Alushta

Alushta
Алушта
Aluşta
City

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Coat of arms
Alushta

Location of Alushta within Crimea

Coordinates: 44°40′2″N 34°23′52″E / 44.66722°N 34.39778°E / 44.66722; 34.39778Coordinates: 44°40′2″N 34°23′52″E / 44.66722°N 34.39778°E / 44.66722; 34.39778
Country Russia/Ukraine[1]
Republic Crimea
Municipality Alushta Municipality
Area
  Total 6.983 km2 (2.696 sq mi)
Elevation 50 m (160 ft)
Population
  Total 29,078
  Density 4,264.78/km2 (11,045.7/sq mi)
Time zone MSK (UTC+3)
Postal code 98500 — 98519
Area code(s) +380-6560
Former name Aluston ('till the 15th century)
Website http://www.alushta.crimea.ua/

Alushta (Ukrainian and Russian: Алу́шта; Crimean Tatar: Aluşta; Greek: Ἄλουστον) is a city of regional significance on the southern coast of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea in Ukraine claimed by Russia as the Republic of Crimea. It serves as the administrative center of Alushta Municipality, one of the regions Crimea is divided into. Founded in the 6th century AD by Emperor Justinian, today it is a resort town. It is situated at the Black Sea beach line on the road from Hurzuf to Sudak, as well as on the Crimean Trolleybus line. Population: 29,078(2014 Census).[2]

The area is notable for its arid, rocky terrain due to its proximity to Crimean mountains. During Byzantine times the town was called Alouston (Ἄλουστον) meaning "Unwashed".[3] Vestiges survive of a Byzantine defensive tower from a fortress of which the city name has derived, as well as a 15th-century Genoese fortress . During the Genoese rule the name modified to Lusta. Adam Mickiewicz dedicated two of his Crimean Sonnets to Alushta.

In 1910, 544 Jews lived in Alushta, consisting about 13% of the town population. In 1939, they consisted only 2.3% of the town overall population, numbering 251 individuals. On 4 November 1941, the Germans occupied the town and on 24 November 1941, a unit of sonderkommando 10b shot to death 30 Jews along with captured communists and partisans. In early December 1941, about 250 Jews from Alushta were shot to death by sonderkommando 11b in the park of trade union sanatorium no. 7, which is today in the local center for children and creativity.[4]

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International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Alushta is twinned with:

References

  1. This place is located on the Crimean Peninsula, most of which is the subject of a territorial dispute between Russia and Ukraine. According to the political division of Russia, there are federal subjects of the Russian Federation (the Republic of Crimea and the federal city of Sevastopol) located on the peninsula. According to the administrative-territorial division of Ukraine, there are the Ukrainian divisions (the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city with special status of Sevastopol) located on the peninsula.
  2. Russian Federal State Statistics Service (2014). "Таблица 1.3. Численность населения Крымского федерального округа, городских округов, муниципальных районов, городских и сельских поселений" [Table 1.3. Population of Crimean Federal District, Its Urban Okrugs, Municipal Districts, Urban and Rural Settlements]. Федеральное статистическое наблюдение «Перепись населения в Крымском федеральном округе». ("Population Census in Crimean Federal District" Federal Statistical Examination) (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
  3. Variants are Ἄλουστος (masc.), Ἀλοῦστον (neu.), Ἀλούστα (fem.) The feminine form, Alusta, is consistent with it application to a city rather than a fortress. The anhydrous climate likely gave rise to a satirical, anthropomorphic appellation of “unwashed” to the place from a resident(s). Χαραλαμπάκης, Παντελής. “Σκέψεισγια δυο Μεσαιωνικα Τοπωνυμια της Κριμαιαs, (Αλουστου, Παρθενιται)” [Reflections on two medieval names of Crimea (Aloustou, Parthenitai], Βυζαντινά Σύμμεικτα 23 (2013): 201-216; esp. 203, note 7.
  4. The murder of the Jews of Alushta during World War II, at Yad Vashem website
  5. "Sadraudzības pilsētas". jurmala.lv. Retrieved 26 April 2014. (Latvian) (English)
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