Or Qapi

Or Qapı, the “gate of the trench,” guarded the narrow isthmus joining Crimea to the mainland. A ditch and rampart crossed this neck of land, with a fortress controlling the passage. For the Crimean Khanate it was both a shield against armies from the north and a gateway through which travellers, goods and raiding parties passed. Salt from the neighbouring lakes added to the importance of the place.

The khans strengthened the defences in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. In 1736 a Russian army under Field Marshal Münnich stormed the lines and destroyed the fortress; another Russian force took it in 1738. The Crimean Tatars rebuilt it in 1754, but in 1771 Russian troops captured the stronghold again. Russia annexed the khanate in 1783, ending the political independence of the state whose northern entrance Or Qapı had guarded.