SEVASTO'POL, or, as it is sometimes written, SEBASTOPOL (Sebastopolis, the "august city"), a Russian sea-port, fortress, and arsenal in the Crimea, in the government of Tau rida. It is situated near the s.w. extremity of the Crimea, on the southern side of the magnificent harbor or roadstead of Sevastopol, one of Use finest natural harbors in the world. This harbor is an inlet of the Black sea, stretching inland for about 44 in. from w. to e., about half a mile wide the entrance,- but immediately opening out to the width of a mile, with an average width of about half a mile up to the eastern end. It is sheltered on the u. and s. by lofty limestone ridges shutting it completely in,with a depth of water varying from 3 to 11 fathoms, and sufficient in several places to allow ships of the largest size to lie close to the shore. At the eastern end, under the heights of biker. mann, the river TchernaYa enters the harbor through low marshy ground. The South bay. or Dockyard harbor, as it is also called, extending about one and a half miles from n. to s., forms the harbor proper of Sevastopol; and between it and Quarantine bay, occupying rather more than half the peninsula thus formed, is built the chief portion of the town of Sevastopol, on ground sloping irregularly upward. The town, previous to its destruction in the siege of 1854-55, was well and substantially built of stone,with lines of streets running from n. to s.. and smaller ones intersecting them at right angles, con taining several handsome public edifices. The docks, constructed for the Russian gov ernment by col. Upton, an English civil engineer, were among the most important works at Sevastopol; the dock-basin, docks, and quays were formed in the most substantial way, being partly cut in the solid rock, and lined with cement, partly built of limestone and granite. From the dockyard creek, ships were admitted int? the dock basin by means of three locks, the bottom of the docks being above the sea level, and the basin was sup plied with water by a canal some 12 m. in length from the Tchernaya above Inkerniann —itself a work of no inconsiderable magnitude. For the defense of town and harbor from attack by sea, were erected. These forts were works/of immense strength, built of limestone faced with granite, on which artillery was found to make but little impression; they mounted a very large number of guns, and by their cross-fire com pletely protected every spot accessible to a hostile fleet. On the land side, with the exception of a slight loop-holed wall extending partially round the western side, the town, previous to the siege, was entirely undefended; but the earthworks and fortifications then successively extemporized by the genius of gen. Todleben,which for so many months
kept the armies of France and England at bay, and of which the Malakoff and the Redan were the most formidable, are now of historic fame.
The siege of Sevastopol by the allied English and French armies will rank among the most famous sieges in history; it lasted for 11 mouths, from Oct., 1854, to Sept.. 1855; the place sustained repeated bombardments, the first of which took place Oct. 17, 1854; and the capture of the Malakoff and Redan, on Sept. 8, 1855, at length forced the Rus sians to evacuate it, and retire to the n. side. The town was completely ruined; the docks and forts still standing were blown up by French and Viglish engineers, and by the treaty of Paris (1856) were not to be restored; but the restricions were removed by the abrogation of the neutrality of the Black sea by the conference of London (1871). Before the siege the population of Sevastopol, including the garrison, amounted to about 40.000. Since, the town has been partially rebuilt; but the population in 1S75 was only 20,000. Sevastopol was intended to be the station of the Russian Black sea fleet, and as such to form a standing menace to Turkey; during the siege the fleet was almost entirely destroyed, many of the ships having been sunk by the Russians across the entrance of the harbor by way of defense. The great disadvantage of Sevastopol as a naval station arises from the ravages of the teredo naralis, which soon render wooden vessels unseaworthy. Sevastopol was founded on the site of a small Tartar village called Alchtiar, immediately after the Russian conquest of the Crimea in 1783, under the orders of the empress Cath arine II. The promontory on which Sevastopol stands is a spot of considerable classical and historical interest. Here. perhaps on the site now occupied by the Greek convent of St. George, w. of Balaklava, stood the temple of the Tauric Artemis, in which, according to the legend, Iphigenia, daughter of Agamemnon,was priestess. It later times the prom ontory was colonized by Greeks from Heraclea, in Asia Minor, and became known as the Heracleotic Chersonese. Two cities, successively built a few miles apart on the sea coast to the w. of Sevastopol, have left remains existing to the present day. In after times the Chersonesus fell into the power of the Genoese, who established their head quarters at Balaklava, where the remains of the " Genoese castles" on the heights still bear witness to their rule. See history of the Russian War (W. and R. Chambers).