By Arie Andreades
Mariupol is a city of regional significance in the south eastern part of Ukraine, situated on the north coastal region of the Sea of Azov at the mouth of the Kalmius river, in the Pryazovia region. It is the tenth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of around 500,000.
Greeks founded Mariupol in 1778. They also founded 23 villages in the immediate vicinity of the city. The settlers-founders of Mariupol originally came from the Crimean Peninsula, Tauris (situated between the Azov and Black seas), that had originally been colonized by Greek settlers over 2000 years ago.
The first significant Greek colonies on the Crimean Peninsula were establishedby Ionians from the city of Miletosmany centuries ago: Pantikapeon (Pantikapey) in the 7th century B.C., Evpatoria (Kerkinitis) and Chersonese in the 6th century B.C., later known as Sevastopol;Theodosia (Feodosiya) in the 5th century B.C. and others. The independent existence of the major Greek colonies in Crimea was brought to an endin the 1st century B.C., when the peninsula was occupied by Roman legions.
Christianity first made its appearance in Crimea in the 2nd century, when a new wave of colonists from throughout the Eastern Roman Empire established new communities on the peninsula. Many of the towns and villages that these early colonists founded still exist today. Until the fall of Constantinople, Crimea remained a colony of the Byzantine Empire, but in 1475 the Tartars placed it under their control. The Christian population of Crimea was the obvious target of the Muslim conqueror’s persecution, but Crimea’s Christians never gave up the fight. The Tartar occupation of Crimea soon became a barbarous onslaught. Many crimes were committed by the Tartars, murders, kidnappings and rape of women, and the imposition of the so called “blood tax” on all the Christian peoples of Crimea.
The year1774 signaled the end of a 300-year-long Turkish-Tartar occupation of Crimea. Russia and Turkey signed the treaty of Cuchuk-Kainardiji (Küçük Kaynarca,in Bulgaria, July 21, 1774), ending the Russo-Turkish war of 1768–74. The treaty resulted in the autonomy of Crimea with the Russian military acting as the guarantor of the peninsula’s safety. Nevertheless, the Ottoman Sultan technically maintained religious oversight over the sovereignty of Crimea, so the Empress Katherine II (aka Katherine the Great) organized the emigration of the region’s Christian population to Russia, with the assistance of Metropolitan lgnatios who was then, the spiritual and secular leader of Crimea’s Christians.
In July of 1778, in the city of Bahchisaray, the Christians of Crimea, under the guidance of Metropolitan lgnatios, decided to obtain Russian citizenship and addressed a petition to the Empress Katherine II, asking for her assistance to emigrate to “the Christian State” of Russia. Their exodus from Crimea began shortly thereafter, and in September of 1778, under the guidance of the Russian general Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov, 31,098 Christians from 8 towns and 66 villages of Crimea began their journey towards the Azovian coast of Russia.
Katherine II issued a special mandate, by which she guaranteed the settlers many privileges. Greek Christians, totaling 18,391 people, established the city of Mariupol and the surrounding villages: Mangoush, Yalta, Sartana, Chermalik, Cherdakli, Urzuf, Stariy Krim, Malaya and Yianisol. The settlers were granted equal rights with Russian citizens, and were granted a self-governing status and tax exemption for thirty years. From 1810-1873 the district of Mariupol was “Greek governed” and until 1859 the settling of other nationalities in the area was prohibited.
After the 1917 revolution, and due to Lenin’s liberal attitude towards the rights of the nationalities that comprised the Soviet Union, the Greeks of Azov lived as short period of revitalization and cultural renaissance. In Mariupol, the Greek newspaper “Collectivistis” was published, and a Greek theater and pedagogical professional school were established. In the village of Sartana, the local residents put together a folklore musical and dance group called “The Pearls of Sartana” (Sartanskie Samotsveti), which survived to modern times. With Stalin’s arrival to power, began a period of persecutions of the Greek populations of the Azov, which culminated in the pogrom and mass exiles of 1937-1938. In attempting to justify his actions, Stalin stated that the Greek population of Mariupol was working towards the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and the foundation of a Greek Republic in the area.
In modern times, the Azov region is home to the largest concentration of Greeks in Ukraine, which according to some estimates numbers between 100-150 thousand people. The Greeks of Azov have managed to maintain their national identity and culture, while strengthening their ties with Greece; and the Greek diaspora throughout the world.
Following the 2014 War in Donbas when the city of Donetsk became the capital of the self-proclaimed Republic with the same name, Mariupol was made the provisional administrative center of the Donetsk Oblast. The city was secured on June 13, 2014 by Ukrainian troops, and has come under attack several times since.
Russia officially recognized the Donesk region as an independent republic on February 21, 2022, and on February 24launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The City is now under siege.