Balaklava harbor

First of all: Balaklava is a settlement on the Crimean Peninsula and part of the city of Sevastopol. Balaklava has changed possession several times during its history. A settlement at its present location was founded under the name of Symbolon (Σύμβολον) by the Ancient Greeks, for whom it was an important commercial city.

Middle Ages: During the Middle Ages, it was controlled by the Byzantine Empire and then by the Genoese who conquered it in 1365. The Byzantines called the town Yamboli and the Genoese named it Cembalo. In 1475, Cembalo City was conquered by the Turks and was subsequently renamed Balyk-Yuva (Fish's Nest) which then became Balaklava.

Crimean war and after: The town became famous for the Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War thanks to the suicidal Charge of the Light Brigade, a British cavalry charge due to a misunderstanding sent up a valley strongly held on three sides by the Russians, in which about 250 men were killed or wounded, and over 400 horses lost, effectively reducing the size of the mounted brigade by two thirds and destroying some of the finest light cavalry in the world to no military purpose. The British poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson immortalized the battle in verse in his Charge of the Light Brigade. The balaclava, a tight knitted garment covering the whole head and neck with holes for the eyes and mouth, also takes its name from this settlement, where soldiers first wore them. Also numerous towns founded in English-speaking countries in later parts of the 19th Century were named "Balaklava". In 1954 Balaklava, together with the whole Crimea, passed from Russia to Ukraine. In 1957 it was formally incorporated into the municipal borders of Sevastopol by the Soviet government and lost city status. It became part of the independent state of Ukraine in 1991. Today there are over 50 monuments in the town dedicated to the remembrance of military valor in past wars, including the Great Patriotic War, the Crimean War and the Russian Civil War.