Sea Bays and Harbor of the Black Sea Coast in Ancient and Medieval Times: History, Navigation, Trade

<jats:p>The article examines the historical evolution of the Black Sea port system as the infrastructural foundation of economic, political, and cultural connections across the Pontus Euxinus region from the beginning of Greek colonization (7th–6th centuries BC) to the establishment of Ottoman control (second half of the 15th century). The key stages in the formation and transformation of the Black Sea trade network are traced: the development of port infrastructure during Greek colonization, the functioning of the Bosporan Kingdom’s grain export system, the role of Roman and Byzantine harbors in imperial logistics, and the creation of the Genoese-Venetian com-mercial network of the 13th–15th centuries as the first integrated pan-Black Sea trading system. It is demonstrat-ed that port infrastructure determined not only maritime trade routes but also the character of colonization pro-cesses, the directions of intercultural contacts, and the logic of geopolitical rivalry. The impact of paleogeo-graphic factors – Holocene transgression and coastal erosion – on the historical fate of port centers is exam-ined. The causes of the rapid collapse of Italian commercial presence following the Ottoman conquest and its consequences for the region’s economic geography are analyzed.</jats:p>