the Sevastopol Municipality.
Crimea , is a peninsula of Ukraine located on the northern coast of the Black Sea with the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (Ukrainian: Ðвтономна РеÑпубліка Крим, Avtonomna Respublika Krym; Russian: ÐÐ²Ñ‚Ð¾Ð½Ð¾Ð¼Ð½Ð°Ñ Ð ÐµÑпублика Крым, Avtonomnaya Respublika Krym; Crimean Tatar: Qırım Muhtar Cumhuriyeti, Къырым Мухтар Джумхуриети) occupying most of the peninsula. It was often referred to with the definite article, as the Crimea, until well into the 20th century.
The territory of Crimea was conquered and controlled many times throughout its history. The Cimmerians, Greeks, Scythians, Goths, Huns, Bulgars, Khazars, the state of Kievan Rus’, Byzantine Greeks, Kipchaks, Ottoman Turks, Golden Horde Tatars and the Mongols all controlled Crimea in its earlier history. In the 13th century, it was partly controlled by the Venetians and by the Genovese; they were followed by the Crimean Khanate and the Ottoman Empire in the 15th to 18th centuries, the Russian Empire in the 18th to 20th centuries, Germany during World War II and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and later the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, within the Soviet Union during the rest of the 20th century.
One of the monuments is an underground, formerly classified submarine base that was operational until 1993. The base was said to be virtually indestructible and designed to survive a direct atomic impact. 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 the collapse of the Soviet Union in 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 the Naval museum complex Balaklava.
Portal to exit the boats in the Black Sea
Underground plant was built in anti-nuclear for Category I punched the stability of the rock with a high degree of safety and security. He had a large working area, including dry-docking and underwater channel to simultaneously call the eight submarines (both on the surface and submerged). The whole infrastructure of the factory was completely isolated from the outside world by means of overlapped underwater gateways. Martial boats repaired off-line and went straight through a special channel to the open sea. In view of conspiracy in the underground complex admitted and released only one submarine, and only at night. So count the number of boats, which are also often changed the board room, in Balaclava was almost impossible.
In the rocky tunnel submarine climbed its course through the channel length of over 600 meters, depth – 8.5. This unique structure is located in the underwater part of the Balaklava Bay, and on the level of water in the rock, which rises 126 meters. Placed near the production plant and ancillary facilities with a total length of 300 meters. The largest diameter tunnel – 22 meters. On the side of the bay entrance to the tunnel was covered by 150-ton floating botoportom that pop up after podduvaniya air. This allowed us to completely “clogging” the underground facility. Botoport same, but only a smaller set underground drydock. When the boat was part of the surface position, botoport closed, it was pumped out of the water and dock the boat. Exit to the north side of the baffle also botoportom, which was driven away, letting the submarine to sea. Entrance to the tunnel on the north side was so cleverly disguised that uninformed people would not even detect the tunnel at close range. Thus, the underground complex was completely isolated from the external environment. His defense to withstand a direct hit by an atomic bomb up to 100 kilotons
Next to the galleries were built warehouse storage of missiles and nuclear weapons. Underground storage of fuel, built in the form of a vertical underground tanks can hold up to 4 million tons of petroleum products. Under the protection of the rock strata multimeter from the store on a narrow-gauge road to the underground wharf were driving up the torpedoes, rockets, artillery, ammunition and other necessary goods. It also housed a workshop on preventive inspection and repair of parts and components of ships. West exit of the channel closed by a special construction – prefabricated concrete slabs of a thickness of 2 meters, length – 10 and up – 7 meters.
The entire underground complex with powerful locking and life support is perhaps the world’s only historical monument of engineering art of the “Cold War.” For 30 years (1960 to 1990), none of the residents did not even know about the existence of secret tunnels – “Object number 825 GTS”, which is officially called the city’s telephone exchange.
Abandoned object 825GTS
The development of Crimea as a holiday destination began in the second half of the 19th century. The development of the transport networks brought masses of tourists from central parts of Russia. On the border of the centuries began a sensational developing of palaces, villas and dachas all saved till today. They are one of the main icons of Crimean urban characteristics and tourist destinations.
A new, phase of the tourist developing began when soviet government realised the potential of the healing abilities of the local air, lakes and therapeutic muds. It became a “health” destination for all Soviet workers, hundreds of thousands of the tourists visited Crimea. Nowadays Crimea is more of a get away destination than a “health-improvement” destination. Most visited areas are: the south shore of Crimea with cities of Yalta and Alushta, the western shore – Eupatoria and Saki, the south-eastern shore – Feodosia and Sudak.
Crimea possesses significant historical and natural resources and is a region where it is possible to find practically any type of landscape; mountain ranges and plateaus, grasslands, caves. Further Saki poses unique therapeutic mud and Eupatoria has vast empty beaches with the purest quartz sand.
According to National Geographic, Crimea is among the top 20 travel destinations in 2013