Feodosiia, Historic port city in Crimean Peninsula, Ukraine
Feodosiia is a port town on the western side of Feodosia Bay in the southeast of the Crimean Peninsula on the Black Sea. The natural harbor sits between shallow beaches and rockier sections of shoreline, where an urban area stretches along the bay with several smaller settlements nearby.
Greek settlers founded the place in the 6th century BCE under the name Theodosia. It later became a major Genoese trading harbor called Caffa before Russia annexed the town in 1783.
The Aivazovsky National Art Gallery preserves maritime canvases and works from the region inside a mansion built in 1845 near the shore. Visitors see paintings by a well-known marine artist born in this town whose works still shape how people imagine the peninsula's coastal scenery.
The town is best explored on foot along the waterfront promenade, where museums, churches, and beaches sit within a short walk of each other. Regional buses connect the center with smaller settlements around, making it easier to reach different stretches of coastline.
Besieging forces hurled plague-infected corpses over the city walls in 1346, marking one of the earliest recorded uses of biological warfare. Some researchers think this event may have helped spread the Black Death into Europe, though other transmission routes are more likely.
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