Inkerman

Inkerman, near Sevastopol in Crimea

Another battle site dating from the Crimea War but first it was a visit to the St Celments Monastery, partially built into the limestone cliffs. The modern main building.

 A small chapel and entrance to the caves above.

 A view from the bottom of the cliffs to the shapes dug into the cliffs above.

 Another view of the balconies built out from the caves.

 A view of the entrance to the caves to the left and note the nearness of the railway to the right behind the fence.

 Inside one of the many chapels built into the cliff.

 And another chapel.

 A view across the bay to the hills where the Battle of Inkerman was fought during the siege of Sevastopol, up the valley to the left of the transmitters on top of the hill.

 A general view of the monastery of St Clements to the left with the medieval fortress above it and the railway skirting the base.  It was typical of the Bolsheviks to disregard the sensitivities of the old religion and do their best to disrupt it. They could have built the railway a little further down the slope but it was a purposeful positioning of the railway to disrupt services. Just to the right out of shot are a steel fabrication works, a stone cutting factory associated with the quarry and a cement plant, not to mention the quarry operating just to the left behind the monastery and the medieval fortress.

 A detail of the vast area protected by the gatehouse of the medieval fortress.

 A view from the medieval gatehouse along the valley looking inland along the cliff face and the railway seen at the base.

 The gatehouse to the fortress to the left and the quarry to the right.

 Another view of the quarry workings.

 As I was waiting of the bus back to Sevastopol. I took this picture of a tree with seemingly more bunches of mistletoe, the dark green growths than leaves.

 And I always like to check out the local market...

 ...and a large range of colourful fruit and vegetables on offer.