Anapa is a Russian seaport town, found on the northern coast of the Black Sea near the Sea of Azov. It boasts a number of sanatoria and hotels; along with Sochi and several other cities along the Russian coast of the Black Sea, it has enjoyed a substantial increase in popularity since the fall of the Soviet Union, which left traditional Soviet resort cities in Crimea and the breakaway republic of Abkhazia in Georgia on the other side of a national border.
Anapa seldom attracts vacation-goers from outside Russia due to its modest infrastructure and pebble beaches, but it remains an attractive and inexpensive option for Russians who prefer traditional Russian resorts to more expensive destinations such as Antalya on Turkey's Mediterranean coast or Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt, both noted for their popularity among Russians. Although home to many hospitals specializing in rehabilitation, Anapa and other cities along the Black Sea coast have not become havens for retirees, primarily because Russian pensions are very small, rarely exceeding 100 dollars a month. Additionally, Russians rarely move to cities other than Moscow because of difficulties associated with internal pasports and the Propiska system. A third reason is that Russian women tend to outlive Russian men by an average of 20 years due to endemic alcoholism, and single grandmothers tend to want to live near their grandchildren.
The area around Anapa was settled in antiquity; Sindika was built on the site of modern Anapa in the sixth century BCE by Pontic Greeks and was inhabited until the third century CE, when it was overrun by nomadic tribes. These tribes, thought to be of Circassian or Adigian origin, gave Anapa its modern name. The city was later conquered by Ottoman Turks, who completed a fortress in 1791. The fortress was repeatedly attacked by the Russian Empire and was all but destroyed in 1829. Since that time, the city has been in Russia or the Soviet Union and is located in the region of Krasnodar Krai.
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Last updated: 05-18-2005 23:54:09
