Few cities in the entire world have suffered more in war than Sevastopol in the Crimea. This seaport city bore the brunt of the fighting during the Crimean War. It was besieged by the British and French, and fell only after 11 months of bombardment.

The most celebrated cavalry action of all time took place here, the Charge of the Light Brigade, in nearby Balaklava.

Almost 100 years later, Sevastopol fought off another siege, this time for 250 days during World War II before it fell to the invading German armies.

After Sevastopol was liberated by the Red Army in 1944, it was awarded the title of Hero City. Honoring the tremendous fighting spirit of its people who held out for so long, Stalin himself ordered the devastated city to be rebuilt as quickly as possible. So almost all of those old buildings we admire today were reconstructed only fifty years ago. Incredibly, only ten major buildings in the town today were built before 1945!

Sevastopol is the former home of the Soviet Black Sea Fleet, and is still used as a naval base by Russia as well as Ukraine. It's also a seaside resort and popular tourist destination. Our cruise ship brought us here for several days, to explore the city and the Crimean Peninsula. and use it as a base to visit Yalta and several palaces that included historic meeting places of Stalin, Churchill & Roosevelt during World War II.

After Kiev and Odessa, this is the third leg of our voyage.