The Crimea (Крым)

Geography of Crimea

The Crimean Peninsula is completely surrounded by two seas: the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov to the east.
Crimean peninsula was called Tauridia.

In the north Crimea is connected to the mainland by a narrow (8 km) Perecop isthmus.

The Crimea consists of two very different parts — treeless steppe of the Crimean Lowland in the northern and central parts, and the Crimean Mountains in the south.

Crimean mountains stretch from west to east for 180 km, their width-50-60 km.

Crimea mountains

Ayu-Dag (Medved-gora) is the peak in Crimea. The peak is located 16 km north-east from Yalta between the towns of Gurzuf and Partenit.

Ai-Petri (translated from Greek as Saint Peter) is a peak in the Crimean Mountains. The peak is located above the city of Alupka and the town of Koreiz.

The climate there is subtropical. the Crimean Mountains stop cold winds from the north.

The largest rivers – the Alma, the Belbek and the Black.
the River Alma
the River Belbek

According to the population of Crimea occupies the 26th place among subjects of the Russian Federation.
Russian – 60 % , Ukrainians – 25 %, Crimean Tatars -10%.
Bakhchysarai is the former capital of the Crimean Khanate.

History of Crimea

Greek colonization of the Peninsula began in the 6th century B.C.
They built city-states: Panticapaeum, Feodosia, Kerkinitida, Hersonissos and Tiritaka.

In the summer of 1475 the Ottoman Turks landed in Crimea. In 1478, the Crimean khanate became a protectorate of the Ottoman Empire. Since the end of XV century the Crimean Khanate carried out regular raids on Russian state and Poland. The main purpose of the raids was to capture slaves and their resale to the Turkish markets.

The Russo-Turkish wars were a series of wars fought between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire between the 16th and 20th centuries. It was one of the longest series of conflicts in European history.
In total, 11 Russia-Turkish wars cover a period 241 year.

The Black sea fleet of the Russia created after the joining of Crimea.
The Russo-Turkish war of 1768-74 years marked the end of Ottoman domination in Crimea.

During the Russian Civil War, Crimea was controlled by the White Army. After they were defeated by the Red Army, Crimea became part of the Soviet Russia.
In the Second World War the peninsula was occupied by Nazi Germany for several years.
In 1954, it was transferred to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic within the Soviet Union. In 1991, it became part of independent Ukraine.

March 18, 2014 Crimea (including the city of Sevastopol) joined to the Russian Federation.

Cities and tows

Simferopol is the administrative center of the Republic of Crimea. The population is about 360 000 people.

Sevastopol (the Greek name - Hersonissos) - a city located in the south-west of the Crimean peninsula on the Black Sea coast. Laid by the decree of Russian Empress Catherine II in 1783.

Sevastopol is the naval base of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation.

The largest international airport airport «Simferopol». Second international airport is Belbek.

In 1954 Sevastopol was awarded the order of the Red Banner, in 1965 the city was awarded the title hero City, and in 1983 was awarded the Order of October Revolution.

Southern coast of Crimea is one of the most important and popular resort areas in former USSR includes the cities-resorts Alupka, Yalta, Alushta, Sudak and the numerous settlements.

Big Yalta includes Alupka, Gaspra, Gurzuf, Koreiz, Livadia, Massandra, Simeiz, Foros.

Evpatoria - one of the oldest cities in the South of Russia. Near Evpatoria there are a number of salt lakes with mineralized water of different chemical composition.

Sudak is well-known tourist resort and the centre of the wine industry.

Artek

Artek - international children's center in Crimea. Located in Gurzuf. In the past, it was the most famous pioneer camp of the USSR.

Artek

The guests of «Artek» in different years were Leonid Brezhnev, Yuri Gagarin, Indira Gandhi, Nikita Khrushchev, Palmiro Togliatti, Ho Chi Minh, Valentina Tereshkova, Lev Yashin.

Places of interest

Livadia Palace was a summer residence of the last Russian tsar, Nicholas II. The Yalta Conference was held there in 1945, when the palace housed Franklin Delano Roosevelt and other members of the American delegation. Today the palace is a museum, but it is sometimes used for international summits.

Yalta Conference in February 1945 with (from left to right) Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin.

Massandra Palace of Alexander III is located in Upper Massandra.

Vorontsov Palace is one of the jewels of the Crimea.
The Palace was built as the Crimean residence of the Governor-General of the Novorossiysk territory of count Mikhail Vorontsov.

The Swallow's Nest is a decorative castle located at Gaspra, a small town between Yalta and Alupka. It was built between 1911 and 1912 , on top of the 40-metre high Aurora Cliff by the Russian architect Leonid Sherwood for the Baltic German oil millionaire Baron von Steingel.

In 1987 on the territory of the Swallow's nest Stanislav Govorukhin shoot the famous Soviet thriller film based on the novel by English writer Agatha Christie - «Ten black kids».

Dacha of Gorbachev in Foros - in the USSR state dacha № 11, where Mikhail Gorbachev put under house arrest in 1991.

Nikitsky Botanical Garden is one of the oldest botanical garden. It was founded in 1812 and named after the settlement Nikita.

«Massandra» is one of the largest enterprises of high-quality wines. Collection wines of Massandra (about one million bottles) is the largest in the world and is registered in 1998 in the Guinness Book of records.
In Massandra the first wine was made in 1898.