City of Mary — A city now celebrated in poems, songs, and entire novels, it has become a symbol of resilience and hope. In this narrative history of Mariupol, Iryna Ponomaryova has gathered incredibly valuable material from the city's past: from the times when Zaporizhian Cossacks founded wintering settlements in the region of Nadasovya to the Russian occupation in 2022.

In this book, the author has collected invaluable information recorded in the documents of the Mariupol City Duma and the Mariupol Greek Court, city newspapers, the writings of travelers, merchants, and diplomats, postcards and photographs, as well as the memories and stories of the city’s residents and the most well-known Mariupol bloggers — historians of the city. The book also tells of artifacts once housed in the Mariupol Local History Museum before the full-scale invasion.

These materials allow readers to immerse themselves in the picturesque world of a port city that ultimately became an industrial giant of Ukraine and was destroyed by Russian forces in just the first two months of occupation, with the author herself witnessing these events.

The book is intended for all those interested in the history of Ukraine, and Mariupol in particular.

368 pages. Hardcover.