Panticapaeum, Kerch: history and modernity
Look at what's left of the antiquecities, someone goes to Greece or Italy. We will go to the Crimea and look at Panticapaeum in Kerch. An ancient city, which recently struggles for the status of the most ancient city on the territory of the Russian Federation, attracts tourists.
The capital of the Cimmerian Bosphorus
On Mount Mithridates, near the Panticapaeum River, at 7Centenary BC settled immigrants from the ancient Greek city of Miletus. They are considered to be the founders of the Panticapaeum settlement, which in translation means "fishing way". In the 480's BC. there is a unification of the cities of the two peninsulas - Taman and Kerch - with the formation of the Bosporus kingdom with the ruler Archeanaktom. Settlement becomes the polis and the capital of this kingdom. The dynasty of the rulers of Spartacus replaced the previous one in 438 BC, it was with them that Panticapaeum became a great city of the ancient world.
What was he like
It was a big policy, up to a hundred hectares. The city, which, according to ancient ideas, was on the border of Europe and Asia, in the strait between two seas, played the role of an important commercial point. To know lived on Mount Mithridates in the acropolis - the central city, and from the sea a view of the magnificent palaces and terraces. In the 6th century BC. e. the construction of the temple of Apollo, which was recognized as the patron saint of the city, was completed. On the east side there was a harbor and docks, capable of accommodating up to 30 ships. The city was surrounded by a defensive wall up to 10 meters high. And behind these walls were the apartment houses of the Panticapaeans and shopping areas. Here they traded grain, fish and wine. The city minted gold, silver and copper coins, which became the only monetary unit of the Bosporus kingdom. They depicted a griffin (a mystical creature with a cat's body and a bird's head), the god of wine Pan or ears of wheat. These coins are the pride of domestic museums and private collections, and some are sold at international auctions for fabulous money.
Mithridates VI in the history of Panticapaeum
Mount Mithridates, where the Greeks founded the policy, is namedin honor of the greatest commander and one of the rulers of the Bosporan kingdom (107-63 BC). Mithridates VI Evpator freely mastered all the languages that existed then. He was so fabulously rich that he executed his subjects, pouring molten gold into his mouth. Growing up in a dynasty, once close to Alexander the Great, struggling with his brothers and sisters since childhood, he was a man of steel will, even the Great Rome made him afraid. During his life he survived three wars, and died on this mountain, betrayed by his son Pharnak (63 BC). The marble armchair, which was recently discovered by archaeologists, according to legends, was the favorite place of this triumphant.
Borders, the heyday and decline of the Bosporus
To the east the kingdom occupied territory beforeCaucasian mountains. The western border was the territory of modern Feodosia. The northernmost outpost of Tanais was at the mouth of the Don River. The boundaries of the Bosporan kingdom were constantly changing, then increasing, then becoming the borders of the policy itself. In addition to the Greeks here settled Scythians, Sinds, Sarmatians and Dandarians. The Bosporan kingdom existed in history for 900 years, and Panticapaeum experienced with it periods of prosperity and oblivion. The rulers of these territories waged constant wars with Rome and the barbarians. The Huns destroyed Panticapaeum-Kerch in the year 375. The city is burned and destroyed, the inhabitants are killed or become slaves. Thus ended the first era of the existence of this policy.
Different names - city one
During the following millennia Panticapaeum developed in Kerch, its history changed the names of the city:
- In the 6th century the city is part of the Byzantine state under the name of Bosporus.
- In the 7th century the Khazars enter it and name the city of Karsh.
- In 9-10 centuries it becomes the capital of the Slavic Tmutarakan principality and is called Korchev.
- In the 12th century Panticapaeum - again part of Byzantium.
- In 1318 it was conquered by the Genoese, and the city of Cherkio became part of their provinces.
- And in 1475 the Turks build here the fortress of Yeni-Kale, which became an outpost of the Ottoman state.
- In 1774 the Panticapaeum was conquered by the Russians in Kerch, where they built a fortress with the same name.
Wars of the last centuries
After the Russo-Turkish War in 1774Panticapaeum in Kerch finally became part of the Russian Empire, which was enshrined in the Kuchuk-Kainardzhye agreement between Catherine II and the Sultan Selim Girey. The city is experiencing an era of rapid construction and economic take-off, which was interrupted during the Kramskoy War (1853-1856). The wars of the 20th century also left their mark on these lands. Fierce fighting during the Second World War destroyed both Kerch and Panticapaeum. But the city survived both the wars and the unstable 90s of the last century. Confirming the status of the resort city, Kerch and today is happy to meet tourists.
History of excavations
In 1859, the decree of Alexander II createsThe Imperial Archaeological Commission. And from this moment begins the official history of excavations in Panticapaeum. Before that, many explorers, travelers and just adventurers were looking for the untold wealth of Mithridates, hidden in barrows. The legend of the golden horse of Mithridates is alive and alive today. From 1876 to 1880 55 mounds, two catacombs, more than a hundred burials were discovered. Today, the ruins of Panticapaeum on Mount Mithridates and the famous Adzhimushkay catacombs are included in the exposition of the Kerch Museum. The preserved defensive structures, houses and crypts, public buildings are open to tourists. And this is only part of the excavation. The ruins of the cities of Tiritaka, Ilurat and Nymphaeus are marked by banners. And in the water area of the Kerch Strait are found the ruins of the port of Acre, where according to legend the god of ancient Greek Achilles was born
Address of this object of cultural heritage - st. Chekhov 1A, and it is located in the heart of Kerch. The path to the summit of Mithridates can be overcome by the Great Mithridates staircase (51 Army Street). This is in itself a historical structure. It was built by the Italian Alexander Digby (1832-1840) in the middle of the nineteenth century. 432 steps of a spiral structure of gray stone in the style of classicism look majestic and solemn, on the rails sit griffins - the symbol of Kerch. At the top, where the Obelisk of Glory stands today and the eternal fire burns (by the way, the first monument to the heroes of that war in the Soviet Union), until 1944 stood the mausoleum of the mayor of Stempovsky - a chapel of eight meters high. The trail from the end of the staircase will lead tourists to the majestic ruins of Panticapaeum, the main attraction of which is an antique arch with a carved stone portico, miraculously preserved during the mass bombings of the Second World War.
Why else should you visit Kerch
This one of the most ancient Russian cities will surprisetourist not only the ruins of Panticapaeum. All the sights of the city are in its center. So, the Church of the Precursor is in the heart of Kerch. This monument of Byzantine culture with a thousand-year history was completed in the 19th century - a bell tower and a chapel were added to the cruciform temple. Right in the center of the bus station is the burial mound - Melek-Chismensky funeral crypt. It is dated by the times of Plato and Aristotle. Stepped descent will lead to a burial chamber measuring 4 by 4 meters. Unfortunately, the crypt is empty - it was ransacked a long time ago. The Turkish fortress of Yeni-Kale, built in the narrowest part of the strait, will surprise with steep walls and a bastion with defensive towers. And here you can see the Royal burial mound - the burial place of one of the Spartocides, while the oldest burial site in the entire former Soviet Union, and the military memorial - Adzhimushkay catacombs with an impressive museum exposition.
Over 26 centuries the city of Panticapaeum and its historyresidents excite the imagination of historians and simply interested citizens. The place, covered with legends, is waiting for its visitors. And although today it is only the ruins of Panticapaeum, but in the imagination of the tourist there arises a glorious Hellenic policy with the temples of Apollo and the place of the death of the richest Mithridates VI. Excavations on Mount Mithridates continue, archeologists find objects that belonged to the inhabitants of the Bronze Age. The mountain still did not reveal all the secrets of Mithridates-triumphant.
