This grand almost 17-metre-high monument was built in 1905 to mark the 50th anniversary of the first defence of Sevastopol, when the commanders decided to sink the ships of the Black Sea Navy. It is a granite cliff with a 7-metre-high Corinthian pillar topped with a bronze two-headed eagle holding a laurel and oak wreath with an anchor in its beak. The monument's silhouette serves as the emblem of Sevastopol.