HANDS ACROSS THE BLACK SEA
The ancient Greeks called the Black Sea, “the Axeine”, which means “unfriendly to strangers”. Then, oddly enough, they began to sail the waters more frequently and the name became, “the Euxine”, or “friendly to strangers”, which may prove again that things change only to come back again - the Black Sea, which has not been on the tourist's itinerary for about twenty years is once again “friendly to strangers.”
The “strangers” aboard the Caronia Autumn Cruise will visit the Black Sea ports of Yalta and Odessa having a day ashore in each of these famous Russian cities.
From earliest times, the “Euxine”, played an important role in the economic and political history of Europe. Legend has it that this deep-toned body of water, contrasting so sharply with the clear blue of the Mediterranean, is alive with the stuff that dreams are made of.
Across it, Jason sailed to Colchis in search of the Golden Fleece. Herodotus, the most lucid Greek traveller and historian, said that the black water was a sight truly worth seeing. He declared in bold Ionic prose: “Of all the great seas, nature has made the Euxine the most wonderful.”
The deep colour of the Black Sea is due partly to its great depth. It is set in a huge bowl more than 6,500 feet deep, and the intense pressure at the bottom makes it difficult for living things to adapt to the environment, although there is great variety of marine life in the upper regions.
When the Greeks first came to what is now the Russian shores of the Black Sea, they found numerous settlements. They were Scythians in the north, Colchis along the Caucasian coast and Tauri in Crimea. They began to trade with the inhabitants and then formed Colonies of their own sending grain, food and raw materials to the mainland. Trading on the Black Sea in our times, centres in the port of Odessa, which, after Leningrad, is the most important seaport of .the Soviet Union.
The Black Sea coast is the Soviet's “Riviera.” Resorts, bathing beaches and health spas dot the shoreline. Vacationing workers stay at health centres which often were former palaces of the czars, such as Livadia Palace at Yalta, site of the Big Three Conference during World War II. Yalta, according to the Soviet Government, has 70 sanitoria at which 150,000 stay. The warm weather along the tropic-like coastline lingers usually until late November.
[Produced for the Mediterranean Cruise departing New York 05 October 1962]