Gelendzhik Bay

Gelendzhik Bay offered a sheltered anchorage on the Circassian coast of the northeastern Black Sea. In the early nineteenth century, maritime trade linked this shore with Ottoman ports while Russian forces sought to interrupt those connections. The Treaty of Adrianople in 1829 strengthened Russia's territorial claims, but the neighbouring Circassian communities continued to resist submission.

In July 1831 a Black Sea squadron entered the bay. After surveying the shore, troops under Major-General Yermolai Berkhman landed on Tolsty Cape and began establishing the Gelendzhik fortification. The anchorage was intended to support the military occupation of the coast and communications across the mountains towards the Kuban. Its potential encouraged further plans: following a reconnaissance in 1836, General Velyaminov proposed an extensive fortress and facilities for repairing ships. This remained a project, not an already completed naval base. The bay's history at this stage joined useful shelter for vessels to a contested attempt to turn maritime access into lasting control of an inhabited coast.