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 Everybody
has it's favourite place and to visit them is always joy. One of
such places for us is the fortress in Sudak. You show not only love
to such places, but also jealousy. You want everybody to see them,
draw near these walls, made of rough grey limestone, enter the gates,
protected with two powerful towers, take at a glance the desert
slope, hiding under the ground the ruins of once flourishing trade
and handicraft town up to now, rise to Consul's Castle and then
along the steep path - higher to the top of Krepostnaya mountain,
to the solitary Dozornaya tower, which stands, where the wind blows.
The castle leaves unforgettable impression -
the traditional citadel, the fortress in fortress. The inner yard
is gloomy, loop-holes are made in such a way, that anybody can be
caught into fire, who dares to draw near, the remainders of bridges,
cogged wall from the castle to Georgievskaya tower and stone ground,
wide open into the seaside, protected with the wall...
The firmness and despair - that is the image of citadel, which
had been a refuge to a handful of people, who preferred death to
captivity and slavery.
The ancient chronicler melancholically and simply whote about local
tower in 1312: so, 1100 years elapsed from the time of it's erection
till present. Any fussiness on that background seemed to be stupid
and indecent.
Surozh, Soldadiya, Soldaya, Sugdeya, Sugdak,
Sudak are different names of one and the same - the town-fortress.
Everybody can hardly believe now, that there was time, when the
Black Sea itself was named Surozhskoye Sea, that the Alans, the
Khazars, the Polovtsy, the Greeks, the Russians,  the
Italians, the Tatars and the Turks were fighting to death for the
possession of this town and port.
The town, having been "a mixture of all people and all beliefs",
supplied merchants with the world (Marko Polo's trade company was
situated in Soldadiya), warriors ( tales about the heroes of Surozh
are known in Russian epos), farmers (were famous for excellent Surozh
wines), builders, travellers and even saints.
The reflection of this flourishing was so strong,
that after the joining the Crimea to Russia in the 18 century they
were intended to transfer the capital of Taurida. Soon they had
forgotten about it, the stones of ancient buildings were taken away
for the building of barracks for soldiers. The country fell into
decay. Foreign trade came to an end.
There is a necessity to return to some places
again and again, to recollect stories of 1500 antiquity, to define
our attitude to them, to read and reread decodes of Latininscriptions
on that slabs, cut from sandstone and decorated with Genoese coat
of arms, to admire ponderous grace of towers, to marvel at bravity
and skill of people, who erected them for centuries near the very
edge of the precipice, to regret about death of paintings, made
with tempera (at present).
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