Kerch

KERCH (formerly Panticapaeum or Bosporus), Crimean city on the Strait of Yenikale, commanding the entrance to the Sea of Azof, 170 km (105.63 miles) east-northeast of Simferopol; Pop. approximately 22.450. The present-day city is recent, and well built of stone. Free port, fortified and growing rapidly.
— Panticapaeum, capital of the ancient kingdom of Bosporus, was founded by Milesians in the sixth century BC. The Genoese seized it in 1280, the Turks in 1475 and the Russians in 1771. Among the many burial mounds in the nearby area, the most extraordinary are those on the mountain called Altun-Obo by the Tartars.
 
Extract from the Trousset encyclopedia, 1886 – 1891.