Mangup-Kale: Spectacular Ancient Cave City Hidden In The Crimean Mountains And Home To The Mysterious Kingdom Of Feodoro

Ellen Lloyd - AncientPages.com - Few people know about the remarkable Mangup cliff that together forms the most immense cavern fortress on the Crimean peninsula, about 9 miles due east of Sevastopol. Once in the past, this place was home to the mysterious kingdom of Feodoro.

Mangup-Kale Image credit: Nikolai Vassiliev

In the southern-western part of the peninsula, the Christian principality of Feodoro formed fortified settlements, so-called "cave-cities." The most famous are Mangup and Eski-Kermen.

The cave city is located at the top of Mangup Mountain, which stands above three picturesque valleys. Nature has made this area impregnable, and getting up here is a challenging task.

The Mangup-Kale fortress (kale means fortress)) is well-protected with walls and towers.

This ancient cave city is located high up in the cliffs and was once home to several thousand people. Image credit: Alterra

It was a strong defensive outpost in medieval times.The majority of the buildings that you see on Mangup Kale's territory today date back to the times of Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths (475-526), ruler of Italy (493-526), regent of the Visigoths (511-526), and a patricius of the Roman Empire.

Historians believe Byzantine emperors built the first fortification on Mangup Mountain in the 5th century.
The fortress, named Doros, was the central citadel of the Crimean Gothia at that time. In the 13th century, the town became the capital of the Theodoro Principality.

Ruins of Mangup citadel. Image credit: Try Ukraine

In the 15th century, the Kingdom of Feodoro was destroyed. The town was pillaged and burned by the Ottomans. After that, the Turks rebuilt the fort and named it Mangup Kale ('Fort Mangup').
Until the 18th century, it was the base of Ottoman rule on the peninsula.

When Crimea became a part of Russia, however, its last dwellers, the Karaites, left Mangup Kale, and the town went to ruin.
Another attraction of the Mangup Kale is its caves, the biggest and the most unique of which is Baraban Koba. Inside the cave, a stone pillar is in the center to support the roof. If you hit it, it makes a drumming sound.
There are also remarkable ancient cave monasteries and temples; in one of them, there are traces of old fresco paintings engraved in the rock.
From a historical point of view, this is a unique and exciting ancient place.

Written by Ellen Lloyd – AncientPages.com

Updated on January 22, 2024

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