ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the first phase of the evolution of the Greek paroikia, from its formation in the last third of the eighteenth century to the first third of the nineteenth century. The Greek merchant paroikia of Taganrog made a significant contribution to the creation of a new economic zone in the south of Russia. The Greeks had a strong presence in the strategic location of Constantinople prior to the opening of the Black Sea to international trade and throughout the nineteenth to the beginning of the twentieth century. During the first half of the nineteenth century the large and affluent Greek merchant community or paroikia of Taganrog was so dominant in the economic and social life of the town to the extent that the Russian novelist Vassili Sleptsov referred to it as a 'Greek Kingdom'. The colonization of the Sea of Azov and the establishment of the city of Taganrog was part of Russia's expansion to the south.
