Verifying location of Italian trade station of Copa in the medieval town of Temryuk (Copario - Lo Coppa) (part 1)

The paper attempts to locate the Genovese trading station of Copa, constantly mentioned in the European written sources of 13 th-14 th cc. Copa was obviously situated at the Azov Sea coast nearby the Kuban river mouth that was indicated under the same name. Medieval portolano-maps approximate location of the main bed of the Kuban river during 13 th-15 th cc. at the contemporary estuary of the Kurka river. This fact negates proposition to locate this site in the modern town of Slavyansk-na-Kubani or at the Kiziltash estuary that was the principal estuary of Kuban river during 17 th-19 th cc. Not far from the Kurchansk estuary only two settlements with the corresponding cultural layers are found, namely Golubitzkaya-1 and Temruk-1. Both settlements had been had situated nearby the Kuban river distributaries flowing into the Azov Sea up to 19 th c. There is written source of the Russian provenance directly indicating that the fortress of Temryuk (known as castle of Adas as well) was built in Copa. The field collections of pottery on the site of Temryuk-1 by Ya.M. Paromov point to the fact that it was inhabited no later than 13 th c. and was occupied until 18 th c. So, location of Copa on the site of Temruk-1 (45º17’50’’ N, 37º20’08’’ E) is to be finally accepted. The place name of Copario used in “Statute of Caffa. 1449” presumably corresponds to the whole coastal area of the Kuban river delta under control of town of Coppa, but limited by the Akhtarsk estuary from the north.