Yevpatoria

The first recorded settlement in the area, called Kerkinitis (Κερκινίτις), was built by Greek colonists around 500 BC. Along with the rest of Crimea, Kerkinitis formed part of the dominions of Mithridates VI, King of Pontus (r. 120–63 BC), from whose nickname, Eupator ("of noble father"), the city's modern name derives.

From roughly the 7th through the 10th centuries AD, Yevpatoria was a Khazar settlement; its name in Khazar language was probably Güzliev (literally "beautiful house").[2] It was later subject to the Cumans (Kipchaks), the Mongols and the Crimean Khanate. During this period the city was called Kezlev by Crimean Tatars and Gözleve by Ottomans. The Russian medieval name Kozlov is a Russification of the Crimean Tatar name. For a short period between 1478 and 1485, the city was administrated by the Ottoman Empire. Afterwards, it became an important urban center of the Crimean Khanate.

The 400-year-old Juma Jami mosque is one of the many designed by the Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan. It was built from 1552 until 1564. 35-metre minarets rose on the flanks of the building. The mosque was of great state significance. It was here that a ceremony of the declaration of rights of the Crimean Khans was held at their enthronement. Only after that they went to their capital, the city of Bakhchisarai.

Entrance to the Karaite Kenassa in Yevpatoria

Yevpatoria became a residence of the spiritual ruler of the Karaites, the Gakham. In this connection here, a complex of two praying houses was built under the supervision of the Rabovich brothers, in which forms of the Renaissance and Muslim architecture entwined in a most unusual manner. The ensemble organically incorporates three courtyards. The entrance to it is marked by the gates, built in 1900, which look like a refined triumphal arch.

USSR road sign on P25 road in Crimea

In 1783, along with the rest of the Crimea, Kezlev was captured by the Russian Empire. Its name was officially changed to Yevpatoriya in 1784. The name comes from the Greek Eupatoria (transliteration from Greek to Russian is Евпатория) in honor of Eupator Dionysius, king of Pontus. This spelling of the city name came to the French, German, Spanish and English languages at the end of the 18th сentury. The spelling Yevpatoriya came to English from the Ukrainian name Євпаторія, in the second half of the 20th century.

Adam Mickiewicz visited the town in 1825 and wrote one of his Crimean Sonnets here; it was later translated into Russian by Mikhail Lermontov.

The city was occupied in September 1854 by British, French and Turkish troops during the Crimean War prior to the Allied landing in Kalamita Bay, after which the Battle of the Alma south of the bay followed. It became a garrison of Ottoman troops later during the war and was the site of the Battle of Eupatoria in February 1855, which was the largest military clash in the Crimean theatre outside the Sevastopol area.

Hydro-massage on Lake Moynaki

In 1930s it was a question about the medical profile resort of Yevpatoria. Natural factors create excellent conditions for the treatment of osteo-articular tuberculosis and other children's diseases. In 1933, at a scientific conference in Yalta, it was agreed that among the Soviet resort towns Yevpatoria, Odessa, Anapa, or one of the South Coast of Crimea - the most suitable for the organization of children's resort is Yevpatoria. In Yevpatoria there is a perfect combination of climatic and balneological factors contributing to the healing of the most serious diseases of this time like tuberculosis  . An additional positive factor is the lack of mosquitoes in Yevpatoria, as on the southern coast of Crimea, or mosquitoes as in Anapa.

In 1936, the government decided to determine the place of construction of the All-Union children's resort in Yevpatoria. In 1938, the approved plan of general reconstruction of the city. During World War II, sanatoriums were used as military hospitals. By July 1, 1945 in Yevpatoria operated 14 sanatoriums, have taken 2,885 people. By 1980s, in city operated 78 sanatoriums for 33 thousand people. About one million vacationers visited Yevpatoria in summer time without the purpose of treatment.

Today Yevpatoria is a major Black Sea port, a rail hub, and resort town. The population swells greatly during the summer months, with many residents of northern cities visiting for beach recreation. As such, local residents are heavily employed during summer months but are often underemployed during the winter. The main industries include fishing, food processing, wine making, limestone quarrying, weaving, and the manufacture of building materials, machinery, furniture manufacturing and tourism.

Yevpatoria has spas of mineral water, salt and mud lakes. These resorts belong to a vast area with curative facilities where the main health-improving factors are the sunshine and sea, air and sand, brine and mud of the salt lakes, as well as the mineral water of the hot springs. The population of the town is sure to have known about the curative qualities of the local mud that can be found here from time immemorial, which is witnessed by the manuscripts of Pliny the Elder, a Roman scholar (ca 80 BC).

On December 24, 2008 a blast destroyed a five-story building in the town. 27 people were killed. President Viktor Yushchenko declared December 26 to be a day of national mourning.[3][4][5][6][7]

Two beaches in Yevpatoria have been Blue Flag beaches since May 2010, these were the first beaches (with two beaches in Yalta) to be awarded a Blue Flag in a CIS memberstate.[8]