Editing Kerch (section)

==History==
{{stack|[[File:Kerch Pantikapaeum.jpg|thumb|Ruins of [[Panticapaeum]] from the 6th century BC]]}}
===Ancient times===
Archeological digs at Mayak village near the city ascertained that the area had already been inhabited in the 17th–15th centuries BC. While many finds from Kerch can be found in the [[Hermitage Museum]] in St Petersburg and the local museum, a large number of antique sculptures, reliefs, bronze and glassware, ceramics and jewellery were excavated in 1855–1856 during the [[Crimean War]] by Duncan MacPherson, a surgeon from the British Army, and later donated to the [[British Museum]] in London.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG61062| title = British Museum Collection}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG59348?id=BIOG59348&page=1#page-top| title = British Museum Collection}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = https://opacplus.bsb-muenchen.de/Vta2/bsb10221604/bsb:BV020307300?page=7| title = Antiquities of Kertch, and Researches in the Cimmerian Bosphorus, with Remarks on the ethnological and physical History of the Crimea by Duncan MacPherson ( 1857 ) }}</ref>

Kerch as a city starts its history in the 7th century BC, when [[Greeks|Greek colonists]] from [[Miletus]] founded a city-state named [[Pantikapaion|Panticapaeum]]<ref>See [[Talk:Kerch#Meaning of Greek name?]] for discussion about the Greek name Panticapaeum.</ref> on [[Mount Mithridat]] near the mouth of the Melek-Chesme river. Panticapaeum subdued nearby cities and by 480 BC became the capital of the [[Kingdom of Bosporus]]. Later, during the rule of [[Mithradates VI Eupator]], Panticapaeum for a short period of time became the capital of the much more powerful and extensive [[Kingdom of Pontus]].
The city was located at the intersection of trade routes between the [[steppe]] and [[Europe]]. This caused it to grow rapidly. The city's main exports were grain and salted fish; wine-making was also common. Panticapaeum minted its own coins. According to extant documents the Melek-Chesme river (small and shallow nowadays) was navigable in Bosporan times, and sea [[galley]]s were able to enter the river. Much of the city's population is thought to have been ethnically [[Scythian]], later [[Sarmatian]], as implied by the large [[Royal Kurgan]] at [[Kul-Oba]].

In the 1st century AD, Panticapaeum and the Kingdom of Bosphorus suffered from [[Ostrogoth]] raids; then the city was devastated by the [[Huns]] in AD 375.

The settlement of [[Myrmekion]] was founded by [[Ionians]] in the eastern part of what is now Kerch, some four kilometers north-east of ancient [[Panticapaeum]], in the first half of the 6th century BC.<ref>{{cite web|last=Butyagin |first=Alexander|url= http://blacksea.ehw.gr/forms/filePage.aspx?lemmaId=10725 |title=Myrmekion|publisher=Foundation of the Hellenic World|date=29 July 2008|access-date=29 October 2018}}</ref>

=== Middle Ages ===
[[File:Yenikale fortress in Kerch.jpg|thumb|Yenikale fortress]]

From the 6th century the city was under the control of the [[Byzantine Empire]]. By order of Emperor [[Justinian I]], a citadel named Bospor was built there. Bospor was the centre of a [[bishopric]], the [[diocese of Bosporus]] and developed under the influence of Greek [[Christianity]]. In 576, it withstood a siege by the [[Göktürks]] under Bokhan, aided by Anagai, the last [[khan (title)|khan]] (ruler) of the [[Uturgurs]] (tribe of [[Huns]]).
[[File:Kerch ChurchOfStJohn.jpg|thumb|left|Church of St John the Baptist, built in the 8th century]]

In the 7th century, the [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] [[Khazars]] took control of Bospor, and the city was named '''Karcha''' from Turkic "karşı" meaning 'opposite, facing.' The main local government official during Khazar times was the [[tudun]]. 
During Khazar rule, Kerch was used as a major port for the [[Khazar slave trade]], through which slaves were exported to the [[Black Sea slave trade]].<ref>The World of the Khazars: New Perspectives. Selected Papers from the Jerusalem 1999 International Khazar Colloquium. (2007). Nederländerna: Brill. p. 233</ref>

Christianity was a major religion in Kerch during the period of Khazar rule. Kerch's Church of [[John the Baptist|St. John the Baptist]] was founded in 717; thus, it is the oldest church in Ukraine.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cohen |first=Saul Bernard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C6PLxz8EMk0C&dq=Kerch+John+Baptist+oldest+church+in+Ukraine&pg=PA1876 |title=The Columbia Gazetteer of the World: A to G |year=2008 |pages=1876}}</ref> The Church of the Apostles existed during the late 8th and early 9th centuries, according to the ''Life of the Apostle Andrew'' by [[Epiphanius of Salamis]]. 

Following the fall of Khazaria to [[Kievan Rus']] in the late 10th century, Kerch became the centre of a Khazar [[successor-state]]. Its ruler, [[Georgius Tzul]], was deposed by a [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]]-[[Kievan Rus'|Rus]] expedition in 1016.

From the 10th century, the city was a [[Slavic peoples|Slavic]] settlement named Korchev, which belonged to the [[Tmutarakan]] principality. Kerch was a center of trade between Russia', [[Crimea]], [[Caucasus]] and the [[Orient]]. 

In the 13th century, Crimea including Korchev was invaded by [[Mongol invasion of Rus|Mongols]]. After the Mongols, the city became the [[Republic of Genoa|Genoese]] colony of Cerco (Cherkio) in 1318 and served as a sea harbour, where townspeople worked at salt works and fishery.

In 1475, the city was passed to the [[Ottoman Empire]]. During the Turkish rule Kerch fell into decay and served as a [[History of slavery|slave-market]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Inalcik |first=Halil|chapter=Servile Labor in the Ottoman Empire |chapter-url= http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu:80/~fisher/hst373/readings/inalcik6.html |editor1-last=Ascher |editor-first1=Abraham |editor2-last=Király |editor-first2=Béla K. |editor2-link=Béla Király|editor3-last= Halasi-Kun |editor-first3=  Tibor|title=The Mutual Effects of the Islamic and Judeo-Christian Worlds: The East European Pattern|place=Brooklyn, N.Y.|publisher=Brooklyn College Press|year=1979|pages=25–43|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170504102244/http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu:80/~fisher/hst373/readings/inalcik6.html|archive-date=4 May 2017}}</ref> It repeatedly suffered from raids of [[Zaporizhian Sich|Zaporizhian Cossacks]].

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===18th–20th centuries===
[[File:Kerch aivazovsky.jpg|thumb|''Kerch'' by [[Ivan Aivazovsky]], 1839]]

In response to the strengthening of [[Russian Empire|Russia]]n military forces in [[Sea of Azov|Azov]] area, the Turks built a fortress, named [[Yenikale]], near Kerch on the shore of [[Kerch Strait]]. The fortress was completed by 1706. In 1771 the [[Imperial Russian Army]] invaded [[Crimea]] and approached Yenikale. The Turks decided to abandon the fortress, though reinforcements from the Ottoman Empire had arrived a few days earlier. By the Peace [[Treaty of Kuchuk-Kainarji]] in 1774, Kerch and Yenikale were ceded to Russia. As a result, the Turkish heritage has been almost completely wiped out.

In 1790 Russian naval forces under the command of admiral [[Fyodor Fyodorovich Ushakov|Fyodor Ushakov]] defeated the Turkish fleet at the [[Battle of Kerch Strait (1790)|Battle of Kerch Strait]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/mf-black.htm| title= Black Sea Fleet (BSF) Morskoyo Flota ( Naval Force)|website=GlobalSecurity.org|access-date=29 October 2018}}</ref>

Because of its location, from 1821 Kerch developed into an important trade and fishing port. The state museum of ancient times and a number of educational institutions were opened in the city. The ironwork factory was built in 1846 based on a huge [[iron ore]] deposit found on Kerch Peninsula.

During the [[Crimean War]] the city was devastated by [[British Empire|British]] forces in 1855.

In the late 19th century, mechanical and [[cement]] factories were built, and tinned food and [[tobacco]] factories were established. By 1900, Kerch was connected to a railroad system, and the fairway of Kerch Strait was deepened and widened. At this time, the population had reached 33,000.

After suffering a decline during the [[World War I|First World War]] and the [[Russian Civil War]], the city resumed its growth in the late 1920s, with the expansion of various industries, iron ore, and metallurgy in particular, and by 1939 its population had reached 104,500.

===Kerch in World War II===
[[File:Керчь. Обелиск Славы на вершине горы Митридат..jpg|thumb|{{Ill|Monument of Glory in Kerch|uk|Обеліск Слави (Керч)}}]]

On the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front of World War II]] from 1941 to 1945, Kerch was the site of heavy fighting between [[Red Army]] and [[Axis powers|Axis]] forces. After fierce fighting, the city was taken by the [[Germany|Germans]] in November 1941. On 31 December 1941, the [[302nd Rifle Division (Soviet Union)|302nd Mountain Rifle Division]] recaptured the city following a naval landing operation at Kamysh Burun, to the south of the city, five days earlier.<ref>{{cite book|last=Forczyk|first=Robert|title=Where the Iron Crosses Grow|publisher=Osprey Publishing|place=Oxford, UK|year=2014|pages=103, 110}}</ref> In 1942 the Germans occupied the city again. The Red Army lost over 160,000 men, either killed or taken [[POW]] at the [[Battle of the Kerch Peninsula (1942)|Battle of the Kerch Peninsula]]. On 31 October 1943 another Soviet naval landing operation was launched. Kerch returned to Soviet control on 11 April 1944.

The German invaders killed about 15,000 citizens and deported another 14,000 during their occupation. Evidence of German atrocities in Kerch was presented in the [[Nuremberg trials]]. After the war, the city was awarded the title [[Hero City (Soviet Union)|Hero City]].

The [[Defense of the Adzhimushkay quarry|Adzhimushkay]] [[catacombs]] in the city's suburbs were the site of [[guerrilla warfare]] against the occupation. Thousands of soldiers and refugees found shelter inside and were involved in counterattacks. Many of them died underground, including those who died of numerous alleged poison gas attacks. Later, a memorial was established on the site.

===Kerch in the Soviet Union===
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===Kerch in Independent Ukraine===
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On 11 November 2007, a powerful storm passed through the city, causing much damage and an ecological disaster as a few ships, including an oil tanker, were shipwrecked and blocked the [[Kerch Strait]].

===Russian occupation===
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As with the other parts of Crimea, {{as of|2023|lc=yes}} Kerch is occupied by Russian forces following the [[Russian occupation of Crimea]] in 2014.

On 17 October 2018, [[Kerch Polytechnic College massacre|a student killed 20 people and himself]] at [[Kerch Polytechnic College]].