The city of Feodosia is located on the southeastern coast of Crimea, forming the so-called Feodosia region of this peninsula. During its history, it has changed several names - Kefe, Kafa and Ardabra. The area of the city, in which 69, 786 thousand people lived at the end of 2012, is 42, 29 kilometers.
A bit of history
Theodosia was founded by Greek colonists from Miletus back in the 6th century BC, when the city was part of the Bosporus kingdom. Then Theodosia suffered serious damage from the invasion of the Huns in the 5th century AD, when the city was almost completely destroyed, after which the Alans settled the city surroundings, who called the new kingdom Ardabra.
Two centuries later, the Roman Empire established control over the city, which, over the next few centuries, either gave it or won it back from the Khazars. Then, already in the 13th century, Theodosia came under the influence of the Golden Horde, from which the city was bought by Genoese merchants. It was under their rule, then called Kaffa, that Theodosia flourished as a trading city, surpassing even Constantinople in size.
Already at the end of the 15th century, Kafu was occupied by the Ottoman troops, from which two centuries later the city was recaptured by the army of the Russian Empire. Feodosia became part of the Tauride region, after which, with a short break after the collapse of the USSR, it was administratively subordinate to the Russian capital.
Where to go to a tourist in Feodosia?
On the territory of the city, in addition to excellent beaches on the Black Sea coast, you can visit a number of interesting museums - the National Art Gallery named after I. K. Aivazovsky, which contains the world's largest collection of the artist; the Museum of Antiquities, magnificent in its exposition (it has been operating since 1811 and during the time of the Russian Empire it was the oldest provincial local history institution); Literary Memorial Museum named after Alexander Grin; the only hang-gliding museum in all of Europe, the Museum of Marina and Anastasia Tsvetaev, who visited Feodosia several times; People's Museum of the sculptor V. I. Mukhina and the Feodosia Museum of Money.
The city also hosts interesting festivals at different times of the year, to which interested guests come to the city - the International Youth Tourism Festival, the Cimmerian Muses Art Festival, the Non-Traditional Fashion Festival, the Crimean Ark International Theatrical Festival and many others.
For lovers of ancient architecture, the excavations of the ancient acropolis near the Quarantine Hill, as well as the medieval towers of St. Constantine, Dock, Round and Thomas Tower, created by the Genoese, will be of interest. The remains of the merchants' fortress, which is also called Hayots-berd or the Armenian fortress, have survived to this day.
Near Feodosia there is an ancient mosque Mufti-Jami, preserved from the time of the Ottoman Empire and made of large hewn stones.
