Temryuk

Temryuk ( _ru. Темрю́к) 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, amid a field of mud volcanoes. 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.