CHEMBALO

George Page
Misha Jelisavcic
John Sloan

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Genoese fortress (castle) on the headland at the entrance to Balaklava bay. We visited this interesting castle in 1992, 1993 and again in 1997. For many views of Balaklava itself please go to the Balaklava section.

Map

Here is a diagram of Chembalo showing the line of towers that remain. - Numbers 1, 2, and 3. Map.

History

The ancient Greeks found the narrow bay and named it Cimbalon (bay of Sirens) because it reminded them of the legend of Odysseus. The locale also became connected with the story of Iphigenea. At the end of the 14th century the Genoese were expanding their influence along the Crimean coast from their initial bases at Kaffa and Sogdia (Sudak) and found this sheltered bay to be ideal as a trading post. They captured the Greek fishing village, that was then part of the Feodoro principality and held it between 1357 and 1433. They turned the Greek name into the Italian sounding Chembalo. To defend it they constructed a fortress at the narrow entrance overlooking the sea on the high ground on the northeast side. It consisted of two fortresses. The lower one, named St. George, had a wall that followed the coastline and climbed the mountain to the upper city. The lower fortress had two square towers with narrow firing ports. The upper one, or citadel, named St Nicholas, was on the plateau above the cliffs. It was separated from the lower fort by a wall, with towers that completely surrounded the citadel. It was entered from the north and west. The consul's tower was the most impressive. The fortress was significant as the western Genoese outpost and was intended to participate in their continual conflict with the Feodoro princes. (See article on Mangup for map showing the relative locations of their territories.) A lengthy discussion of the Genoese activity is included in the web site on Sudak. The Feodorites captured Chembalo in 1433, the same year in which the Genoese burned the Feodorite fortress at Kalimata, on the opposite side of Crimea. But the Genoese mounted a large scale amphibious operation to retake Chembalo. In 1475 with the fall of Kaffa and other Genoese cities to the Ottoman Turks, Chembalo also was lost. With that it lost its significance and was abandoned. Contemporary illustrations made during the British occupation of Balaklava (Simpson)(the Turkish name) show the fortress ruin looking much the same as it looks today. Please see Mangup for a map showing the Crimean territories of the Genoese, Feodoro princes, and Tatar khans.

Illustrations

High quality prints and digital versions of these photos are available. For information and to learn about future visits to Balaklava please contact Xenophon. To return to Xenophon home page please click here. Please leave a note telling us what you think at our guestbook.