According to the latest data, the population of Sudak is 16 thousand 784 people. This is the information for 2018. This is a city of republican subordination, located on the territory of the Republic of Crimea. It is located in the southeast of the peninsula, on the very shore of the Black Sea. Officially part of the eponymous urban district, it is considered a traditional and popular resort, a center for wine production.
Number
The first information on the population in Sudak dates back to 1805. At that time, the city was in open decline, and only 320 people lived on its territory.
After the Bolsheviks came to power, the situation changed radically, the population of Sudak began to grow before our eyes. If in 1926 no more than two thousand people were registered here, then already in 1966 there were more than eight thousand inhabitants.
More accurate information on the population of Sudak, according to population censuses, has been conducted since 1979. Then in the city was recorded 11 thousand 281 inhabitants.
Shortly before the collapse of the Soviet Union, the population of Sudak grew to 15,399 people. When Ukraine separated from the USSR, the city, together with the Republic of Crimea, became part of the largest state among those located entirely in Europe.
By 2001, the population of Sudak in the Crimea changed slightly, decreasing to approximately 14.5 thousand inhabitants. By 2009, the situation remained at about the same level, the number of officially registered citizens exceeded fifteen thousand people.
After that, statistics on how many people are in Sudak can be found for each year. Since 2010, there has been a small but systematic growth every year.
The mark of sixteen thousand people was overcome in 2014, when the city, along with the Crimean peninsula, became part of the Russian Federation. In 2016, a slight decline was noted, while it can be said that the population in Sudak in Crimea remained at the same level, having decreased by only a few dozen people.
In 2017, a slight increase was again noted. The population of Sudak in 2018 is, according to official figures, 16 thousand 784 people.
The results of the population census held in the Crimean Federal District in 2014 were summed up. More than half of the inhabitants of the eponymous urban district live in Sudak. In 2018, the population of Sudak still prefers to remain in the largest settlement in the district.
National composition
The vast majority of local residents are Russians. They are about 65 percent of the total population of Sudak. The figures are approximate, because not everyone wanted to indicate their nationality.
About 17 percent of the population of Sudak are Crimean Tatars. Also, about 12.5 percent of Ukrainians live here, about one and a half percent of Tatars. Less than one percent of the Sudak population in Crimea is Belarusians, Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Poles and Uzbeks.
About two and a half percent of residents did not want to indicate their nationality, taking advantage of their right to do so.
Employment
The population of Sudak is mainly employed in the spa industry, in the production of champagne and fine wines, as well as the famous local rose oil.
Sudak is a famous Black Sea climatic resort, which has been popular since the days of the Soviet Union. Here, they are still actively sent not only to rest, but also to treatment in numerous local sanatoriums. This area is recommended for patients with cardiovascular diseases, respiratory ailments of non-tuberculosis nature, functional diseases of the nervous system.
Sudak is still the only city on the entire Crimean peninsula that has useful mineral sulphate-bicarbonate water from local sources and beaches of quartz sand.
Every year, about 180 thousand people come to Sudak itself and the city district of the same name, which is more than ten times the population of Sudak in 2018.
The vast majority of them are the so-called "wild tourists" or unorganized vacationers. They stay in hotels, hostels, in apartments with local residents who in the high season tend to rent out every square meter. Therefore, in one way or another, the vast majority of the local population is employed in the tourism sector.
Also on the territory of the city there are eighteen guest houses, in which during the summer, as a rule, there are no empty seats.
History of the city
According to researchers, the city was founded by the Alans, apparently in 212. These are tribes belonging to the Iranian-speaking group. Such a conclusion, in particular, was made by the Soviet professor, Caucasian ethnographer, doctor of historical sciences Alexander Vilyamovich Gadlo. It was he who led the Caucasian archaeological and ethnographic expedition of Leningrad State University.
In the future, the history of the city developed as follows. In the Middle Ages it was called Sugdeya (among the Greeks) and Soldaya (among Italians). The population at that time was actively growing due to the arrival of merchants, merchants and artisans from various countries. Italians and Greeks were especially numerous, which is why variants of the name Sudak from these languages have survived to this day.
In the VI century, on the orders of an influential Bulgarian khan, a defensive fortress was built in Sudak.
In the famous monument of Byzantine literature called "The Life of St. Stephen of Sourozh" you can find a description of how the city was nevertheless conquered by the Rus. This happened at the end of the VIII or at the very beginning of the IX century. An unknown author notes that the army of Prince Bravlin fell on the entire Crimean coast. Rus captured the Byzantine cities from Kerch to Chersonesos. They succeeded in taking Surozh only after a ten-day siege and fierce battles, breaking the iron gates by force.
It is further described that when Bravlin approached the tomb with the relics of Stephen Sourozhsky (a Byzantine saint), who was in the St. Sophia church, some enlightenment seemed to happen to him. Bravlin came to his senses and ordered his soldiers to return to the locals everything that had been taken from them, to release the prisoners. It turned out that at the moment when he approached the relics, he was struck by an ailment, he wanted to be cured in this way, but Bravlin did not succeed, there was no healing. Then the pagan prince was forced to be baptized, only then his face, previously disfigured and distorted, returned to its former position. Bravlin was baptized by the local archbishop Filaret. From this moment, the spread of Christianity among the ruling elite of Kievan Rus actually began. When describing the city of Sudak, guides and history buffs always emphasize this episode, noting that it was thanks to the locals that Christianity began to gradually embrace the Russian lands.
Important shopping center
Over time, the city turned into an important transit point and shopping center, which was facilitated by its favorable geographical position. The famous Great Silk Road ran through it, which reached its greatest prosperity in the 12th-13th centuries. In 1206, after Constantinople was conquered, and Byzantium was divided, the city came under actual control of the Venetian Trade Republic. But in fact he was led by the Kipchaks - this is one of the names of the Polovtsians.
Around 1222, Asia Minor Seljuks raided the city on the orders of Al Al-Din Kay-Kubad, the ruler of the Koni Sultanate. They managed to defeat the Polovtsian army, which the Russian troops tried unsuccessfully to support. In fact, the cause of this brutal raid was the numerous complaints from merchants about the regular ruin of their ships. The result was the almost universal destruction of bells and crosses; in the premises of most churches, minbar (the pulpits typical of the mosque) and mihrabs (the place where the imam prayed during the service) were installed. Sharia was introduced in the city itself.
An interesting fact: it was in medieval Sudak that the house of the uncle of the famous Italian traveler Marco Polo was located.
In the XIII-XIV centuries, the city suffered another ruin, this time from the Mongols. However, it was quickly enough restored. In 1365, the Genoese conquered Soldayu, they included it in their possessions on the territory of Crimea. During this period of local history, the ruler was the Italian consul, who was elected every year. From that era in the city to the present day, the Genoese fortress has remained, which remains one of the main attractions of Sudak. Its towers and city walls at that time were a reliable defensive fortification.
Under the Ottomans
In 1475, Sudak was conquered by the Ottoman Empire. He moved to her possessions along with the Orthodox Principality of Theodoro, which existed on the territory of Crimea, and all the Genoese territories on the peninsula.
During the times of Ottoman rule, the city was virtually completely deprived of its military significance, while remaining one of the centers of the smallest administrative unit in the Ottoman Empire, which was officially called Kadylyk in those days.
As part of the Russian Empire
Sudak withdrew to the Russian Empire along with the whole Crimea in 1783 under Empress Catherine II. At the turn of the XVIII-XIX centuries, the city remained virtually deserted, it became unprofitable to live here. It turned into a small village in which for a while a little more than thirty people lived.
The entry of Sudak into the Russian Empire gave the city a second wind, it began to transform before our eyes. In 1804, the first winemaking school in Russia was opened here. At the same time, the village of Sudak remained for almost the entire XX century. The status of the city was officially returned to him only in 1982.
An important event in the fate of the village was the opening of the winery Sudak, which took place in 1920. It still works, being the largest among the structures that make up the Massandra federal state unitary enterprise. Along with the resort industry, a significant part of the locals is now associated with winemaking.
During World War II, the city was occupied by German and Romanian troops. Under the rule of the Nazis, the settlement was from November 1941 to April 1944. At the very beginning of the 42nd, the famous Sudak Soviet tactical landing landed on the shore, which managed to completely free the village and hold it in the hands of the Red Army for two weeks. During this outstanding and heroic operation, most of the paratroopers died.
Currently, Sudak is part of the Russian Federation. The mayor is Andrei Nekrasov.
Transport
The city has developed public transport. Officially, six routes ply, but most of them are seasonal, they are used only with a large influx of tourists. Only one of these routes operates all year round without interruption.
Using the bus service, you can reach one of the nearby settlements. These are the villages of Almond, New World, Solnechnaya Dolina, Bogatovka, Mesopotamia, Raven, Holodovka, Grushevka. Most of the routes are operated by a single local carrier - this is Auto Line Limited Liability Company.
There is also a bus station in Sudak itself. Intercity buses go to Feodosia, Simferopol, Alushta. Rail and airline tickets departing from major Crimean cities can be purchased in Sudak itself.
Social sphere
Currently, the city has three secondary schools. One of them bears the name of the hero of the Soviet Union, a participant in the Great Patriotic War, Alexei Emelyanovich Chaika. And another offers Crimean Tatar education, as this diaspora is very impressive.
There is also a youth center, a sports school, a hospital and a polyclinic, a branch of the Romanovsky College of the Hospitality Industry, and a House of Culture.
sights
In the photo from the city of Sudak, which tourists bring, you can always see the main attraction of these places - the Genoese fortress. It was built in the XIV-XV centuries, appeared in 1469 as a stronghold for the Genoese colony in the northern Black Sea region.
Nowadays, it is located on the Castle Hill (about 150 meters above sea level). The fortification complex itself consists of two defense lines at once. The inner one is based on the castle of St. Elijah and the citadel, and the outer one is on the castle of the Holy Cross.
Until 2014, the fortress was part of the Sofia Museum, located in Kiev, its branch was opened here. After the entry of Crimea into Russia, an independent institution was created on the territory of the defensive structure - the Sudak Fortress Museum-Reserve. You can visit the fortress on your own or as part of organized groups with guides.
In the reviews of tourists about this city, it is noted that this is one of the best resorts in Crimea, in which it is possible to combine the pleasure of the sun and the Black Sea with useful procedures, healing mineral water, and effective treatment. In addition, there is an important cultural and historical component that will attract everyone who is interested in antiquities.
In addition to the fortress, tourists are attracted by two Lev Golitsyn palaces, which are located in the village of New World, which is part of the Sudak city district. This is a seaside estate of the famous winemaker, the center of which is two buildings - a house for visitors and the so-called manor house. It is located in the tract with the talking name Paradise. Golitsyn acquired it from Prince Herheulidzev at the end of the 19th century. Soon there was established the production of champagne, which is valid today. The Russian prince planted numerous vineyards, and also laid the cellars at a considerable depth for storing wine. It is known that in 1912, these places were visited by Emperor Nicholas II.
In addition, tourists are attracted by the local city historical museum, which allows you to trace the entire history of these glorious and ancient places, the Sudak winery, which has existed for almost a century, and other 19th century architecture. The monument “Hill of Glory” was unveiled (this is the mass grave of underground and paratroopers who in 1942 made the same famous landing on the coast of Sudak, knocking Germans out of the city for two weeks).
In 2003, a water park was opened on the territory of the resort town, after which even more travelers with children of all ages began to come here.
In addition, in Sudak there are many religious buildings. The oldest of them are the church of the holy prophet Elijah of the 9th-11th centuries, the church of the Holy Great Martyr Paraskeva, built by the Byzantines in the 12th-13th centuries, the church of the Twelve Apostles of the same time and many other structures.