SEVASTOPOL

'Sevastopol' (English pronunciation: [] or []) (; ), formerly known as ''Sebastopol'', is a port city in Ukraine, located on the Black Sea coast of the Crimean peninsula. It has a population of 342,451 (2001). The city, formerly the home of the Soviet Black Sea Fleet, is now a Ukrainian naval base mutually used by the Ukrainian Navy and Russian Navy.

The unique geographic location and navigation conditions of the city's harbours make Sevastopol a strategic important naval point. It is also a popular seaside resort and tourist destination, mainly for visitors from the CIS countries.
The trade and shipbuilding importance of Sevastopol's Port has been growing since the fall of the Soviet Union despite the difficulties that arise from the joint military control over its harbours and piers.
Sevastopol is also an important centre of marine biology research. In particular, studying and training of dolphins has been conducted in the city since the end of World War II, initially as a secret naval program to use these animals for special undersea operations.

Contents

Political status and subdivision

History

Etymology of the name

Sights and monuments

Attractions list

Demographics

Economy

Russian naval base and ownership dispute

Footnotes

External links

Political status and subdivision

Administratively, Sevastopol is a municipality excluded from the surrounding Autonomous Republic of Crimea (see Administrative divisions of Ukraine for more details). The territory of the municipality is 863.5 km² and it is further subdivided into four raions (districts). Besides the City of Sevastopol proper, it also includes 2 towns — Balaklava, Inkerman, urban-type settlement Kacha, and 29 villages.

History

Sevastopol together with Kronstadt and Gibraltar is one of the most famous naval citadels in Europe. It was founded in 1783, when Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula. It became an important naval base and later a commercial port. In 1797 under an edict issued by Emperor Pavel I, the military stronghold was renamed Akhtiar after a small Tatar settlement on the north shore of the inlet. Finally, on April 29 (May 10), 1826, the city was returned to its original name of Sevastopol.

The one of the most notable events involving this city is the Siege of Sevastopol (1854-1855) carried out by the British, French, Sardinian and Turkish troops during the Crimean War which lasted for 11 months. Despite its efforts, the Russian army had to leave its stronghold and evacuate over a pontoon bridge to the north shore of the inlet. The Russians had to sink their entire fleet to prevent it from falling into the hands of the enemy and at the same time to block the entrance of the Western ships into the inlet. When the enemy troops entered Sevastopol, they were faced with the ruins of a formerly glorious city. A panorama of the siege created by Franz Roubaud and which was restored after its destruction in 1942 is housed in a specially constructed circular building in the city. It portrays the situation in the height of the siege, on 18 June 1855.

During World War II Sevastopol withstood bombardment by the Germans in 1941–1942, during the Axis siege which lasted for 250 days. The city was liberated by the Red Army on May 9, 1944 and was awarded with the Hero City title a year later.
In 1957, the town of Balaklava was incorporated into Sevastopol.
During the Soviet era, Sevastopol, became a so-called "closed city". This meant that any non-residents had to apply to the authorities for a temporary permit to visit the city. It was directly subordinate to the central Russian SFSR authorities rather than the local oblast and later (after 1978) to the Ukrainian administration.^[1] In May 1997, Russia and Ukraine signed the "Peace & Friendship" treaty ruling out Moscow's territorial claims to Ukraine. ^[2]
Like in the rest of the Crimea, russian language remains the predominant language in the city, although following the independence of Ukraine there have been some attempts of Ukrainization that had very little success.

Etymology of the name

The name of Sevastopolis (), or currently Sevastopol, was originally chosen in the same etymology trend as other cities in the Crimean peninsula that was intended to reflect its ancient Greek origins. It is a compound of two Greek nouns, (''sebastós'', Modern ''sevastós'') "venerable, reverend" and (''pólis'') "city". is the traditional Greek translation of the honourable Roman title ''Augustus'' "venerable, august", originally given to the first emperor of the Roman Empire, C. Julius Caesar Octavianus and later awarded as a title to his successors (see Augustus).

Despite its Greek origin, the name is not old. The city was probably named after the Empress (= "Augusta") Catherine II of Russia who founded Sevastopol in 1783. She visited the city in 1787 accompanied by Jozef II, the Emperor of Austria, and other foreign dignitaries.
In the west of the city there are well-preserved ruins of an ancient Greek port city 'Chersonesos' founded in the 5th c. BC. The name means "peninsula" reflecting its location and is not related to the ancient Greek name for the Crimean Peninsula, ''Chersonēsos Taurikē'' ("the Taurian Peninsula").

Sights and monuments

After World War II, Sevastopol was entirely rebuilt. The downtown core situated on a peninsula between two narrow inlets features mostly Mediterranean-style, typically three-story residential buildings with columned balconies and arches, with retail and commercial spaces occupying the ground level. Some carefully restored landmarks date back to the early 20th c. (e.g., the Art Nouveau Main Post Office on Bolshaya Morskaya St and the Art Museum on Nakhimovsky Prospect). It has been a long-time tradition for the residents of surrounding suburbs to spend summer evenings by coming to the downtown area for a leisurely stroll with their families along the avenues and boulevards encircling the Central Hill, under the famous Sevastopol chestnut trees, and usually ending up on the waterfront with Marine Boulevard.
Due to its military past, most streets in the city are named after Russian and Soviet military persons. There are hundreds of monuments and plaques in various parts of Sevastopol commemorating its past.

Attractions list

★ Chersonesos National preserve

★ Panorama ( Heroic Sevastopol Defence ) Museum(Crimean War)

★ Malakhov Kurgan ( Barrow ) with White tower

★ Vladimirsky Cathedral

★ Scuttled Ships Monument

★ Russian Black Sea Fleet Museum

★ Diorama Storm of Sapun Mountain on May 7, 1944 museum (WWII)

Demographics

The population of Sevastopol is 342,451 (2001), making it the 15th largest city in Ukraine and the second largest in Crimea (after its capital Simferopol). According to the Ukrainian National Census, 2001, the ethnic groups of Sevastopol include Russians (71.6%), Ukrainians (22.4%), Belarusians (1.6%), Tatars (0.7%), Crimean Tatars (0.5%), Armenians (0.3%), Jews (0.3%), Moldovans/Romanians (0.2%), and Azerbaijanis (0.2%). ^[3]

Economy

Apart from navy-related civil facilities, Sevastopol hosts some other notable industries, such as "Phiolent" - Ukraine's largest power tools manufacturer and Stroitel one of the leading plastics manufacturers in Ukraine.

Russian naval base and ownership dispute

According to the 1997 treaty, the Russian naval base is declared to be "located in Sevastopol" on the terms of lasting rent, following a long diplomatic and political dispute between Russia and the newly independent Ukraine. At first, Moscow refused to recognize Ukrainian sovereignty over Sevastopol as well as over the surrounding Crimean oblast, arguing that the city was never practically integrated into the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic due to its military base status. This was later resolved by the bilateral "Peace & Friendship" treaty stating that Sevastopol belongs to Ukraine. A separate treaty establishes the terms of a long-term lease of land and resources in Sevastopol by Russia.
The ex-Soviet Black Sea Fleet with all its facilities was divided between Russia's Black Sea Fleet and the Ukrainian Navy after a continuous, sometimes violent struggle. The two navies now co-use some of the city's harbours and piers, while others were demilitarised or used by either country. Sevastopol remains the home of the Russian Black Sea Fleet Headquarters with the Ukrainian Naval HQ also based in the city. A judicial row continues over the naval hydrographic infrastructure both in Sevastopol and on the Crimean coast (especially lighthouses used in civil navigation support).
The status of the Black Sea Fleet has a strong influence over the city's business and cultural life. The Russian society in general and even some outspoken government representatives have never accepted the loss of Sevastopol, and tend to regard it as temporarily separated from the homeland ^[4]. The Moscow city authorities under the current Mayor Yuriy Luzhkov continue their sponsorship of Russian social (primarily housing), educational and cultural programs in Sevastopol, especially those related to Russian Navy servicepeople and their families. Kiev-appointed authorities retain formal control of Sevastopol's life (such as of taxation and civil policing) and try to avoid confrontation with the base command and pro-Russian groups. A few years ago, the Communist-dominated city council rejected a EBRD loan to renovate Sevastopol's poor sewage system, declaring that the project was intended to increase the city's dependence on the Ukrainian government and the West.

Footnotes

1. [1] The Warsaw Voice, "Fleeting Disagreements", 1996
2. [2] People's Times, December 28, 2005
3. 2001 Ukrainian census
4. Pravda.com.ua (in Ukrainian)

External links

★ sevastopol-adm.gov.ua - Official website //

★ Sevastopol Internet portal

★ Sevastopol attractions(English)

★ Sevastopol tour overview

★ BBC News reports on WWII bomb destroyed in Sevastopol

★ Satellite picture by Google Maps

★ BBC News reports on Russian Navy in Sevastopol:[3][4][5][6]

★ Unofficial city website: sevastopol.info