Temryuk
Temryuk () is the largest
town on the
Taman peninsula in
Krasnodar Krai,
Russia, located on the right bank of the
Kuban River not far from its entry into the
Sea of Azov. The
seaport of Temryuk is situated four kilometers away from the town itself. Population: 36,118 (
2002 Census); 26,600 (
1975).
Situated in the proximity of the site of ancient
Tmutarakan, Temryuk was vied by various powers as a vantage point commanding the mouth of the Kuban River. The first recorded settlement on the site was
Tumnev, a Tatar fortress, which passed to the
Genoese merchants in the
14th century. It was known as
Copa until occupied by the
Khanate of Crimea in 1483.
The Russians, allied with a local potentate, Temryuk of
Kabarda, captured Tumnev and built a fortress of New Temryuk there. The Crimean Tatars retook the fort in 1570; it was known as
Adis for a century to come. In the 18th century the site was settled by the
Cossacks, whose
stanitsa was incorporated as a town of Temryuk in 1860.