The history of Feodosia began at the end of the VI century BC, when merchants from the Greek city of Miletus founded a small trading post on the shore of a convenient bay. The settlement was named Theodosia, which means "given by God"in Greek. In 355 BC, Theodosia was captured by the Bosporan ruler Leron the First. The city became the breadbasket of the Bosporan Kingdom. At the end of the IV century, it was destroyed by a nomadic tribe of the Huns. In the following century, the Alan settlement of Ardabda existed on the site of Feodosia. At the end of the VII – beginning of the VIII century, the Khazars invaded the peninsula. Then, for several centuries, Feodosia became a Byzantine fortification. In 1223, the territory of Feodosia became part of the Crimean ulus of the Golden Horde. However, soon Genoese merchants acquire a section of the coast of the Feodosiya Bay from the Tatars and establish a trading settlement called Kafa (Kaffa). The Genoese owned the city for two centuries and during this time made it the administrative center of their Crimean possessions.
In the XIII-XV centuries. Kafa became the center of the slave trade. After the fall of Constantinople in 1453 and the death of Byzantium, the city began to lose its commercial importance. In 1475, the Ottoman Turks took possession of Kafa, who renamed it Kefe. Since the second half of the XVI century, Russian squads have been undertaking military campaigns against the Crimean Khanate, including the Turkish fortress of Kefe. Two centuries later, in 1771, during the Russian-Turkish War, the fortress was taken by the army of Prince V. M. Dolgorukov.
In 1783, the Crimea was annexed to the Russian Empire, a year later the ancient name was returned to the city. In 1787, Feodosia became part of the Tauride province. For several decades, the city almost froze. And only at the end of the XIX century, after the railway was laid from Dzhankoy and the construction of the port was completed, Feodosia turned into a major commercial port. Soon, an iron foundry, a confectionery factory and other production facilities started operating in the city. Developing, Feodosia was losing its centuries-old appearance. At this time, the development of Feodosia as a resort place begins. In 1921, the first health resort was opened in the city. The city began to develop as a medical resort. After the Great Patriotic War, enterprises of the military-industrial complex began to operate in Feodosia, the city was closed to foreigners.
Currently, Feodosia is actively developing as a resort and recreational center.
The postage stamp depicts a Genoese fortress, a view of the city, an amphora-a hybrid of the IV century BC from the necropolis.
| Paper |
Printing method |
Perforation |
Format of the stamp |
Edition |
| Chalk surfaced |
Offset + security system |
Comb 12:11¼ |
50 × 37 mm |
144 thousand stamps |