Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyy

Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyy (byĭl'hərət-dnĕstrôf'skyē), Rus. Belgorod-Dnestrovsky, city (1989 pop. 56,000), S Ukraine, a port at the mouth of the Dniester River. It is also a rail junction and a trade center for wine. Industries include fishing and fish processing, winemaking, and meat and dairy processing. Founded by Greek colonists in the 6th cent. B.C., it later passed to Rome and Byzantium. In the 9th cent. it was a Slavic trade and political center called Bilhorod (Belgorod). The city belonged to the duchy of Halych-Volhynia in the 13th cent., to Genoa in the 14th cent., and to Moldavia in the 15th cent. The Turks acquired it in 1484 and renamed it Akkerman. It was ceded to Russia in the early 19th cent. It was held by Romania from 1918 to 1940, by the Germans during World War II, and by the Soviet Union after 1944. It was again called by its Slavic name after its incorporation into the USSR. The city has a 15th-century church and the remains of a medieval fortress.