Antique monuments in the Crimea. The most ancient city of Crimea The name of the ancient Greek city in Crimea
List of the most major cities Crimea: we briefly tell you what the cities are remarkable for and what sights you can see there.
Now on the Crimean peninsula, only 18 settlements have received the status of a city, the largest of them in terms of their area - Sevastopol, Sudak, Yalta, Evpatoria, Kerch and Simferopol.
Sevastopol is the largest city in Crimea
A large sea and commercial port, the largest city in Crimea, which has a special status and has received the rights of a separate constituent entity of the Russian Federation. According to 2015 data, the population was 398.97 thousand people - it is also the largest city in terms of population in Crimea.
A huge number of attractions are concentrated here: the ruins of the ancient Greek settlement of Chersonesos, monuments of the war epochs (the Russian-Turkish war, the Great Patriotic War) and museums, a magnificent embankment, Aquarium. Not far from the city - cave monastery Inkerman and Balaklava, where the submarines were based. There are a large number of picturesque bays in Sevastopol.
Photo © mr. Wood / flickr.com
Once there was the capital of the Scythian state, later destroyed by the Goths. Simferopol is located in the central part of the peninsula and has no access to the sea. The Salgir River flows here.
Simferopol is the second largest city in terms of population in Crimea after Sevastopol, with a population of 332.6 thousand people. Tourists to Simferopol are attracted by local attractions: the ancient settlement of Naples Scythian, Vorontsov's Palace, the Ethnographic Museum, Central Museum Taurida, Cathedral Mosque Kebir-Jami, Weeping Rock, Chokurcha Cave, Red Cave (Kizil-Koba).
The third largest city in Crimea and the easternmost city of the peninsula is located on the coast of the Kerch Bay. Local population- about 148 thousand people. The richest history of the city is more than 2.5 thousand years old, there is a huge number of monuments of the Bosporus and Scythian kingdoms, Tmutarakan, Byzantine villages. Kerch is a great hero city that has immortalized the memory of the events of the Great Patriotic War in numerous monuments and memorials.
Photo © Alexxx1979 / flickr.com
An ancient city in the west of Crimea, the population is just over 106 thousand. Evpatoria is one of the largest cities in Crimea, stands on the shores of the Kalamitsky Bay, there are wonderful sandy beaches and a warm shallow sea. There are many entertainment centers, water parks, attractions, the Juma-Jami mosque, the abode of the dervishes, an ancient aqueduct, Turkish baths, ancient temples. Nearby is the town of Saki with therapeutic mud, which has a large number of health facilities.
Photo © Yuriy Kuzin / flickr.com
The most popular resort of the South Coast with a population of 78.2 thousand people is at the same time the largest city on this coast of Crimea. There are many hotels and rest houses in the city, there is a beautiful embankment, monuments, alleys, a museum of local lore, Chekhov's house-museum, the Yalta zoo "Fairy Tale", "Glade of Fairy Tales", the Uchan-Su waterfall, the Massandra Palace, the famous wine-making factory "Massandra", not far from Yalta - Livadia Palace and Nikitsky Botanical Garden.
Photo © B. Rad / flickr.com
Feodosia - located in the southeastern part of the peninsula ancient city founded by Greek colonists. Now about 70 thousand people live here, which makes this locality one of the largest in terms of population in Crimea. There are few antique buildings here, the excavations begun make it difficult for residential areas, therefore the main architectural monuments have been preserved from the Middle Ages: the remains of the citadel of the Genoese fortress, the walls of Hayots-berd, Armenian temples and the Armenian fountain, the Mufti-Jami mosque. Connoisseurs of art will like the Alexander Grin Literary Memorial Museum, the National Art Gallery of the famous marine painter IK Aivazovsky.
Photo © naiv.super1 / flickr.com
Dzhankoy
An important railway junction in the northern part of the peninsula. According to the latest data, the population was about 39 thousand people. Shallow rivers flow into Dzhankoy, there is no outlet to the sea. The city is not rich in sights: the landscape park-reserve "Kalinovsky", where more than 100 species of birds live, a mosque, the Holy Protection Orthodox Church and a museum of local lore.
Alushta
A well-known resort city of the southern coast of Crimea, the population is about 30 thousand people, which is much less than in Yalta, but nevertheless Alushta is one of the large cities of Crimea. There are many beaches and attractions in Alushta, an aquarium, a dolphinarium, a nature museum and an arboretum, not far from the city (near the village of Luchistoye), Mount Demerdzhi and the famous Valley of Ghosts.
Photo © lazy_lizzy / flickr.com
Bakhchisarai
The former capital of the Crimean Khanate. The city with a population of just over 27 thousand people is located in the steppe zone of the Crimea in the foothills. The main attraction is the Khan's palace Hansaray, no less interesting for tourists is the Fountain of Tears, sung by Alexander Pushkin, mosques and the cave city of Chufut-Kale.
Krasnoperekopsk
Industrial city of Crimea (specializing in chemical production), with a population of just over 26 thousand people. It is located in the southern part of the Perekop Isthmus, next to the North Crimean Canal.
The territory of Crimea was inhabited 3,000 years ago. Its indigenous inhabitants were the Taurus, famous for their warlike character and penchant for piracy. More precisely, this is the first people about whom reliable information was found out. Archaeologists have found the most ancient sites, which are more than 1 million years old. The favorable location of the peninsula at the intersection of trade routes determined its fate, full of conquests. Greeks and Venetians, Scythians and Romans, Goths and Huns, Genoese and Turks, Tatars and Slavs managed to visit here. A rich historical past and traces of different cultures led to the formation in the region in different eras of many different settlements, many of which still exist today.
Top 10 oldest cities in Crimea
Many ancient and earlier settlements that existed in the Crimea have not survived. The most famous of them were:
- Chersonesos Tauric - founded in antiquity by the Greeks, now located on the territory of Sevastopol and protected by UNESCO;
- Panticapaeum is the capital of the powerful Bosporus kingdom, the ruins of which are now on Mount Mithridates in Kerch;
- Kerkinitida is a settlement created by the ancient Greeks, on the site of which Yevpatoria now stands.
The Crimean Republic includes 16 cities, and only two of them were founded in the last century: Krasnoperekopsk in 1932 and Shchelkino in 1978. The rest can boast of a rich, eventful history: at least three appeared more than two thousand years ago, and the formation of a significant part of others falls on the era of the Middle Ages.
Among the most ancient cities of Crimea, from the existing ones, are:
- Kerch - VII century BC e.
- Feodosia - VI century BC e.
- Evpatoria - 497 BC e.
- Pike perch - 212 years old.
- Alushta - VI century.
- Alupka - 960
- Yalta - 1154
- Old Crimea - XIII century.
- Belogorsk - XIII century.
- Bakhchisarai - 1389.
Kerch is the most ancient in Crimea
The most ancient city of the Crimean peninsula is Kerch located in its eastern part. Archaeological research shows that people lived here 100,000 years ago, and in the center of Kerch, scientists have found a mammoth tooth. More than 60 sites date back to the later Mesolithic and Neolithic eras. At first, the local primitive population was engaged in fishing and hunting, later mastered cattle breeding and crafts.
True story the city began in the 7th century BC. e., when the Greek seafarers who were exploring the neighboring regions actively founded new colonies in the Black Sea region. One of them was the settlement of Panticapaeum: it was located on a hill - Mount Mithridates, and was surrounded by other, less famous settlements. Subsequently, they all merged together, forming the urban area of modern Kerch. In 480 BC. e. the peak of the heyday of Panticapaeum came, when he assumed the title of the capital of the Bosporus kingdom - one of the most powerful in the region at that time. Since then, the ruins of the temple of Apollo, the Tsar's mound of the king of the Spartokid dynasty and an impressive necropolis have come down to us.
By the 4th century of the new millennium, after the unsuccessful era of the rule of the Tiberian Julian dynasty and the Hunnic invasion, Panticapaeum finally lost any importance. Two centuries later, the Turks came here, calling the settlement Karsha, which meant "the other side". In the 10th century, the Slavs seized the lands, which changed the toponym in their own way: Korchev. After it was owned by the Genoese, then the Turks, and then the Russians. From this period, military fortresses remained in Kerch: the Turkish Yeni-Kale and the Russian Kerch, buildings of the 18th and 19th centuries, respectively. The main attraction of the resort, the Mithridatskaya Staircase, appeared only in the middle of the last century, but it is worth climbing it for the sake of stunning panoramas.
Feodosia - an old picturesque town
Almost simultaneously with Kerch, and by the forces of the same Miletus Greeks, Theodosius was founded. Unlike the famous neighbor by rating, Feodosia in antiquity did not distinguish itself in anything special, but in 2015 she received the honorary title of the City military glory for the merits of the centuries-old defense of the Fatherland.
The date of the formation of the settlement is vaguely indicated as the 6th century BC. e., since the exact data on the time of appearance does not exist. However, it is reliably known that from 355 BC. e. it already belonged to the territory of the Bosporus kingdom. In this regard, the further destinies of the settlements are similar: Huns, Byzantines, Tatars, Genoese. The latter brought a golden era to the small settlement: they renamed the town to Kafa. The Genoese made it an important commercial trading port and administrative center, from where they ruled the entire Northern Black Sea region: by the 15th century, it could already be compared with Constantinople in size.
They also presented Feodosia with the main tourist attraction of today: a defensive fortress made of limestone from the 14th century. Previously, it skirted an area of 70 hectares, but today only its southern part and several towers are well preserved, among which the tower of St. Constantine with hinged loopholes deserves special attention.
Evpatoria - beautiful and historically attractive
The emergence of Evpatoria - the best modern children's balneo-mud-therapeutic climatic resort not only in Crimea, but also in all countries of the post-Soviet space - dates back to the fifth century, or rather to 497 BC. The healing properties of the local mud have been known since ancient times, when the first reliably known settlement, Kerkinitida, was formed. The settlement was located on the shores of the Kalamitsky Bay and on the cape, today called Karantinniy.
According to some reports, the Greeks from Ionia arrived here a century earlier, and by the 4th century of the last era they were able to create a prosperous trading settlement, which existed in the status of an independent polis that independently developed its own economy. This state of affairs did not last long: in the same century it became dependent on the Kherson kingdom. And if development continued under him, then the Scythians, and then the Huns, destroyed everything. In the Middle Ages, the Turks founded the Gezlev fortress here, and in 1784, by decree of Catherine II, the settlement received the status of a city and was renamed to Evpatoria in honor of the famous ruler Mithridates VI Eupator, who ruled in Kerch in antiquity.
Pontus Euxinsky - Scythian Sea
For world history, Crimea became known for many centuries BC. In ancient times, the peninsula was called Tavrika. This name was recorded by the Byzantine historian of the 6th century AD Procopius of Caesarea. The Old Russian chronicle "The Tale of Bygone Years" gives a slightly modified form of this name - Tavriania. Only in the XII century, the Tatars, who conquered the peninsula, called Crimea greek city Solkhat (now Old Crimea), which became the center of their possessions. Gradually, during the XIV-XV centuries, this name spread to the entire peninsula. The names of the Greek colonies that arose in the Crimea in the 6th century BC. cannot be considered the oldest Crimean place names. Before the arrival of the Greeks in Crimea, numerous tribes lived here, which left their mark on history, archeology, and toponymy.
Crimea belongs to those few places on earth where people have appeared since time immemorial. Here archaeologists have discovered their sites of the Paleolithic - Early Stone Age.
Scientists believe that before the beginning of the divergence of peoples - about 3700 BC. throughout the Caspian steppes of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, the common language of communication was, the roots of which lie in.
The roots of the most ancient names of Crimean places, rivers, mountains, lakes should be sought in the Proto-Indo-European language - Vedic Sanskrit: support, stronghold, tower, tower, pylon.(a related word in Other Russian: KROM - castle, fortification, secluded, hidden from ...; Kromny - outer edge (edge); KROMA - edge, piece of bread;) At the root of the word Kram - kram - fortress, verb “ kR "and" krta "- create, build, make, that is - this is a man-made structure - the Fortress, the Kremlin.
Slavic historian, archaeologist, ethnographer and linguist, author of the 11-volume encyclopedia "Slavic Antiquities" Lubora Hiderle claimed that “... among the northern neighbors of the Scythians mentioned by Herodotus, not only neurons ... but also the Scythians called plowmen and farmers ... were undoubtedly Slavs, who were influenced by the Greco-Scythian culture. "
The first population of Crimea known to us from ancient Greek sources were the Scythians, Taurus and the Cimmerians, who were related or Thracian.
In the southwestern part of the Crimean peninsula, 15 km from Sevastopol, there is an ancient city Balaklava, having rich history dating back over 2500 years.
Since ancient times, it has been a powerful military fortress, created by nature itself. Balaklava harbor is closed by high rocks on all sides from sea storms, and the narrow entrance to the harbor reliably protects it from enemy invasions from the sea. reports that Taurians lived in the Taurida mountains, who knew a lot about the art of war.
Within the Dnieper Left Bank there are two toponyms ancient Slavic species - Perekop, at Sreznevsky - Perekop, possible tracing of relic Indo-Aryan * кrta - "made (that is - dug by hand)" , hence the name Crimea. At about the same place, at the base of the Crimean Peninsula, there is an Old Russian. Oleshye , one of the "inhabited places" by the sea, which from time immemorial - from Herodotovskaya Gilei (‘Y -" forest ") to the present Aleshkovsky (!) Sands - steadfastly conveyed and preserved the image of this "wooded" patch among the surrounding treeless spaces.
The name "Balaklava" comes from the word "strength, might, energy, strength, military strength, army, army". The word "Bala" comes from - RV). Perhaps the name of the harbor is "Bala + Klava" - comes from "Bala" - military, "Klap, kalpate" - klṛ p, kalpate - "to strengthen, strengthen, fortress" (from the root "kḷ p"), that is - Military Fortress.
The ancient Greek geographer and historian Strabo (64 BC - 24 AD) and the Roman writer, author of Natural History Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD) associated the name of the harbor and the military fortress with the name of his son (II century BC) Palak - "the warrior is strong." The names of the god of war in ancient greece - Pallas (Pallas), epithet of the goddess Athena Palada(other Greek Παλλὰς Ἀθηνᾶ) – warrior goddess strategy and wisdom, and the name of the Scythian prince Palak - "warrior" come from the same root.
In the 5th century, on both banks of the Kerch Strait, a powerful one appeared, the inhabitants of which consisted of representatives of various peoples - Greek colonists, Scythians, Meots. Dominant dynasty The Spartakids were of Thracian origin, and the royal guard also consisted of the Thracians. The Proto-Indo-European language has the roots of the language of the Scythians, Cimmerians, Greeks, Goths, which is why they found mutual language and, allowing the interpenetration of cultures and linguistic borrowings on the peninsula, for example, from the Germanic tribes - the Scythians, who were in a single Gothic union of tribes in the Crimea.
The role of the Goths in the life of Crimea was very significant, since even in Byzantine medieval sources Crimea was called Gothia. belongs to the Indo-European group of languages. A few fortified Ostrogothic settlements remained in the Black Sea region in the western mountainous part of Crimea, inhabited by Greeks and subordinate to Byzantium, as well as from the 5th century in the Azov region on the Taman Peninsula, the Ostrogoths at the end of the 4th century were cut off by the invasion of the Huns and other nomads in the Black Sea region. Byzantine Emperor Justinian I built a line of fortifications in the Crimea to protect the settlements of the Ostrogoths (eastern Goths). In Taurida (Crimea) there was a Gothic the fortress city of Mangup, the cities of Doro (Doros), Theodoro, merchants of Goths-meals living on the "table mountain" (near Alushta).
In the 6th century, the Crimean Goths adopted Orthodox Christianity and patronage from Byzantium. In Crimea for a long time the Crimean-Gothic language, dating back to the Ostrogothic dialect, was preserved tribes of the Eastern Goths, who came to the Black Sea region and the Azov region in 150 - 235, and living in the neighborhood with the Greek settlers and the Scythians. Flemish monk V. Rubruk, who testifies in 1253 that the Goths in Crimea at this time they spoke in the "Germanic dialect" ( idioma Teutonicum - "Tavrichesky language").
Spreading power Kiev princes of Ancient Rus on a fairly large part of the peninsula, closely and for a long time brought the population of Crimea closer to the ancient Russian state. There was a kind of gate through which Kievan Rus went out to communicate with the countries of the East. In the first centuries of our era in Crimea appeared Slavs... Their migration to the peninsula is most naturally explained by the so-called great migration of peoples in the II-VII centuries.
From time to time, Byzantine sources recall the Slavs in Tavria. But more full presentation about their life on the peninsula, scientists were able to get only from the era of Kievan Rus. Archaeologists have discovered in the Crimea remnants of material culture, foundations of architectural structures similar to those that were built in the cities of Kievan Rus. Moreover, the fresco paintings and the plaster itself of the Crimean Russian churches are very similar in composition to the fresco paintings of Kiev cathedrals of the 11th-12th centuries.
Much about the ancient Russian population of the Crimea becomes known from written sources. From "Lives of Stefan Surozhsky" find out that at the beginning IX century, the Russian prince Bravlin took possession of the Crimean cities of Korsun (or Kherson, so in the Middle Ages began to be called Chersonesos) and Pike perch... And in the middle of the same century, the ancient Russians settled for a long time in the Azov region, taking possession of the Byzantine city Tamatarkhoy later Tmutarakan, the capital of the future ancient Russian principality of Tmutarakan, part of which stretched into the Crimea. Gradually Russian principality disseminates its power the north-western part of it on the outskirts of Kherson, the entire Kerch peninsula.
Tmutarakansi principality developed in the middle of the 10th century... Remote from other Russian lands, it was under constant pressure from Byzantium, but managed to survive. Successful Vladimir Svyatoslavich's campaign to Kherson in 989 expanded the Old Russian possessions in the Crimea. According to the Russian-Byzantine agreement, Kievan Rus was able to annex to the Tmutarakan principality the city of Bosporus with the outskirts, which received the Russian name Korchev (from the word "cramp" - forge, present-day Kerch).
On the Taman Peninsula, the Tmutarakan stone was found, on which an inscription was carved that in 1068 year Russian prince Gleb Svyatoslavovich “Measured the sea on ice from Tmutarakan to Korchev. 10,000 fathoms and 4,000 fathoms ”.
Arab geographer Idrisi called Kerch Strait "the mouth of the Russian river"... There he even knew a city with the name "Russia". Medieval European and Eastern geographical maps of Crimea have recorded many toponyms, names of cities and settlements, testifying to the long and long stay of the Russians in the Crimea: “ Cosal di Rosia "," Rossia "," Rosmofar "," Rosso "," Rossica "(the latter near Evpatoria), etc.
At the end of the 12th century, the bulk of the Polovtsian nomads, who took possession of the steppes of the northern Black Sea region, cut off the Crimea from Kievan Rus for a long time. Then the Polovtsians destroyed the Tmutarakan principality, but a significant part of the Russian population remained on the peninsula. One of his strong points was the city of Sudak(Russian name Surozh). According to the reports of the Arab writer Ibn al-Athir. At the end of the 12th - beginning of the 13th centuries, many Russian merchants lived in Crimea and the Black Sea was called Russian sea.
The Russian population of the peninsula, as well as representatives of other local peoples, was dealt an irreparable blow by the conquest of the peninsula. Mongol-Tatars after 1223.
sights
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Crimea has been known as a tourist center since the second half of the 19th century. The special popularity of the peninsula among the imperial persons and the highest foreign guests is evidenced by the large number of summer residences - palaces and villas, which to this day make up the architectural appearance of the Crimean cities. Time passes, and Crimea becomes not just a privileged place of rest, but a health resort of the all-Union scale. However, while retaining its mass character, this tradition has undergone transformations. Wild rest defeated organized sanatorium treatment.
Today, Crimea is perceived by many as the focus of sea resorts that popularize beach and leisure... At the same time, the rich and deep history of the peninsula is well-known, the traces of which are preserved by numerous monuments covering the widest time and thematic range. The seven diverse cities presented in our review can rightly be called museums that introduced their guests to the heritage of the ancient, multinational and generous land called Crimea.
Museum, Sightseeing, Historic Landmark
A hero city, one of the three cities of federal significance in Russia, the largest city in Crimea in terms of population, one of the key naval facilities of the country, a large ice-free sea trade port - all these are the definitions of the legendary Sevastopol. The city acquired particular importance from the moment of its foundation, when in 1783 it became the main base of the newly formed fleet of the Russian Empire - the Black Sea Fleet. Sevastopol bravely withstood two defenses - during the Crimean War and during the Great Patriotic War, securing the unofficial status of a city of Russian glory.
Numerous attractions tell about the military-historical heritage of Sevastopol, among which are the world-famous panorama "Defense of Sevastopol 1854-1855", large-scale memorial complexes on the Malakhov Kurgan and Sapun Mountain, the Military-Historical Museum of the Black Sea Fleet, museum complexes "Mikhailovskaya Battery" , "35th Coastal Battery", "Balaklava" (underground submarine base). Near Primorsky Boulevard, on a granite cliff washed by the sea, rises main character Sevastopol - Monument to the Scuttled Ships.
On the Central (City) hill is the majestic Vladimir Cathedral, which has become the burial vault of the famous Russian admirals - Lazarev, Nakhimov, Kornilov, Istomin. Another significant place located in historic center Sevastopol, is the Aquarium Museum - the first in Russia and one of the oldest public marine aquariums in the world, founded in 1897 at the initiative of N.N. Miklouho-Maclay. Sevastopol squares and boulevards are beautiful, the appearance of which is made up of interesting historical and architectural objects. The city has an art museum, four professional theaters, two of which have academic status.
O ancient history the southwestern part of the Crimean peninsula is narrated by unique monuments located in the suburbs of Sevastopol: the ancient settlement of Chersonesos, the Genoese fortress Chembalo in Balaklava, the ancient Klimentovsky cave monastery in Inkerman. The unusually beautiful nature is not just a background for them, but an independent peculiar attraction. The numerous picturesque bays cities.
Sevastopol, surrounded on three sides by the sea, is not inferior to other Crimean resorts in terms of beach holiday, striking not only by the number, but also by the variety of beaches - from wild rocky to comfortable golden sandy ones.
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Ancient, 1, Sevastopol
In ancient times, the central part of the Crimean peninsula was occupied by the fortress city of Naples-Scythian - the capital of the Scythian kingdom. Now the capital of the Republic of Crimea is located here - the glorious city of Simferopol. It has no outlet to the sea. The Salgir River, the longest river in Crimea, flows here.
Being the main transport hub peninsula, the city lives up to its name, which is translated from ancient Greek as "city of benefits", "city-gathering". However, Simferopol gathers not only random guests who perceive the city as an intermediate point on the way to the Black Sea coast but also history buffs. Indeed, whole eras have been imprinted in the appearance of the city. The memory of the late Scythian state is kept by the Scythian settlement of Naples, located on the Petrovsky rocks. A peculiar symbol of the Crimean Tatar city of Akmesjit, the predecessor of Simferopol, is the Kebir-Jami mosque - oldest building in the city, known since the beginning of the 16th century. And, finally, the beginning of the Russian period in life Crimean city denote Orthodox churches of the late 18th - 19th centuries. Almost the same age as Simferopol is the Church of Constantine-Eleninskaya - the first christian temple cities. Ancient cathedrals - Peter and Paul Cathedral, Holy Trinity Cathedral - admire their grandeur. An interesting cult building of the Karaites - Kenassa, erected at the end of the 19th century. During the Great Patriotic War, Simferopol took on a powerful enemy blow, having survived the German occupation. The feat of the defenders of the city was immortalized by the monuments placed in its parks and squares.
The most complete picture of the nature, history and culture of not only Simferopol, but the entire Republic of Crimea is given by the main museums of the city - the Central Museum of Taurida, the Crimean Ethnographic Museum and the Simferopol Art Museum. The city has the oldest theater of the Crimea - the Russian Drama Theater named after M. Gorky, as well as the Musical Theater of the Republic of Crimea, the Puppet Theater and the world's only theater of the Crimean Tatars.
Simferopol is famous for its unique green areas. Old parks founded in the 18th-19th centuries cannot be ignored. A special place among them is occupied by the Botanical Garden of the Tavrichesky National University (Salgirka Park or Vorontsov Park) - one of the largest and most beautiful parks in Simferopol. Young squares of the city are picturesque and cozy.
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The easternmost and most ancient city of Crimea is the city of Kerch, whose age has exceeded a colossal figure - twenty-six centuries! One of the hills of the city - Mount Mithridates - is its historical and geographical center, a place where at the end of the 7th century BC. e. the future Kerch was born, and then - the ancient Greek polis Panticapaeum, which became in 479 BC. the capital of the Bosporus kingdom. The ruins of its Acropolis are now a unique monument of the Antiquity and one of the main attractions of Kerch.
In addition to Panticapaeum, on the territory of Kerch there are other ancient settlements - Nympheus, Tiritaka, Mirmekiy. Many artifacts found during the excavation of the fortified settlements are presented in the famous Kerch Museum of Antiquities. Monuments of funerary architecture of the 4th century have also survived to our time. BC. - Tsarsky and Melek-Chesmensky burial mounds.
Until 1774, that is, before the annexation of Kerch to Russia, the city was part of many states: the Byzantine Empire, the Khazar Kaganate, the Genoese Republic, the Ottoman Empire. The Church of St. John the Baptist, the oldest Orthodox church on the Crimean peninsula, has become a witness of many historical events, the construction of which dates back to the period between the 8th and 9th centuries.
Kerch bears the honorary title of Hero City. During the Great Patriotic War, the front line passed through Kerch four times, in 1941-1944 the most severe occupation regime was established here. Soon after the liberation of the city, on the top of Mount Mithridates, a memorial complex was created - the Obelisk of Glory to the Immortal Heroes and the Eternal Flame.
423 steps of the Great Mithridatskaya Staircase lead to the top of the mountain, which is an outstanding architectural monument the first half of the 19th century. A magnificent panorama of the city and the Kerch Strait opens from the upper observation deck of the stairs.
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Evpatoria, stretching along the Kalamitsky Bay off the western coast of the Crimean Peninsula, is known primarily as a resort town. Every summer season, the number of tourists on vacation is several times higher than its population. Huge popularity small town, of course, due to the presence of beautiful beaches with golden sand and shallow seabed, favorable climate (at the height of summer, the air temperature is usually kept at + 26-28 ° C). However, limiting ourselves to coastal areas, it is impossible to form a complete picture of the city, whose history goes back centuries.
On the site of Evpatoria from the V century. BC e. to the end of the II century. n. e. there was one of the ancient Greek colonies - Kerkinitida. The ancient settlement of the polis is a valuable archaeological complex, and the ruins of the city wall of Kerkinitida today are one of the main historical relics of Evpatoria. The Greek settlement was destroyed by the Scythians. The city here again emerged during the time of the Crimean Khanate. It was called Kezlev (Tur. Gozlev). The sonorous name Evpatoria, which is translated from Greek as "Noble", the city received after the Crimea became part of the Russian Empire.
A typical eastern city of the Middle Ages is the eastern part of modern Yevpatoria, the so-called Old city... The area is distinguished by narrow, crooked streets and ancient buildings. The age of some buildings of the historical part is more than 500 years, among them is the Khan-Jami cathedral mosque, founded in 1552.
A unique historical, architectural and religious monument in Yevpatoria - Tekie Dervishes - the only Muslim monastery in Crimea, founded at the end of the 15th - 16th centuries. Of no less interest is the complex of religious buildings of the early 19th century - the Keraim kenassas. Outstanding monuments of Russian temple architecture are pre-revolutionary Orthodox churches - St. Nicholas Cathedral, the Temple of St. Elijah.
Spa history The town began at the end of the 19th century, when the first mud baths were built, where the healing mud of Lake Moinaki was used. Subsequently were opened medicinal properties mud and waters of other lakes of Evpatoria. There are several mineral springs on the territory of the resort, which, together with numerous other natural factors, makes the rest in Evpatoria incredibly useful.
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On the South Bank Crimean peninsula shines magnificent pearl- the beauty of Yalta. This is one of the sunniest resorts in Crimea, a city with luxurious nature and rich cultural heritage. It is interesting that Yalta acquired the status of a city and the glory of a fashionable resort only in the 19th century, although its history began much earlier ...
Once on the site of the future city, on the picturesque coast of the Black Sea, there was small village Yialos (from Greek - "coast"), founded in the VI-V centuries BC. Greek sailors. Like other cities of Crimea, the settlement passed from hand to hand more than once: from the Tauride Greeks to the Venetians, then to the Genoese, Byzantines; later it entered the possession of the principality of Theodoro, the Ottoman Empire, and, finally, Russia. Cardinal changes took place in the middle of the 19th century, when the highest state officials drew attention to a small town, in the recent past - a fishing village. In the 1860s, the nearest Yalta suburb - Livadia - became the summer residence of the royal family. And by the end of the 19th century, Yalta was turning into a prestigious vacation spot for the Russian aristocracy. It was to this time that the creation of fabulous palaces (Livadia, Massandrovsky, Vorontsov), noble estates and mansions, organically inscribed in the mountain landscape, belong. In pre-revolutionary times, Yalta also attracted distinguished foreign guests. So, for example, the German oil industrialist Baron P. Steingel, who loved to relax in the Crimea, in 1912 on the edge of the Aurora rock was built gothic castle- the famous "Swallow's Nest".
Without belittling the value and beauty of the palace and park ensembles, we will give the priority in the ranking of the region's attractions to the Yalta nature. Imprisoned in the stone embrace of the Crimean mountains, Yalta is open only to the sea and the sun. The terrain is extremely varied. There are mountain ranges, one of which includes the famous Ai-Petri peak; hills covered with dense pine and beech forests; deep gorges with waterfalls; valleys of mountain rivers, on one of which the most big waterfall in Crimea - the Uchan-Su waterfall with a height of 98 meters. Yalta, immersed in greenery, boasts an abundance of exotic plants: palms, cypresses, magnolias, wisterias grow here ...
One of the most beautiful places in the city and the most visited street in Crimea is Yalta Embankment. Today it is a developed resort area with numerous restaurants, cafes, attractions. On the embankment is the president-hotel "Tavrida", previously a hotel of the same name, where in different time stayed Rimsky-Korsakov, Nekrasov, Chekhov, Bunin, Mayakovsky, Stanislavsky, Chaliapin. Not far from the hotel building there is an entrance to cable car"Yalta-Gorka", which makes it possible to enjoy the views of the city from a bird's eye view.
Outstanding figures of art and literature lived in Feodosia at different times - the world famous marine painter I.K. Aivazovsky, whose name is today the Feodosia Picture Gallery; an outstanding writer, the brightest representative of neo-romanticism A. Green, to whom the literary-memorial museum in Feodosia is dedicated. The Feodosia Museum of Local Lore, which is the oldest provincial museum institution in Russia, tells about the history, culture, natural wealth of the southeastern Crimea.
During the Great Patriotic War, the city survived the German occupation. Fierce battles were fought here, leading to significant destruction. For courage, endurance and mass heroism, Feodosia was awarded the honorary title - City of Military Glory.
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The fortress city of Aluston has been known since the 6th century. The fortification, built by order of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I, retained the role of an important coastal defensive point for all states that owned it in the Middle Ages: the Byzantine Empire, the Khazar Kaganate, the principality of Theodoro. The fortress lost its strategic importance after the conquest of Crimea by the Turks. Remaining ruins ancient structure is one of the main attractions of the peninsula.
Like Yalta, by the end of the 19th century, Alushta turned from a quiet seaside village into a popular resort. Among the curious pre-revolutionary buildings - the mansion of General Golubov, known as the dacha "Golubka"; the mansion of the merchant N.D. Stakheeva, Palace of Princess Gagarina. In 1941-1944. the city was under German occupation. A number of monuments of Alushta are dedicated to military-historical events.
Soon after the end of the war, in the middle of the last century, a real tourist boom began in Alushta, when dozens of sanatoriums and boarding houses were opened here. Today the city still attracts tourists. On its territory there are a large number of beaches, attractions, there is an aquarium with a large collection of freshwater and marine fish, a dolphinarium, and interesting museums.
Alushta, located in a vast valley on the southern coast of Crimea, is surrounded by an amphitheater Crimean mountains... From the west, the high massif Babugan-Yayla rises above the city, in the north-west - Mount Chatyr-Dag, in the north - Demerdzhi. The mountain slopes are covered with dense beech and pine forests... In the picturesque surroundings of Alushta, the shooting of the famous Soviet films "Prisoner of the Caucasus", "Hearts of Three", "Ships storm the bastions" and others took place.
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The history of Kerch is more than 2.5 thousand years old. This city has a large number of Byzantine villages, monuments Bosporan and Scythian kingdoms, Tmutarakan. Even a gravity water supply system, built during the Byzantine Empire, has been preserved in Kerch.
There is an Orthodox church in Kerch - ancient working temple, built by the Byzantines about 1400 years ago. There is even such a version (it was put forward by the German historian Theodor Mommsen back in the 19th century) that the famous leader of the slaves, Spartacus, who raised an uprising in the Roman Empire, was born in Kerch.
Scientific Council of the Institute of Archeology Russian Academy Sciences (RAS) recognized Kerch as the most ancient city in Russia. This was announced by the director of the East Crimean Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve Tatyana Umrikhina.
“After the report of the head of the Panticapaeum expedition, Vladimir Tolstikov, the scientific council recognized that the city of Panticapaeum (modern Kerch) was founded in 610-590. BC e. The corresponding paper has arrived at the East Crimean Nature Reserve, and now we are preparing documents for the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Government of Russia, so that this date would be officially fixed ”,- T. Umrikhina said and added: by their decision, scientists confirmed the status of Kerch as the most ancient city in the country.
Tatyana Viktorovna clarified: Kerch is also the capital of the first state in the country.
“Panticapaeum was the center of the Bosporus kingdom. Therefore, we can talk about the most ancient statehood in territory of Russia»,
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she stressed.
Before the reunification of Crimea with Russia, the Dagestan Derbent was considered the most ancient city in the country: in September 2015, it solemnly celebrated its 2000th anniversary.