Site: Rest in Crimea - Vesyoloye village

Section: Guide

Page: Guide

Crimea, Crimean Penisula
Crimean Penisula also known as Crimea (Rus. Крым, Крымский полуостров) is a penisula in sounthern Ukraine, coterminous with Crimea republic, lying between Black Sea and Sea of Azov and having 27 000 km². Penisula is linked to the mainland by the narrow Perekop Isthmus and is bounded on the south and western by the Black Sea. The eastern tip of the Crimea is the Kerch peninsula, separated from the Taman peninsula (a projection of the mainland) by the Kerch Strait, which connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Azov. The peninsula is coterminous with the autonomous republic of Crimea, of which Simferopol is the capital. Other major cities include Sevastopol, Kerch, Feodosiya, Yalta and Yevpatoriya. Along the Crimea's northeast shore are a series of shallow, stagnant, but mineral-rich lagoons, known collectively as the Sivash or Putrid Sea, which are linked to the Sea of Azov by the Arabatskaya Strelka. The northern part of the Crimea is a semiarid steppe, drained by a few streams; this region supports fine wheat, corn, and barley crops. In the south rises the Crimean or Yaila Range (Yaltinskaya Yaila), with its extensive meadows and forests. The tallest peak rises to c.5,000 ft (1,520 m). In the Crimean Range is a major astronomical observatory. Protected by steep mountain slopes, the Black Sea littoral, once called the "Soviet Riviera", has a subtropical climate and numerous resorts, notably at Yalta and Sochi. During the years of Soviet rule, the resorts and dachas of the Crimean coast served as the prime perquisites of the politically loyal. In this region are vineyards and fruit orchards; fishing, mining, and the production of essential oils are also important. Heavy industry in the Crimea includes plants producing machinery, chemicals, and building materials. Some 70% of the Crimea's population are ethnic Russians; the rest are mainly Ukrainians. Since 1989 there has also been a movement back to the area of native Tatars who had been exiled to central Asia in the Stalin era. There are also smaller minorities of ethnic Armenians, Greeks, Bulgarians, and Germans.

Phot. Where is the Crimean Penisula placed?

Known in ancient times as Tauris, the peninsula was the home of the Cimmerian people, called the Tauri. Expelled from the steppe by the Scythians in the 7th cent. BC, they founded (5th cent. BC) the kingdom of Cimmerian Bosporus, which later came under Greek influence. Ionian and Dorian Greeks began to colonize the coast in the 6th cent., and the peninsula became the major source of wheat for ancient Greece. In the 1st cent. BC, the kingdom of Pontus began to rule the Greek part of the peninsula, which became a Roman protectorate in the 1st cent. AD During the next millennium the area was overrun by Ostrogoths, Huns, Khazars, Cumans, and in 1239, by the Mongols of the Golden Horde. Meanwhile, the southern shore was mostly under Byzantine control from the 6th to the 12th cent. Trade relations were established (11th-13th cent.) with Kievan Rus, and in the 13th cent. Genoa founded prosperous coastal commercial settlements. After Timur's destruction of the Golden Horde, the Tatars established (1475) an independent khanate in north and central Crimea. In the late 15th cent. both the khanate and the southern coastal towns were conquered by the Ottoman Empire; the Turks called the peninsula Crimea. Although they became Turkish vassals, the Crimean Tatars were powerful rulers who became the scourge of Ukraine and Poland, exacted tribute from the Russian czars, and raided Moscow as late as 1572. Russian armies first invaded the Crimea in 1736. Empress Catherine II forced Turkey to recognize the khanate's independence in 1774, and in 1783 she annexed it outright; the annexation was confirmed by the Treaty of Jassy (1792). Many Tatars, with their Muslim religion and Turkic language, emigrated to Turkey, while Russians, Ukrainians, Bulgarians, Germans, Armenians, and Greeks settled in the Crimea. During the Crimean War (1853-56), parts of the remaining Tatar population were resettled in the interior of Russia. After the Bolshevik Revolution (1917) an independent Crimean republic was proclaimed; but the region was soon occupied by German forces and then became a refuge for the White Army. In 1921 a Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was created; Tatars then constituted about 25% of the population. During World War II, German invaders took the Crimea after an eight-month siege. Accused by the Soviet government of collaborating with the Germans, the Crimean Tatars were forcibly removed from their homeland after the war and resettled in distant parts of the Asian USSR. The republic itself was dissolved (1945) and made into a region of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic; in 1954 it was transferred to Ukraine. In 1989, some of the Tatars began to return from their exile in Siberia. In 1991, President Mikhail Gorbachev was vacationing in Crimea at the time of the August Coup . Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia and Ukraine engaged in negotiations over the possession of Crimea and the disposition of the former Soviet fleet based in the Black Sea. In 1992 there was an abortive attempt by the Russian-dominated Crimean government to declare independence. Elected Crimea's first president in 1994, Yuri Meshkov called for the rejoining of the Crimea with Russia. In 1995, Crimea's government was placed under national control and Meshkov was ousted, but its assembly was retained. An accord the same year between Ukraine and Russia called for the division of the Black Sea fleet, and in 1997 it was agreed that Russia would be allowed to base its portion of the fleet there for 20 years.
Text from InfoPlease Encyclopedia, based by The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia

Autonomous Republic of Crimea
(Rus. Автономная Республика Крым) Its population on January 1, 2001 was 2072,2 thousands of people. Capital is city Symferopol (Rus. Симферополь) which has a train terminal and international airport.

Phot. Emblem and flag of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea

History of Vesyoloye
The village has been based by Tatars, and the second version speaks that is based by the master of Crimea - sea republic Genoa. Later they could accept it. First the village referred to Kutlak from starting with those places of sources. One of them until then proceeds in the middle villages (it is impose stones). From another by means of a long network of pipes through mountains shakes pumps to the Novyj Svet (next village). After II World war Tatars have moved. In those days occupied people from Soviet Union. Toward the end 80-s' have resolved to well-born inhabitants will return. Fights during war was not. In village there is a monument devoted to people which have left village and have gone to fight. All are written out on a monument their names. During Soviet Union it was better. The life looked on another. People had work and the salary always paid in time. Worked on grape and peach fields. Also at local factory of wine. When the Union was scattered it became worse. Probably it has taken place because the republic became independent. In those places speak practically in Russian (a part of people - in Crimean Tatar).

Vesyoloye today


Phot. Administration of Vesyoloye village

Village has a 1 610 citizens, and 32% of them are Tatars. The leader of Vesjoloe is Mr. Chepil' Genadiy Petrovich, (Чепиль Генадий Петрович) officially works in building at Lenina street number 8, tel. 0038-8-065-6637249.

History of Sudak city
A brief history of Sudak. It was known from 3rd century AD. Genoese controls it in 1365. 1475 - Ottomans. In 1783 passed to the Russian Empire (as all Crimean Khanate).