was drawn into the constant disputes between these two rival cities. In the early 14th century, the city was eclipsed by the Genoese colonies of Tana and Kaffa: the Florentine merchant Francesco Balducci Pegolotti, who visited the area in , neglects to mention the city altogether. At about the same time, the Tatars converted to Islam, which led to a deterioration of their relations with the Greek-speaking and Christian inhabitants of the city, many of whom were forced to leave it. As a result, on 19 July 1365, the Genoese from Kaffa seized the city, which became a Genoese trading colony. The Genoese refortified the city, constructing the citadel that is still visible today, and induced a large part of the deported Greeks to return. Genoese rule lasted until 1475, when the Ottoman Grand Vizier Gedik Ahmed Pasha captured it after a long siege. Ottoman and modern periods The Ottomans took control of Soldaia and all other Genoese colonies, as well as the Principality of Theodoro in 1475. Although Sudak was the strategical center of a qadılıq, the smallest administrative unit in the Ottoman Empire, the town lost much of its military and commercial importance, until the Crimean Khanate took over. In 1771, Sudak was occupied by Rumyantsev's army. In 1783, it definitively passed to the Russian Empire, with the rest of Crimea. Though sometimes contested, it seems that a mass emigration occurred as a result of the ensuing instability in that period. Even Potemkin ordered in 1778 the eviction of the Christian population from Crimea. The town rapidly turned into a small village, and according to the 1805 census, Sudak had just 33 inhabitants. In 1804, the first Russian school of viticulture was opened there. The town acquired its present status in 1982. Ecclesiastical history Byzantine metropolis of Sougdaia It is unknown when the Byzantine see of Sougdaia was established, but it is attested for the first time in 787. It was in the sway of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, where it ranked 35th according to the Notitia Episcopatuum edited by Byzantine emperor Leo VI (). In the 10th century it was promoted to an archbishopric. After merging with the nearby see of Phoulloi towards the end of the 11th century, it was known as Sougdophoulloi. It was raised to metropolitan status in 1275/82. Its historical bishops were : St. Stephen, 787 Constantine, in 997. See also Russian Orthodox