Mangup

Mangup (Russian: Мангуп; Ukrainian: Мангуп, romanized: Manhup; Crimean Tatar: Mangup) also known as Mangup Kale (kale means "fortress" in Turkish) is a historic fortress in Crimea, located on a plateau about 13 kilometres east of Sevastopol (ancient Chersonesus).

It was known as Dory (Greek: Δόρυ), later Doros (Δόρος), Doras (Δόρας) and finally Theodoro (Θεοδωρώ) by the Byzantines, before being given the Kipchak name Mangup. A 14th-century inscription found in the city called it the "God-guarded fortress of Theodoro" and its citizens Theodorites. Genoese documents referred to the city as Tedoro, Todoro, Theodori, Teodori, Thodori, Tedori, and Todori. These names are derived from the Greek names of the place.

The name Theodoro has survived up to the present day in the name of the village of Ai-Todor (Saint Theodore), which lies south of Mangup.

Silvio Giuseppe Mercati believed that the plural form of the city's name (Theodori, Teodori, Thodori, Tedori, Todori) was because the city was dedicated to the two saints, Theodore Tiron and Theodore Stratelates. However, Alexander Vasiliev (historian) was doubtful about this theory since there was no proof that these two saints were considered protectors of the city.

According to the 6th-century Byzantine historian Procopius of Caesarea, the region of Dory or Doros was settled by those Ostrogoths who refused to follow Theodoric the Great in his invasion of Italy in the 490s, marking the beginning of the Crimean Goths and their homeland, Gothia. Archaeological excavations have demonstrated the establishment of Christian basilicas, fortifications and cave settlements (alongside Mangup also at Eski Kermen etc.) during the 6th century. By the late 7th or early 8th century, a new bishopric, the Metropolitanate of Doros, was established in the region. Crimean Gothia was conquered by the Khazars in the early 8th century, and later in the 8th century was the center of an unsuccessful Gothic revolt against Khazaria led by Bishop John of Gothia.

As a result of the Khazar conquest, the name Dory/Doros disappeared after the 9th century and was replaced by Mangup, first attested ca. 960, although the early medieval name may have survived in a corrupted form in the name of the Principality of Theodoro, which existed in the area in the late Middle Ages.

Text adapted from “Mangup” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Mangup ranks #482 of 7,044 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #5 of the 127 mapped in Ukraine. Founded 600, it is older than 97% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 37 atlas entries founded in the 6th century. See how Ukraine compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗