Azov (, ), previously known as Azak ( Turki/ Kypchak: ), is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

Rostov Oblast Rostov Oblast ( rus, Росто́вская о́бласть, r=Rostovskaya oblastʹ, p=rɐˈstofskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in the Southern Federal District. The oblast ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, situated on the Don River just from the

Sea of Azov The Sea of Azov is an inland Continental shelf#Shelf seas, shelf sea in Eastern Europe connected to the Black Sea by the narrow (about ) Strait of Kerch, and sometimes regarded as a northern extension of the Black Sea. The sea is bounded by Ru ...

, which derives its name from the town. The population is

History

Early settlements in the vicinity

The mouth of the Don River has always been an important commercial center. At the start of the 3rd century BCE, the Greeks from the

Bosporan Kingdom The Bosporan Kingdom, also known as the Kingdom of the Cimmerian Bosporus (; ), was an ancient Greco-Scythians, Scythian state located in eastern Crimea and the Taman Peninsula on the shores of the Cimmerian Bosporus, centered in the present-day ...

founded a colony here, which they called '' Tanais'' (after the Greek name of the river). Several centuries later, in the last third of 1st century BCE, the settlement was burned down by king Polemon I of Pontus. The introduction of Greek colonists restored its prosperity, but the

Goths The Goths were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe. They were first reported by Graeco-Roman authors in the 3rd century AD, living north of the Danube in what is ...

practically annihilated it in the 3rd century. The site of ancient Tanais, now occupied by the ''

khutor A khutor ( ; rus, хутор, p=ˈxutər) or khutir (, ) is a type of rural locality in some countries of Eastern Europe; in the past the term mostly referred to a single- homestead settlement.Nedvigovka, has been excavated since the mid-19th century. In the 5th century, the area was populated by Karadach and his Akatziroi. They were ruled by Dengizich the Hun. Byzantium gave the land to the Hunugurs in the 460s; it became known as Patria Onoguria under his brother, Ernakh. Its Hun inhabitants became known as the Utigur Bulgars when it became part of the Western Turkic Kaghanate under Sandilch. Then in the 7th century Khan Kubrat, ruler of the Unogundurs established Old Great Bolgary there before his heir Batbayan surrendered it to the

Khazars The Khazars ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a nomadic Turkic people who, in the late 6th century CE, established a major commercial empire covering the southeastern section of modern European Russia, southern Ukraine, Crimea, a ...

. In the 10th century, as the Khazar state disintegrated, the area came under the control of the Slavic princedom of Tmutarakan. The

Kipchaks The Kipchaks, also spelled Qipchaqs, known as Polovtsians (''Polovtsy'') in Russian annals, were Turkic nomads and then a confederation that existed in the Middle Ages inhabiting parts of the Eurasian Steppe. First mentioned in the eighth cent ...

, seizing the area in 1067, renamed it Azaq (i.e., lowlands), from which appellation the modern name is derived. The

Golden Horde The Golden Horde, self-designated as ''Ulug Ulus'' ( in Turkic) was originally a Mongols, Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the division of ...

claimed most of the coast in the 13th and 14th centuries, but the Venetian and Genoese merchants were granted permission to settle on the site of modern-day Azov and founded there a

colony A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their ''metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often orga ...

which they called .

Archaeological digs

In autumn 2000,

Thor Heyerdahl Thor Heyerdahl KStJ (; 6 October 1914 – 18 April 2002) was a Norwegian adventurer and Ethnography, ethnographer with a background in biology with specialization in zoology, botany and geography. Heyerdahl is notable for his Kon-Tiki expediti ...

wanted to further investigate his idea that Scandinavians may have migrated from the south via waterways. He sought the origin of

Odin Odin (; from ) is a widely revered god in Norse mythology and Germanic paganism. Most surviving information on Odin comes from Norse mythology, but he figures prominently in the recorded history of Northern Europe. This includes the Roman Em ...

(Wotan), the Germanic and Nordic god of the mythologies of the early Norse

Eddas "Edda" (; Old Norse ''Edda'', plural ''Eddur'') is an Old Norse term that has been applied by modern scholars to the collective of two Medieval Icelandic literary works: what is now known as the ''Prose Edda'' and an older collection of poems (w ...

and

Sagas Sagas are prose stories and histories, composed in Iceland and to a lesser extent elsewhere in Scandinavia. The most famous saga-genre is the (sagas concerning Icelanders), which feature Viking voyages, migration to Iceland, and feuds between ...

. According to

Snorri Sturluson Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of th ...

, the Icelandic author of an Edda and at least one Saga, who wrote in the 13th century, Odin was supposed to have migrated from the region of the Caucasus or the area just east of the Black Sea near the turn of the 1st century CE. Heyerdahl was particularly interested in Snorri's reference to the land of origin of the

Æsir Æsir (Old Norse; singular: ) or ēse (Old English; singular: ) are deities, gods in Germanic paganism. In Old Nordic religion and Nordic mythology, mythology, the precise meaning of the term "" is debated, as it can refer either to the gods i ...

people. Heyerdahl wanted to test the veracity of Snorri's claims and as a result, organized the Joint Archaeological Excavation in Azov in 2001. He had wanted to undertake a second excavation the following year, but it never happened due to his death in April 2002.

Fortress

In 1471, the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

gained control of the area and built the strong fortress of Azak (Azov). The fort blocked the

Don Cossacks Don Cossacks (, ) or Donians (, ), are Cossacks who settled along the middle and lower Don River (Russia), Don. Historically, they lived within the former Don Cossack Host (, ), which was either an independent or an autonomous democratic rep ...

from raiding and trading in the Black Sea. The Cossacks attacked Azov in 1574, 1593, 1620, and 1626. In April 1637, three thousand

and four thousand

Zaporozhian Cossacks The Zaporozhian Cossacks (in Latin ''Cossacorum Zaporoviensis''), also known as the Zaporozhian Cossack Army or the Zaporozhian Host (), were Cossacks who lived beyond (that is, downstream from) the Dnieper Rapids. Along with Registered Cossa ...

besieged Azov. The Turks had four thousand soldiers and two hundred cannons. The fort fell on June 21 and the Cossacks sent a request to the

Tsar Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...

for re-enforcements and support. A commission recommended against this because of the danger of war with Turkey and the poor state of the fortifications. In June 1641, Hussein Deli, Pasha of Silistria, invested the fort with 70,000–80,000 men. In September, they had to withdraw because of disease and provisioning shortfalls. A second Russian commission reported that the siege had left very little of the walls. In March 1642, Sultan Ibrahim issued an ultimatum and Tsar Mikhail ordered the Cossacks to evacuate. The Turks reoccupied Azov in September 1642. In 1693, the garrison of the fortress was 3,656 of whom 2,272 were

Janissaries A janissary (, , ) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops. They were the first modern standing army, and perhaps the first infantry force in the world to be equipped with firearms, adopted du ...

. The fortress, however, had yet to pass through many vicissitudes. During the

Azov campaigns Azov (, ), previously known as Azak (Turki/Cuman language, Kypchak: ), is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in Rostov Oblast, Russia, situated on the Don River (Russia), Don River just from the Sea of Azov, which derives its name ...

of 1696,

Peter the Great Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...

, who desired naval access to the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

, managed to recover the fortress. Azov was granted town status in 1708, but the disastrous Pruth River Campaign constrained him to hand it back to the Turks in 1711. A humorous description of the events is featured in

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...

's ''

Candide ( , ) is a French satire written by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment, first published in 1759. The novella has been widely translated, with English versions titled ''Candide: or, All for the Best'' (1759); ''Candide: or, The ...

''. During the Great Russo-Turkish War, it was taken by the army under Count Rumyantsev and finally ceded to Russia under the terms of Treaty of Kuchuk-Kainarji (1774). For seven years Azov was a seat of its own governorate, but with the growth of neighboring Rostov-on-the-Don it gradually declined in importance. The Germans and Austrians occupied Azov in 1917–1918, during World War I. It was occupied by the Germans between July 1942 and February 1943 during World War II.

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Azov serves as the

administrative center An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located. In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgiu ...

of Azovsky District, even though it is not a part of it.Law #340-ZS As an administrative division, it is incorporated separately as Azov Urban Okrug—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

. As a municipal division, this administrative unit also has urban okrug status.Law #234-ZS

Government

Sergey Bezdolny of the

United Russia The All-Russian Political Party United Russia (, ) is the Ruling party, ruling List of political parties in Russia, political party of Russia. As the largest party in the Russian Federation, it holds 325 (or 72.22%) of the 450 seats in the St ...

party was elected Mayor of Azov on April 3, 2005 and re-elected on October 11, 2009 by 72.9% of the voters. The current head of administration (city-manager) Vladimir Rashchupkin holds office from December 2015.

Geography

Climate

Azov's climate is humid continental (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Dfa''), featuring hot summers, cold winters (though quite mild for Russia), and fairly low precipitation.

Attractions

There are many monuments and museums in Azov. Built in 1799, the Powder Cellar Museum in Azov is the only remaining fortress of Catherine's time in all of what was once southern Russia. Fortresses she built in Rostov, Taganrog and elsewhere have been completely destroyed, so Azov's deserves to be considered an architectural monument to the art of military engineering in the 18th century. A wooden cellar served a quarter century, but in 1797 had become dilapidated, so it was dismantled, and replaced with a cellar made of stone. In 1799, in the

bastion A bastion is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fire from the ...

of St. Anne, a new powder cellar was built. From the beginning of the 19th to the 20th century the cellar was used to store of ice. From 1961 to 1965 the cellar was renovated and handed over to the Azov Museum of History, Archaeology and Palaeontology. In 1967, to celebrate the 900-year anniversary of Azov, Soviet officials opened the exposition diorama "The taking of Azov by the troops of Peter the Great in 1696." The author of the diorama was the Russian artist Arseniy Chernyshov. The Azov Fortress is a fortified complex overlooking the Don River and the Port of Azov to the north. It includes a rampart, watchtowers and gates. Monument to Peter I is a bronze monument of Peter the Great in the center of Azov. It was designed by sculptors Oleg Komov and Andrey Kovalchuk. The opening ceremony took place on 19 July 1996 and was held in conjunction by the 300-year anniversary of the Russian Navy. Monument to Aleksei Shein is a sculpture of Russian statesman, general, Boyar (from 1695), and the first Russian Generalissimo (1696) Aleksei Semenovich Shein. The monument was opened on June 12, 2009. The authors of the project were M. Lushnikov and V.P. Mokrousov. Monument to the sailors of the Azov Flotilla is dedicated to the Flotilla, which heroically fought in Taganrog Bay and the Don Delta during the Great Patriotic War. The monument is considered to be an object of local cultural heritage. The Azov Museum of History, Archaeology and Palaeontology is one of the biggest southern museums of Russia hosting the richest palaeontological collection in the south of Russia. The museum was established on 17 May 1917 by Michail Aronovich Makarovskiy. There is the House of Kovalev opposite the museum.

Twin towns – sister cities

Azov is twinned with: * Aglandjia, Cyprus (1990) * Chillicothe, United States (1991) *

Feodosia Feodosia (, ''Feodosiia, Teodosiia''; , ''Feodosiya''), also called in English Theodosia (from ), is a city on the Crimean coast of the Black Sea. Feodosia serves as the administrative center of Feodosia Municipality, one of the regions into ...

,Disputed territory Ukraine *

Pylos-Nestor Pylos-Nestoras () is a municipality in the Messenia regional unit, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, Greece. The seat of the municipality is the town Pylos. The municipality has an area of 554.265 km2. Municipality The municipality Pylos-Nestora ...

, Greece (2017) *

Sečanj Sečanj (, ) is a town located in the Central Banat District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. As of 2022 census, the town itself had a population of 1,889, while the Sečanj municipality has 10,544 inhabitants. Name "Sečanj" is a ...

, Serbia (2018) *

Courbevoie Courbevoie () is a Communes of France, commune located in the Hauts-de-Seine department of the Île-de-France region of France. It is a suburb of Paris, from the Kilometre zero, center of Paris. The centre of Courbevoie is situated from the ci ...

, France (2018) *

Bijeljina Bijeljina ( sr-cyrl, Бијељина) is a city and municipality in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the provincial center of Semberija, a geographic region in the country's northeast. As of 2013, it has a population of 107,715 ...

, Bosnia and Herzegovina (2018)

References

Notes

Sources

* * * * * Khvalkov E. The colonies of Genoa in the Black Sea region: evolution and transformation. L., NY : Routledge, 2017 * Khvalkov E. Due atti notarili rogati a Tana, colonia veneziana sul Mare di Azov, e alcune considerazioni sull'età dei veneziani che hanno visitato Tana // Studi veneziani. 2017. Vol. 73-74 * Khvalkov E. A Regionalization or Long-Distance Trade? Transformations and Shifts in the Role of Tana in the Black Sea Trade in the First Half of the Fifteenth Century // European Review of History: Revue europeenne d’histoire. 2016. Vol. 23. No. 3. P. 508 -525. doi * Khvalkov E. ‘The society of the Venetian colony of Tana in the 1430s based on the notarial deeds of Niccolò di Varsis and Benedetto di Smeritis.’ In Studi storici 57 / 1 (2016): 93–110. // Studi Storici. 2016. Vol. 57. No. 1. P. 93–110. * Khvalkov E. Forms of Social Organization in the Venetian Trading Station in Tana, 1430s // Ricerche storiche. 2015. Vol. 45. No. 3. P. 381–392. * Khvalkov E. ‘Trading Diasporas in the Venetian and Genoese Trading Stations in Tana, 1430 – 1440.’, in: Union in Separation. Diasporic Groups and Identities in the Eastern Mediterranean (1100-1800). Heidelberg : Springer, 2015. P. 311–327. * Khvalkov E. Everyday Life and Material Culture in the Venetian and Genoese Trading Stations of Tana in the 1430s (Based on the Study of Notarial Documents) // Medium Aevum Quotidianum. 2012. Vol. 64. P. 84–93. * Khvalkov E. The Slave Trade in Tana: Marketing Manpower from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean in the 1430s // Annual of Medieval Studies at CEU. 2012. Vol. 18. *

External links

Official website of Azov

Unofficial website of Azov

Directory of organizations in Azov
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Rostov Oblast Crimean Khanate History of the Don Cossacks Don Host Oblast Port cities and towns in Russia Bosporan Kingdom Coastal fortifications Tmutarakan