Fort-Shevchenko ( kk, Форт-Шевченко) is a military-base town and administrative centre of
Tupkaragan District in
Mangystau Region of
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
on the eastern shore of
Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...
. Primary industries include fishing and the extraction of stone. Population: 5,559 (2016 estimate).
History
The city was founded as a military stronghold by the Imperial
Russian Navy in 1846 after nearby New Alexander Fort, built in 1834 overlooking
Dead Kultuk, was deemed too remote.
Travel Guide to Fort Shevchenko and Bautino – Planet Esoterica
/ref> Until 1857, Fort Shevchenko was known as ''Novopetrovskoye'' (Новопетровское) and from 1857 to 1939 as ''Fort-Aleksandrovskii'' (Форт-Александровский). It was named for Ukrainian poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...
Taras Shevchenko
Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko ( uk, Тарас Григорович Шевченко , pronounced without the middle name; – ), also known as Kobzar Taras, or simply Kobzar (a kobzar is a bard in Ukrainian culture), was a Ukrainian poet, wr ...
, who was assigned to military service here during his exile. Today the town is used by the Kazakhstan Navy
russian: Военно-морские силы Республики Казахстан
, image =File:Emblem-vmsrk.svg
, caption = Kazakh naval emblem
, start_date =
, country =
, allegiance =
, branch = Armed Forces of the Republic of Kaza ...
as a base.
The coat of arms of Fort Alexandrovsky was approved October 22, 1908, along with other arms of the Transcaspian field: It is black and silver depicting the fortress and two fish.
Russian Civil War
Fort Alexandrovsky was the site of naval action on 21 May 1919, when a Squadron of the British Caspian Flotilla
The British Caspian Flotilla was a naval force of the Royal Navy established in the Caspian Sea in 1918. It was part of the allied intervention in the Russian Civil War. The flotilla initially reported to the Rear-Admiral Commanding, Black Sea, ...
attacked the port.
Climate
Landmarks
There are several landmarks of significance; Shevchenko Memorial Museum, National History, and ethnographic museums. The Shevchenko Memorial Museum opened in 1932 near where he had been hiding. There are also some remnants of the fortress, a monument to Shevchenko and a state grave of Civil War heroes.
31 km from the city is the necropolis Beysenbay and up the coast the site Bautino
Bautino ( kz, Баутин, ''Bautin'', ''باۋتىين'') is a town in Mangystau Region, southwest Kazakhstan. It lies at an altitude of below sea level, on the coast of the Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body ...
(Баутино).
References
External links
Populated places in Mangystau Region
Transcaspian Oblast
{{Kazakhstan-geo-stub