Balaklava/En
Word - Слово (Geography and History...)
Балаклава :
Small port located south of Sevastopol, Balaklava is probably the best anchorage in the entire Black Sea! Small, perfectly sheltered cove, which is accessed by a narrow passage between the rocks which fall steeply into the sea.
Known since antiquity, "Symbolon" for the Greeks, "portus symbolorum" for the Romans, it took its Greek name again during the Byzantine period, then fell into the hands of the Genoese, who raised fortification towers to defend access. . The name Balaklava dates from the Ottoman era, it etymologically means "fish nest". The place was famous for fishing...
During the Crimean War, and more precisely the siege of Sevastopol, trying to take the city "from the rear", it was here that the tragic episode of the "charge of the light brigade" took place, in which the British army saw the annihilation of one of the finest light cavalry units in the world (at the time)... On a misunderstanding... The poet Alfred Tennyson immortalized it in a poem and several films were dedicated to it.
It was also during the Crimean War, in Balaklava, that British soldiers adopted the balaclava, which is still called by the name of the place, to protect themselves from the harsh winters. Name now adopted in all languages to refer more specifically to the one adopted by the special forces of most armies and police forces in the world, as well as by terrorists and other burglars...
Finally, it is in the port of Balaklava that a nuclear submarine base was built by the Red Army, directly and entirely dug under the mountain. Today decommissioned, it is now a naval museum which is worth the detour!
Other Intercultural Notes...
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