"Legendary Sevastopol, unapproachable for enemies", - is sung in a famous song. Indeed, the city itself was destined to become an indestructible outpost of the southern borders of the Russian state. For this purpose, at different times it was strengthened with all their might. The result of these efforts is a huge underground city, the true scale of which even specialists cannot imagine.
At the beginning of glorious deeds
On May 2, 1783, 11 ships of the Azov flotilla entered the Akhtiar Bay and dropped anchor. A year later, a city was laid in the bay, and Sevastopol became the main base of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Empire. The flotilla was in dire need of well-fortified and protected powder magazines, food storage facilities, and repair facilities. The surrounding area with its quarries, mountains, caves and bays was like nature itself invented for the arrangement of an underground city. They began to adapt any suitable cavity in the mountains and bays for military needs, sparing no expense or effort. As a result, in just 70 years, a whole underground city with a total area of 25 thousand square meters was formed near Sevastopol. Each battery and each fort had its own twin underground. The network of labyrinths was connected by secret tunnels. The Crimean War of 1853-1856 proved the need for such buildings. The catacombs not only stored provisions, weapons, gunpowder, uniforms, they also hid the military and local residents during the shelling. Some casemates could simultaneously accommodate up to 10 thousand soldiers, such as, for example, the catacombs under the Nikolaev battery, protecting the city from the south.
Everything for the front, everything for victory
During the Soviet era, bunkers grew to enormous sizes. The new government used the old and built new ones. The city of Inkerman, now part of Sevastopol, was originally erected as a fortress, which was facilitated by its extremely successful location on the mountainous terrain. Later it turned out that the Inkerman mountains contain bryozoan limestone, which is widely used for cladding facades. As a result of stone mining, a whole system of galleries was formed. On the eve of the Great Patriotic War, warehouses for storing champagne were placed in them. But the wine did not have time to ripen - the war began. It turned out that adits with high ceilings (up to 20 m) and long galleries (up to 100 m) are ideal for ammunition depots, bomb shelters, and hospitals. Champagne quickly turned into a full-fledged city with all the necessary infrastructure, called Special Combine No. 2. It housed a military hospital, designed for 3 thousand beds, but in fact it received much more patients. For doctors, nurses and nurses, special resting places were equipped. There was a canteen, a school, a kindergarten, repair shops, and an ammunition factory. When the Germans found themselves dangerously close to Sevastopol, an order was received to blow up Special Combine No. 2. All its inhabitants were urgently evacuated. According to eyewitnesses, the explosion in Champagne was so powerful that anti-tank guns overturned at a distance of several kilometers. When the Germans found themselves dangerously close to Sevastopol, an order was received to blow up Special Combine No. 2. All its inhabitants were urgently evacuated. According to eyewitnesses, the explosion in Champagne was so powerful that anti-tank guns overturned at a distance of several kilometers. When the Germans found themselves dangerously close to Sevastopol, an order was received to blow up Special Combine No. 2. All its inhabitants were urgently evacuated. According to eyewitnesses, the explosion in Champagne was so powerful that anti-tank guns overturned at a distance of several kilometers.
Another brainchild of the Stalinist era is the special facility "Mole", built in the 30s of the last century. According to the plan of its inspirers, it was to become the largest underground structure in Sevastopol with an area of 32 thousand square meters. The Soviet leadership drew attention to the old bunker, which has existed since tsarist times in the Troitskaya Balka area. As a result, the bunker was seriously deepened and expanded, having received a semblance of a five-story building underground. Each floor was separated from the other by rock and concrete 30 to 60 m thick. If there were any danger to people, Promotional video:
The city of Inkerman, now part of Sevastopol, was originally built as a fortress, which was facilitated by its extremely successful location on the mountainous terrain.
located on the upper floors, they could quickly descend below. First of all, "Krot" was conceived as a thermal power plant with two turbine generators with a capacity of 25 thousand kW in two underground machine rooms. To service the station, special machines for crushing coal were installed. The fuel itself was stored in a warehouse. Also "Krot" was equipped with transformer and pumping stations. The staff were housed in separate rooms.
The war prevented the completion of the top-secret facility. Despite this, during the years of the defense of Sevastopol, "Mole" was renamed into Special Combine No. 1 and redesigned into an ammunition manufacturing plant. Work was in full swing there, not stopping for a minute. The entire working population of the city, including adolescents and children, fired mines, anti-tank and hand grenades, collected grenade launchers and mortars. People worked in inhuman conditions: high humidity, dampness, lack of fresh air. The masters not only performed excess norms, but also taught newcomers along the way. Women, children, old people stood at the machines for 12-16 hours. People ate meagerly, did not get enough sleep, but no one grumbled. Everyone understood that there, on earth, the defenders of Sevastopol must receive everything they need in time to repulse the enemy. If there was a shortage of materials, they went to the trick,using cans, scraps of old pipes, iron bars - in short, everything that could be obtained on the ground.
Special Combine No. 1 existed until June 1942, when the defenders of Sevastopol had to retreat. The workers were taken outside, and the bunker was destroyed, like many other similar structures.
Today, the entrance to the catacombs is blocked and forbidden, but there are desperate heads who can't wait to test their fate. For some, such visits to the hidden city end tragically, and they die under the rubble or are blown up by mines and shells.
Special object-2
After the Great Patriotic War, Stalin's interest in the catacombs did not fade away. The country is under the threat of atomic bombing. The Generalissimo saw underground bunkers as the only way to escape. On June 11, 1952, a plan was adopted to create a new underground city. The power, ravaged by the war, had no extra funds, Sevastopol lay in ruins, but the order was not subject to appeal. Sevastopol was supposed to be the first city where such a large-scale project to protect against atomic bombing was carried out. In addition, new types of ships, aircraft, military equipment were supplied to the balance of the Black Sea Fleet, all this had to be stored somewhere. The old catacombs were of little use for these purposes. They began to build a new bunker - Special Object-2. Its main purpose wasso that the specialists who were in it can begin to eliminate the consequences of a nuclear explosion and restore all city life support systems.
The work was carried out in several directions. A bunker was cut through the rock, a power station was placed there, which was supposed to supply the future underground city with electricity. They built a railroad to carry coal. At the same time, they began to build a bunker under Lenin Street, from which a secret passage led to the basement of the Marine Hydrophysical Institute. The underground facilities included: the command post, all the reserve offices of city services, repair shops, their own water supply and sewerage system, air purification, a radio communications center, a hospital and even a corpse storage. The city, at a depth of 47 m and an area of 2.347 thousand square meters, was designed for independent living of 2.5 thousand people for some time. Its construction was carried out from 1952 to 1957. With Khrushchev's rise to power, interest in the underground city faded away and the construction site was frozen, as it turned out forever.
Now C-2 is a Cold War museum. Anyone can visit it and learn about how it was planned to restore Sevastopol after the atomic apocalypse. However, the museum can be converted into a shelter at any time within 35 hours. Times change, but threats remain.
Magazine: All the riddles of the world №10. Author: Irina Tarnaeva