Sights of Feodosia

There are a lot of interesting places and sights in Feodosia, it will take more than one day to get acquainted with them. Here is the famous Aivazovsky Art Gallery far beyond the Crimea, a rich Museum of local lore, several beautiful temples. The central historical landmark is the Genoese fortress of Kafa.

You can explore the sights within the city on your own, most are easily accessible on foot or by local city buses. There is also a way to see the main sights of the city with all the amenities – this is a sightseeing city tour in electric cars. It costs 500 rubles, you can find it at the end of Galeriynaya Street towards the embankment.

If the sights of the city itself are not enough for you, then you can go on excursions to any place on the peninsula. You can buy them at the counters on Galeriynaya Street and in other places, and it is better to do this in advance, a few days in advance, since they are not sent on schedule every day.

We recommend that you definitely look in the city:

• Genoese fortress
• Museum of Antiquities
• Aivazovsky Gallery
• Green's Museum
• Galeriynaya Street
• Dacha-Stamboli Palace and Museum of Underwater Archaeology
• Surb Sarkis Armenian Church and Aivazovsky grave

And go on excursions and or organize your own trip to:

• Taigan Park
• Karadag nature reserve

And here are all the most interesting sights of Feodosia:

Historical

Genoese fortress Kafa

The feodosian Genoese fortress of Kafa is an ancient monument to the history and slave trade of the Black Sea region. This is the most famous and interesting historical landmark of Feodosia. One of its towers – the tower of Constantine, is a symbol of the city and is depicted on its coat of arms.

KAFA is considered one of the most powerful fortifications in Europe. Its design included two walls that protected almost 70 hectares of land. In the architecture of Feodosia from the period of antiquity, absolutely nothing has been preserved, since it fell from the invasion of the Huns in the IV century.

Today, not much remains of the fortress, since most of the fortifications of ancient Kafa were dismantled for building materials in the XIX century by local residents. It is best to explore the fortress with guides who will tell the story in detail and pay attention to the most interesting parts of the fortress. However, group tours or electric car tours only include a visit to the most basic remains of the fortress. If you want to see everything, including rarely visited by tourists, it is best to arm yourself with a map and walk along the streets of the Old Town. Learn more about the fortress and photos here.

Tower Of Constantine

This is the closest to the center of the ancient historical monument and the northern part of the Genoese fortress. It was built in the 14th century and named after the Roman Emperor Constantine. It was the node of the defense of Kafa (this is the medieval name of Feodosia). From it there were fortress walls with five gates guarded by Warriors, but today the tower stands alone and is not connected to the main part of the ruins of the fortress. In the 19th century, the tower was moved 100 meters further from the sea due to the construction of the pot and the railway, and in the early 20th century, the upper part was restored – merlons (battlements).

You can inspect the architectural monument only from the outside, you can come close, touch it and even enter inside. Interestingly, the tower is rectangular at the base, but consists of only three walls. Historians believe that this was originally intended so that it could not become a trap for its defenders in the event of the capture of the fortress by the enemy. The tower is the most recognizable symbol of the city and is depicted on its coat of arms.

Dacha-Stamboli Palace

The Stamboli cottage itself is an architectural landmark, but in addition today it houses the Museum of Underwater Archaeology. Even if you are not interested in Underwater Archaeology, this building is worth seeing at least from the outside. It is made in the Moorish style and many tourists, seeing it for the first time, exclaim: "This is a mosque!". But this palace has never had a mosque, and its history is very interesting.

Construction of the palace began in 1909 and lasted five years until 1914. A very rich local merchant Joseph Stamboli conceived the construction, and wanted to present the palace as a wedding gift to his future wife Rachel Ilyinichna Kalf. But Joseph Stamboli lived in the palace for only three years, and after the revolution the whole family left the Crimea and emigrated.

In 1920, the palace housed the Cheka and prisoners were kept here. In 1921, a sanatorium was opened here, which in 1925 was named after Joseph Stalin. During the war, the dacha became a German hospital, and a German military cemetery was organized nearby. After the war, the building again returned to a peaceful purpose, a pioneer camp earned here. Since 1970, the Dovzhenko drug clinic has worked here, and after the collapse of the USSR – a private restaurant. In 2013, it was decided to open a museum of underwater archaeology here.

Surb Reshtakapetai (Church of the Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel)

This is an old Armenian Church, currently not operating, but perhaps soon it will work again. It is interesting for its architecture, close to Italian churches. Built in 1408, it was renovated in 1970. Unfortunately, so far it is possible to inspect it only from the outside, it is impossible even to enter the territory of the temple, fenced with a fence.

Armenian fountain

The Armenian fountain is a historical and architectural landmark, its construction dates back to 1491 or 1584. Of course, now it does not function, but after construction it was part of the general water supply system of the city with drinking water. Built by the Armenian community in the traditional for those times Armenian architecture - in the form of a prism.

You can look at the fountain while walking around the Old Town, It is also convenient to reach it during a walk to the observation deck of Mount Mithridates. Especially just for the sake of the fountain itself, it may not be worth getting here.

Museums Of Feodosia

National Art Gallery of I. K. Aivazovsky

This, in our opinion, is the main attraction of Feodosia. Some tourists even specially come here for the sake of visiting the gallery. The exhibition presents not only the works of marine painting by Aivazovsky himself, but also works by other artists, as well as paintings on mythological and biblical themes.

The gallery consists of two buildings, the first of which is located in part of the artist's House, and the second part was designed and built by him later. What is very sad, it is forbidden to take pictures, even without a flash. But video shooting for an additional fee is allowed.

Green's Museum

The Feodosia literary and Local History Museum of A. S. Green is one of the most famous museums in the Crimea, and definitely a must-visit. It is located in the House of the writer Alexander Green, where he lived from 1924 to 1929, and wrote his famous works "running on the waves", "the golden chain", "the road to nowhere", "Jesse and Morgiana", etc.

38 years after the writer's death, in 1970, a local history museum was opened here, but today it is the writer's House Museum. Inside it is decorated in the form of a ship, and reflects not only the working environment during the life of the writer, but also tells about his works and the heroes of the novels.

Feodosia Museum of Antiquities(local history)

This is another of the three museums along with the Green Museum and the Aivazovsky gallery, a must-visit during a holiday in Feodosia. Visiting it, you will learn the history of the region from the most ancient times until the reunification of the Crimea with Russia in 2014. It is considered one of the oldest museums in Europe (opened in 1811).

The museum exhibits tell about the nature of the south-eastern Crimea, the culture of the peoples of the region, the history of the city of Kaffa (Kefe) on the site of modern Feodosia. A significant part of the exhibition consists of unique archaeological exhibits. Along with the permanent sections, there are various exhibitions related to the history of the city and the work of the feodosians.

Museum of Underwater Archaeology

The Museum of underwater archaeology is located in the building of another attraction-the dacha-Palace of Stamboli. It was opened in 2013, and according to plans it should become even more popular than the Aivazovsky gallery, and attract even more tourists to the resort.

The basis of the museum are exhibits raised from the bottom of the Black Sea. Many of them are unique, covering the period – from antiquity to the Second World War. Among the exhibits you can see not only traditional shards and details of ships, but also an impressive collection of weapons, coins, jewelry, medical devices. One of the exhibits is completely unique: from the bottom of the sea was raised a sealed bottle of Medicine, in which even the air of the Revolutionary 1917 was preserved. Of course, in the museum you can learn about how underwater finds get to the museum, about underwater archaeology in general.

In general, the museum, despite its youth, is really very interesting and will be interesting for adults and children.

Vera Mukhina Museum

Perhaps you have never heard the name of this outstanding Soviet sculptor, but you have definitely seen her work. Vera Mukhina is the author of the world-famous sculpture "worker and collective farmer", created for the 1937 World exhibition in Paris. The museum was created on the site where the House of the Mukhin family was located and she lived here from 1892 to 1904. Unfortunately, in 1982 the house was demolished, it was possible to save only the facade of the wall of the building.

Today, the decor of the sculptor's House is recreated here, models of her works, tools, original furniture from the old house are exhibited.

Marina and Anastasia Tsvetaeva Museum

The exhibition of the museum tells about the feodosiya-Koktebel period of the life of the Tsvetaeva sisters, an outstanding poetess and writer. Here they lived from 1911 to 1914. The museum presents materials from the collections of the Feodosia Museum of Marina and Anastasia Tsvetaeva, the House Museum of M. A. Voloshin, the National Art Gallery named after I. K. Aivazovsky, the Feodosia Museum of antiquities, as well as personal collections.

Perhaps for a wide range of tourists this museum will not be very interesting, but if you are at least a little creative, you will certainly be interested to touch the history of famous authors.

Museum of money

A small private money museum contains a collection of over 30,000 coins and banknotes! But the most amazing thing is that this whole collection was collected by one person! The place is definitely worth a visit if you have enough time for it during your vacation at the resort.

Such a museum has real reasons to be located in Feodosia: the fact is that here for many centuries, since ancient times, there were mints. The museum also has a shop.

Museum of Free Flight (hang gliding)

This is another private museum in Feodosia, and it is located in the same building as another private museum - money. It tells about the history of gliding, paragliding and hang gliding in the USSR and the CIS. This is the only Museum of this subject in the CIS.

Parks, squares, monuments of Feodosia

Karadag nature reserve and Golden Gate

Karadag (Kara-Dag) is a geological and Biosphere Reserve. Located near Feodosia, east of the village Koktebel. This is one of the most popular sightseeing tourist places in the area of the resorts of Greater Feodosia, and here is one of the tourist symbols of the region – the Golden Gate rock.

The entire territory of the Reserve is an ancient geological fragment of the extinct Jurassic volcano Kara-Daga. The depths of Karadag store gems of Jasper and heliotrope, agate and rock crystal, lemon citrine and purple amethyst, carnelian and chalcedony.

The territory of the Reserve occupies 2065 hectares on land and 810 hectares in the sea. The highest height of Karadag is Mount Svyataya-576m. The arched Rock "Golden Gate" is considered the business card of the Reserve, although its Old Tatar name sounds like "Devil's gate" (Shaitan - Kapu).

The wildlife of the Reserve is about 5 thousand species of creatures, of which 540 species are listed in the Red Book and the European list of endangered species. In the water area and on the slopes of the Reserve, 238 species of birds and almost 1800 species of butterflies settle permanently or for flight. On Karadag you can often find wild boars and foxes, roe deer, Martens, squirrels, hares and hedgehogs and runners. Here there is a unique combination of forest-steppe, steppe and Mediterranean flora. Here, for hundreds of years, rare junipers and pistachios, Jasmine and ferns grow together, and treeless slopes are covered with rare lichens and mosses, essential medicinal plants. Learn more about the Karadag nature reserve and the Golden Gate here.

Fountain "Good Genius"

Today's fountain was opened in 2004 and dedicated to the artist Aivazovsky. It is installed on the place where in the last century the inhabitants of Feodosia installed a monument-fountain as a sign of gratitude to the artist's family. But the first monument did not last long. At first it was closed due to the fact that it was poorly designed and flooded everything around, and during the Great Patriotic War it disappeared without a trace, and its place was taken by a monument to the Pioneer partisan Vita Korobkov (now located in a nearby park).

In addition to the fountain itself, there is a beautiful square with roses, and opposite is a children's playground.

Aivazovsky Fountain

The fountain of Aivazovsky appeared here in 1888 not at all for beauty. It so happened that at that time the city began to experience an acute shortage of drinking water, and it was even delivered in barrels from another city. On the territory of Aivazovsky's estate there was a Subash spring, but water from it somehow had to be delivered to the city center. And then Aivazovsky himself personally designed and at his own expense built a water supply from the source to the city center, and provided people with clean drinking water.

Today, the fountain is an architectural landmark, and no longer has significance as a source of water.

Temples Of Feodosia

St. Catherine's church

St. Catherine's Church in our opinion is the most beautiful church in Feodosia, and you will meet it as soon as you arrive in Feodosia by bus, since it is located right next to the intercity bus station.

The foundation stone was laid on April 21, 1892-in honor of the birth of Catherine II and in memory of the annexation of the Crimea to Russia. The temple is a vivid example of Russian cult architecture in the architectural traditions of the XVII century.

Surb Sarkis Armenian Church and Aivazovsky grave

Surb Sarkis is translated as the Church of St. Sergius. It is one of the oldest Armenian churches in Crimea. It was built in 1330 in the traditional Armenian style - the walls of the temple abound with embedded khachkars (stone crosses with complex ornaments). The entrance to the temple in ancient times was a rich portal, which during the reconstruction of 1888 after a fire was converted into a bell tower. Decorated walnut doors from the entrance are exhibited in the Hermitage, the second — in the Feodosiya Museum of Antiquities.

In this church the artist Aivazovsky was baptized, here he was married, and was buried in 1900. 44 years later, his second wife, Anna, was buried here.

Church of All Saints

The First Church in the name of All Saints in the Russian land of the Risen was built on this site in the 1880s next to the Old City Cemetery, where for many centuries the eminent and honorable inhabitants of Feodosia were buried. It existed for more than seventy years, but in 1938 the church was closed during the struggle of the Soviet government with religion, and in 1961 the temple building was specially recognized as an emergency and it was decided to demolish it. However, it could not be destroyed, and it was decided to undermine it, which was done secretly, under cover of night, by the military.

Restoration of the temple on the old site began only in 1992. The works were carried out according to old drawings and photographs in order to give the new temple the maximum similarity with the original. The works were completed in 2003. Today, the Church has a theological school and a small museum.

Mufti Jami Mosque

The Mufti-Jami Mosque is the only Muslim religious building from the time of the Ottoman Empire in Feodosia. It was built in 1623, in the Ottoman architectural tradition. After the annexation of Crimea to Russia, the mosque was given over to the Armenian Catholic Church of the assumption and served Armenians in this capacity from the end of the 18th to the beginning of the 2nd century.

It was repeatedly redone, but according to the details that survived from the original construction, we can conclude that in the architecture of the mosque, there are elements of Byzantine samples and, possibly, the school of the outstanding Turkish architect Sinan. In 1975, through the efforts of restorers, the mosque acquired its original appearance, and in the 90s of the twentieth century it was returned to the Muslim community and since 1998 regular services have been held.

The mosque can be viewed from the outside and get inside, but non-Muslims are not allowed to enter during services.

Miscellaneous

Siebold's Cup

At the beginning of the 20th century, amazing structures were built in the vicinity of Feodosia-Siebold bowls. Their purpose is to collect water from the air by condensing it due to the difference in daytime temperatures. The author of this invention was the Forester Fyodor Ivanovich Siebold, and the construction in Feodosia was an experimental and only model. The collection of water was a stone bowl (the largest was 12 meters in diameter), filled with large pebbles, on which moisture condensed, and then flowed down the chute. After the completion of construction, the "installation" gave for several years more than 400 liters of fresh water every day. The invention did not receive further development due to the fact that there were simpler ways to deliver fresh water to the city, but it successfully migrated abroad, where it is used now, and most likely it will be remembered in the future.

Today, very little remains of the three bowls – only stone platforms with concrete sides, overgrown with grass. But as the world's first examples of this kind of technology, they deserve attention.

Matridat mountain and observation deck

Matridat is the highest point of the Old Town of Feodosia (55 meters). Here was located part of the defensive fortifications of the fortress (tower of Thomas), but today it remains only ruins. During Aivazovsky's lifetime, he built a museum of antiquities at his own expense on the top, but it was completely destroyed during the war.

Today there is one of the most successful viewing platforms, and in the plans of the city authorities there is a restoration of the museum.

Galeriynaya Street

Galeriynaya Street is the tourist heart of Feodosia. It is a completely pedestrian street and a great place for leisurely walks, especially in the evenings. There are cafes, restaurants, boutiques, travel agencies, currency exchanges, souvenir shops, etc.here are the three most important museums of Feodosia: the Green Museum, the Museum of Antiquities, the Aivazovsky gallery. At the height of the season, street performers appear here, something is constantly happening, there are always a lot of people. At the end of the street, where it rests on the embankment, there are a large number of stalls with souvenirs and tourist sites, points for the sale of tours, and from here sightseeing tours of the city are sent by electric vehicles. In general, Gallery Street is a place around which the main tourist life of Feodosia revolves and which in no case should not be missed.

P.S. perpendicular to the gallery along the embankment is another pedestrian street - Aivazovsky. There are also stalls on it, local artists put up their works for sale.

A place to kiss

This is perhaps the most fun attraction in Feodosia and one of the most photographed. On Galareynaya Street, at the intersection near the fountain, this sign was installed, thereby marking the place where you should kiss. Of course, you do not need to take this sign literally and every time under it merge in a passionate kiss, but for fun you can.

Feodosiya sights on the map