Fragments of well-preserved defensive structures of the Crimean War were discovered by specialists of the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences during excavations at the Fort Menshikov cultural heritage site at Cape Khrustalny in Sevastopol.
Here were found the remains of powerful stone socles, probably associated with the barbets (platforms for placing guns), at least six embrasures for battery guns, as well as a well with an underground gallery leading to the sea. Fragments of mortar bombs, cores and lead bullets were also extracted from under the soil layer.
Experts believe that they found fragments of the plinths and embrasures of battery No. 8, which was built to enhance the defense of the Sevastopol Bay raid in 1810. It was later rebuilt and was destroyed in 1906. In the middle of the last century, the building of the Marine Hydrophysical Institute, the 50-meter obelisk monument “Bayonet and Sail” and the 40-meter monument “Soldier and Sailor” were built on this site.
“It was believed that the engineering structures of battery No. 8 were not preserved, since this site was heavily rebuilt since the 1960s. Excavations are not finished yet, but it’s already obvious that after conservation and restoration work our findings can become one of the brightest points of the exposition of the Museum of Defense of Sevastopol,” said the head of work Sergey Ilyashenko.
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