Partenit (Партеніт; called Фрузенське; Frunzenske in 1945–1993). See Google Map; see EU map: IX-15. Town smt (2021 pop 6,472, 2001 pop 6,254) on the Crimean southern shore, 16 km SW of Alushta and subordinated to the Alushta city council aka Greater Alushta of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (until 1964, the Alushta raion of Crimea oblast). The name Partenit is thought to derive from the Greek παρθένоς , meaning ‘maidenly,’ leading some scholars to associate it with the Taurian ‘Virgin’ deity or the Greek Artemis (goddess of the hunt and chastity); the tragedy ‘Iphigenia in Tauris’ by the playwright Euripides (written between 414 BC and 412 BC) may have taken place here, but no archeological remains of a Taurian or a Greek temple to support this have been discovered to date.
History. The area was settled since the mid-Paleolithic Period, with known remains of settlements from the Mesolithic Period (12th to 7th millennia BC), the Copper Age and Bronze Age (4th to 2nd millennia BC) and early Iron Age (the Taurian period, 900–650 BC). Partenit was established by Greek colonists between 5th and 3rd centuries BC; the inscriptions and coins found here, dated 2nd–3rd centuries AD, suggest that it was influenced by, if not part of, the Greco-Roman Bosporan Kingdom; remains of a pre-Christian temple (3–4th centuries AD) was identified as belonging to the invading Goths; by the 6th century the area fell under the influence of the Byzantine Empire; 7th century marked the revival of Partenit. In the 8th century a large three-nave stone basilica, the Church of Saints Peter and Paul, was built there, which served as a refuge from the Khazar occupation, as a temporary center of Gothic eparchy where John of Gothia (d ca 791), the metropolitan bishop of Doros (the capital of Theodoro), preached. By the end of the 8th century Partenit also fell to the Khazars. Upon its return to Byzantine control (10–12th centuries), Partenit revived with fishing, farming, fruit-growing, wine-making and shipbuilding in the small city’s harbor.
As Byzantium declined, Partenit came under the control (1374) of Genoese merchants based in Kaffa. They installed their consul in the city, built a fort with two towers, enhanced the harbor, and included the city, then rendered in Italian as Pertinice, along with Gorzoni (Hurzuf), Jalite (Yalta), and Lusce (Alushta), as part of their Gothia province (Capitaneatus Gotie).
In 1475 the Genoese-controlled Crimean southern shore fell to the Ottoman Empire. Partenit was included in the Mangup district of the Kefe (Teodosiia) province. The city had several fires (1475, 1550s) and then a decline of population. In the 17th century Islam was spread to Partenit.
Following the Peace Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca (1774), Partenit was included in the Crimean Khanate (1775) within the Mangup district of the Bakhchysarai province. The Russian military evacuated its Christian residents to the Azov region of the Russian Empire, reducing the settlement to a village, abandoning the two churches in Partenit (‘Constantine and Helen’, and “Holy Apostles’), which did not survive to the present. The 8th century basilica was destroyed by fire in the 10th century, rebuilt in 1427 but destroyed by the Turks in 1479. Only the 18th century mosque with its minaret remained.
After the Russian Empire annexed the Crimean Khanate, renaming the territory Tavrida oblast, Partenit was within its Simferopol county. Partenit, along with Nikita, were granted by Catherine II to the Field Marshal Prince Charles-Joseph de Ligne (1787). During the Russo-Turkish War of 1787–91, to prevent possible collusion with the enemy, all 143 resident Crimean Tatars of Partenit were evacuated from the coast until the war ended, when Russia re-possessed the settlements. Following some administrative reorganization, Partenit was included in 1802 in the Alushta volost of the Simferopol county; when the Yalta county was created in 1838, Partenit was included in its Derekoi volost (Derekoi was then a settlement [now a neighborhood] on the north side of Yalta). In this period, members of the Russian elite, notably M. Loginov, and then M. Raevsky the younger, acquired property here and developed vineyards and gardens. After the Crimean War (1853–6), when many Crimean Tatars of Partenit #emigrated to Turkey, Raevsky bought out their properties at bargain prices and expanded his operations. His son, Mikhail Raevsky, president of the Imperial Orchard Society, added a fruit tree nursery school; after his death, his wife (daughter of #Prince G. Gagarin) continued his enterprise and funded the excavation of the basilica. The mostly Crimean Tatar population of Partenit grew slowly from 117 in 1805 to 175 in 1889 and 303 by 1915. By 1886 Partenit had an active mosque and a school.
Following the establishment of the Soviet government, Partenit was included (1921) in the Yalta raion of Yalta county (re-named okruha in 1922). Gentry estates were nationalized and consolidated to form the Partenit state farm. In 1927 Partenit had 262 residents (238 Crimean Tatars, 17 Russians, 6 Ukrainians, and 1 Armenian); the Partenit state farm had 50 residents (33 Russians, 11 Ukrainians, and 6 Crimean Tatars). The local palaces were converted into rest homes: at Utës (1921, for the Red Army, sanatorium since 1929) and Karasan (1924, for teachers, then high quality sanatorium). In Partenit, farming, fishing, diorite mining, local trade and a Tatar elementary school provided employment; the mosque was closed and then damaged by the 1927 earthquake. By 1939 Partenit had grown to 583 residents.
During the Second World War 286 men were drafted to the front, of which 87 perished. All 92 families of Crimean Tatars were deported to Central Asia during the deportation of Crimean Tatars in 1944 (18 May); as the war ended and the settlement re-populated with Russians and Ukrainians, on 21 August 1945 the settlement and the state farm were re-named Frunzenske.
After the war, two administrative changes occurred: on 25 June 1946, the Crimea was converted to an oblast, and on 26 April 1954, transferred from the RSFSR to the Ukrainian SSR. By 1960 Frunzenske was already within the Alushta raion, and on 1 January 1965 the raion was replaced with the Alushta city council (or Greater Alushta).
Frunzenske was designated a town in 1963 and developed as a resort. Two Ministry of Defense of the USSR sanatoriums, the ‘Frunzenske’ (1962) and the ‘Crimea’ (1974), were opened, where Marshals Georgii Zhukov, Ivan Konev, Konstantin Rokossovsky, and cosmonauts Titov, Leonov and others stayed. The resort ‘Aivazovske’ was built (1964) for the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, accommodating families of those officials as well as leaders of Soviet culture. The need for service personnel stimulated the growth of the town and its population from 4,099 (1970) to 8,566 (1979) and 9,207 (1989). Road construction involved the demolition of the mosque; only its minaret remained standing.
Following the 1991 Ukraine’s Declaration of Independence, the town’s historic name of Partenit was restored (1993); religious communities (Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate, and the Evangelical Christian) had their churches built (2000–14); sanatoria were transferred from the USSR to the Armed Forces of Ukraine and resorts were privatized. Crimean Tatars returning to the Crimea, however, could not reclaim their old homes, so few settled in Partenit. The linguistic make-up of the town in 2001, whose population had declined to 6,391, was (in percent) still primarily Russian (83.0), with a significant Ukrainian (15.9, the highest in Greater Alushta) and tiny Crimean Tatar (0.3) minorities.
Following the Russian annexation of the Crimea (2014) and the influx of Russian military, the population increased from 6,089 (1 January) to 6,193 in October 2014, and continued to grow to 6,472 in 2021. Sanatoria were reassigned to the Russian military and private resorts were seized and nationalized.
Economy. As a resort town with salubrious Mediterranean climate, it houses two large sanatoriums: 1) the ‘Crimea’ (on the SW side) with its park (which has the Prometheus light/music fountain), beach, two movie theaters, a dolphinarium, a ‘Winter Orchard’ solarium and a rock museum, and 2) the ‘Aivazovske’ (on the NE side) with its beach and park (est 1960s, privatized and re-developed by Serhii Taruta [2002–] on 25 ha) that includes English, Italian, and Japanese gardens, a section with 300 kinds of rare plants and a unique 500 year old olive grove. In the center there are hotels, including Hotel Majestic with its park. Northeast of the town are: 1) the ‘Karasan’ hotel-spa in the Karasan Park (18 ha, which contains 220 types of relict plants [under protection, restricted entry since 2009]), and 2) the Utios Sanatorium and many small hotels. The town hosts the ‘Prymorske’ research branch of the Nikita Botanical Garden which breeds decorative plants and the nearby vineyards of the ‘Tavrida’ farm and branch of the Massandra winery, where Muscat, Cabernet, and other grape varieties are grown and wines produced. Residents and visitors are supported by services (banks, cafes, restaurants, tourism and transportation). The town has a school, a music school, a branch of the Alushta art school, a library, 3 movie theaters and a television studio with its transmission tower.
Culture. Despite the Iphigenia lore, no ancient or medieval structures survived here. Of the foundations of old Partenit (6th to 15th centuries, including the 15th century Genoese fort, only 1) the remains of the 8th century large three-nave stone basilica, excavated in 1871 and 1907, now at the lower level, the ‘Saints Peter and Paul’, of a new church, the ‘Icon of the Almighty Mother of God’ and 2) the only original minaret of an 18th century mosque in the Crimea, remain. Southwest of the town, the Aiu-Dag Preserve (est 1947, 527 ha) supports oak forests (pubescent oak [Quercus pubescens] and sessile oak [Quercus petraea]) and scrubland (comprising Greek juniper [Juniperus excelsa], Atlas pistachio [Pistacia atlantica], Greek strawberry tree [Arbutus andrachne]), which conceal the remains of 8th–10th and 12th–16th century monasteries, settlements and defense structures. Northeast of the town are two palaces: 1) that of N. Raevsky (built in 1885–7 in Moorish style) in his Karasan Park and 2) of the Princess Anastasia Oberliani-Gagarin (both the palace, in Romanesque style, and the chapel, in Byzantine-Georgian style, built 1902–7, architect M. Krasnov,) in Utës (pronounced Utios). The Aivazovske sanatorium park contains a large collection of sculptures. In the town there are memorials to Vladimir Lenin, Mikhail Frunze, 2 to Aleksandr Pushkin, the sailor Ivan Vasylchenko (whose body was washed ashore) symbolizing Partenit victims of the ‘Great Patriotic War’ (at Victory Square, 1960), the Muslim physician, Ali Sina (Avicenna, ca 980–1037, at the Crimea Sanatorium, 1981) and in the post-Soviet period, to John of Gothia (1996). Local cultural groups include a concert choir, 2 children’s orchestras, and an art studio (Prometheus). When part of independent Ukraine, summer performances here also featured Lesia Ukrainka’s version of the drama ‘Iphigenia in Tauris’.
Layout. Partenit occupies an irregular triangular area of 8.6 sq km; its SSW side (1.8 km) abuts the steep slopes of Aiu Dag (in Turkic, Bear Mountain); its E side base (2.4 km) consists of the Black Sea coast. Its main stream, flowing through the central part of town, originates in the north, from sources in the Babuhan Ridge (over 1,100 m above sea level) that includes Roman-Kosh, the highest peak (1,545 m above sea level) in the Crimean Mountains; that stream approaches Partenit as Aian-Uzen (John Stream, also known as Partenitka); at Partenit, however, Aian-Uzen is channeled to its mouth and is called Aian-Dere. A second minor stream, the Chetteke-Uzen, originates at lower elevations and passes through the SSW side of Partenit—the Crimea Sanatorium complex—near the base of Aiu Dag.
The South Coast Highway (M-18) passes 1.5 km NW of Partenit. From it, the main access to Partenit—the Frunze Highway—follows the east bank of the Aian-Uzen. Upon reaching Partenit, the Frunze Highway crosses a major intersection: the Bypass Street, which leads west to the Crimea Sanatorium, and Vasylchenko Street to the NNE, with ‘Frunzenske’ sanatorium on its east side. Beyond this intersection on the E side of the Frunze Highway is the ‘Aivazovsky’ resort with its park extending .36 km to the seashore and .85 km along the coast to the NE. The Frunze Highway continues along the east side and through old Partenit: to the Partenit Telecenter at the seaside cliff called Kale-Poti; there, it turns SW to become Partenit Street, passing several hotels, an old Jewish-Tatar cemetery and nearby the remaining minaret to reach Sunny Street at Aian Dere; it then crosses the stream to the ‘Crimea Resort’ as Resort Street.
Old Partenit occupies Tepeler Hill on the east bank of Aian-Dere. It extends SE to the seaside cliffs called Kale-Poti. In the center, it hosts the remains of the Saints Peter and Paul basilica, upon which was built (2005—11) the Icon of the Almighty Mother of God Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate with its lower level, Saints Peter and Paul, dedicated to John of Gothia, and with a separate bell tower, and a monument to John of Gothia (1996). To the west a stairway leads down a wooded slope to Victory Square; beyond it is Sunny Street on the east bank of Aian-Dere.
Along Sunny Street, to the SE at Partenit Street is a library, a movie theater, and S of it, on a side street, the Church of the Annunciation of the Holy Mother of God. To the north, towards Bypass Street, Sunny Street passes apartments with commercial and institutional services; behind them, on the E side, is the Evangelical Christian church; on the W side is the Partenit School with 2 sports fields. The Bypass Street meanders west, south, and west to the Crimea Sanatorium complex.
To the NE, the ‘Karasan’ hotel-spa in the Karasan Park and the Utios Sanatorium may be accessed from Partenit by road through Aivazovsky Park or directly from the South Coast Highway (M-18).
Public transport is provided by bus. For VIPs there is a triple helicopter landing pad near the main intersection to town.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Shantyr, S. Kurort Frunzenskoe: Putevoditel' (Simferopol 1982)
‘Frunzenske’ in Heohrafichna entsyklopediia Ukraïny vol 3 (Kyiv 1993)
Vyrs'kyi, D. ‘Partenit’ in Entsyklopediia istoriï Ukraïny vol 8 (Kyiv 2011)
‘Karta Alushty, Kryma, z vulytsiamy’ Mapa Ukrainy https://kartaukrainy.com.ua/Alushta
Ihor Stebelsky
[This article was updated in 2025.]
