The history of Feodosia began at the end of the 6th century BC. BC, when merchants from the Greek city of Miletus founded a small trading post on the shore of a convenient bay. The settlement was named Theodosius, which translated from Greek means "given by God." In 355 BC Theodosia is captured by the Bosporan ruler Leron the First. The city became the breadbasket of the Bosporus kingdom. At the end of the 4th century, it is destroyed by the nomadic tribe of the Huns. In the next century, on the site of Feodosia, there was an Alanian settlement of Ardabda. At the end of the 7th - beginning of the 8th century, the Khazars invaded the peninsula. Then for several centuries Theodosia becomes a Byzantine fortification. In 1223, the territory of Feodosia became part of the Crimean ulus of the Golden Horde. However, soon the Genoese merchants acquired a section of the coast of the Feodosiya Bay from the Tatars and founded a trading settlement called Kafa (Kaffa). The Genoese owned the city for two centuries and during this time made it the administrative center of their Crimean possessions.
In the XIII-XV centuries. Kafa became the center of the slave trade. After the fall of Constantinople in 1453 and the death of Byzantium, the city began to lose its commercial importance. In 1475 the Ottoman Turks seized Kafa and renamed it Kefa. Since the second half of the 16th century, Russian squads have been undertaking military campaigns against the Crimean Khanate, including the Turkish fortress of Kefe. Two centuries later, in 1771, during the Russian-Turkish war, the fortress was taken by the army of Prince V.M. Dolgorukov.
In 1783, Crimea was annexed to the Russian Empire, a year later the city was given its ancient name. In 1787 Feodosia became part of the Tauride province. For several decades, the city practically stood still.
At the end of the 19th century, the Dzhankoy-Feodosia railway was built. The initiator of the construction of the railway, as well as one of the main shareholders of the Joint Stock Company of the Feodosia Railway was Ivan (Hovhannes) Aivazovsky.
I.K. Aivazovsky made a huge contribution to the development of the city, including its construction. According to the artist's project and thanks to his energy, not only a railway was built, but also a sea trade port.
Feodosia has become a major trading port. At the same time, the development of Feodosia as a resort place began. In 1921, the first health resort was opened in the city. The city began to develop as a health resort.
After the Great Patriotic War, enterprises of the military-industrial complex began to operate in Feodosia, the city was closed to foreigners.
Currently Feodosia is actively developing as a resort and recreation center.