156 chapter four
of the many settlements on the crimea’s South-east coast, the only one
which could compete with Soldaia as a gateway to Solkhat, the admin-
istrative and commercial capital of the peninsula and the end-point for
the great steppe trade routes, was ancient theodosia.49 Located to the
North of Soldaia, it was closer to tana on the mouth of the Don, and thus
more convenient as an entrepôt for steppeland and forest products, later
to become an outpost for the major trade routes from central asia and
china.50 the Genoese also chose theodosia for its topography: it stands
on the shores of a small gulf,51 so that the port could be developed unhin-
dered, and by the first half of the fourteenth century the harbour could
accommodate at least two hundred ships, while the terrain permitted for-
tification with ramparts and palisades from the start, later expanded into
defensive walls and towers.52
theodosia must have been a ruin at best when the Genoese arrived,
economically and demographically insignificant: indeed it had to be so
for the operation to succeed. It was only in such a location that the “visi-
tors” could be the majority, indispensable if the colony and its surround-
ings were to be developed for their final purpose: independence from the
Mongol horde.
the history of caffa from the moment the first Genoese disembarked to
the moment of full independence is a long-drawn-out process of develop-
ment, complex and full of incident, in which the only constant factor is
the Genoese merchants’ determination to succeed.
the earliest documented mention of caffa’s existence is from 1281,
when the notary Gabriele di predono drew up contracts in pera for some
of his countrymen, whose business took them there.53 In 1282, and then
again two years later, we find mention of the spice trade, in fairly modest
quantities.54
the colony is attested as an organised community in 1284, when the
first consul is mentioned, Luchetto Gambono.55 Mongol customs at
49 cf. the map of the region in Balard, Romanie, I, p. 153.
50 cf. heyd, Histoire, II, p. 158, and above, chapter 3.4.1.
51 this was easy of access and offered excellent facilities as a harbour thanks to North
winds (heyd, Histoire, II, p. 158).
52 See the stages of this process in Balard, Romanie, I, pp. 199–215, and the map on
p. 203.
53 cf. Brătianu, Mer Noire, p. 233, Balard, Romanie, II, p. 850.
54 Balard, Romanie, II, pp. 720, 723.
55 Ibid. p. 902.