Taman, Russia

Taman (Тамань) is a stanitsa on the coast of the Taman Bay in the Temryuk District of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. Its population was 9,297 in 2002.

Taman occupies the site of the ancient cities of Hermonassa and Tmutarakan. The modern settlement was founded by the Zaporozhian Cossacks under Anton Golovaty in 1792 and was the first center of the Black Sea Cossack Host.

Principal sights include:

• The ruins of Hermonassa and Tmutarakan.
• A Turkish condensate pump dating from the 15th century.
• An archeological museum imitating the Roman domus.
• The memorial house of Mikhail Lermontov. The first part of his novel A Hero of Our Time is set in Taman.
• A small wine-making museum.
• A museum devoted to the history of Kuban Cossackdom.
• An Orthodox church built by the first Cossack settlers in 1793. This is the oldest Russian Orthodox church in the Kuban region.
• Amandus Adamson's monument to the first Cossack settlers of the region (1911).

In August 2008 Vladimir Putin signed a decree authorizing the development of a major international cargo port several miles south of Taman. Currently the Togliattiazot's fertiliser terminal is under construction there. By 2015 Port Taman is expected to become one of the top three ports of Russia.[1]