YALTA LIGHTHOUSE

(autotranslated, could have mistakes)

The resort city and port of Yalta on the southern coast of Crimea arose on the site of former Taurus settlements. The first mention of it under the name Jalita dates back to 1145. This area was annexed to Russia in 1783. Yalta became a county town in 1838.

Since the city was located far from railways and did not have industrial enterprises, it began to develop as a port relatively late. It was only in 1870 that the first capital port facilities began to be built here.

To ensure the safety of the entrance to the Yalta roadstead at night, in November 1874, the first luminous beacon was installed in the port under construction. On this occasion, the “Report of the Hydrographic Department for 1874” reported: “In November 1874, a temporary port lighthouse was installed in Yalta on Cape Kilise-Burnu, consisting of an iron house with candelabra, 20 feet high, on which rises a large optical refractive apparatus (6th category - Author), ordered for this from Paris. Iron house with candelabra was transferred from the Nizhny Siversky lighthouse. The light of the lighthouse is red and has a visibility range of 7.7 miles.”

The lighthouse, which began operating on November 5, illuminated the sector of the sea from 90 to 214°. The height of the fire was 13.5 m

t sea level and 6 m from the base. The beacon lighting apparatus was installed on a yellow tower. To remove carbon deposits in the lamp, it had to be lowered 2-3 times a night, which was associated with a great loss of time and danger for ships, since during the lowering of the apparatus its fire disappeared from the visibility of sailors.

Shipowners have repeatedly expressed their dissatisfaction with the lighthouse and demanded that the temporary port light be replaced with a classy lighthouse. However, due to lack of funds, the solution to this issue was constantly postponed.

With the beginning of the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878, the lighthouse ceased regular lighting. The fire was turned on only when ships of the Russian squadron passed Yalta.

In the second half of the 1880s, construction of the Yalta port was completed. In November 1888, the head of the work turned to the director of the lighthouses of the Black and Azov Seas with a request to develop a project for a new Yalta lighthouse. The directorate proposed installing an 8 m high iron tower at the end of the constructed pier.

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Lighthouse Yalta

The project was approved by the Marine Technical Committee, but since the construction of a lighthouse in Yalta was not provided for by the 16-year (1875-1891) plan for the construction and re-equipment of coastal and floating lighthouses on the shores of the Russian Empire, there was no money for its construction, and its construction dragged on for many years: the lighthouse began to operate only in 1908. In the lantern structure of its white tower, a diopter light-optical apparatus of the 4th category was installed, which shone a red constant light for 11 miles.

Having safely “survived” the First World War and the Civil War, the lighthouse also withstood the Crimean earthquake on September 11, 1927 - it settled and crumbled in places, but the tower was not damaged, only the storm glass burst and spilled onto the lantern platform.

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the lighthouse was

transferred to manipulated operating mode. During the fighting, the tower remained intact, but the lantern structure and light-optical equipment were broken.

After the liberation of Crimea, in 1944-1946, in addition to ensuring navigation safety, the lighthouse was used for navigation and hydrographic support for combat trawling of the Yalta roadstead.

In 1957 a new white octagon was built

This is a 12 m high stone tower with a modern light-optical apparatus, shining a red long-flash light for 13 miles.

In the winter of 1969, the elements again tested the strength of the navigation structure. A hurricane swept over Crimea: the breakwater in Yalta cracked, communications, electricity and water supplies at the lighthouse were out of order. The head of the lighthouse, A.E. Shevchenko, risking his life, made his way along the breakwater to the tower, activated the backup light-optical apparatus and remained there for three days until the storm subsided.

In the post-war years, the heads of the lighthouse were E. M. Degermendzhi, A. E. Shevchenko, S. D. Tarasenko, V. D. Polishchuk and others. They made a significant contribution to the technical improvement of the lighthouse equipment and the improvement of the organization of service on it.

The lighthouse is depicted on stamps, postcards, and badges. It is one of the attractions of the resort city.