Fortress Troitskaya: where is it?

At Cape Taganiy Rih once stood the impregnable and unshakable Trinity fortress. Taganrog conducts its history precisely from the time of construction of this fortification, which began in 1699 and lasted for ten years. A great stronghold has seen a lot in its time, but, unfortunately, only a small part of this ancient building could survive to this day.

History of foundation

In the summer of 1696, when Azov was taken by Tsar Peter I and his mighty army, the sovereign went to these places to select a suitable place where it is possible to erect a fortress and build a harbor in order to firmly establish a foothold on newly conquered lands. He liked Tagany Cape. In the same year, he decides that it is there that the fortification must be located .

The reinforcement was commissioned to build the Austrian engineer and architect Antonio de Laval, who, having arrived in these places, decided to begin construction a few kilometers from Taganrog, and not on the cape, which the king liked. Thanks to this, the Pavlovsk fortress appeared. The Trinity stronghold began to settle only a year later, after de Leval was arrested and taken to Moscow for interrogation.

A new project was developed by the talented engineer and town planner von Borgsdorf. All construction work was completed in 1709. The church located on the territory of this building was consecrated in the name of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity. In honor of her, and received its name of the fortress. Trinity - they began to call her.

What kind of stronghold did it have?

Thus, in just one decade, a real stone city was built on the cape of Tagan, which was blowing from all directions , and was the first Russian naval base. The Troitsk Fortress (Taganrog) on its territory housed about two hundred public buildings, as well as about 1500 residential buildings, where more than ten thousand people lived. Here was a whole garrison, which had on its armament more than 250 guns. In addition, there are ten more ships in the harbor with command personnel.

The structure itself had an interesting shape. The scheme shows that the Troitsk Fortress (Taganrog) was built in the form of a pentagon. The photos depicting the stronghold maps that have come down to us since that time show that it was surrounded by a large earthen rampart that was more than three kilometers long. From the sea side, there was no special strengthening, since the entire stake during construction was made on the high and steep banks of the cape. On the territory of the fortification building there was also a bazaar, a sovereign court, a dwelling for ordinary people and a temple. In the center of all buildings was a large area.

Destruction and rebirth of the fortress

Unfortunately, the further history of this stronghold is as sad as many similar fortifications of the time. The fortress of Troitskaya was dismantled to the ground according to the signed agreement between Peter I and the Ottoman Empire. A year later, the last Russian guard left this building. And the Turkish army completely occupied this territory, plundering everything that still remained here.

Then the next quarter of a century the Azov lands were under the rule of the Turks. Only in the course of the next hostilities in 1736 Azov and Taganrog were again returned to Russia. But the revival of the stronghold became possible only in 1770 - in the era of Catherine the Great. Fortress Troitskaya was quickly restored to the remains of the old foundation, and in the harbor the base of the Azov flotilla was located.

Decline

But after the annexation of the Crimean peninsula to the Russian Empire, this fortification structure lost its original purpose. All ships from the port were transported to Sevastopol, and the stronghold was abolished by order of the Russian Empress. In 1803 a battalion from Rostov arrived in Taganrog. Therefore, the construction of new buildings for the military began on the territory.

Thus, in the place where once a majestic fortress was located, there appeared "exemplary" barracks for soldiers in the number of ten pieces. All of them were surrounded by a massive two-meter fence. In the future, Taganrog no longer developed as a military port, as trade relations with other states were built in its waters. Therefore, the buildings that remained from the fortification and the soldiers' barracks were used for various purposes, and eventually they were finally dismantled.

Contemporary look

One "exemplary" soldier's cell is the only reminder that the Troitsk Fortress (Taganrog) left after its complete destruction. Where this authentic building is located, every local resident knows. It is located at the address: the first Fortress Lane, house 46. These remains are an object of cultural heritage of federal significance. In this form and survived to our days Troitskaya fortress (Taganrog). How to get there, any citizen will also tell. This cell is at the beginning of the city on the cape. And there are shuttle buses number 19 and number 56.

Memory

In addition, this fortification building is immortalized in the book "Fortifications of Peter on the Miusskiy Peninsula" thanks to the efforts of the local historical foundation. Also in 2015, on the site where once the third bastion of the stronghold was located, a monument was erected by the efforts of the same non-profit organization. This memorial looks like a cannon, installed next to a fragment of a fortification, for the construction of which materials were used in the recent reconstruction of the city. During the solemn opening of the monument, a message was sounded that in the near future there should appear thirteen similar memorials in Taganrog.

The city is proud of this amazing fortress and port, that they were the first in the world to be built on the open sea, and not in an artificial or natural bay. Therefore, for many decades these buildings were admired for their rationality of erection and the audacity of all foreign builders.