Skip to content

← Home

Maritime Armenia (Armenians in Crimea)

Maritime Armenia (or Black Sea Armenia, Latin: Armenia Maritima) is the historical name of south-eastern Crimea centred on Solkhat (Staryi Krym), where for almost a millennium there existed a powerful, distinctive Armenian community with a developed culture, a network of mountain settlements, trade and financial infrastructure, and outstanding sacral complexes.

Overview

Armenian presence in Crimea spans the epochs from Antiquity (the first ties dating to the times of the Armenian king Tigranes the Great and Mithridates of Pontus in the 2nd–1st centuries BC) to the Modern and Contemporary eras. Mass resettlement of Armenians began in the 13th–14th centuries as a result of the Mongol invasion of Armenia. In medieval Armenian chronicles, the south-eastern foothills and coastline of Crimea came to be called "Maritime" or "Black Sea Armenia". Armenian merchants, stonemasons, artisans, and educators played a fundamental role in the development of trading towns and Genoese trading posts. Having survived the Ottoman onslaught of 1475, the deportation by the russian empire in 1778, and the Stalinist deportation of 1944, the Crimean Armenians left a remarkable architectural, spiritual, and artistic heritage.

Key Details / Subtopics

  • Origins and Mass Migration (2nd century BC — 14th century AD):
  • First contact ties are recorded in the era of allied relations between King Tigranes the Great and Mithridates VI Eupator.
  • The mass migration of the Armenian population to Crimea occurred in the 13th–14th centuries due to the Mongol conquests and the invasion of the Seljuk Turks. From the beginning of the 14th century, the settlers founded schools and scriptoria, built churches, and developed agriculture.
  • Economic Role in the Genoese Period (14th–15th centuries):
  • Armenians constituted a significant share of the artisan and merchant population of Caffa (Feodosia), Solkhat (Staryi Krym), Sudak, and Karasubazar (Bilohirsk).
  • According to Genoese notarial acts, Armenian merchants were the main intermediaries in Black Sea trade, distributing European and Eastern goods to the North and East. Armenian stonemasons and accountants ensured the functioning of Caffa's financial system.
  • Ottoman Conquest of 1475 and Revival of the 17th Century:
  • The seizure of the peninsula by Ottoman-Tatar forces in 1475 led to the liquidation of the Genoese colonies, mass bloodshed, and persecution of Christians, which substantially reduced the Armenian population.
  • Relative calm at the beginning of the 17th century fostered a cultural and educational upsurge: the restoration of ancient manuscripts and the activity of a theological seminary at the Surb Khach Monastery.
  • Forced Deportation of 1778 and Return in the 19th Century:
  • In 1778, by order of the russian government, over 12,000 Armenians were forcibly resettled from Crimea to the barren lands of Pryazovia (founding of the city of Nakhichevan-on-Don). Only a few hundred people remained in Crimea. The settlers took with them unique material valuables and manuscripts.
  • After the annexation of Crimea by the russian empire, part of the Armenians returned; their numbers also grew with settlers from Eastern and Western Armenia. The government established self-governing national communities in Staryi Krym and Karasubazar.
  • Religious Identity and Dogmatics:
  • The Armenian Apostolic Church (with its mother see in Etchmiadzin) remains faithful to the dogma of the Third Ecumenical Council (431) on the single divine nature of Christ (monophysitism / miaphysitism).
  • Outstanding Sacral and Architectural Monuments:
  • Surb Khach Monastery (Staryi Krym) — founded in 1358 by the monk Hovhannes Sebastatsi (church of Surb Nshan); the spiritual centre of the Armenian Church in the Black Sea region.
  • Church of the Holy Archangels (Feodosia) — a medieval sacral structure.
  • Church of St. Nikogayos (Yevpatoria) — one of the three preserved functioning historical Armenian churches of Crimea.
  • Church of St. Hripsime (Yalta) — built at the expense of the Baku oil industrialist Poghos Ter-Hukasyan to the design of the architect Gabriel Ter-Mikelyan based on a model of a 7th-century church in Etchmiadzin; considered the most beautiful Armenian church in Ukraine.
  • Prominent Figures of the Armenian Community of Crimea:
  • Ivan Aivazovsky (an outstanding marine painter who bequeathed an art gallery to his native Feodosia) and his brother Gabriel Aivazovsky (scholar and church figure).