Question 1

What is the history of Yeni-Kale?

Accepted Answer

Yeni-Kale’s history begins as an Ottoman fortress built between 1699 and 1706 to control the Kerch Strait. It stood on the Crimean Khanate’s peninsula and served as a military stronghold and pasha’s residence. In 1771, during the Russo-Turkish War, its Ottoman garrison abandoned it before Russian forces entered; it later became a Russian military hospital and was deserted from the 1880s.

Question 2

What is inside Yeni-Kale?

Accepted Answer

Inside Yeni-Kale were two powder magazines, an arsenal, living quarters, a water reservoir, a bath-house and a mosque. The fortress also contained garrison and service buildings, while the pasha had a residence there. These spaces form the documented interior of the ruined stronghold.

Question 3

Why was Yeni-Kale built, and what was it used for?

Accepted Answer

Yeni-Kale was built as a coastal stronghold guarding the Kerch Strait and obstructing the passage of Russian ships between the Azov and Black seas. It held powerful cannons, garrison buildings, magazines and service structures, and also served as the pasha’s residence. In the 19th century, its military role changed when it became a Russian military hospital.

Question 4

Where is Yeni-Kale?

Accepted Answer

Yeni-Kale is on the shore of the Kerch Strait, on the Kerch peninsula within the city of Kerch. It stands at the edge of the peninsula above the coastal road. The fortress is therefore in the Kerch urban area, beside the strait.

Question 5

When was Yeni-Kale built?

Accepted Answer

Yeni-Kale was built between 1699 and 1706, at the turn of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Construction was carried out during the Ottoman period on the Kerch peninsula. The fortress was completed as a coastal stronghold overlooking the Kerch Strait.

Question 6

Was Yeni-Kale ever attacked or besieged?

Accepted Answer

Yeni-Kale did not face a siege in 1771 because its Ottoman garrison abandoned the fortress before Russian forces entered. Russian units under General Nikolay Borzov entered on 21 June 1771 during the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774. The fortress therefore fell without a fight rather than being taken after an assault.

Question 7

What did Yeni-Kale look like in its prime?

Accepted Answer

In its prime, Yeni-Kale was a compact shore-side stone fortress of yellow-beige ashlar with thick curtain walls and regularly coursed masonry. Cylindrical projecting turrets rose above the walls, capped by rounded, ribbed stone tops and pierced by narrow vertical slits. Gaps in the wallhead mark where crenellations and merlons once stood.

Question 8

Is Yeni-Kale still standing, or is it a ruin?

Accepted Answer

Yeni-Kale is still standing, but it survives as a partial ruin. Its stone walls and projecting turrets remain, while the gates, fragments of the fortress walls and the coastal half-bastion are among the best-preserved parts. Restoration work took place in the second half of the twentieth century, but almost the entire fortress remains in ruins.

Question 9

Who built Yeni-Kale?

Accepted Answer

Yeni-Kale was built by the Ottoman Turks in 1699–1706 on the shore of the Kerch Strait, on a peninsula that then belonged to the Crimean Khanate. A coastal stronghold guarding the strait at Kerch, it held garrison buildings, magazines and service structures, and also served as the residence of the pasha.

Today the fortress survives in partial ruin: its stone walls and projecting turrets still stand above the strait and draw visiting tourists.

Question 10

Can you visit Yeni-Kale?

Accepted Answer

Yeni-Kale can be visited as a ruined fortress and is often visited by tourists. Its surviving walls, projecting turrets, gates and coastal half-bastion form the principal remains. It is also described as one of Kerch’s and Crimea’s sights.

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