Berdiansk

Berdiansk lies on the northern shore of the Sea of Azov, near the mouth of the Berda and the long spit enclosing Berdiansk Bay. A Nogai Tatar village called Kutur-Ohla stood in the area before the founding of the later port. In 1827 work began on a pier on the bay, and a new settlement grew beside it. The sheltered waters made the site useful for commerce between the steppe hinterland and the Sea of Azov.