Cape Fonar (, , , ) is the easternmost point of the

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

n peninsula. The cape is located on the western shore of

Kerch Strait The Kerch Strait is a strait in Eastern Europe. It connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, separating the Kerch Peninsula of Crimea in the west from the Taman Peninsula of Russia's Krasnodar Krai in the east. The strait is to wide and up ...

near the exit to Azov Sea. The cape was named ''Fonar'' () that means lamp or light since it was often used as a base for

navigation Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the motion, movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navig ...

cressets. Nowadays the Yenikalsky Lighthouse is located on top of Cape Fonar. Unpopulated rocky coast of Cape Fonar attracts large amounts of

seabird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adaptation, adapted to life within the marine ecosystem, marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent ...

s, also dice snakes are common there. The cape is occasionally visited by tourists and local fishermen.

History

According to

archaeologists Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

Cape Fonar area was populated since the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

. Sites of ancient settlements of that period have been discovered near the cape. During the

Bosporan Kingdom The Bosporan Kingdom, also known as the Kingdom of the Cimmerian Bosporus (; ), was an ancient Greco-Scythians, Scythian state located in eastern Crimea and the Taman Peninsula on the shores of the Cimmerian Bosporus, centered in the present-day ...

period a town named Parthenion (Παρθένιον) was located at the cape. It was mentioned in the

Periplus A periplus (), or periplous, is a manuscript document that lists the ports and coastal landmarks, in order and with approximate intervening distances, that the captain of a vessel could expect to find along a shore. In that sense, the periplus wa ...

of Scylax, dated 350 BC. In 1820, the Yenikalsky Lighthouse was constructed. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, several battles between the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

and

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

took place in Cape Fonar area. In 1943, this area was used by the

Soviets The Soviet people () were the citizens and nationals of the Soviet Union. This demonym was presented in the ideology of the country as the "new historical unity of peoples of different nationalities" (). Nationality policy in the Soviet Union ...

as a starting point of the Kerch–Eltigen Operation. New buildings of the Yenikalsky Lighthouse were built in 1953 as a replacement of the original tower destroyed in World War II. On 23 July 1995, a bulker ''Doja'' belonged to a

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

n ship owner sank near Cape Fonar. The ship capsized in stormy sea due to a cargo shift. According to the locals all crew members rescued using onboard life saving equipment. The ship was built in 1962 by Burntisland Shipbuilding Company (

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

), she was delivered to James Fisher & Sons as ''Leven Fisher'', latter names: ''Haj Jassan'' (1982—1989), ''Allah Kareem'' (1989—1994), ''Doja'' (since 1994). In 2011, Cape Fonar was considered as a prospective area for the

Crimean Bridge The Crimean Bridge (, ; ), also called Kerch Strait Bridge or Kerch Bridge, is a pair of parallel bridges, one for a four-lane road and one for a double-track railway, spanning the Kerch Strait between the Taman Peninsula of Krasnodar Krai in ...

construction project, but after the 2014 annexation of Crimea Russia opted for different route.

References

Fonar Kerch Fonar {{Crimea-geo-stub