The history of Anapa begins with a Turkish fortress, which the historian Veselovsky calls nothing but "evil". Apparently that is why they tried so hard to win the fortress from the Turks. However, before the Muslim Turks, these places were inhabited by Orthodox Christians. And even earlier, in the 14th century, Genoese Catholics lived here, who built the first fortification here. The colony was then called Mapa. When it became Anapa, it is not known for certain, but in later written evidence the city is called that way.
History of the name of the city
However, today the toponym Anapa is considered to be Turkic, however, both Greek and Abkhaz versions of its origin are expressed. So, in Greek, this name would mean "high cape", which corresponds to reality. In Abkhazian the word would mean something like an extreme outpost, literally "hand". It is customary to measure anything at arm's length even now, when the metric system exists. So there is nothing surprising in such a toponym as “as long as the hand reaches it”.
The Türkic name Anapa for the fortress had already been fixed by the time the Russians came here. According to the Turkic version, it meant "the edge of the table". This could refer to a flat bank ledge. The fortress was built by the Turks from 1781 to 1782. During the Russian-Turkish wars, our troops managed to capture the fortress of Anapa more than once.
Russian period
The final Russian fortress became in 1829. A few years later, in 1846, Anapa became a city, and twenty years later - a resort. Before World War II, the Soviet government built over a dozen pioneer camps here, as well as 14 sanatoriums. But when the war broke out, the resort was destroyed. However, already in 1960, everything was restored in full. The railway stretched here, the Anapa station appeared. But it was located at a distance of a kilometer from the city border.
The situation was corrected by more recent events, when Anapa grew into its own district, becoming a municipal entity. And the famous resort received a new title - the City of Military Glory. It so happened that the history of the Black Sea resorts is closely linked with military events, and often with bloody battles. Therefore, many settlements here have monuments to the fallen soldiers.
It is impossible to briefly retell the military history of Anapa, because each point deserves special attention. This ancient land keeps the memory of the four Russian-Turkish wars and the terrible Second World War. So rest in these places is always combined with a visit to old fortresses and monuments.
