Funa Fortress

The church of Saint Theodore Stratelates at Funa (Ukrainian: Храм святого Феодора Стратилата у Фуні, Greek: Θεόδωρος ο Στρατηλάτης, Ay-Todor, Άγιος Τόντορ) is a medieval Orthodox church forming part of the complex of the Funa Fortress (Greek: Φουνα) of the Principality of Theodoro (Crimea). It was erected, presumably, no earlier than 1422. It was rebuilt in 1459 and after the Ottoman conquest. During Turkish rule it was a place of worship for the Christians of the Alushta valley right up to their resettlement to the northern Azov region in 1778.

In an abandoned state the church survived until the end of the 19th century. Before its destruction it was surveyed by A. L. Bertier-Delagarde. It suffered in the course of the great landslide of Demerdji in 1894. After the earthquake of 1927 the building collapsed. Only the masonry of the first storey and one of the walls of the second storey have survived. In 1960–1990 it was investigated in the course of archaeological excavations. The ruins of the church were partially restored and conserved. At present it forms part of the display of the "Funa Fortress" museum.

In 2014 Russia seized and annexed Crimea, which is part of Ukraine. In Ukraine, within whose borders as recognised by most UN member states the object lies, it is a monument of cultural heritage of national significance; in Russia, which controls the territory of Crimea, it is an object of cultural heritage of federal significance, as a constituent part of the archaeological complex "Funa guard fortification". An object of the cultural heritage of the peoples of the Russian Federation of federal significance. Reg. No. 911540359960006 (Unified State Register of Cultural Heritage Objects). A monument of the cultural heritage of Ukraine of national significance. Protection No. 010005-Н.

Machine-translated from “Храм Феодора Стратилата в Фуне” on the Russian Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Funa Fortress ranks #6,837 of 7,044 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #127 of the 127 mapped in Ukraine. Founded 1422, it is older than 51% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 410 atlas entries founded in the 15th century. See how Ukraine compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia (in Russian) ↗