Since March 2003, this beautiful city, located on the Black Sea coast, has begun a new countdown of life, now it is a federal resort. But the real history of Gelendzhik began much earlier.
From dolmens to the Middle Ages
Of the important facts related to the first inhabitants of the local territories, historians single out the following:
- foundation of the Greek colony Torik (VI century BC);
- opposition to the Goths and Huns (in the 4th – 3rd centuries);
- the strengthening of the positions of the Byzantines, the foundation of the harbor of Eptala (VI century BC);
- the period of power of the Khazar Kaganate (from the VIII century).
After the defeat of the Khazars, an independent Tmutarakan principality existed in these territories, then it came under the rule of the Byzantines. Then Genoese colonies appeared here, the port of Mavrolako appeared on the site of modern Gelendzhik.
In the middle of the 15th century, the city receives its modern name; it is part of the Ottoman Empire. According to the decisions recorded in the Andrianople Peace Treaty in 1829, Russia receives huge territories north of Batumi.
This is how the history of Gelendzhik can be briefly described, until it became part of the Russian Empire.
Gelendzhik in the XIX-XX centuries
Since the city was located on the southern outskirts of the empire, its main task is to defend the borders. In 1831 the Gelendzhik fortification was built. The middle of the century is characterized by continuous hostilities, Russian troops either leave the city or regain their lost positions.
The turn of the XIX-XX centuries is a peaceful period of development of the settlement, in 1896 a village with the name Gelendzhik was formed, in 4 years the first sanatorium (private institution) will open here. In 1907, the area received the important status of a resort and began to actively develop. True, revolutionary and post-revolutionary events interfere with the normal course of life, the situation is unstable, problems not only in political life, but also in the economy and agriculture.
By the middle of the twentieth century, life is getting better, but the war makes adjustments. Gelendzhik is in the frontline zone, it is undergoing bombing, there are many hospitals here. After the war, peaceful construction began, the city became a resort of all-Union significance in 1970.
