Feodosia in Crimea: features, attractions, travel, overnight

The Crimean peninsula remains an attractive location for recreation for citizens of many post-Soviet countries, and its resorts, despite widespread criticism and easier access to foreign countries in recent decades, are still in great demand. One of the largest such resorts is Feodosia - it may not be the first choice in the Crimea, but it has its own curious features.

Theodosius, whose name is translated from ancient Greek as "given by God", is one of the oldest cities in the post-Soviet space - the Greeks founded it 2500 years ago, in the VI century BC. For a good thousand years, it was part of the Bosporus kingdom, until in the 5th century it came under the control of the Byzantine Empire, from which it was separated by the Black Sea. Like any other settlement on the Crimean peninsula, in the following centuries it was repeatedly inherited from its nomad neighbors, and in the 13th century Theodosius, who was then a small village, was captured by the Golden Horde.

In 1266, Genoese merchants agreed with the Tatars on the ransom, and in some 200 years they turned a village with a rich history into a huge city at that time. Prosperity was achieved due to the fact that Kafa (as the new owners called the Hellenic Theodosius) became the main colony of Genoa in the region. In those days, the population of the city reached 70 thousand people, and this is more than, for example, in 2018.

Formally, the Tatars remained masters, but they did not climb inside the city walls, only appointing their prefect to manage the adjacent agricultural territory of the present Feodosia region.

In 1475, the Turks came to the peninsula, and the ownership of the city changed again. After the change of ownership, he remained a shopping center and a large port, but traded here mostly by slaves, which is why Zaporizhzhya Cossacks periodically sailed with an unfriendly visit. At this moment, the importance of Kafa as a center for salt production is growing, but in general the city is heavily depopulated.

In 1771, Kafa was first subjected to a large-scale attack by the troops of the Russian Empire, and in 1784 it was incorporated into this state. The authorities tried to develop a city that suffered from rivalry with Taganrog, but it did not work out too quickly. A certain fame of Feodosia was brought by the local native Ivan Aivazovsky, who wrote outstanding sea landscapes, but the same Chekhov in 1888 characterized the city as completely boring, although he distinguished the sea.

Like any other resort, Feodosia has its own advantages and disadvantages. When choosing a destination for a trip to the sea, you should carefully approach the assessment of the pros and cons of each option. Let's start with the good:

• the abundance of sandy beaches will delight lovers of sunbathing;
• Theodosius lies on the shore of a shallow bay, due to which the water here quickly warms up and is not cold in summer;
• the ancient city offers its guests many interesting historical monuments and interesting museums;
• modern entertainment is also presented here - there is nightlife and the possibility of sightseeing trips to other cities of Crimea;
• connoisseurs of Ivan Aivazovsky’s creativity should come here at least once to see the genius’s art gallery.

At the same time, there are several reasons at once why most of the tourists arriving on the Crimean peninsula still prefer not Theodosius. Here they are:

• the main tourist "magnet" is the southern coast of Crimea, attractive for its subtropical climate, but Feodosia is not included in it, even despite the rather good local climate;
• due to the fact that the city is located in a temperate climate zone, nature here is no different from what millions of our fellow citizens see daily, but it’s enough to drive a little further to relax under palm trees;
• the town itself is not too big, and because of the two reasons described above, there are relatively few tourists here, because lovers of first-class resorts may have the impression that they have arrived in an ordinary small town;
• not far from the beaches there is an oil depot and a small port, and although you can’t name their busy activity, for lovers of clean sea this can be a huge minus;
• From a logistical point of view, for many citizens of post-Soviet countries it’s easier to go to Turkey, where the level of service is completely different than to Feodosia.

For a beach holiday, a pleasant climate is extremely important. In the case of Feodosia, the conditions are special: it is located exactly in the middle between two distinguished climatic zones, one of which is moderately hot, and the second is subtropical.

Feodosia, like most other Crimean cities, is very sunny - the number of hours when the sun is shining here is 2320, which is 3% more than in the popular and popular Yalta. The sunniest month is August. The swimming season is estimated at 114 days on average, it begins in May and can drag on until the first half of October.

Despite the proximity of the sea, Feodosia is not rainy - the average annual rainfall here is 495 mm. Of course, there isn’t a bit of a dry season and a rainy season, however, it is July that is considered the least dry with an average of 30 mm of rainfall. If you look at the statistics on days with rainfall, it turns out that watering in Feodosia is quite common - 114 days a year, but in August there are only 6 of them.

This resort is often criticized for the fact that the city, unlike the southern coast of Crimea, is not protected by mountains from the north winds, which are quite strong and cool. However, their peak falls in the winter months, but in the summer, judging by the reviews of many vacationers here, the influence of the winds is not so significant, and they do not interfere with the rest.

The city, whose history has two and a half millennia, simply cannot but have any attractions that could be of particular interest to tourists who do not want to be limited to only one beach. Again, in this sense, Theodosius is not a must-see city, but there is still something to see.

At the same time, there are no ancient monuments accessible for review, but from the Genoese times there were only fragments of the main fortress, as well as separate defensive towers - Dokovaya, Thomas, Round, St. Constantine. Some parts still look very picturesque and remind of the colorful history of the city.

What is more remarkable about the city is the abundance of ancient Christian architecture. A feature of local architecture is that the buildings here are completely atypical for this region, since the local Christian population, as already mentioned, at a certain period consisted mainly of Armenians, and they used their own motives in the construction.

At least you should see Armenian churches of St. John the Baptist, St. Sergius, St. George and the Archangels Michael and Gabriel. All of them have a long history and were not destroyed, even despite the long stay of Kafa in the Muslim states.

If we are talking about religious architecture, it's worth a look and Mufti Jami Mosque. Apparently, the Slavs who took possession of the peninsula at the end of the 18th century did not treat the religious buildings of the Gentiles so favorably, since this is the only mosque that has been preserved since Ottoman times. The building was built back in 1623, and although after that it was rebuilt several times, it is still of cultural and historical interest.

For those who know that a museum can also be interesting, an impressive number of museum institutions are concentrated in Feodosia. Worth starting from the picture gallery of Aivazovskywhich has been granted national status - since the famous marinist was born and lived here, this is the best place in the world to admire his talent and learn as much as possible about his life.

The theme of art can be continued beyond the boundaries of painting, since the museums of the romantic writer Alexander Green, known to the general reader for Scarlet Sails, and the sculptor Vera Mukhina are also located here.

Ancient Cafe, pleasing with an abundance of fountains, is able to offer its guests a more active holiday. There are many different thematic festivals dedicated to chamber and author's music, alternative fashion and theater, tourism and Christianity.If you are an athlete or an avid fan, here you can also observe various interesting competitions - from sailing regattas to races on hot air balloons, from judo to the championship of mountain rescuers.

Most tourists who come to Feodosia for a summer vacation, simply can not pass by Black Sea Embankment. No one knows for sure when this street was first laid down, but for a long time it was not particularly popular until in recent decades it was built up with luxury hotels and private villas.

Some of the above attractions are located here or within walking distance, in addition, there is also a beach and any infrastructure that a tourist may need.

If you look at the map of Crimea, it turns out that Theodosius is located in that part of the peninsula that is located closer to Kerch and the Krasnodar Territory. With the opening of the Crimean bridge, the task of getting here was significantly simplified for residents of southern Russia - from Anapa, the nearest major city on the mainland, the distance is only 215 km, the duration of the trip by car will be approximately three and a half hours.

Despite the fact that there is a railway station in Feodosia that can take trains of up to 20 cars in length, since 2014 there has not been a long way to the station, because this mode of transport is hardly suitable for tourists arriving in Feodosia. Moreover, the few commuter trains that still run do not connect the city with Simferopol, which remains the main air gate of the peninsula.

Bus routes mainly connect Feodosia with other Crimean cities, there is even a direct route to Simferopol airport, which is largely designed specifically for arriving and departing tourists. If we talk about the major cities of Russia, where you can come directly, these are Moscow, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Astrakhan, Krasnodar (and many other cities of the Krasnodar Territory), as well as Stavropol, Bryansk, Lipetsk and other settlements through which passing these buses.

As for the airport, it is possible to arrive to Feodosia by plane only through Simferopol Airport. Since 2014, it has not accepted international flights, but in contrast to this, a very intensive air service has been established with all regions of Russia - for example, in the tourist season you can fly here directly from almost any airport in the country, except for those in the Far East. Due to certain difficulties in order to get to the peninsula through the bridge, for some categories of the population, preferential terms for air travel to Crimea were invented.

The port of Feodosia provides services, including the transportation of passengers, but we are not talking about full-fledged transport routes - only sightseeing and pleasure boats depart from here.

You can travel around Feodosia and its immediate surroundings with the help of a developed network of intra-city public transport routes, of which there are about two dozen. City transport is represented exclusively by buses and taxis.

As befits a fairly large resort, there are opportunities for tourists of any type. Moreover, a certain provinciality and silence of this city, as well as the fact that the bottom slope is quite gentle, leads to the fact that this place is often chosen for family vacations.

For Feodosia, as well as for most other resorts of the post-Soviet space, the tourism infrastructure is a huge problem, because many local hotels, pensions and motels were built in Soviet times, and since then have never been radically reconstructed. At the same time, prices can be equal to Turkish, although the service, of course, is completely different.

For this reason, one of the best ways to settle in Feodosia is to rent housing with individuals. Enterprising locals offer city guests not only apartments, but also houses - both full-fledged individual estates and guest houses. The price of such a pleasure can fluctuate significantly, since it all depends on the proximity to the sea and the level of comfort provided, however it is almost always somewhat cheaper than a hotel.

The most budget tourists, or those who want maximum unity with nature, can come here and with the expectation of rest as a savage. In Feodosia itself there are no full-fledged campsites, but in its vicinity you can find them, for example, in Mysovoy or Tikhaya Bay. In the latter case, there are no outstanding amenities, but the tent city is free, there are several cafes nearby, and this place was once chosen by Soviet filmmakers, which says something.

Reviews about Feodosia, as well as about holidays in the Crimea, in general, are very ambiguous - there are both positive opinions and very critical ones. A positive attitude towards the town usually develops among those of its guests who wanted a quiet family vacation without undue proximity to the vibrant nightlife.

Such tourists are usually relatively undemanding, all they need is peace and a warm sea. The ancient Kafa is of particular interest to those who want to not only lie on the beach, but also see something new and interesting - for such people, the main purpose of the visit can be not only not only the sea, but the same Aivazovsky, picturesque Genoese ruins yes various festivals with competitions.

If we consider the negative comments, then there are two main accusations - the excessive provinciality of the town and the very mediocre service, which seems especially bad against the background of local prices. The fact that many Crimeans put up price tags at the Turkish level, although they offer typical Soviet “comfort”, has been known for a long time, and this applies to both private owners and hotels with infrastructure.

In the next video, see the overview and features of leisure in the city.