Khostinsky fortress. Tower on the southeast corner

Second tower

Third tower

Fourth inner tower

Khosta fortress(the name Genoese fortress is also found) - the remains of an ancient structure, presumably a defensive fortress, in the northeastern part of the Yew-Boxwood Grove nature reserve, above the river on the right bank of Khost, 6 km from the Black Sea. The right bank of the Khosta River here goes down in a 100-meter cascade of cliffs. The top of the cliff above the Khosta bank is also the top of a rather significant downward slope in the other direction. Along the river, perpendicular to it, the lower and upper boundaries of the structure do not have steep cliffs, but movement is hampered by a downward slope in the other direction from the river.

By 2010, the remains of 4 towers and several fragments of the wall, made of limestone on lime mortar, have been preserved. Right on the fragments of the walls, high above the ground, old boxwoods and hornbeams grow.

It is located in a hard-to-reach part of the park due to cliffs and collapses of stones and rock fragments. On the way to the remains of the structure, the park administration posted signs prohibiting passage and demanding to return to a safe part. It is not recommended to visit the object alone - the road to it is dangerous.

History of the building

Modern bibliography on Sochi from books published in large editions either does not mention this attraction at all, or gives dubious information, without references to original publications or studies by reputable scientists. One of the most common versions, according to which this building was called the Genoese fortress, is associated with merchants from Genoa who had somewhere in the area, according to Italian maps of the 13th-15th centuries. the Genoese trading post, called Costa, and identifying the trading post and this fortress. The disadvantages of this version include the fact that the fortress is located far from the sea, in a remote place, which is difficult and dangerous to get to by the river, since the Khosta is a narrow, shallow river, easily blocked by traffic jams from tree trunks and stones, and along the banks it is surrounded by dense thickets, in which it is easy to make an ambush, since the width of the river between the rocks is small, and almost anywhere even a stone can be easily thrown to the opposite bank. After the rains, due to the abundance of rapids, the river hardly allowed boats to move along it. According to one version, the fortress was built by order of the Byzantine emperor Heraclius the First in 624 during the Byzantine-Iranian war to block one of the allied Persia mountain tribes living above the river, which intercepted military and robbed Byzantine merchant ships that stopped in the Khosta Bay for recruitment. fresh water.

Authoritative scientists are invited to refute or confirm another version of the purpose of the fortress. In those days, there were no settlements in the river valleys and in the coastal strip of the Black Sea for two reasons. In swampy deltas of rivers flowing into the sea, mosquitoes bred well and people suffered from fever. In addition, the sea was a road not only for Genoese merchants, but also for travelers with other goals. Therefore, people settled in the coastal mountains. It's safer and the pastures are better. Riverbeds were the natural way to them. Most of the year, these mountain streams can be forded anywhere. The fortress was built at the exit of a deep river canyon at a height of 80-90 meters from the riverbed. From three sides the fortress is impregnable due to cliffs and sheer cliffs. From the loopholes of the fortress, all the approaches to the fortress and the entire riverbed were clearly visible - the only place along which guests could pass. The place for the construction of the fortress was chosen impeccably from the point of view of fortification as a guard and protective structure.

Archeology

All the walls of the Khosta fortress were built from roughly processed limestone blocks, fastened with lime mortar containing an admixture of sea sand and small river pebbles. Elevated material from the territory of the fortress includes fragments of stucco ceramic dishes with porous walls, in particular, pot-shaped flat-bottomed vessels.

The current state of the building

Fragments of the wall and the remains of towers, fastened with lime mortar, which have stood in the open air for centuries, are still strong. But several digs made under the towers, already apparently in the last decade, have led to the appearance of a significant crack-gap.

Tower on the southeast corner

The southeastern corner of the fortress is protected by a tower, preserved to a height of up to 4.5 m. To the west, a loophole 40 X 50 cm in size looks out from the tower. At the southeastern corner there is a snarl gate.

Second tower

The second tower, 45 m away from the first, has an irregular rectangular plan. In its western and eastern walls, two tiers of grooves from the beams of interfloor ceilings are noticeable. The height of each floor is 1.7-1.8 m. The tower was apparently three-story.

Third tower

Only 11 m of walls separate the second and third gate towers. She was poorly preserved. Its massif, covering an area of ​​14 by 8 meters, curves out to the southwest at an acute angle, forming a barrier to the fortress gates. The threshold of this gate is visible in the middle part of the corridor formed by the northern wall of the third tower, and a massive wall running parallel to it, which then stretches to the west. Above the threshold at a height of more than 1 m, a groove for fixing the bolt bar is visible.

Fourth inner tower

To the west of the gate, a tower-like buttress protrudes from the wall, protecting the gate. At 10 m from it is the last tower, which, unlike the others, also protrudes into the fortress. At the same time, its room is deepened into the thickness of the wall by more than 1 m. A doorway leads to the upper tier of the tower. Judging by the stone protruding from the wall here, on which the ceiling was held, the height of this room reached 1.9 m. Taking into account the surviving fragments, it should be assumed that the original height of the tower was at least 11 m. A wide loophole looks south from its lower floor.

I continue my photo story about a walk along the Yew-Boxwood Grove in Sochi (you will find the beginning of the walk and information on how to get to this attraction in Khosta).

Today you will see ancient fortress, Khosta river and spring (Khosta, Sochi).

True, now we have come across a fork:

— if you climb up, you can reach the ruins of the Ancient Fortress;

- and the road, going a little to the side, will lead to the river and the spring.

ancient fortress .

Its official name is Khosta Fortress. It was built around the 8th-10th century AD. Its second name is the Genoese fortress.

The fortress itself today is the remains of an ancient structure, presumably for defensive purposes. It is located, if you look at the map, in the northeastern part of the reserve "", above the river on the right bank of Khost, 6 km from the Black Sea. The right bank of the Khosta River here goes down in a 100-meter cascade of cliffs (therefore, it is better not to approach the edge so as not to add work to the rescuers). The top of the cliff above the Khosta bank is also the top of a rather significant downward slope in the other direction.

I'm not sure, but it seems that the remains of the towers and several fragments of the wall, built of limestone on lime mortar, have been preserved.

To be honest, at first I did not even understand why the fortress is located in such a strange place - in the middle of the forest.

Then I realized that several centuries ago there might not have been a forest here, and the river below was very clearly visible. If we assume that the Khosta River at that time was navigable (for the ships of those times), then from such a fortress it was very convenient to control the movement of both friends and enemies along the river.

We return to the main path and go down to the river. Be careful not to knock small pebbles down the path with your feet - they can fall on people walking along the river bank:

And here is herself river:

The road to the spring is very picturesque, as it runs along the rocks along the river:

• Hot tours to Krasnodar Territory

Located in the northeast of a yew-boxwood grove, the Khosta fortress was built in the 7th-10th centuries. There is no unequivocal answer as to who erected it (Genoese or Byzantines) yet. In any case, medieval architects did their best: the citadel rises on an impregnable steep bank of the river, there is a defensive wall on only one side. To date, the remains of walls and towers made of limestone have remained from the formidable fortress. Old yews and hornbeams grow right on the stones covered with a thick layer of moss, further enhancing the feeling of abandonment.

The fortress, or rather, what is left of it, consists of 4 towers and a small fragment of the wall. The southeastern section is protected by a 4.5 m high pillar with a loophole through which the defenders fought off the attacking enemies. Near the tower are the remains of a defensive rampart.

How the Khosta fortress looked like in its heyday (very large-scale) will be told by the posters placed on the stands near the tourist trail. The approach to the ruins is strictly prohibited - collapses are not uncommon.

The ruins of the second tower are located 45 m from the southeast. In the western and eastern walls, two tiers of grooves from the ceilings were preserved: apparently, it was a three-story building with a height of 1.7 m at each level. The third tower was preserved less than the others. It was the largest, measuring 14 by 8 m. The fourth was the stronghold of the defense of the Khosta fortress. Its height reached 11 m, and the walls were dotted with large loopholes, several people fired from each at once.

Practical information

Address: Khosta, st. Boxwood. GPS coordinates: 43.539698, 39.879050. Web site .

The fortress is located on the territory of the Caucasian State Natural Biosphere Reserve. H. G. Shaposhnikova.

You can get to the yew-boxwood grove from Sochi or Adler by minibuses No. 122, 125, 134 and buses No. 4 and 4c (stop "Khosta-Most"). From the stop you need to walk 15 minutes along the river along the street. Boxwood to the visitor center with a cash desk. From the entrance to the fortress 2 km along the Big Ring trail. Entrance 300 RUB, children from 7 to 14 years old - 150 RUB, under 7 years old - free of charge. Prices on the page are for October 2018.

The Khosta fortress is located in the northeastern part of the Yew-boxwood grove, 6 km from the sea, on top of a rocky cliff. The right bank of the Khosta River here goes down in a 100-meter cascade of cliffs. Therefore, the need for artificial fortifications exists only in the southern part of the peak, where the defensive line was built.

The fortress belongs to the early medieval fortifications of the region and dates back to approximately the 7th - 10th centuries AD. (Based on the book by Yu.N. Voronov "Antiquities of Sochi and its environs." Chapter IV. "Medieval era")

The Khosta fortress was built in such a way that its northern, western and eastern parts were protected by natural cliffs. In the southern part, a defensive line was built from a wall, three towers, a gate and a rampart. During the construction of the walls, the soil was removed to the rocky area. They were built gradually, in narrow tiers up to a height of 5-6 meters, at the top they were decorated with teeth.

To date, the remains of 4 towers and fragments of walls have been preserved.

The southeastern corner of the fortress is protected by a tower, preserved to a height of up to 4.5 m. To the west, a loophole 0.4x0.5 m in size looks out from the tower. At the southeastern corner, a wall with a groove for a log bolt is visible from the outside. These are the remains of a spare gate, which served to bring troops to the flank of the enemy. The second, separated from the first by 45 m, has an irregularly rectangular plan. In its western and eastern walls, two tiers of grooves for interfloor beams are visible. The height of each floor, 1.7-1.8 m, was, apparently, three-story.

Only 11 m of walls separate the second and third gate towers. The latter is poorly preserved. Its array, which occupies an area of ​​14x8 m, wedges out to the south-west with an acute angle, forming a barrier of the fortress gates. The threshold of this gate is visible in the middle part of the corridor formed by the northern wall, which then stretches to the west. Above the threshold at a height of more than 1 m, a groove for fixing the bolt bar is visible.

To the west of the gate, a tower-like buttress protrudes from the wall, protecting the gate. At 10 m from it is the last tower, which, unlike the others, also protrudes into the fortress. At the same time, its room is deepened into the thickness of the wall by more than 1 m. A doorway leads to the upper tier of the tower. Judging by the stone protruding from the wall here, on which the ceiling was held, the height of this room reached 1.9 m. Taking into account the surviving fragments, it should be assumed that the original height of the tower was at least 11 m. A wide loophole looks south from its lower floor.

The masonry of the walls was carried out from roughly processed stone blocks of local limestone with respect to the rows in the shell and backfilling of broken stone in lime mortar with an admixture of sea sand and small pebbles.

The rich history of this area and the reverent attitude of the inhabitants to it allows you to see the centuries-old buildings, which by some miracle are still intact. One of them also includes the Khosta fortress, or as it is called otherwise - the Genoese.

Surprisingly, not a single scientist has yet turned his eyes to this amazing structure. And since serious research has not been conducted, the history of this place can be called more of a legend or conjecture.

According to one version, which is the most common, the building belonged to the Genoese. On the maps of this people, a place called Costa was marked. However, no logical reasons why the fortification was located so far from the sea could not be found. Despite this, the second name of the fortress is Genoese.

More plausible is the assumption that the fortress belongs to the Turks. These people are inclined to defend the territory in this way, and the local population could well ask for protection.

Surviving buildings

The first tower is well preserved - the nearby gates are visible, and also a loophole is guessed, from where brave soldiers could shoot, protecting the territory.

The second, located a few tens of meters away, is badly damaged. Therefore, its role in defensive actions is difficult to understand. There is an assumption that its height was more than 5 m, but there is no evidence for this.

The third tower is the most destroyed of all. It has an impressive base area, but it is impossible to make assumptions about its size. It is located ten meters from the second.

The last, fourth tower, was, in all likelihood, the main firing line. The walls, whose height is 11 m, have survived, and several levels of loopholes are clearly visible, which allowed a small detachment to shoot back from enemies.

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