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| Sudak | |
|---|---|
| Судак Судак Sudaq | |
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| Region of Crimea: | Sudak municipality |
| Location: | |
| Altitude: | ~50 m |
| Area: | ? km² |
| Population: | 15,050 (2001) |
| Density: | ? /km² |
| Postal codes: | 98000 — 98015 |
| Phone prefix: | +380-6566 |
| Time zone: | EET: UTC+2 |
| Previous name: | Soldaia (till 1475), Sougdeia, Sidagios |
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| official web-site | |
Sudak (Ukrainian: Судак, Russian: Судак, Crimean Tatar: Sudaq) is historic townlet of about 15,000 inhabitants in Crimea, situated 57 km to the west from Theodosia and 104 km to the east from Simferopol. Nowadays, it is a popular resort best known for its Genoese fortress, the best preserved on the northern shore of the Black Sea.
Sudak was founded by Greek merchants from Byzantium in the 3rd century AD. The original Greek name for the city was Sougdeia, meaning "Sogdian". The Khazars pronounced its name as Sugdak, the Slavs as Surozh, and the Italians as Soldaia. It is thought that the Khazars retained the town from the early 700s until 1016, when the Byzantines finally defeated the local warlord Georgius Tzul. Afterwards, the town seems to have preserved some sort of autonomy within Byzantine Empire.
The Cumans sacked the city in the 11th century. The Mongols further damaged its prosperity in 1223 and 1239. The Seljuk Sultanate of Iconium army and fleet from Sinop held and fortified Sudak in 1224. Several years later, the site was occupied by the Venetians (members of Polo family and other Venetian merchants having resided in the town since the 12th century), who ceded it to Genoese control in 1365. The Ottomans wrestled it from the Genoese in 1475 and, after much looting, gave to the Crimean Khanate.
In 1771, Sudak was occupied by Rumyantsev's army. 12 years later, it definitively passed to the Russian Empire, with the rest of Crimea. In 1801, the first Russian school of viticulture was opened there.
