It was known as Dory (Greek: Δόρυ), later Doros (Δόρος), Doras (Δόρας) and finally Theodoro (Θεοδωρώ) by the Byzantines,[1][2] before being given the Kipchak name Mangup.

[4] According to the 6th-century Byzantine historian Procopius of Caesarea, the region of Dory or Doros was settled by those Ostrogoths who refused to follow Theodoric the Great in his invasion of Italy in the 490s, marking the beginning of the Crimean Goths and their homeland, Gothia.

[1] Archaeological excavations have demonstrated the establishment of Christian basilicas, fortifications and cave settlements (alongside Mangup also at Eski Kermen etc.)

[1] In the mid-10th century, the Crimean Goths were Khazar vassals,[1] before falling under the influence of competing powers: the Kievan Rus and the Kipchak tribal confederacy.

The town was severely damaged by an earthquake in the 11th century, yet managed to maintain autonomy during the Mongol conquest of Crimea but was compelled to pay tribute to the Great Khan.

1223, the towns of Gothia may have been tributary to the Empire of Trebizond,[1] and in the late 13th/early 14th century Mangup became the centre of the Principality of Theodoro, whose ruling elite maintained Byzantine traditions and the use of the Greek language.

After the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, many Greek-speaking Qaraites decided to migrate to the Mangup and Chufut-Kale as these places had a familiar Christian Greek culture.

The inscription shows that in 1503, almost thirty years after the Turkish conquest, the inhabitants of Mankup still spoke Greek and were taking care to restore the walls of their city.