Colonization of the steppes near the Black Sea was started by the Zaporozhians. In 1753 in defiance of protests of Cossacks the greater part of the lands was given to a settlement of the Orthodox Serbians. They formed a colony under the name of Slavoserbia. The greatest wave of colonization dates back to the end of the XVIII century. Then with the Order of Catherine II Zaporozhian Sich was exterminated. On the places of old Zaporozhian settlements, Greek colonies and Turkish fortresses was built new cities.