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Feodosia is a resort town in the eastern part of Crimea on the
Black Sea coast. Many people come here solely for the sake of a
beach holiday, but in fact, Feodosia, like in Greece, has almost
everything: an old Genoese fortress, medieval Armenian and Byzantine
churches, a Turkish mosque, luxurious pre-revolutionary mansions and
lurid temples, beautiful boulevards with multi-storey buildings and
a private sector, smoothly turning into a slum. What is not in
Feodosia (unlike Greece) is the ancient ruins, but you can easily
find them in other places of the Crimea. Feodosia is one of the most
sightseeing Crimean cities.
The name Theodosius (Greek
Θεοδοσία) means, translated from Greek, "given by God." In the
Middle Ages, it was called Ka?fa (Turkish and Crimean. Kefe,
Italian. Caffa). The city was founded by Greek colonists from
Miletus in the 6th century BC. e. From 355 B.C. e. Theodosius was
part of the Bosporan kingdom. In the 4th century A.D. e. the city
was destroyed by the Huns, and in the 5th century the city came
under the control of the Roman (Byzantine) Empire. In 1226, Genoese
merchants bought the ruins of Feodosia from the Tatar Khan
Oran-Timur.
The Genoese created a prosperous commercial port
city of Kaffa, which served as the main port and control center for
all the Genoese colonies in the Northern Black Sea region. During
this period, the city experienced its heyday. The population of the
city exceeded 70 thousand people, a branch of the bank of St. George
and the theater, had its own mint, where coins were minted. The
Genoese maintained allied relations with the Golden Horde khans, who
formally were the supreme rulers of the territories of the colonies,
giving them complete self-government within the walls of the cities.
By the middle of the 15th century, many nationalities lived in
Kaffa, but Armenians prevailed in the city.
In 1475, Kaffa,
along with all the Genoese possessions, was annexed by the Ottoman
troops. The names of two ridges southwest of Feodosia are associated
with the Ottoman conquest - Biyuk- and Kuchuk-Yanyshary (large and
small Janissaries). Kefe (as the Turks called Kaffa) became one of
the main Turkish ports on the Black Sea, here was the largest slave
market in the Northern Black Sea region, where thousands of slaves
captured by the Crimean Tatars during raids on Ukrainian, Russian,
Polish lands were sold annually. In the Ottoman era, the city was
often called Kuchuk-Istanbul - Little Istanbul and Crimea-Istanbul,
emphasizing its importance and large population. In 1682, there were
4,000 houses in the city, 3,200 Muslim and 800 Christian. Under
Turkish rule, the importance of the city gradually decreased.
In 1771, Russian troops took Feodosia by storm; in 1774,
according to the Kuchuk-Kainarji peace, he went to Russia; in 1787
it was included in the Tauride region. Despite the cares of the
government, Feodosia remained an insignificant city and began to
develop only after it was connected to the inner provinces of Russia
by rail in 1892.
During the years of the Civil War, for
various reasons, prominent representatives of the Russian
intelligentsia turned out to be in the city: writers, poets,
musicians, composers. In 1920, the port of Feodosia became one of
the main points of white emigration.
During World War II, the
city changed hands four times. The most famous battle of the war
years in Feodosia was the Kerch-Feodosia operation and the landing
in December 1941 of the Soviet amphibious assault in the port of
Feodosia. The Nazi occupation lasted from November 2, 1941 to April
13, 1944.
In 1954, Feodosia, as part of the Crimean region,
was transferred to the Ukrainian SSR. In the early 1970s, the city
received the status of a resort. In the post-war years (1948-1990),
a powerful military-industrial complex (MIC) was created in the
city. After the rapid demilitarization of the 1990s, Feodosia
largely lost its military-industrial complex enterprises and
scientific institutions. Currently, Feodosia is a famous climatic
and balneological resort and seaport. There are beaches, mineral
springs, mud clinics, well-known sanatoriums and rest houses, where
tens of thousands of residents of Ukraine and other countries rest
and are treated.
By plane
The nearest airport is in the city of
Simferopol.
By train
After trains to Ukraine stopped
running in December 2014, rail links with Belarus and Russia were
also interrupted.
Daily electric trains to Dzhankoy (travel
time 3 h 20 min) and Armyansk (travel time 6 h). And also to the
nearest village of Vladislavovka (45 min) and Kirovskaya station (1
h 15 min).
Railway station, Aivazovsky Avenue, 1. ☎ +7
(36562) 3-21-98. 8:00 - 17:00, break 12:00 - 13:00. The station
itself is an attraction, but the beaches that you see from the car
window when the train approaches the station are especially
impressive.
By car
The highway M17 (E97) passes through
the city, along which you can get to Kerch, and through Dzhankoy to
Kherson. There are also regional roads through Sudak to Alushta and
through Belogorsk to Simferopol.
There are many places for
free parking in the city, but in summer it becomes more difficult to
find a place.
By bus
Routes inside Crimea: Dzhankoy,
Yalta, Kerch, Simferopol,
Sudak, Krasnogvardeyskoye, and Russia:
Krasnodar, Novorossiysk, Sochi. There are no direct buses to
Ukrainian cities.
In addition, there is a rail bus to
Dzhankoy and Armyansk.
Feodosiya bus station, Turetskaya
(Engels) street, 28. ☎ +7 (36562) 7-10-52. 05:00 - 22:00. There is a
left-luggage office (08:00 - 17:00), a waiting room, coffee and tea
machines, payment terminals and ATMs. Nearby there are cafes and
food stalls. E-tickets can be purchased on the carrier's website
gosbus.ru.
Suburban bus station. Buses depart from here to
Ordzhonikidze, Koktebel and Biostation. The final stop of urban
transport.
On the ship
Although there is a seaport in
Feodosia, it only accepts cargo and pleasure ships, so it is
impossible to get here from another city by sea.
Minibuses/buses
Part of the routes connecting
Feodosia with settlements subordinate to its city council has city
numbering, the routes Feodosia-Center - Koktebel and Feodosia-Center -
Biostation do not have numbers. All bus routes (except No. 13 and No.
13a) pass through the Market Square.
The fare depends on the
distance and may differ by 4 times.
Taxi
The territory of
Great Feodosia is served by several large taxi services, in addition,
there are small local carriers in the surrounding resort villages. The
basis of the taxi fleet is made up of cars of Eastern European
production.
1 Church of the Entry into the Temple
Vvedenskaya Church (Введенская
церковь) of the Most Holy Theotokos.
2 Church of All
Saints. Temple of the UOC-MP. Built in the 1880s, destroyed in the
1960s, restored by 2004. From the first Church of All Saints, the church
gates and the crypt-chapel of the princes Chernetsky remained. Icons
with particles of the relics of Job of Pochaevsky, Innokenty of Irkutsk,
Luka (Voyno-Yasenetsky) are kept in the church.
3 Aivazovsky
Fountain. Built according to the project and at the expense of the
artist in 1888
4 Fountain "To the Good Genius". The original
fountain was built in 1890, and the restored fountain-monument was
opened for the feast day of the city of Feodosia in 2004. A bronze
female figure is installed on the pedestal, which holds a shell in its
hands, from which water flows into a stone bowl, and, overflowing it
over the edges, falls into the pool. The composition is crowned with an
arcade with the inscription “To the great Aivazovsky and his disciples,
grateful Feodosia” and the names on the sides: Fessler, Latry, Hansen,
Lagorio.
5 Church of St. George. Armenian temple. Built in 1385, it
was the main temple of the large Armenian St. George Monastery. Rebuilt
in the 19th century by the Orthodox.
6 Saint Sergius (Surb Sarkis). The current Armenian temple of the
AAC. Built in 1330 on the territory of the city citadel. Traditionally
considered the most ancient Armenian temple of Feodosia. The wall of the
church is decorated with numerous khachkars. Next to the church of St.
Sergius there is an ancient portal, in 1888, during the reconstruction,
it was converted into a belfry. In the fence of the church is the grave
of Hovhannes Ayvazyan, better known to us as Ivan Konstantinovich
Aivazovsky, and his wife. The artist's life is inextricably linked with
this temple - he was baptized here, he got married here, and he was
buried here.
7 Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel. Built in 1408
from local rubble stone. A beautiful dome on an octagonal drum. One of
the first Armenian Catholic churches - its clergy took part in the
Florentine Cathedral, which consolidated the union. The temple was
restored in 1967-1970.
8 Mufti-Jami Mosque. Built in 1623. Cathedral
Friday Mosque in Feodosia. The only surviving historical Muslim
religious building of the city and its environs. The mosque has been
remodeled many times, the last time it was restored in 1974. The temple
was built of rubble stone with alternating brickwork. The entrance to
the mosque is flanked by niches in the form of mihrabs. The windows of
the mosque are located on two levels, the dome is made in the form of a
twelve-sided light drum, which rests on spherical sails. A minaret built
of hewn limestone adjoins the mosque.
9 Iberian Icon of the Mother of God. Church of the UOC-MP. The former
Armenian Church of Ivan the Baptist, built in the 13th-14th centuries by
the Armenian community of the city.
10 Genoese Fortress Kafa.
The remains of fortifications - the towers of St. Constantine, Clement
VI, Dock, Crisco, Round (Giovanni di Scaffa) and part of the fortress
wall.
11 Saint Stephen. Armenian temple.
Church of Saint John the Baptist
12 Stamboli cottage. Building with minarets near the bridge over the
railway.
13 Dacha Milos.
The territory of the dacha is generously decorated with antique statues,
marble fountains, caryatids, busts of ancient heroes. The facade of the
building is decorated in the style of ancient Greek architecture.
Currently, one of the buildings of the Voskhod sanatorium is located
here.
14 Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God
(Церковь Казанской иконы Божией Матери). Orthodox
cathedral of the Russian-Byzantine style, built at the beginning of the
20th century, the cathedral of the Feodosia-Kerch diocese of the UOC-MP.
15 Church of Saint Catherine. Temple of the UOC-MP. Founded in 1892. St. Catherine's Church continued the architectural traditions of the 17th century. Its plan is based on a Greek cross, the walls on a high plinth at the corners are separated by columns. The entrance framed by a portico is located on the western side, above the entrance there is an elegant belfry. The top of the building is surrounded by a system of kokoshniks, and the dome is made up of five small domes. The entrance to it is a portico with a small belfry, decorated with low columns widened in the middle. Five small domes, painted blue and studded with stars, rise above the church. Kokoshniks of different sizes are decorated with carved patterns.
The port of Feodosia is engaged in excursion activities, arranging one-hour walks along the Feodosia Gulf, and three-hour walks to the foot of the extinct volcano Karadag.
1 Picture Gallery of I.K.
Aivazovsky (Картинная
галерея им. И.К.Айвазовского), 2. ☎ +7 (36562) 30929.
Thu–Mon 10:00–17:00, Tue 10:00–14:00, summer Thu–Mon 9:00–20:00, Tuesday
9:00–13 :00, Wed - day off. It is located in a house built according to
the project of the artist himself in 1848. In 1880, a huge hall with a
glass ceiling was added to the house, in which the artist exhibited
paintings, and this year is officially considered the year the art
gallery was founded. Now in the exposition and funds of the museum there
are more than 20,000 objects, including more than 400 works by I.K.
Aivazovsky himself. In the neighboring building - the house of the
artist's sister, paintings by Aivazovsky on mythological and biblical
themes, works by foreign marine painters of the 18th-19th centuries,
contemporaries of the great artist - M. Voloshin, L. Lagorio, K.
Bogaevsky, Aivazovsky's students - M. Latry, A. Fessler , A. Kuindzhi
and other artists. In 1930, a monument to Aivazovsky by the sculptor I.
Ya. Gintsburg was erected in front of the gallery with the inscription
“Feodosia to Aivazovsky”.
2 Museum of Alexander Green,
st. Gallery, 10. ☎ +7 (36562) 35320, +7 (36562) 31309 . Tue-Sun 9:00 -
18:00, break 13:00 - 14:00. The writer A.S. Grin (Grinevsky) lived in
this house from September 1924 to April 1929. It is here that the novels
"The Golden Chain", "Running on the Waves", "The Road to Nowhere",
"Jesse and Morgiana", three stories and 40 short stories were created.
The museum was opened on July 9, 1970. A small one-story house is
interesting for its appearance - a ship's anchor at the entrance, an oak
door upholstered with copper, a hanging lantern. The rooms are lined
with wood and resemble cabins, and each of them has its own name:
"Captain Gez's Cabin", "Clipper Company Cabins", etc.
3 Feodosia
Local History Museum, Aivazovsky Avenue, 11. ☎ +7 (36562) 30906, +7
(36562) 34355. Wed-Mon 10:00 - 17:00 The funds of the Feodosia Museum of
Local Lore include more than 70 thousand exhibits. The eight halls of
the museum store not only archeological monuments, but also a lot of
ethnographic and documentary materials, collections of old postcards,
minerals, fossils, and a herbarium. The unique dioramas of the hall of
nature give an idea of the natural landscapes of the South-Eastern
Crimea. Part of the rich collection of ancient stone slabs is located in
the open air in the original lapidary courtyard of the museum, lined
with medieval slab pavement and paving stones of the 19th - first half
of the 20th century.
4 Children's Marine Gallery, Museum of the
sculptor V.I. Mukhina, st. Fedko, 1. ☎ +7 (36562) 392-52. Tue-Sat 9:00 -
17:00. The folk museum of the sculptor V.I. Mukhina was organized on the
site of the Mukhins' family home. The preserved wall of the house where
Vera Ignatievna lived is successfully inscribed in the main facade of
the museum complex. During the construction of residential and
administrative knowledge, on the site of the former Mukhins' house at
the end of the 20th century, it was decided not to destroy and leave the
facade of the historic house in a modern building. The memorial room of
Mukhina V.I. with real furniture and a fragment of the sculptor's
creative workshop have been recreated in the museum.
5 Museum of
Aeronautics, st. Karaimskaya, 8. In the museum you can get acquainted
with the history of the formation of aeronautics, learn about the first
flights and who first took to the skies, as well as what is new and
interesting happening in aeronautics now.
6 Museum of Hang Gliding,
st. Grina, 12. Mon-Fri 10.00 - 17.00, Sat 10.00 - 14.00, Sunday - day
off. The museum's collection consists of active exhibits and models. In
two halls of the museum there are flying vehicles of different periods
of the development of aeronautics and aircraft models. The exposition
also includes training flight simulators for training pilots. Here is
collected and presented an interesting collection of documents and
photographs that tell about the development of gliding and hang gliding.
7 Museum of Money, st. Grina, 12. ☎ +7 (36562) 22044, +7 (36562) 21433.
Mon-Fri from 9.00 to 17.00, break from 13.00 to 14.00, Sat from 9.00 to
14.00, without a break. The first private museum of money in Ukraine.
8 Museum of Marina and Anastasia Tsvetaev, st. V.Korobkova, 13.
Dolphinarium "Nemo", Kerch Highway, 9a (opposite the
Golden Beach. Get by taxi No. 4 to the stop. Prichal). ☎ + 7 (978)
205-02-02, + 7 (978) 205-03-03, +7 (3656) 222 888. Performance 800
rubles, Oceanarium 350 rubles, swimming with a dolphin 3500-6000 rubles
Tasting room "Oreanda" (Factory "Crimean Wine House"), st. Samarina, 19.
☎ +7 (36562) 3-13-86. 200 rubles, the minimum group size is 10 people.
In the tasting room, you can taste natural wines made according to
French technology from elite grape varieties sylvaner, chardonnay,
aligote, sauvignon, pinot blanc and others. Oreanda wines were awarded
the Golden Award for Quality at a competition in Paris.
Cinemas and
concert halls
"Ukraine", st. Fedko, 2. ☎ +7 (36562) 3-14-00.
Pioneer, st. Chekhov, 3.
"Crimea". The cinema has been closed since
June 2012.
Zvezdny Cinema and Concert Hall, General Gorbachev Street,
6. Well-known artists of Russia and Ukraine perform here.
International Festival-Competition of Vocal Art
"Cheerful Microphone" (June)
International Festival of Variety Art
"Crimean Waves" (June 23 - 29)
International Music Festival "Visiting
Aivazovsky" (July 18-31)
International Art Song Festival (July 24-30)
Holiday "City Day" (July 27)
International festival "Meetings in
Zurbagan" (August 23-25)
International Jazz Music Festival "Live Int
B1ye Wow" (September)
International Wine Festival "WineFeoFest"
(September 13-15)
International festival of pop songs and theatrical
art "Spivogray" (September 30-October 5)
Competitions, regattas
International Rhythmic Gymnastics Tournament "Chunga-Changa" (May 17-20,
2013)
"Crimea Cup - 2013", Cup of the Commander of the Naval Forces
of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (June 14-23, 2013)
Sailing regatta
"Sea Brotherhood 2013". Estimated time from May 31 to June 9 or from
June 7 to June 16.
Open Cup of Koktebel. Paragliding, cross-country
flights. (September 7-15)
Feodosia is a well-known climatic and balneological
resort. Sea air saturated with oxygen, salts of sodium chloride,
calcium, magnesium, iodine and bromine is a natural inhaler. Therefore,
respiratory diseases can be treated so effectively here. Air and sun
baths, sleep on the seashore improve well-being and strengthen the
health of vacationers.
Feodosia is also widely known as a resort
for gastrointestinal patients. For the successful treatment of diseases
of the digestive system in the health resorts of the city, mineral
waters "Feodosiyskaya" and "Aivazovskaya" are widely used. The sources
of these waters are of the sulfate-chloride-hydrocarbonate-sodium type,
have an average mineralization (4.2 g/l); Calcium ions contained in
water have an anti-inflammatory effect. Mineral waters are used to treat
chronic diseases of the liver and gallbladder, are prescribed for kidney
diseases, mild forms of diabetes and gout.
beaches
Beautiful
sandy beaches stretch along the coast of the Feodosiya Gulf for 12 km.
You can swim in the sea from the first half of June until the end of
September. The average water temperature all this time exceeds 19
degrees.
1st city - Paratroopers Embankment and Kurortnaya Street
2nd city - Chernomorskaya embankment
Golden Beach - Kerch Highway -
from the eastern outskirts of Feodosia to the village of Primorsky.
Large grocery stores.
Shop "Mountain", st. Simferopol highway,
37.
Shop "River", st. River, 68.
Shop "Central", st. Ukrainian,
16.
Shop "White Acacia", st. victories, 2.
Shop "Jubilee", st.
Crimean, 9.
Supermarket "PUD", st. Crimean, 21-b.
Supermarket
"PUD", st. Nazukina, 13.
Supermarket "ZhZhZh", st. Geological, 22.
ATB, according to observations, is the cheapest supermarket, but with a
very poor assortment.
There are several dozen bank branches:
Krayinvestbank, RNKB Bank, Rossiya Bank, Genbank, Verkhnevolzhsky, ChBRR
Bank, and others. There are many ATMs in the city.
Cheap
Genoa, st. G. Gorbachev, 3b. Italian Cuisine.
"Khutorok",
Embankment of the village of Primorsky. Ukrainian food.
Jockey, st.
Kuibysheva, 10. International cuisine.
Robin Hood, st. Kuibysheva,
16. European cuisine.
"Antresol", Gorky st. 13a. European, Georgian
cuisine.
Average cost
"Robinson's hut", Kerch highway, 72-v. ☎
+7 (36562) 4-72-64, +7 (36562) 4-75-81. European cuisine in an original
setting. The restaurant has a bar.
Southern Night, st. General
Gorbachev, 7-b. ☎ +7 (36562) 2-11-38.
Weeping Willow, Chernomorskaya
Embankment, 6. ☎ +7 (36562) 7-14-73, +7 (36562) 3-02-35, +7 (36562)
2-61-40.
Expensive
Boulevard Hill, st. 3rd Cavalry Corps, 5-a.
☎ +7 (978) 844 84 66, +7 (978) 868 8726. Double from 1280 rubles.
European cuisine. There are closed restaurant halls, a cafe-bar and
summer terraces.
Lydia, st. Zemskaya, 13. ☎ +7 (36562) 2-11-11,
2-11-12, 3-09-01. European and Ukrainian cuisine. There is a Japanese
menu. There is a sports bar and live music.
Banquet hall of the hotel
"Feodosia", st. Pushkin, 11. European cuisine.
Atlantic,
Chernomorskaya embankment, 6. ☎ +7 (36562) 2-61-40, +7 (36562) 7-14-73.
European and Ukrainian cuisine. There is also a cafe-bar.
"Hermitage", ave. Aivazovsky, 47-b. ☎ +7 (36562) 2-95-29. Mediterranean
and European cuisine. Outdoor and indoor bars.
Beach Club-117, Golden Beach, 117 km. highway Simferopol-Kerch.
Restaurant, two cafe-bars, dance floor, chill out and equipped beach.
Summer night club "Pyatak", Konstantin's tower. Includes a large dance
floor and cocktail bar. There is a striptease, discos and bright show
programs. Works during the warm season.
Night club "Zurbagan", ave.
Aivazovsky, 47-b. ☎ +7 (36562) 2-95-29, +7 (36562) 2-95-23. Club with a
restaurant, a cafe-bar, a VIP-hall, a hookah and a disco.
Nightclub
"Africa", Embankment of the Paratroopers, beach "Pebbles". Large open
air dance floor, cafe-bar, restaurant and disco. The indoor hall is
divided into two zones - there is a non-smoking area. Hookah, lounge
area.
Yeshevo
Numerous "private traders" will catch you at the station.
The range of offered housing is very wide: from sheds to individual
apartments and mini-hotels. Be careful, you can fall into the hands of
unscrupulous "breeders" who will take you all day to strange places and
fill up the price. It is advisable to find a room in advance through
friends or via the Internet and go to an already agreed place.
Hotel "Sailor", st. Lenina, 8. ☎ +7 (36562) 57-182, moryak3611.
Average cost
Hotel "Lydia", st. Zemskaya, 13. ☎ +7 (978) 909-82-45,
+7 (36562) 2-11-1. Single from 1700 rubles, double from 2500 rubles. 4
floors, 47 hotel rooms.
Expensive
Hotel "Scarlet Sails" ,
Prospekt Aivazovsky, 47-B. ☎ 95 29 +7 (36562) 2 95 29, 8 (800)
200-55-29. Single from 1800 rubles, double 2700 rubles.
Hotel
"Atlantic". ✉ ☎ +7 (36562) 2-61-40, +7 (978) 069-37-92,
hotelatlantik2015. Double from 1900 rubles. Conference hall, SPA-center,
sauna, medical center, city and sea view.
Tepe-Oba. The Egorny Ridge covers Feodosia from the southwest,
closing the Main Range of the Crimean Mountains, stretching along the
southern coast of Crimea. Toward the sea, the Tepe-Oba ridge ends with
Cape St. Elijah 12 . Height above sea level - 302 m. On Tepe-Oba there
was a necropolis of ancient Theodosia and a number of barrows.
radar
stations. Early warning radio intelligence. The territory is guarded.
Ilyinsky lighthouse, the western tip of the Feodosia Bay. The lighthouse
of the Swedish Lindberg system, began operating in 1899.
The name "Theodosius" in translation from the ancient Greek language means "given by God." The settlement was founded in the 6th century BC. e. the Greeks, who gave it the name "Theodosia" (Greek Θεοδοσία). In the 13th century, the Genoese village of Kafa (Italian Caffa, Turkish Kefe, Crimean Tatar Kefe) was founded on the site of Feodosia, which was conquered by the Ottomans in 1475. In 1783, after the annexation of Crimea to the Russian Empire, Kafa was renamed Feodosia; since 1787 the settlement received the status of a city.
Foundation of the city
The city was founded by Greeks from Miletus
in the 6th century BC. From 355 B.C. Theodosius was part of the Bosporan
kingdom. Destroyed by the Huns in the 4th century AD. During this
period, the Alans lived in the city and its environs, and the settlement
received the Alanian name Ardauda, which means “seven gods”. In the
5th century, the city came under the control of the Roman (Byzantine)
Empire, in the 6th century it was captured by the Khazars, and then
again went to Byzantium. Over the next centuries, it existed as a small
village, which fell under the influence of the Golden Horde in the XIII
century. Subsequently redeemed by Genoese merchants.
Genoese
period
The Genoese created a prosperous commercial port city of
Kaffa, which served as the main port and control center for all the
Genoese colonies in the Northern Black Sea region. During this period,
the city experienced its heyday. The population of the city exceeded 70
thousand people, a branch of the bank of St. George and the theatre.
There was a mint where coins were minted. The Genoese maintained allied
relations with the Golden Horde khans. The Genoese administration had
complete self-government within the walls of the cities and appointed a
special prefect from the natives of the Crimea to manage the rural
district of the Kafa possessions, the administration was subordinate to
the supreme council in Genoa.
In 1346, due to the deteriorated
relations with the Golden Horde, Kaffa was besieged by the troops of
Khan Dzhanibek. After the plague began in the Horde army, the khan
ordered to throw the corpses of those who died from the disease into
Kaffa with the help of catapults, where an epidemic immediately began.
The siege ended in nothing, as the army, weakened by illness, was forced
to retreat.
Kafa, on the other hand, was the starting point for
the spread of the deadliest pandemic in the history of Europe - the
Black Death.
By the middle of the 15th century, Kaffa surpassed
Constantinople in size.
Ottoman period
In 1475, Kaffa, along
with all the Genoese possessions, was conquered by the Ottoman troops,
led by the commander Gedik Ahmed Pasha. The names of two ranges
southwest of Feodosia are associated with the Ottoman conquest - Biyuk-
and Kuchuk-Yanyshary (large and small Janissaries). Kefe (as the Turks
called Kaffa) became one of the main Turkish ports on the Black Sea,
here was the largest slave market in the Northern Black Sea region,
where thousands of slaves captured by the Crimean Tatars during raids on
Polish and Russian cities and villages were sold annually. In the
Ottoman era, the city was often called Kuchuk-Istanbul - Little Istanbul
and Crimea-Istanbul, emphasizing its importance and large population.
In 1616, the Cossacks of the Zaporizhia Army, led by Hetman Petro
Sahaydachny, stormed the Turkish fortress of Kafa, defeated the
14,000-strong Turkish garrison, and freed several thousand prisoners. In
1682, there were 4,000 houses in the city: 3,200 Muslim and 800
Christian. Under Turkish rule, the importance of the city gradually
decreased, although it remained a fortified point, but it became very
depopulated. An important industry in the vicinity of Kafa was the
extraction of home-grown salt in natural estuaries.
As part of
the Russian Empire
In 1771, Russian troops took the Kaffa fortress by
storm. In 1783, Empress Catherine II, with her manifesto, included the
entire Crimea into Russia; in 1784 the peninsula was included in the
Tauride region. In 1787, during her famous trip to the Crimea, Empress
Catherine II visited the city.
On the same day, medals were
knocked out at the mint in Kaffa with an inscription about the visit to
this city by Catherine and the Archduke of Austria and Holy Roman
Emperor Joseph II of Habsburg. The city was then in decline and suffered
from rivalry with Taganrog. Contemporaries noted that the ruins of the
city made a deep impression on the empress.
Since 1796 - as part
of the Novorossiysk province; in 1798 declared free port for 30 years;
in 1802, county offices were transferred here, and the city itself was
allocated to a special city government (abolished in 1827); in 1804 the
city received its ancient name Feodosia. The city received an
international trading port, customs and quarantine.
During the resettlement of the Christian population of Crimea to the
Sea of Azov, organized in 1778 by the Russian government, 5511
Armenians, 1648 Greeks, 24 Georgians left Feodosia. The population of
Feodosia was as follows: in 1829 - 3700, in 1838 - 4500, in 1861 - 8400,
in 1874 - 10600, in 1894 - 17000 people.
In August 1820, A. S.
Pushkin, the mayor (retired) of S. M. Bronevsky, stayed in the city, and
in a letter to his brother he called Bronevsky “a respectable man for
immaculate service”
In the 19th century, the great native of
Feodosia, the marine painter Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky, lived and
worked in the city, whose talent in his youth was noticed by the
Feodosia mayor A. I. Kaznacheev, who contributed to Aivazovsky's art
education. Ivan Konstantinovich, having become a famous artist, helped
the city with money; he opened an art school and an art gallery in the
city, built a new building on Mount Mithridates for the Feodosia Museum
of Antiquities. The artist advocated the expansion of the Feodosia port,
which was done. In 1887, with his money, work began on laying a water
pipe from the Subash spring to the city. In 1900, Aivazovsky died in
Feodosia at the age of 83 and was buried in the courtyard of the local
Armenian church of Surb Sarkis (St. Sergius). I. K. Aivazovsky became
the first to be awarded the title of honorary citizen of Feodosia.
In 1888, A.P. Chekhov visited Feodosia. In a letter to M.P.
Chekhova, he describes the city as follows:
In the morning at 5
o'clock he deigned to arrive in Feodosia - a grayish-brown, dull and
boring-looking town. There is no grass, the trees are miserable, the
soil is coarse-grained, hopelessly thin. Everything is scorched by the
sun, and only the sea smiles, which does not care about small towns and
tourists. Bathing is so good that I, having plunged, began to laugh for
no reason.
In 1892, a railway line from Dzhankoy was built to
Feodosia, and in 1899 a commercial port was transferred from Sevastopol.
This contributed to the industrial development and growth of the city.
According to the All-Russian census of 1897, there were 24,096
inhabitants in Feodosia (13,983 men and 10,113 women), including (by the
criterion of their native language) Russians - 11,288 (46.85%), Tatars -
4,526 (18.78 %), Jews - 2,736 (11.35%), Ukrainians - 1,846 (7.66%),
Greeks - 1,280 (5.31%), Armenians - 880 (3.65%), Poles - 598 ( 2.48%),
Germans - 311 (1.29%), Belarusians - 150 (0.62%), Turks - 130 (0.54%),
other nationalities - 351 (1.46%). The census did not ask about
ethnicity, but only about their native language (dialect) and religion,
so the Karaites were counted among 1139 as native speakers of the Tatar
language (which accounted for over 25% of all "Tatars" by language), and
93 as native speakers Russian language; In total, 1233 people were
counted as Karaites by religion. Of the 3,109 people professing Judaism,
245 persons were counted as native speakers of Russian, 127 as native
speakers of Tatar, and 2,727 as native speakers of Hebrew.
Revolution and Civil War
Being in the general mainstream of the
Crimean history, Feodosia experienced common problems (hunger,
unemployment, repression, frequent change of governments), the battles
of the parts of the Soviet Republic of Taurida against the
Austro-German, Anglo-French troops and military units of the White
movement are directly connected with Theodosia. In the 20th of April
1918, the 2nd Feodosia Regiment attempted a counteroffensive, which
fettered the German units for several days. In 1920, A. I. Denikin, who
at that time commanded the Armed Forces of the South of Russia, moved to
Feodosia, his headquarters in Feodosia was located in the building of
the Astoria Hotel. In the subsequent period of Wrangel's rule, the
Bolshevik detachment of Ivan Nazukin operated in Feodosia, 28 members of
which were exposed by counterintelligence and executed in early 1920.
Soviet power was finally established in Feodosia in November 1920.
After the end of the civil war, the port workers, yesterday's soldiers
of the Red Army, participants in the battles for the Crimea, began the
restoration of the Feodosia port. During the famine in Soviet Russia,
grain and food products from abroad came through the port of Feodosia.
During the year, the loaders of the Feodosia port, also hungry and
exhausted, unloaded 5,880 thousand pounds of food. For this feat, by
decision of the Central Executive Committee on March 19, 1923, the
Feodosia port was awarded the highest award of Soviet Russia - the Order
of the Red Banner of Labor of the RSFSR. In the first years of Soviet
power, the city experienced a decline (35.4 thousand people in 1921,
28.7 thousand in 1926). During the years of the five-year plans,
Feodosia developed primarily as an industrial center.
The Great Patriotic War
For the first time, German troops occupied
Feodosia in November 1941. On December 26-30, a large landing of the Red
Army was landed in the port of Feodosia. For three weeks the city again
became Soviet. On January 18, 1942, the city was again occupied by
German troops, the former active member of the CPSU (b) Vasily Gruzinov
became the burgomaster of the city. An anti-fascist underground operated
in the city.
Feodosia was finally liberated on April 13, 1944
during the general offensive of the Red Army.
During the
occupation, more than 8 thousand Feodosians were shot, including all the
Jews of the city (3248 people). After the collapse of the USSR, a
monument to the dead was erected, which was desecrated 6 times, the last
time on April 7, 2012.
Heavy fighting led to the destruction of a
large part of the city.
The city was awarded the Order of the
Patriotic War, I degree.
post-war period
In 1954, Feodosia, as
part of the Crimean region, was transferred from the Russian SFSR to the
Ukrainian SSR. In the early 1970s, the city received the status of a
resort.
In the post-war years (1948-1990), a powerful
military-industrial complex (MIC) was created in the city. In
Feodosia-13 was the nuclear arsenal of the Black Sea Fleet. Through the
Feodosia seaport, cargo was sent to Cuba during the Caribbean crisis.
Cosmonauts of the first detachment of cosmonauts were trained in the
city. 57% of the able-bodied population was employed in the
military-industrial complex. Industrial enterprises were restored: a
tobacco factory (founded in 1861), an oil terminal (1938); new plants
were built: shipbuilding - FGC "More" and KTB "Sudocomposite", where
unique ships were created; ship repair (1946), instrument-making,
mechanical (1952), optical plants; CJSC "Feodosia factory of cognacs and
wines". Today, military-industrial complex enterprises are in a
difficult financial situation: most of them practically do not work.
In 2014, the city, like the entire territory of the Autonomous
Republic of Crimea, was annexed to Russia.
On April 6, 2015, by
decree of the President of the Russian Federation, Feodosia was given
the status of the city of military glory of Russia.
Feodosia is located in the southeast of Crimea on the coast of the Feodosia Gulf and along the slopes of the spurs of the Tepe-Oba ridge, which covers the city from the southwest. The ridge, 302 m above sea level, closes the Main Range of the Crimean Mountains, stretching along the coast from Cape Aya, near Sevastopol, to Cape St. Ilya near Feodosia, and breaks off into the sea with a steep clay ledge. Over the past few years, the outlines of Cape St. Elijah have changed significantly due to private construction on it. The name of the ridge is translated from the Crimean Tatar language according to the location: Tepe-Oba, literally - the top of the mountain, meaning - the end of the mountains. The shallow Baibuga River flows through the northern part of the city, flowing into the sea near the Aivazovskaya railway station.
The Tepe-Oba mountain range covers Feodosia from the southwest, closing the Main Range of the Crimean Mountains, stretching along the southern coast of Crimea. Towards the sea, the Tepe-Oba ridge ends with Cape St. Elijah. The height of the Tepe-Oba ridge above sea level is 302 m. In the north-west of the city there is Mount Lysaya (or Pasha-Tepe, "Pasha's head"), on most of which pines were planted in the sixties of the XX century. The saddle between Tepe-Oba and Lysa is a narrow corridor that allows the westerly winds blowing from Mount Klementyev (Uzun-Syrt Ridge) to accelerate to significant speeds. Because of this phenomenon, the Chelnoki district (named after the main street of Chelnokov) is generally recognized as the windiest in Feodosia. At the same time, air masses, rising along the beams and beams that cut the back western part of Bald Mountain, leave much more snow there than in the rest of the city, which is in the wind shadow. In the spring and summer, the wind shadow of Bald Mountain covers all the northern quarters of the city, and ends in the area of Beregovoe - Primorsky.