Novorossiysk is a port city in Krasnodar Krai with population 230,000.
In the times of the Ancient Greeks, here was the site of Bata of the Bosporan Kingdom, a colony that specialized in the grain trade. It was settled by Adyghe tribes and later conquered by the Mongols. From 1722 to the Russo-Turkish war in 1829, the area was controlled by the Ottomans. In 1855, English and French fleets unsuccessfully besieged the fort during the Crimean war. In late 1942, the area was occupied by the Germans.
A naval base is under construction and is scheduled to be completed by 2020.
The city is situated on a 25km bay and is formed as an amphitheater by surrounding mountains protecting it from the cold air coming from the continent. The river Tsemes runs through the city.
Novorossiysk has a humid subtropical climate. In winter, the air masses from the north take hold of the city while in the summer the air is of tropical origin. The cold weather lasts from November to March and three-day storms with severe wind are pretty common. The clouds of cold air rolling over the mountains look like giant candyfloss and temperatures drop 10-15 degrees in a few hours.
The average temperature of July is 23.7C and is 2.3C in January. The bay is prone to tornadoes and storms in August.
Anapa Airport (IATA: AAQ) is 63km northwest of the city. The airport serves regular flights to Moscow, Sochi, and Simferopol as has seasonal flights to most major cities in Russia.
Krasnodar International Airport (IATA: KRR) is 165km km east of the city and offers additional flight options.
A train departs Moskva Kazansky terminal in Moscow every day at 2:18PM arriving in Novorossiysk at 12:55 the next day (22.5 hours, From ). There are 2 other daily trains from Moscow, but they are much slower, taking up to 37 hours. From Saint Petersburg, there are departures every second day during summer (41.5 hours, From ).
Other Russian cities with rail connections include Kazan (45 hours), Nizhny Novgorod (42½ hours), Perm (59 hours), Yekaterinburg (60 hours), and Arkhangelsk (52 hours, From ).
From Krasnodar, there are four daily commuter trains leaving for Novorossiysk taking 3-4 hours.
The train station is one of the oldest in Russia, built in 1898.
Buses operate approximately every 3 hours between Novorossiysk and Krasnodar (, 3.5 hours). Daily buses also operate to/from Sochi (8 hours, ).
Hydrofoils offer service to/from Sochi (3-5 hours, ) in the summer.
There is a network of trolleybus, bus, and marshrutka services.
Primary administrative division