THE BLACK SEA
• Feodosiya
All Aboard
Charles and Judith Moore
July 28‐August 8, 2010
www.charlieandjudith.com
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The Black Sea:
Crossroads of Empires from the Ancient Past to the
Present
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
July 29‐30 Istanbul, Turkey
July 31 At Sea
August 1 Sochi, Russia
August 2 Kerch, Ukraine
August 3 Feodosiya, Ukraine
August 4 Yalta, Ukraine
August 5 Sevastopol, Ukraine
August 6 Odessa, Ukraine
August 7 Varna, Bulgaria
August 8 Disembarkation
Final Thoughts
Index – Chronological Order of Lectures
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INTRODUCTION
For millennia, people have known two things about the Black Sea. One was that sailing it demanded an
iron will and the second, an even stronger stomach. Not so for us; the sea was like a mill pond thanks to
hot, but nearly perfect weather.
Coming on the heels of our amazing trip in Russia last summer, this was a perfect connector to the
exploits of Russia under Peter the Great (1689‐1725) and Catherine the Great (1762‐1796) and beyond.
As we found out, the history of the Black Sea area according to the historian, Charles King1, started long
before that.
400 BC ‐ 500 AD Greek Colonists and Romans
500 ‐ 1500 Scythians, Khazars, Bulgars
1500‐1700 Ottoman Golden Age
1700 ‐1860 Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, Crimean War
1860‐ Present WWI, WWII, the Cold War
As in past journals, this photographic essay was written for the benefit of our nine children and close
friends. It’s meant to be a journal of experiences and observations, rather than a teaching tool. This one
focuses on our reflections on the places and relevant histories that make the Black Sea so interesting
and so important. While written in chronological order of our tour to four countries and seven cities, it’s
intended to be all about the connections of leaders and the movement of peoples over 2,500 years.
We travelled with 65 other passengers who have relationships with Smithsonian Journeys (as do we), as
well as Adventure Life Journeys, Columbia Alumni Travel Study Group, University of North Carolina
General Alumni. The tour operator was Travel Dynamics International, which did a terrific job. The all –
suite Corinthian II is a small cruise ship, accommodating 114 guests in 57 suites and served by 70
seasoned officers and crew. Our study leaders, Glenn Bugh, classics professor at Virginia Tech, a regular
lecturer and trustee of the recently created American Research Center in Sofia, Bulgaria, and Jim Leutze,
former professor of history at the University of North Carolina and creator of Global Watch, an
international affairs program that aired for fifteen years on public television networks, were
outstanding. They were also available for conversation and questioning throughout our trip. The ship’s
staff was most friendly and efficient, from captain to stewardesses, as well as those below decks. The
food was exceptional three times a day, with tea in the afternoon and an open bar until midnight. So,
while this report is not about our comforts, they were fully embraced.
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King is an Associate Professor in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. His “The Black Sea: A
History” was mandatory reading for brand new Black Sea “scholars” such as we. Most of my information comes
from King and Glenn Bugh. Any errors are mine, alone.
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This was my third visit to Istanbul and Judith’s fourth, over a period of nearly twenty years. Our nonstop
Delta flight from JFK to Istanbul arrived right
on time at 10am on July 29. There were 14
other people on our flight participating in
our Black Sea voyage, so it took some time
to gather all the luggage and transport us to
waiting coaches; the wait gave us a chance
to meet some of our fellow travelers. Since
we couldn’t board the Corinthian II until
after 3pm, we were given a bus tour of the
city, and then dropped off at the Four
Seasons Hotel in the Old Town (originally a
jail) for lunch or whatever. I got a terrific
massage; Judith read a Gothic thriller by
Sarah Waters and checked out the gardens.
Post Massage
Istanbul, the only city in the world situated on 2 continents – Europe and Asia, is Turkey’s largest city
and its business center. With a population exceeding 14 million (20% of Turkey’s total population),
Istanbul is surrounded on three sides by the Sea of Marmara, the Golden Horn and the Bosphorus. The
European side (home to 9 million souls) and the Asian side (5 million) is connected by two suspension
bridges tall enough for large ships to sail under on their way to the Black Sea or the Aegean. Ankara,
Turkey’s capital and political center, is the country’s second largest city, and has a population exceeding
6 million. Most see Turkey’s unique geographic position as “enviable but exposed”.
Our bus guide, Yaman, took us down crepe‐myrtle lined Kennedy Avenue to the new part of the
European side of Istanbul, past an impressive residential section and their new Galleria, a modern
shopping mall. (Istanbul’s ancient, labyrinthine Grand Bazaar is known as the world’s first “shopping
mall”). He pointed out the Isle of Marmara (where much quartz has
been mined) and over six miles of 4th C. walls of two rows of stone
(one built by Romans and one by Ottomans) with a moat in between,
including a number of major gates, each named after the city the road
led to. We crossed over the Golden Horn Bridge to the Old Town,
through the Jewish and Greek quarters and past the Bulgarian
Orthodox Church (prefabricated metal construction). On the hills
behind us, we could see the silhouettes of the famous mosques and
palace we would visit the next day.
The Corinthian II was berthed at Karakov Yolcu Solonu along with
several very large cruise ships. The crew and staff were ready for us
and we were more than ready to see them. Our state room was the
best we’ve ever had, tended by a Filipino beauty called Lovella, who
would not only to see to our every need, but serenade us beautifully in
the Crew’s final night’s entertainment. At cocktails, we met with staff
and our lecturers and concluded we were in for a great eight days.
Stateroom # 256
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Mythological sources claim that Istanbul was founded by King Byaz, a Greek, in 600BC, hence the name,
Byzantium. In 340 AD, the Roman Emperor Constantine proclaimed the city his capital and changed the
name from Byzantion to Constantinius. The city became an important regional center upon the
Emperor Constantine’s conversion to Christianity. In 1453 AD, the city fell to the Ottomans and became
Istanbul. It’s important to note that the Ottomans (98% Sunni Muslims) were not Arabs; they came from
central Asia and Mongolia and later, converted to Muslim. The Republic of Turkey was formed in 1923,
after WWI, led by M.K. Ataturk.
We set out on our first day to rediscover some historic structures we had previously visited. There was
much still to be learned. The Blue Mosque, the only mosque in the world with six minarets, was built in
1609 by Sedefkar Nehermt Aga, a student of the reknowned, Sinan, architect of Hagia Sophia. The
interior of the Blue Mosque is covered with blue, green, white and reddish Iznik tiles. These are
exclusively designed using floral motifs and are a symbol of paradise. They are composed of 80% crystal
quartz and 20% clay. The magnificent chandeliers (converted gas lamps) are inscribed with the words
“God is light”. Modern Turkish carpets cover every inch of floor space. When the mosque was built, the
prayer rugs all would have been hand made and exquisitely double‐knotted. The oldest Turkish rug in
the world is in the Hermitage; it’s 2,500 years old! Our guide also described the steps the faithful go
through five times a day as they prepare to pray.
1. Ready to hear – put both thumbs behind your ears
2. Put hands on stomach (men) – hands on heart (women)
3. Open hands – to receive the light
4. Kneel – forehead on ground (prayer rug) to express humility
5. Greet the angels who reside on your shoulders by breathing over each shoulder. The one on the
right records your good deeds, the one on the left keeps track of the bad ones.
6. Put hands on your face to express the receiving of the divine light
We were told by our guide that ladies pray separately from
the men only in the balcony, because this is the most
beautiful part of the mosque. Right!
Construction of Hagia Sophia started in AD 324 and was
completed in AD 360. Since then it has been renovated and
rebuilt many times. At its completion, Hagia Sophia was the
biggest/tallest church in the world. It was surpassed in height
only by St. Peters Basilica in Rome (1626), which was later
Inlaid stone circles superseded by St. Paul’s Cathedral in London (completed in
1710). Built to celebrate the new Christian faith, it served as a church for 916 years and then as a
mosque for 481 more years. In 1935, Hagia Sophia was converted to a museum. The church’s first name
was Megali Eklesia (The Great Church), and was changed to Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom) in the fifth
century. Its dome is freestanding, resting on eight columns and is 100 feet in diameter and 182 feet
high. There are many windows to catch sun rays (Jesus: “I am the light”). There
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are few mosaics because icons were paneled over at the time the church was converted to a mosque.
Today, there is a wonderful inlaid stone circle (see photo P.6) to mark the spot where Byzantine
emperors were crowned. There is a terrific mosaic depicting Constantine and Justinian presenting
models of the church and city respectively to the Virgin Mary. My favorite, on the upper balcony, is a
partially restored mosaic of Christ between the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist (see photo below).
Jesus, Mary and John the Baptist – Hagia Sophia
The walkway to Topkapi Palace is lined with stately sycamore trees which are believed to represent
“eternal life”. The palace, itself, was built in 1470 following the Ottoman takeover of
Constantinople/Istanbul, to house the sultan and his retinue. Guards in the harem were black eunuchs
from North Africa. They had schools for the children of the “official” wives (four per sultan). The sultan’s
mother (“Queen Mother”) was the absolute ruler when the sultan was away, and she selected the
concubine who would sleep with the sultan (as if four wives aren’t enough!). Porcelain white skin was
considered most desirable for the concubines. When the sultan retired (or otherwise completed his
reign), the concubines had a choice of a lifetime pension in their own retirement, or they could marry,
keep the jewelry and give up the pension. The exception to this culture covering 600 years and three
continents was Suleiman the Magnificent, who was devoted to only one wife, a tall, white ‐ skinned
redhead named Roxelana (“the White Princess”). He wrote the following poem to her as a token of his
affection:
"Throne of my lonely niche, my wealth, my love, my moonlight.
My most sincere friend, my confidant, my very existence, my Sultan, my one and only love.
The most beautiful among the beautiful…
My springtime, my merry faced love, my daytime, my sweetheart, laughing leaf…
My plants, my sweet, my rose, the one only who does not distress me in this world…
My Istanbul, my Caraman, the earth of my Anatolia
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My Badakhshan, my Baghdad and Khorasan
My woman of the beautiful hair, my love of the slanted brow, my love of eyes full of mischief…
I'll sing your praises always
I, lover of the tormented heart, Muhibbi of the eyes full of tears, I am happy." 1
The largest room in the harem was the Imperial Hall, the family reception area where all ladies‐in‐
waiting sat while musicians and dancers entertained the Sultan and Queen Mother. The walls were
covered with Delft tiles. The furniture was limited to benches. In this room, they celebrated festivals,
the ending of Ramadan and the Rite of Circumcision (boys ages 7‐11). The jewelry exhibition was
amazing, including the Topkapi Dagger, Kisikci Diamond (7th largest in the world) and a be‐jeweled baby
crib.
Hagia Sophia Blue Mosque
1
See Wikipedia entry
Imperial Hall, Topkapi Palace
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Back on our ship, it was time to pass through the Bosporus and
begin our nighttime sail toward Sochi, Russia, our first port of
call. The Black Sea (Pontus Euxinus) is bordered by (going
clockwise from the mouth of the Bosporus) Bulgaria, Romania,
Ukraine, Russia, Georgia and Turkey, but what constitutes the
Black Sea region depends not only on how one asks the question
but also on when it is asked. According to Charles King, …
”In the ancient world, a string of Greek cities and trading Bon Voyage!
emporia connected all the corners of the sea to a single commercial network. That network was shaken
by the rise of powers from the hinterlands and by the advance of Persia and Rome; relations among
Byzantines, nomadic people in the north, and Christian kings and princes in the Balkans and Caucasus at
first strengthened and then weakened it. In the Middle Ages, the Black Sea world was revived by the
entrepreneurial spirit of the Genoese and Venetians and, for a time, came under the sway of a single
empire, even of a single man, the Ottoman sultan. Later, the rise of Russia transformed the sea into the
site of a centuries‐long struggle between the powers that controlled its northern and southern shores.
In turn, the national movements of the 19th and 20th centuries, favoring smaller countries over
empires, worked to bring bits of the sea and its littoral into the demesne of newly formed nation‐states.
Today, it is difficult to argue whether there is anything approaching a common Black Sea “regional
identity” among all the inhabitants of the coasts or the states in which they live. Still, the sea has long
been a distinct place, a region defined by cross‐sea relationships, both cooperative and conflictual,
involving the movement of people, goods, and ideas.”2
The Black Sea has a maximum depth of 7,238 feet and a positive water balance (i.e. a net outflow of
water). The Black Sea outflow is cool and less saline and therefore, floats over the warm, more saline
Mediterranean inflow. The Black Sea also receives fresh water to its north, including from the Don,
Dnieper and Danube rivers. Below 600 feet, the water remains without oxygen – anoxic – and,
therefore, dead save for some hardy bacteria. This gives the archaeologists great hope of eventually
recovering prehistoric settlements and sunken ships. Sailing in the Black Sea, all you see is water and
sky. No boats, no birds, nothing. Gusts of headwinds up to 15‐20 mph created some choppiness,
otherwise, it was smooth as glass. In all the books we read and lectures we heard, there are many
theories, but no agreement as to why this body of water is called the Black Sea.
With a full day at sea on July 31, we familiarized ourselves with our “new floating home” and listened to
two lectures.
Glenn Bugh, associate professor of Classics and Byzantine History at Virginia Tech:
“A Voyager, a Priestess, a King, and a Poet: Colorful Characters of the Black Sea”
Jim Leutze, former professor of History at UNC and currently running for election to the North
Carolina Senate: on “Contemporary Turkey”.
2
P. 7,8 King
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Both lectures were great. Bugh wove his story from the Scythians (nomadic horsemen) through Greek
mythologies (like Jason and the Golden Fleece), Greek battles and erotic poetry by an exiled poet up to
the time when “the Black Sea became a Roman Lake”. Leutze described Turkey as having survived 600
years of Ottoman rule, WWI and the Versailles Treaty of 1919, the nationalist revolution in 1921,
neutrality through most of WWII, a NATO member, and the rise of Kurdish and Islamic power. He sees
Turkey as a “quasi‐democracy with an active army”, “more assertive and independent”, and ready to
become “the leading power in the Middle East” (with or without full EU status).
Capped off with exercise (ten laps around Deck IV), our first day at sea ended with the Captains
Welcome Dinner, followed by the movie “Nicholas and Alexandra”.
Exercise on Deck IV
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On August 1, we arrived at our first port of call. Sochi, Russia is on the eastern coast of the Black Sea,
488 miles northeast and due north of Turkey. It has a year round population of 400,000 people, and 1.2
million visitors per year. Sochi is known as the “Riviera of Russia” for its mild summer weather and
skiing opportunities in winter. It was not incorporated until 1837, compared to the much older cities of
Moscow and St. Petersburg. We had to endure a complex security clearance as we left our ship. It was
only 8 am, but already the beaches were crowded. Our guide, Yuri (same first name as silver medalist in
the 1952 Olympic 400 meter hurdles), is a teacher at Sochi University. We first visited the 110 year old
Russian Orthodox Cathedral of Michael Archangel, who is the Patron saint of Sochi. The cathedral was
built in 1873 to commemorate the victorious conclusion of the Caucasus War. After photographing yet
another Lenin monument, we walked to the town center and past several significant buildings including
the Park Hotel and the old casino (gambling has now been banned in the city). We admired the Winter
Theater in the main square (1934‐1937), an interesting neo‐classical structure surrounded with 88
Corinthian columns. The pediment bears the statues of Terpsichore, Melpomene and Thalia, muses of
song and dance and tragedy and comedy. (photo p. 12).
On to the botanical gardens, where we wandered by indigenous cork
oaks, “Pinocchio” pines, palm trees (“barrel of water”) and forests of
bamboo. We saw ostriches (“eyes bigger than brain”), peacocks, and
goats – followed by a Japanese Garden with Cypress Knees fringed
with grass. Much of the greenery in Sochi has a semi‐tropical feel
because of the warmer currents trapped by the mountains to the
East.
We returned to our ship for lunch and to cool off (the temperature
was over 100 degrees!) Refueled, we set off to “visit” one of Joseph
Stalin’s favorite dachas. On the way, we passed through the tree lined
“Alley of Friendship” and stopped at Sochi’s famous Mineral Springs
called Matsesta, built in 1938 (photo P.12). The smell of sulfur was
unmistakable, but apparently, the healing effects are considerable. Cypress Knee
Stalin was born in Georgia, and was involved in revolutionary activities from the age of 15. He was sent
to Siberia six or seven times before working his way up through the Communist party under Lenin. He
became the Communist leader in 1923 and died in 1953. The dacha was finished in 1936, and as Stalin
suffered from lung and pulmonary ailments as well as a useless left arm, he typically spent July through
October in his dacha (except during WWII). The exterior of the house was painted dark green for
camouflage purposes; the interior was finished with 15 kinds of wood and without nails. Stalin’s typical
day included breakfast at 3pm, and he would work much of the evening and continue through the night.
He had a terrific billiards table which we tried out. The pockets were too tiny for modern billiards balls
but one of our number succeeded in “holing one out” anyway.
The Winter Olympics will be held in Sochi in 2014. When they were awarded the Games, no facilities
were in place, which is quite unusual for the IOC who tries to minimize host cities’ expenditures. The ice
hockey rink is now nearly finished; the skiing will take place in the Caucasus Mountains (7,100 feet in
elevation), about 30‐40 miles away. There is much left to be done.
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Winter Theater, Sochi
Stalin’s dacha
Stalin’s guests
Matsesta Springs
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August 2 ‐ We traveled all night and arrived in Kerch, Ukraine, at around 8 am. Kerch is a city on the
eastern coast of the Crimean peninsula on the Strait of Kerch, the shallow waterway connecting the
Black Sea with the Sea of Azov. The city was founded by Greek colonists in the 6th c. BC and eventually
passed to Russia after the first Russo‐Turkish War (1768‐1774). On November 11, 2007, there was a
huge storm that passed through the city causing a great deal of
damage and ecological disaster, as many ships were wrecked
and the Strait was blocked, causing oil and sulfur to pour out.
Today, Kerch is considered to be a city of metallurgists,
shipbuilders (especially supertankers and warships) and
fisherman.
At disembarkation, we were met by a brass band, which helped
pass the time as we shuffled through security. Today, with a
population of 150,000, Kerch has a rich history with Mithridates
VI playing a central role for the Greeks in the first century BC.
Romans took over in the 1st century, and the area became
known for its slave trade. We visited two burial areas: one a 4th
c. BC burial vault with impressive keystone construction. (see
photo) The second, more modest, burial vault was in the city,
itself. Its name referred to “running water” or “angel’s
fountain”.
One of the first impressions from the sea a visitor gets is of the
steps up to Mithridates Hill – all 438 of Mausoleum of Bosporan Kings
them.
We, thankfully, took the bus to the
acropolis, a point 900 feet above sea
level, where among other things, we
checked out the 6th c. BC excavation site
from the Greek colonial period. When we
inquired as to how they approximated a
date, we were told that they did so by
estimating the Olympic year (original
Games started in 776 BC). Our next stop
was the Archeological Museum, in center
city, where we saw a sarcophagus and the
bones of what is believed to be an
Olympic athlete with body scraper or
strigil. (see photo) Across from the
museum is a monument recognizing the Ex‐Olympian
devastation of the Chernobyl nuclear explosion (which the Russians tried to cover up). Across the street
from the Orthodox Church of Saint John the Baptist, where we saw a great iconostasis, there is a huge
monument of Stalin towering over the city square. When Ukraine’s final liberation near the end of WWII
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in April, 1944 took place, Kerch had all but been destroyed. The population was only 30,000. There is an
impressive obelisk commemorating the WWII liberation.
We returned to the ship for lunch, with the temperature still in excess of 100 degrees, and set sail for
Feodosiya; the rest of the afternoon was filled with Glenn Bugh’s lecture on “The Black Sea between
East and West: Byzantium, Venice and Genoa”, and dinner. Glenn’s lecture brought us up to “the Black
Sea becomes an Ottoman Lake” (1475), and the most interesting examples of the use of “marriage
deals”. Not a bad day.
Memorial to Chernobyl victims, Kerch
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August 3 ‐ HAPPY BIRTHDAY! SUSAN
Feodosiya , Ukraine , founded by Greek colonists from Miletos in the 6th c. BC, was noted for the rich
agricultural lands on which its trade was dependent. It was destroyed by Huns in the 4th c. BC. Feodosiya
remained a minor village for much of the next 900 years. It was conquered by the Mongols in the
1230s.
We left our ship without the usual tedious customs clearance to find a city of 100,000 population,
supported by a large oil terminal and an active health resort (no extracted minerals, no industry).
Fortunately, Feodosiya was not badly damaged during WWII.
In 1783, Catherine the Great offered to sell large tracts of property to wealthier Russians, including
royalty. Property parcels were priced high, and few sold, so she gave them away to the Russian
aristocracy anyway. Patrons of the city built the railroad and schools. Today, foreigners can own
apartments but not the land. There are three languages spoken: Ukrainian, Russian and Crimean Tatar.
The latter were speakers of a Turkish language and as Muslims, were part of the same cultural universe
as the Ottomans. They represented an unbroken line between the great empire of Genghis Khan and the
later emperor of the Ottoman Empire. Stalin exiled the Tatars but Gorbachev thought that was unfair
and let them return, giving each family a plot of land on which they could build when they had the
resources to do so. Today about 13% of the population is Tatar, and they prefer to live in the country‐
side. Their population has grown because they tend to have more children than the ethnic Ukrainians.
The Tatars have only four representatives in the Crimean parliament, which deals with agriculture and
education. Still, the Tatars excel at farming, and we passed thousands of acres of vineyards. We also saw
a billboard promoting a biker show! (Shades of Billings, Susan. They are following us.)
Following a 75 minute ride, we reached Sudak, population of 15,000 (swells to 100,000 in the summer),
where we toured the towering 14c. Genoese fortress overlooking Sudak Bay. The initial settlement here
took place during the period of the Elan. For the Genoese, the issue was bringing water (5‐7 kilometers
away) to the area. The population grew to 8,000 by the end of the 12c. Russians took over the fort,
without a fight, in 1771 at the time of the Russo‐Turkish War and used the area for barracks.
In addition to the fortress walls, there are interesting ruins of ancient temple which was converted back
and forth from Muslim to Orthodox and back again several times. At the top of the mountain is the
Virgin Tower, where Marco Polo once visited. We didn’t – not for lack of interest, but because of the
intense heat!
Back in Feodosiya, we visited the beautifully restored National Picture Gallery, which houses the world’s
largest collections of paintings by the marine painter, Ivan Aivazovski (1817‐1900). Aivazovsky
graduated from a prominent art school with a “gold medal”, after which patrons supported his travels
abroad for six years. The gallery, built in the Renaissance style of Italian villas, belonged to his daughter.
There are 400 paintings by Aivazovsky, 1200 in the total collection, including many by his students and
Russian as well as Western European masters. We started with two self‐portraits, then moved on to a
number of marine ‐ scapes. For me, one of the most powerful is his painting (he did four) of Niagara
Falls in 1893. Judith purchased a puzzle of this painting – a challenge to future Edgemoor visitors. There
were two marble busts of Aivazovsky at age 30 and the other done when he was almost 70. We saw
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paintings made as early as 1839 (age 22) right up until the year he died. There is a rare depiction of
Catherine the Great’s visit to the Crimea painted to celebrate the 100th anniversary of her triumphal
visit in 1787. Many other paintings depicted various battles on land and sea.
Back on board, we enjoyed lunch, our regular walk around the boat (now 12 laps), a lecture on “Yalta
and World War II” (Jim did not find FDR very transparent and tried to explain why the Russians got so
much of South and Central Europe at the Yalta conference), more updates on the visit the next day to
Yalta, a wine tasting of Ukraine wines, and dinner. Our release from the Ukrainian port, for the second
time, was delayed by authorities for over three hours.
Sudak Sudak
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Crenellated walls of the 14th c Genoese fortress
August 4 ‐ Another hot day in the Crimea, this time in Yalta. With a current population of 190,000, Yalta
is located on the site of an ancient Greek colony, said to have been founded by Greek sailors looking for
a “safe shore” on which to land. The existence of Yalta was first recorded in the 12th c. by an Arab
geographer who described it as a Byzantine port and fishing settlement. It became part of a network of
Genoese trading colonies on the Crimean coast in the 14th c., when it was known as Etalia or Galita.
Crimea was captured by the Ottoman Empire in 1475 and was annexed to the Russian Empire in 1783,
sparking the Russo‐Turkish War of 1787‐1792.
While living in Yalta, Chekhov wrote his short story The Lady with the Dog, as well as his famous plays,
The Three Sisters and The Seagull. We began our day with a tour of Chekhov’s house, which he called
his “favorite white dacha”. Small but charming, the house had many special visitors, like Pushkin,
Rachmaninoff, etc. There’s a green bench in the lovely garden named for Pushkin and a piano inside that
Rachmaninoff is said to have played. In ill health (TB etc.), Chekhov spent the last five years of his life in
his little white house in Yalta. He was married to a famous ballet dancer, Olga, who was not ready to
retire so she visited the house infrequently, but was with him when he died there in 1904. Chekhov’s
sister saved the house and was responsible for converting it to a museum, complete with a collection of
wonderful photographs.
From our ship we could see the Alexander Nefsky Cathedral but we did not visit. There are ten Russian
Orthodox Churches in Yalta; only one Mosque. We were told Yalta was rather upscale, and we passed
multi‐ million dollar homes as we climbed the mountain. However, the real estate market has not been
good recently, especially to the middle class who earn an average of US $12,000 per year. As well,
interest rates have climbed from 12% to 26%.
Our second visit of the morning was to the Alupka Palace,
built in 1839 for Count Mikhail Vorontsov, governor of New
Russia and later viceroy in the Caucasus. The architect was
Edward Blore, the British architect of Buckingham Palace.
The Count’s father was the Russian Ambassador to England.
While the Palace is huge and the gardens extensive, it was
used mostly by the Count and his wife, with the children
visiting only occasionally. The art work is especially
impressive, including a Hogarth (see photo opposite), which
the National Russian Museum of Art begged to have in their
collection.
We then had lunch at the Yelena Restaurant (including
vodka to begin and champagne to top off), which overlooks
“Swallow’s Nest”, a fantasy castle, one of Yalta’s famous Hogarth at Alupka Palace
landmarks. Livadia Palace (built in 1817), was home to Tsar Nicholas II and site of the historic Yalta
Conference in February 1945 including Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin. We were fortunate to tour two
floors, with again, some excellent photography, much of it focused on the Yalta Conference. Most of the
conference took place in Livadia as Roosevelt and entourage were housed there. Livadia was much
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more accommodating for FDR because of his disability. FDR liked his bed so much, he took it home with
him! Negotiations were completed and documents signed on February 11, 1945. FDR died two months
before the prpoposed meeting in San Francisco which would found the United Nations.
Some of the more poignant photographs were of Nicholas II’s family, who were all assassinated on July
18, 1918 by the Bolsheviks. The family diamonds, seized by the Bolsheviks, were eventually sold to
Marjorie Merriweather Post, who was married to Joseph Davies, Ambassador to the USSR in 1937 and
1938 under Joseph Stalin!
We took a short coach ride to the newly refurbished Organ Hall, built originally as the power station for
Livadia. We were greeted with a nice reception before a short concert played on Ukraine’s largest pipe
organ by a young woman in a gorgeous red dress. Built by Vladimir A. Khromchenko, the organ has
4600 pipes in 69 registers controlled by four manuals and pedals and was completed in 1998. The
program consisted of Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, Schubert’s Ave Maria and Jean Alain’s
Litanie.
On returning to the ship, we attended Glenn’s lecture on the “Struggle for Dominion over the Black Sea:
Ottomans and Russians in the 18th – 19th centuries”. (Glenn is known for his extensive lecture titles)
Bugh divided the struggle into three parts:
The Ottoman Golden Age (15th and 16th centuries) with Suleiman the Magnificent, his son Selim
II and the second siege of Vienna (which was the turning point of the empire in 1683)
The Ottoman Empire on the defensive (17th and 18th centuries) The Holy League, Peter the
Great, Catherine the Great, Treaty of Kuchuk Kainarji, Russia as Protector, Greek War of
Independence, etc.
Collapse of the Ottoman Empire (19th and 20th centuries) The Crimean War, WWI, modern
Turkey, Treaty of Lausanne (1923), diaspora of Pontic Greeks
Pushkin’s bench
The sea from Alupka Palace
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View from Yelena Restaurant
Swallow’s Nest
Nicholas II and family Organ Hall
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Photo of Big Three and advisors
Conference Room where strategic meetings were held, Italian Gardens at Livadia Palace
Yalta
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August 5 ‐ Sevastopol, our fourth stop in Ukraine, was formerly the home of the Soviet Black Sea Fleet
and is now a base for both the Ukrainian and Russian navies. The unique geographic location and
navigational conditions of the city’s harbors make Sevastopol strategically important. It is also a popular
seaside resort and an increasingly popular tourist destination. The trade and shipbuilding importance of
the port has been growing since the fall of the Soviet Union, despite the difficulties that sometimes arise
from the joint military control over the harbors and piers. Sevastopol is also an important center of
marine biology research. In particular, study and training of dolphins has been conducted here since
WWII.
In 1997, the Republic of Russia entered into a lease agreement with Ukraine to dock its “auxiliary” fleet
at US $100 million per year plus 30% discount on the natural gas that Ukraine buys from Russia. Later,
this agreement was extended to 2043 with a US $150 million payment per year. This has proven helpful
to Sevastopol, with a city population of 400,000, as a budget subsidy for education, etc. In center city,
we passed the Cathedral of the Intercession, which was closed in 1920. There are 15 orthodox
cathedrals and churches, one mosque and no synagogue in Sevastopol. As a 5th‐6th century BC
settlement, Sevastopol was called the “cradle of Christianity” through the first century AD.
Our first stop was the archaeological site of Chersonesos. Along the water at Quarantine Harbor, we saw
Greek ruins; then passed by a Greek theater that seated 3,000. Plays lasted all day; men and women
would attend the tragedies, but only men could attend the comedies. Next we toured 10th c. ruins
where gladiator fights were held. Another ruin was identified as a mint, or a “forgers” home. This
construction was 3‐4th c. BC.; no mortar was used in the construction. Across Italian Square was a 19th c.
Orthodox monastery, which is closed. Our destination was the Packard Laboratory (David Packard of HP
provided funding), which we toured with the co‐director of the lab. This was extremely interesting, and
we saw a fabulous exhibition of painted stellae and other objects found on site. Archeologists are
engaged in ongoing exploration at Chersonesos along with Texas A&M and others.
The next stop was the Cathedral of St. Vladimir, whose construction started in 1861 in the presence of
Tsar Alexander II to honor the baptism of St. Vladimir in 988 AD. There are two floors: the lower one
with old stone wall and floor and the upper one with a magnificent dome incorporating a silver dove,
the symbol of the Holy Spirit. Badly damaged during WWII, the church was rebuilt in 2001 and re‐
consecrated in 2004. It has some great icons with gold leaf background. We walked by some ancient
mosaics and more ruins of a basilica and photographed a large bell cast in 1776 from captured Turkish
guns. At the end of the Crimean war, the bell was seized by the French and taken to Paris where it was
used in the belfry of Notre Dame; it was returned in 1913.
We next went to the Panorama Museum depicting the Crimean War (1854‐1855). We were told that,
worldwide, there are only 40 Panorama Museums; 8 are of battle scenes. This one was created by
French artist, Franz Roubaud (born in 1850). The first bombing of Sevastopol destroyed the museum; it
was redone using Roubaud’s sketches and reopened in 1956. It’s very powerful. On the way back to our
ship for lunch, we passed the great monument to the Russian Admiral Pavel Nakhimov, who was killed
by a French sniper at the siege of Sevastopol in the Crimean War. He was so respected by Russians,
Ottomans, British and French alike that shooting stopped while he was being buried. We visited the
monument to the Scuttled Ships which commemorates the sinking of a number of naval vessels to block
the mouth of the harbor.
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Cathedral of St. Vladimir
Painted stellea, Packard Laboratories
Chersonesos
Fog Bell, Chersonesos
Panorama Museum – Crimean War 22
That afternoon, we drove through Balaklava Valley where the famous Charge of the Light Brigade took
place. From the hillside, our guide gave a great account of the battle and the miscommunications
between the British leaders. Alfred Lord Tennyson tells the story best:
Half a league half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
'Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns' he said:
Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred.
'Forward, the Light Brigade!’
Was there a man dismay'd ?
Not tho' the soldier knew
Ssome one had blunder'd:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die,
Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred.
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley'd & thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.
Flash'd all their sabres bare,
Flash'd as they turn'd in air
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army while
All the world wonder'd:
Plunged in the battery‐smoke
Right thro' the line they broke;
Cossack & Russian
Reel'd from the sabre‐stroke,
Shatter'd & sunder'd.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
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While horse & hero fell,
They that had fought so well
Came thro' the jaws of Death,
Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.
When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wonder'd.
Honour the charge they made!
Honour the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred!
Our guide recited this!
From there we drove to the Ottoman Palace of Bakhchiserai to see the original mosque, gardens, harem
and the Fountain of Tears. The site for the palace was selected because of its excellent natural water
supply. The Khan’s mother ruled supreme, giving orders from behind a wooden screen. In this palace, it
was normal for a Khan to have only one wife, rather than the usual four. Catherine the Great visited in
1786, and after finding the Palace in ruins, she made the decision to preserve it. It has served as a
museum since WWII. On the way to Bakhchiserai, we drove through rich vineyard country with as many
as 60% of the residents being Tatars. On the way back, we returned to the harbor, where we saw four
Russian submarines and one Ukrainian sub in the dry dock. Another full day!
Bakhchiserai WWII armament at Balaklava
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August 6 ‐ Odessa ‐ our 5th stop in Ukraine, the fourth largest city and a major sea port. The city was
founded by Haci I Giray, the Khan of Crimea, in 1240 and was originally named Khadijibey after him. In
the 14th c. it was the 4th largest city of Imperial Russia, after Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Warsaw. Its
historic architecture looks more Mediterranean than Russian, having been heavily influenced by French
and Italian styles. After the collapse of Communism, Odessa became part of the newly independent
Ukraine and today, the city has a magnetic charm with a wonderful Opera House and museums. Its huge
outdoor market is the biggest of the kind in Europe. Its harbor is 9km long. The city is home to more
than 100 nationalities and often names its streets or boulevards after countries.
With a population of over one million, this is a city of beautiful tree‐lined promenades and monuments:
Catherine the Great (1654), Duke Richelieu (who governed until 1814, after which he returned to France
to become Prime Minister) and Alexander Pushkin (who was asked to leave after 13 months because of
some of his writing). The city’s gala entrance from the sea is a set of stairs called the Potemkin Steps,
which run right down to the seaport and were designed by F. Boffo. The columned Neoclassical City Hall
(photo) was built initially for stock trading. The Opera House is breathtaking with its drive flanked with
huge sycamore trees. We made a brief stop at the Synagogue and had a terrific tour through much of
the Archaeological Museum, built in 1825. The first floor is devoted to the Hellenistic Period (6th c. BC)
with “Bosporian state” materials, along with those from Olbia (meaning happy) and the Island of Leuke
(in the open sea 40km from the Danube River). Another area was devoted to gold pieces fashioned by
Scythians (they got the gold from the Greeks), but our favorite was the safe‐like Treasury where the
treasures are second only to those in the British Museum. While the day was cloudy and the
temperature was only in the 80s, this museum was not air conditioned, which probably reduced our visit
time somewhat.
Next stop was Church of the Transfiguration. It was blown up by Stalin on March 6, 1936 and has
recently been rebuilt. We finished the morning with a traditional Ukraine lunch at the Khutorok
Restaurant complete with borscht, veal stroganoff and a dance ensemble called “the Slavs” who incited
several rounds of folk dancing.
We were on deck for our sail to
Varna at 6 pm, our last port in
the Black Sea (only after our 13
lap walk around the ship); the
sun was out, the harbor busy,
and the views of the many
majestic buildings we’d seen
basking in the sun were
imprinting themselves on our
memories. Following dinner, we
wanted to watch Sergei Einstein’s
“Battleship Potemkin”, but with
only a few English subtitles, we
decided to play cards instead.
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Catherine the Great Pushkin
Odessa
Opera House
Archaeological Museum
Church of the Transfiguration (newly refurbished)
Golden Treasures
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August 7 ‐ A morning at sea, filled with disembarkation instructions for next day in Istanbul and wrap up
lectures like “Black Sea reflections: or how the Greeks and Russians became my new BFF (Best Friends
Forever)”; we docked in Varna, Bulgaria – the weather: a pleasant 92 degrees.
Varna is the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. It is a major tourist
destination, business center and university seaport. It’s commonly referred to as the marine (or
summer) capital of Bulgaria. In April 2008, the city was designated seat of the Black Sea Euro‐Region by
the Council of Europe.
Under Communist rule, the population was 350,000; the best current estimate is now over 500,000 but
a census hasn’t been taken since 1998. The streets are lined with chestnut trees which, unfortunately,
are dying (like many in the US). They have great sandy beaches but the working class residential district
mostly consists of ugly (Kruschev) buildings. Many of these apartments are privately owned. Once an
employee has worked for five years, they are permitted to purchase their apartment with a small down
payment. There are a number of universities and trade schools, mostly built after the collapse of
Communism. There are 30,000 students in Varna.
Our first stop was a Russian Orthodox Church built in 1888 (in the “St. Petersburg” style). We paid to
take photos; icons were framed by exquisite wood carving. We drove through an industrial section and
by the Volga Lake where they mine soda ash. The Archaeological Museum contains some of the oldest
gold artifacts in the world. At the entrance is a statue of the two brothers who founded the museum.
We focused on objects dating back 8,000 years, although the Museum covers a wide range starting in
the Stone/Copper Age:
Old Stone Age 100,000 – 10,000 BC
Middle Stone Age 10,000 – 7000 BC
Stone/Copper Age 5000 – 4000 BC
Bronze Age 3200 – 1200 BC
Early Iron Age 1200 – 580 BC
Classical Period 580 – 323 BC
Hellenistic Period 323 BC – 15 AD
Roman Period 15 – 330 AD
Late Antiquity 330 – 618 AD
First Bulgarian Kingdom 618 – 1018 AD
Byzantine Rule 1018 – 1087 AD
Second Bulgarian Kingdom 1127 – 1396 AD
Ottoman Rule 1396 – 1878 AD
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Much of the gold was believed to be from 6th c. BC Greeks. The Eneolitic Necropolis (4600‐4200 BC) was
excavated in 1972‐1982. The Thracian civilization is difficult to understand because there is no written
language. It took the Romans two centuries to conquer the Thracians. In another area, there were some
terrific mosaics dating to the late antiquity period; I was particularly attracted to a continuous circular
pattern:
There is a wonderful collection of 19th c. icons including of Jesus (“I am the light of the world”), Holy
Virgin, St. Nicholas, 4th Crusade, Archangel Michael, St. John the Baptist and St. George Killing the
Dragon.
Our next stop was an early 19th c. Bulgarian Orthodox Church (St. Athanasius) which we were not
permitted to enter, but we did tour some interesting adjacent ruins. We ended our afternoon tour at
Staro Selo Restaurant for Bulgarian wine tasting and a local, loud musical performance. It was during
that, that a colleague checking his blackberry, informed me that Mark Hurd had stepped down at HP.
Our evening was consumed with the Captain’s Farewell Dinner and The Cruise Show featuring our
Filipino crew – great fun and a perfect send off for our overnight sail to Istanbul (equivalent to a 10‐hour
automobile drive). Our guides prepared an excellent photographic CD of our journey and gave each of
us a copy as we left the ship the next morning.
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Varna
Russian Orthodox Church Founders of Archaeological Museum
Ruins adjacent to Bulgarian Orthodox Church 29
Black Sea Warriors
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FINAL THOUGHTS
The Black Sea was sailed by Hittites, Carians, Thracians, Greeks, Persians, Cimmerians, Scythians,
Romans, Byzantines, Goths, Huns, Avars, Bulgars, Slavs, Varangians, Crusaders, Venetians, Genoese,
Tatars, Ottomans and Russians.
By the time Marco Polo arrived (late 1200s), the Black Sea was already at the center of an economic
network that extended from the mulberry groves of China to the silk houses of Marseilles, from the furs
of Novgorod and Kiev to the bazaars of Tabriz. In the end, it was the coming of two groups – the Catholic
powers of the Mediterranean and the Muslim Ottomans – that changed the nature of life around the
sea.
All of that and more set the stage for our visit to the “Crossroads of Empires from the Ancient Past to
the Present”. Our study tour proved to be about revelations, continuity and the power of influence:
from the 6th c. BC Greek colonies to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia; from the Genoese to the
conference of the Big Three at Yalta.
We learned that the Black Sea has served, and continues to serve as a meeting point and even a flash
point between East and West. So many cultures have suffered because of these crossroads. Some have
even called it a “bad neighborhood”.
For us, Mithridates VI, Catherine the Great, and the Ottoman Sultans have made deep impressions. We
are left with this challenging question: As a society, what lessons have we learned that could continue to
shape the future of Turkey, Russia, the United States?
On the other hand, how do you get so fortunate to have such a great traveling partner as Judith:
navigator, photographer, editor and best friend? A terrific crew helps too.
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Index ‐ Chronological Order of Lectures
Glenn Bugh:
July 31 – A Voyager, a Priestess, a King and a Poet: Colorful Characters of the Black Sea
August 2 – The Black Sea between East and West Byzantium, Venice and Genoa
August 4 – Struggle for Dominion over the Black Sea: Ottomans and Russians in the 18‐19thcenturies
August 7 – Wrap‐Up Session of our Adventures in the Black Sea (Bugh and Leutze)
Jim Leutze:
July 31 – Contemporary Turkey
August 1 – Crimean War: Between Old World and New
August 3 – Yalta: How did this happen?
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