was spreading from the East, the Black Death. The inhabitants of Caffa would throw the bodies into the sea as soon as they could, but the plague spread regardless. Once in Caffa, the plague was introduced into the vast commercial network of the Genoese, which extended throughout the Mediterranean. On board the commercial ships that departed from Caffa in the autumn of 1347, the plague reached Constantinople, the first European city infected, and later arrived in Messina and spread throughout Europe. Gazaria's tax revenues had been assigned to the "compera di Gazaria", the association of state creditors that had advanced the expenses for the defense of the colony. In fact, the "compera" belonged to the Bank of Saint George, which therefore managed the taxation of Gazaria. After the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, the Republic ceded the sovereignty over Gazaria to the Bank of Saint George, believing that it was the only entity capable of organizing resistance against the Turks. However, these domains were conquered by the Ottoman Empire in 1474. Colonies Crimea Caffa Cembalo Soldaia Vosporo Sarsona Capitanatu Gotia (territory of Theodoro) West Black Sea Aside of Crimea, Genoa possessed several castles on the western coast of Black Sea such as the castle of Maurocastro (Bilhorod-Dnistrovsky) in the estuary of Dniester, the castle of Ginestra near Odessa, the castle of Licostomo (Kiliya), the colony of Costanza (Constanța) and the colony of Caladda (Galați). Taman peninsula and Tanais Tana (Azov) Matrega (Tmutarakan) Copa (Slavyansk-na-Kubani) Mapa (Anapa) Batario (Novorossiysk) Costa and Layso (Sochi) Abkhazia Chacari (Gagra) Santa Sophia (Alakhadzi) Pesonqa (Pitsunda) Cavo di Buxo (Gudauta) Niocoxia (New Athos) Sebastopolis (Sukhumi) Lo Bati (Batumi) See also Treaty of Nymphaeum (1261) Гавриленко О. А., Сівальньов О. М., Цибулькін В. В. Генуезька спадщина на теренах України; етнодержавознавчий вимір. — Харків: Точка, 2017.— 260 с. — References External links Elena A. Yarovaya. The Heraldry of the Genoese Crimea. The State Hermitage. SPb., 2010. 208 p. Medieval Crimea Genoese colonies States and territories established in the 1260s Territories of the Republic of Genoa Political history of Crimea