Phanagoria Fortress (Taman)

The Phanagoria Fortress (Fanagoriyskaya krepost) is a late 18th-century earthwork fortification in the village of Taman, Temryuk District, Krasnodar Krai. Built under the direction of Alexander Suvorov, it survives as tall earthen ramparts on Karl Marx Street, at the entrance to the village from the direction of Sennoy. Today the site holds a memorial with busts of Suvorov and Admiral Ushakov.

History

After Taman became part of Russia, the peninsula needed a stronghold against a possible Turkish attack. Construction of the fortress began in 1794. The project is tied to Suvorov, who supervised the work in person and visited Taman four times.

The name comes from ancient Phanagoria. According to a common account, the Greek city was then believed to have stood where Taman is; it later turned out that its remains lie elsewhere on the peninsula.

The fortress was destroyed during the Crimean War and never rebuilt. Only the earthen ramparts have remained since.

Ramparts and memorial

It was a bastion fortress. The ramparts, raised by Suvorov's soldiers, run for about 1,200 metres on the landward side and about 680 metres along the shore. They are overgrown with grass now, but satellite images still show the star-shaped outline of the fortification. The ramparts look out over Taman Bay.

A memorial stands inside the fortress. It has busts of Suvorov and of Admiral Fyodor Ushakov, commander of the Black Sea Fleet, whose victory at the Battle of Kerch Strait in 1790 kept the Turks from gaining a hold on the Sea of Azov and the Kuban lands, Taman included. Old cannons and cannonballs are displayed nearby, and a small chapel has been built close by in honour of Admiral Ushakov, who was canonised as a saint.

The Tmutarakan Stone

One of the best-known finds in Russian history is linked to this place: the Tmutarakan Stone. The marble slab, inscribed about Prince Gleb measuring the width of the strait, was found in Taman in the late 18th century and for a while served as a doorstep at the entrance to the barracks. The inscription showed that the centre of the medieval Tmutarakan principality was here and settled a long dispute over where Tmutarakan had been. Since 1851 the stone has been kept in the State Hermitage.

Getting there

The ramparts of the Phanagoria Fortress are at the entrance to Taman on Karl Marx Street, on the side facing Sennoy and Temryuk. The easiest way to get there is by car. Across from the fortress are the Chateau Taman winery tasting room and a grape processing plant, so a visit to the ramparts combines easily with the village's other sights.