How Ochakov became Odessa, and Oreshek became St. Petersburg

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

The remarkable Russian poet Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin left impressions of Odessa and St. Petersburg in his works. In one case - this is an additional chapter to his famous "Eugene Onegin", in the other - the poem "The Bronze Horseman". Here's what the addition to Onegin sounds like:

Ordessos … And there is one more - Ordesos (a little higher), which, most likely, suggests that this is the designation of the same type of cities, and not the name of a particular city.

As you can see from the maps, the city of Ochakov is located exactly on the site of present-day Odessa, to the south is Kiliya, then higher - Belgorod (now Belgorod - Dnestrovsky) and near it a little higher - Ochakov. Here's what Wikipedia says about modern Ochakov:

Back in the XIV century, on the site of modern Ochakov, the Genoese colonists erected the fortress of Lerich. The Genoese also founded their trade center and port here. Since the situation in the region was unsettled due to the constant raids of the Crimean Tatars, the Genoese from Leric sought protection from the rulers of the principality of Moldova, who were gaining more and more power in Europe.

The renovated Ochakov was founded in 1492 by the Crimean Khan Mengli Girey, on the site of the Lithuanian fortress Dashev, which was founded in 1415, and was originally called Kara-Kermen (Black Fortress). In 1737, the army of the Russian Empire laid siege to Ochakov, considering it as the main outpost on the northern coast of the Black Sea. Ochakov was taken by Field Marshal Christopher Minich, but a year later he was abandoned and returned to Turkey.

The second siege of Ochakov took place in 1788 and was sung in Derzhavin's ode. By that time, the city's garrison numbered 20 thousand soldiers. The fortress was defended by 300 cannons. In the western suburbs, the Gassan Pasha castle (Battery Cape) was located.

It is interesting why under the "Genoese" and under the Turks the fortress was called with a typical Russian name - Ochakov. Wikipedia, however, informs us that the Turks called this fortress "Özi" or "Achi - kale", which translated from Turkish means achi - corner, kale - fortress. They do not agree on something very much, hiding behind the "Russian - Turkish" wars, although on the old maps of the 16th, 17th and even 18th centuries there is nowhere an indication that this land was behind the Turks. After about 1700, Europe finally ceases to be Tartary, the names of cities change on the maps, and, the most interesting thing is that I noticed (this is not my discovery, but I will still emphasize) that the Caspian Sea is changing its shape. For example, here's what it looks like before about 1700: