During the Cold War, from the 1950s to the early 1990s, a super-secret location could have been the subject of many spy stories. Balaklava in Crimea was one of the Soviet Union’s most crucial naval bases, where nuclear submarines docked. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the last Russian submarines left the base in 1996, and the government then had to decide what to do with the former military site. Thanks to its beautiful location on the Crimean peninsula, they decided to develop tourism and turn it into a museum.

The museum opened to the public in June 2003. It features a vast underground section with plenty of arsenal, a marine jetty, and several other military buildings. Perhaps the most spectacular aspect is the artificial canal that runs through the mountains and exits into the bay of Balaklava. While there are no longer any submarines there, visiting the museum gives a good sense of the Cold War atmosphere and the lives of the locals, who mostly worked at the military base. The only downside is that the tours are conducted only in Russian.

In addition to the museum, visitors to Balaklava can also see the ruins of the fort built by Genoa, known as Cymbal, which once guarded their lucrative slave trade.