Inkerman, Port city in Balaklava Raion, Ukraine.
Inkerman sits at the mouth of the Chernaya River where it flows into Sevastopol Inlet, spreading across both riverbanks. The city features limestone cliffs that contain cave structures and serve as quarrying zones for white stone used in construction.
The fortress of Kalamita was built in the 8th century on the cliffs and served for centuries as a strategic defense point against invaders. After Ottoman forces captured it, the settlement received its current name from the Turkish occupiers.
The cave monastery of Saint Clement dominates the skyline with its rock-cut chapels and churches carved into the limestone cliffs above the river. Visitors can explore the stacked chambers that Byzantine monks chiseled into the natural caves over centuries.
The town is best approached from the water side, where the cliffs and caves are particularly striking when viewed from the river. Sturdy footwear is essential for navigating uneven paths along the limestone banks and up to the elevated monastery buildings.
Underground tunnels beneath the city once stored ammunition for the Black Sea Fleet in an extensive subterranean system that was abandoned following an explosion in the 1970s. Today the empty galleries stand as a reminder of this industrial past and the varied uses people found for the underground.
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