| Laskavo Prosimo! Dobro Pozhalovat! Welcome! |
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| I was born in the beautiful old city of Izmail, Ukraine, located on the banks of the river Danube. The music you listening to right now is "Blue Danube" by Strauss. My family moved to the United States in November 1992. I lived in Atlanta, GA for ten years. In 2002, I moved to Bainbridge, GA. Izmail is part of Bessarabia region. There are more than 100 different nationalities living together. This is why Russian is an official language. However, all students are required to take Ukrainian language, literature, and history courses. Let me tell you more about Izmail... |
| Izmail is located 80 km from the Black Sea on the river Danube. It's an old and legendary city. You can feel the breath of history at every corner. The history dates to the ancient Simerian tribes, ancient Greeks, and the Roman Empire. Izmail is a former site of the ancient Greek settlement Antiphila (means "unloved", maybe because of the ferocious tribes). Romans claimed this region in the II century when they have built a fortress and named it Smornis. First Slavic people settled here during the formation of the Ancient Kiev Rus (no, it's not Russia; Kiev was established 800 years before Moscow). They called their settlement Smil. In the middle of the XIII century, this region was occupied by Gold Orda (Tatar-Mongol tribes). Only ruins remained after this savage occupation. About one century later, finally free, Slavic people rebuilt the settlement and named it Sinil. Not for long, though. In 1538, Turks occupied the city. The Turks remained the city into Ishmasl (meaning "hear us, God"). In 1594-1595, Zaporozh Cossacks freed Ishmasl from the Turks. Not for long, unfortunately. Turks came back and fortified Ishmasl. Also they have renamed the city into Izmail. The fortress was considered to be impossible to penetrate. There were legends about its strength. The walls reached 10 meters in height. Turks felt very safe inside. However, in December 1790, Russian army under the command of the legendary Alexander Vasil'evich Suvorov had been defeated. He wrote in his report: "There was no fortress stronger than Izmail, there was no defense more ferocious than at Izmail, but Izmail had been defeated!" |
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| Fortress Izmail, 1790 |