Fortifications of Arkhipo-Osipovka

At the beginning of the 19th century, here was located the village of adyg tribe Psyshopa. In 1814, the Caucasian war began. As a result, Russia gained a foothold on the Black Sea coast and in Transcaucasia. In 1837, the Fort Mikhailovskoe was built here. It was an important stronghold in the war.

The fortifications of the Mikhailovsky fortress were temporary. The soldiers built a six-meter earthen rampart, as well as a wooden wall. Inside the territory, there were residential and household buildings. Several cannons were mounted at the corners of the wall.

On March 22, 1840, the garrison of the Mikhailovsky Fort took an unequal battle. In the fortress, there were 480 people, who for 5 hours repelled the attacks of 12 thousand fighters of Caucasian tribes. When almost no one was left alive, a private soldier of the Tenginsky regiment, Arkhip Osipov, went into the powder magazine and set it on fire. As a result of the explosion, up to 3 thousand mountaineers were killed.

Emperor Nicholas I was impressed by the feat of Archip Osipov and ordered to permanently enroll him in the first company of the Tenginsky regiment. Emperor Alexander II in 1876 ordered to install a cast-iron cross on the site of the Mikhailovsky fortification, which has survived to this day.