Ochakiv

Ochakiv [Очаків; Očakiv]. Map: Dnipro-Boh Estuary and a raion center in Mykolaiv oblast. It is believed that a Greek colony existed at the site of present-day Ochakiv in the 7th and 6th centuries BC. In the 14th century the Lithuanian grand duke Vytautas the Great built a fortress called Dashiv there. At the end of the 15th century the territory along the northern coast of the Black Sea came under the control of the Crimean Khanate, and the Crimean Tatars erected a fortress on the site. Soon the Turks established their power over the Tatars and the Black Sea steppe. The name Ochakiv is derived from the Turkish name of the fortified settlement, Achi-Kale. In the 16th and 17th centuries the Zaporozhian Cossacks stormed Ochakiv many times. After Russia acquired the territory from Turkey in 1791 following the Russo-Turkish wars, Ochakiv grew rapidly. As a port it has always been an important trade and fishing center. Today it has a fish-canning complex, wineries, and sewing factories. There are several museums and many sanatoriums in the vicinity.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 3 (1993).]