Kerch Fortress

About museum

In 1853 the Eastern War began, known as the Crimean War. There were insufficient funds to finance the complete fortification of the Kerch Peninsula. Therefore, in the late 1850s it was decided to build a powerful fortress on Cape Ak-Burun. As early as the late 18th century the Pavlovskaya Battery had been installed here and inspected by A. V. Suvorov. On 12 (24) May 1855 the battery was captured by a French landing force and blown up without firing a shot. Under the Paris Peace Treaty of 1856 Russia was forbidden to maintain a military fleet on the Black Sea and fortresses on its shores. Therefore Major General Kaufman drew up a design for a new fortress on the shore of the Kerch Strait that did not conflict with the treaty. In 1859 a detachment of 700 military builders arrived under the command of Colonel Nat, and E. I. Totleben was appointed director of the engineering department.