Feodosiya

"Caffa" redirects here. For other uses, see Caffa (disambiguation).

Feodosiia Феодосія Kefe Феодосия
Genoese fortress of Caffa
Coat of arms
Feodosiia Location of Feodosiya within Crimea, Ukraine
Coordinates: 45°2′56″N 35°22′45″E
Country	Ukraine
Territory	Crimea
Region	Feodosiya municipality
Elevation	50 m (164 ft)
Population
• Total	97,721
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Postal code	98100 — 98175
Area code(s)	+380-6562
Former names	Kefe (until 1784), Caffa (until 15th cent.)

Feodosiya (Ukrainian: Феодосія, Feodosiia; Russian: Феодосия, Greek: Θεοδοσία; sometimes spelled as Theodosia) is a port and resort city in Crimea, Ukraine, on the Black Sea coast. During much of its history the town was known as Caffa (Ligurian:Cafà) or Kaffa (Crimean Tatar: Kefe).

History

Feodosiya (Theodosia) and other Greek colonies along the north coast of the Black Sea in the 5th century BCE.

The city was founded as Theodosia (Θεοδοσία) by Greek colonists from Miletos in the 6th century BC. Noted for its rich agricultural lands, on which its trade depended, it was destroyed by the Huns in the 4th century AD.

Theodosia remained a minor village for much of the next nine hundred years. It was at times part of the sphere of influence of the Khazars (excavations have revealed Khazar artifacts dating back to the ninth century) and of the Byzantine Empire.

Like the rest of Crimea, it fell under the domination of the Kipchaks and was conquered by the Mongols in the 1230s.

Caffa

Between 1204–1261 and again in 1296–1307, the city of Caffa was ruled by Genoa's chief rival, the Republic of Venice. In the late 13th century, traders from the Republic of Genoa arrived and purchased the town from the ruling Golden Horde. They established a flourishing trading settlement called Caffa (or Kaffa), which virtually monopolised trade in the Black Sea area and served as the chief port and administrative centre for the Genoese settlements around the Sea. It came to house one of Europe's biggest slave markets. Under Genoa since 1266, Caffa was governed by a Genoese consul, who since 1316 was in charge of all Genoese Black Sea colonies.

It is believed that the devastating pandemic the Black Death entered Europe for the first time via Caffa in 1347, through the movements of the Golden Horde. After a protracted siege during which the Mongol army under Janibeg was reportedly withering from the disease, they catapulted the infected corpses over the city walls, infecting the inhabitants, in one of the first cases of biological warfare. Fleeing inhabitants may have carried the disease back to Italy, causing its spread across Europe. However, the plague appears to have spread in a stepwise fashion, taking over a year to reach Europe from Crimea. Also, there were a number of Crimean ports under Mongol control, so it is unlikely that Caffa was the only source of plague-infested ships heading to Europe. In addition, there were overland caravan routes from the East that would have been carrying the disease into Europe as well.

Caffa recovered. The thriving, culturally diverse city and its thronged slave market were described by the Spanish traveller Pedro Tafur, who was there in the 1430s. At that time the majority of the population was Armenian, and the city was more populous than Constantinople.

Kefe

17 Century woodcut showing Zaporozhian Cossacks in "chaika" boats, destroying the Turkish fleet and capturing Caffa

In 1462 Caffa placed itself under the protection of King Casimir IV of Poland. However, Poland did not offer help when real danger came. Because the Genoese started intervening in the internal affairs of the Crimean Khanate, a Turkish vassal, the Ottoman commander Gedik Ahmet Pasha seized the city in 1475, deporting the whole population to Istanbul, in a quarter (Kefeli Mahalle) which got the name from the town. Renamed Kefe, Caffa became one of the most important Turkish ports on the Black Sea.

In 1615 Zaporozhian Cossacks under the leadership of Petro Konashevych-Sahaidachny destroyed the Turkish fleet and captured Caffa. Having conquered the city, the cossacks released the men, women and children who were slaves.

Later history

Ottoman control ceased when the expanding Russian Empire conquered the whole Crimea in 1783. It was renamed Feodosiya (Феодосия) in 1802, a Russian version of the ancient Greek name.

The city was captured twice by the forces of Nazi Germany during World War II, sustaining significant damage in the process. The Jewish population numbering 3,248 before the German occupation was murdered by SD-Einsatzgruppe D between November 16 and December 15, 1941.

In 1954, it was transferred to the administrative control of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic with the rest of Crimea.

The city today

Climate data for Feodosia
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high °C (°F)	3 (37)	4 (39)	6 (43)	13 (55)	19 (66)	24 (75)	26 (79)	26 (79)	22 (72)	16 (61)	11 (52)	7 (45)	15 (59)
Average low °C (°F)	−1 (30)	0 (32)	2 (36)	8 (46)	13 (55)	18 (64)	20 (68)	20 (68)	16 (61)	10 (50)	5 (41)	−2 (28)	9 (48)
Precipitation mm (inches)	37 (1.46)	35 (1.38)	32 (1.26)	34 (1.34)	36 (1.42)	44 (1.73)	35 (1.38)	51 (2.01)	38 (1.5)	25 (0.98)	34 (1.34)	48 (1.89)	449 (17.68)
Sunshine hours	56	74	132	194	275	308	348	327	244	173	88	63	2,272
Source: Meteoprog.ua

Panorama Feodosiya seen from the mountain Tepe Oba.

Feodosia embankment.

Modern Feodosiya is a resort city with a population of about 85,000 people. It has beaches, mineral springs, and mud baths, sanatoria, and rest homes. Apart from tourism, its economy rests on agriculture and fisheries, local industries include fishing, brewing and canning. As with much of the Crimea, most of its population is ethnically Russian, the Ukrainian language is infrequently used. In June 2006, Feodosiya made the news with the Crimean anti-NATO protests of 2006.

While most beaches in Crimea are made of pebbles, there is a unique Golden Beach (Zolotoy Plyazh) made of small seashells in Feodosiya area. Golden Beach stretches for 15 km.

The city is sparsely populated during the winter months. Most cafes and restaurants are closed. Business and tourism increase in mid-June and peak during July and August. Like in the other resort towns in Crimea, the tourists come mostly from the C.I.S. countries of the former Soviet Union. Feodosiya was the city where the seascape painter Ivan Aivazovsky lived and worked all his life, and where general Pyotr Kotlyarevsky and the writer Alexander Grin spent their declining years. Popular tourist locations include the Ivan Ayvazovsky Picture Gallery and the Genoese fortress.

Twin towns — sister cities

• Azov, Russia
• Kołobrzeg, Poland

See also

• List of traditional Greek place names

External links

• WorldStatesmen- Ukraine
• Ancient Theodosia and its Coinage