Chersonesos Tauric: history, recreation and attractions

Chersonesos Tauride appears in any modern textbook of ancient history. Every schoolchild has heard about ancient Greek culture, and quite a few people are interested in it. At the same time, a trip to Greece is the best, but still optional, option in order to get acquainted with Hellenic culture and history, because the legendary Chersonesos is located on the Crimean peninsula. To get here, you do not need a visa, tens of millions of people live within bus accessibility of this place, therefore such a monument of history and architecture should be included in the compulsory program.

Chersonesos is the greatest value as an ancient city that existed for about two thousand years... It is often called the ancient Greek polis, which is not entirely fair, since in fact it existed until the late Middle Ages, and therefore, at the end, there was no talk of any ancient Greeks. At this time, it already belonged to the Genoese, and in fact Italy is located even farther from our edges than Greece, therefore such an attraction acquires special value, especially since it is, as it were, two in one.

Objectively speaking, Chersonesos was not the only ancient Greek colony on the Black Sea coast, however, experts distinguish several tribes that made up the Hellenic ethnos. This city was founded by the Dorians, and in their case it is, indeed, the only policy in the region, which is why it is unique.In addition, the city itself is not left here, only its ruins have survived, but in other similar places only experienced archaeologists can recognize the former settlement, and here traces of ancient buildings are clearly visible to any tourist.

The importance of the dilapidated city is recognized even by international organizations - in particular, the policy itself and the adjacent territory, which was once agricultural, included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. At the same time, international organizations have suspended monitoring of the object since 2014, since the world community does not recognize the legality of the annexation of the peninsula to Russia.

The year of the founding of the settlement at this place is not known exactly - a Hellenic colony called Chersonesos was founded in 424-421 BC, but there are hypotheses according to which people lived here before. Thus, the total age of the settlement is at least two and a half thousand years, if rounded up a little. The colony was founded by settlers from the city of Heraclea Pontic, which existed in Asia Minor.

The small village grew rapidly and spread its influence first to the adjacent territories of the Heraclean Peninsula, and then to the western parts of northern Crimea, divided with the neighboring Bosporan Kingdom.

The historical value of Chersonesos lies in the fact that it was a typical polis. In the center there was a fortress, which was actually a city, while the entire Heracles peninsula, which is 100 square kilometers, was divided into uniform allotments - this is the chora, that is, the adjacent agricultural land. Due to the fact that, according to the ancient rules, the choir is part of the city, ancient Chersonesos can be considered territorially larger than modern Sevastopol. The Hellenes cultivated mainly cereals and grapes, the props for the latter are still well preserved in some places.

For its region, Chersonesos was a real political wonder, since it was governed by democratic principles. At the same time, he was not cut off from the rest of the Hellenistic world, but took part in general holidays and sports. The authority of the city can be judged by the fact that after 100-200 years silver coins were issued here, which were taken into account everywhere in the Black Sea region.

The specific location of the polis on the edge of the ancient Greek world, and then on the edge of European civilization, led to the fact that for almost its entire history the city was in a state of war with certain opponents. In the II century BC, a long-term bloody war broke out with the Scythians, during which the Chersonesians were repeatedly close to losing and losing their own city, while many territories previously controlled by them were lost. For help, it was decided to turn to the neighbors from the Bosporus kingdom, the same Hellenes, and they really came to the rescue, but after that they had to forget about democracy for a while - the winners decided to control their ward.

In order to regain freedom, Chersonesos began to contact more and more actively with the Roman Empire, which by that time had already become a very influential power. The Romans played with the neighboring Bosporus kingdom, which often acted as an ally of Rome, in geopolitics - in order to appease the local kings, they were reassigned to Chersonesos, if they began to show inappropriate ambition, the Dorian polis was granted freedom.During the 1st century BC, similar changes occurred more than once.

Since the beginning of our era, Chersonesus again becomes a conditionally independent state, since the authorities in it necessarily look back at the decisions of Rome. At the same time, a similar Roman form of government is established in the form of an oligarchy - there is no sole ruler, but the city is governed by a narrow group of representatives of selected wealthy families, who pass on their influence by inheritance.

Such a relationship only strengthened after the Scythians again approached the city in the 60s of the 1st century, and the Romans sent a military expedition that defeated the aggressors. After that, the Roman troops did not go anywhere, and Chersonesos became their stronghold in the region.

The eastern location of the city, as well as the predominant Greek population, led to the fact that already in the 1st century AD, the first local Christians began to appear in Chersonesos. After a couple of centuries, Christianity from a marginal religion, whose representatives are persecuted by law, turns into a state religion, and after that, in the polis, as in other parts of the empire, they begin to massively destroy ancient temples and monuments, as well as theaters. Instead, Christian architecture appears - churches and chapels.

The geographical position of the city played a cruel joke on it during the Great Migration - from the IV century, Chersonesos was one of the first to meet more and more barbarians, each of whom strove to seize the polis. As we remember from school history lessons, in the end the Roman Empire could not withstand their onslaught, but Chersonesus, backed up by help and its own fortress walls, was able to withstand. Historical perturbations led to the fact that the city again changed the management system - now it has become even not oligarchic, but feudal.

Since the eastern part of the former Roman Empire was able to maintain its integrity, and was closer to Chersonesos both geographically and culturally, the polis from the V century became part of this state, known to us as the Byzantine Empire.

Chersonesus existed in the status of a Byzantine city for the next several centuries, but it had a hard time. On all sides, the fortress was surrounded by nomads, from the Khazars to the Pechenegs and Polovtsians, who repeatedly encroached on the freedom and independence of the ancient polis.

However, the city kept up well, and for all the centuries the enemies managed to capture it only once, and not by those who were already mentioned, but by the Russians who entered the city in 988. The issue between the Byzantine emperor Vasily II and the Kiev prince Vladimir was resolved traditionally for those times - the first gave his daughter in marriage to the second, and on that they made up.

At the beginning of the 13th century, the Byzantine Empire began to collapse rapidly, and chaos reigned on the Crimean peninsula. For some time, representatives of the Orthodox Trebizond Empire ruled here, but this state was relatively weak and could not effectively resist the onslaught of the nomadic peoples, who at that very moment were especially active in sorting out relations with all neighbors.

From the north, the Tatar-Mongols pressed in, from the territory of the former Byzantium, the Seljuk Turks attacked, who managed to close all trade in the region. Trade routes shifted, but representatives of the Apennine Peninsula again appeared in the region - this time not the Romans, but the Genoese.

For some time, the ancestors of modern Italians, who were noble trade masters, controlled Chersonesos, but the consequences of the destruction caused by the Tatars could not be quickly eliminated, and in the middle of the XIV century the city was still far from its former greatness.

Of course, the locals made little attempts to revive what was destroyed, taking care of both functional and aesthetic aspects. However, the city was still destined to fall - in the second half of the XIV century it was destroyed three more times, and the first 2 times they were new enemies - the Lithuanians.

For the sake of fairness, it should be noted that the Genoese did not care too much about the future of Chersonesos - they only controlled it, while their main forces to support development and trade were directed to their own colonies in the Crimea. For this reason, by the beginning of the 15th century, the once great city and large regional center had turned into a modest fishing village. After just 100 years, Martin Bronevsky, the Polish ambassador, who visited this place, found only ruins.

Sevastopol, as you know, is not part of the Crimea; it is on the territory of this city (in administrative terms) that the ancient Chersonesos is located. If you are guided by the districts of the city, then the ruins are located in the Gagarinsky district. Moreover, the reserve even has an address according to which it is located on Ancient Street, but be prepared for the fact that there is actually no street in the conventional sense.

If you look at the map, Chersonesos is located at the entrance to the Sevastopol Bay, on its southern coast. It is difficult to talk about the distance from the city, since in fact the ancient fortress itself is located within the city limits, that is, it is part of the city.

The Crimean peninsula is most interesting for tourists in the summer, therefore it is not surprising that the reserve is open for visits for a longer time during the season. At the same time, Khersones, not being a beach resort, works all year round, which means that you can visit it at any time of the year.

From May to September, the museum is open to visitors from 8.30 to 20.00, in the cold 7 months from October to April - from 8.30 to 17.30. At the same time, deviations from the standard schedule in honor of the holidays are theoretically possible, therefore, in terms of the relevance of the schedule, it is best to focus on the official website of the institution. In addition, when visiting, it should be borne in mind that the schedule is not uniform for the entire territory - for example, admission of new guests may end earlier, you may stay inside longer, and the toilet and store may operate on their own schedule. It is important to note that the museum's schedule is constantly changing.

As for the cost, it all depends on the objects that you would like to see. Guests who are not yet 16 years old, as well as residents of Sevastopol, are allowed to enter the territory free of charge, but, interestingly, with this method of visiting, the toilet is paid separately. Without falling under the named categories, an adult can get to the territory of Chersonesos for 100 rubles.

At the same time, the antique and Byzantine expositions are paid separately, the first costs 150 rubles, and the second - 100, and these tickets already involve a visit to the toilet, which is included in the price. If you intend to visit everything that is on the territory of the museum, you can pay 350 rubles for a single ticket - as you can see, there are no discounts, but the benefit is present in the form of the opportunity to visit not only permanent, but also temporary exhibitions. Students, upon presentation of the relevant document, can purchase all of the indicated tickets for half the cost.

If you nevertheless refused an organized excursion and decided to wander around the city on your own, you need to at least roughly imagine what it is famous for, and what exactly you need to see here. Let's briefly walk through the iconic places of the ruins.

The central square of the ancient Greek city-states was an obligatory architectural feature of the city and was present everywhere, where the form of government was democracy - it was here that all pressing issues were resolved. As it should be, it is located in the middle of the main street, it was laid down in the project when the policy was founded, and then for two millennia it retained its significance without being rebuilt even once. In ancient times, it was here that the main altars and temples were located, as well as statues of ancient gods.

With the official adoption of Christianity in the Roman Empire, a complex of seven temples was built here, and it was here that Vladimir was allegedly baptized, who was going to marry the Byzantine princess Anna. At the end of the century before last, it was decided to build the Vladimir Cathedral on this site as a tribute to the baptism of Rus, and although it was thoroughly destroyed during the Second World War, after the collapse of the USSR, it was restored.

The amphitheater in Chersonesos is not in the best condition, but at a glance it becomes clear what exactly is in front of you. This is the only antique theater on the territory of the post-Soviet space, even despite the presence of other Black Sea colonies of the Hellenes. All the ancient attributes of theatrical life took place here - and mass festivities, and drama performances, and gladiator fights.

The basilica is the ruins of an ancient church, whose age is estimated at a good one and a half thousand years. Despite the fact that the walls were destroyed by time and modern vandals, the ancient architecture is still visible.

Zeno's Tower is a well-preserved defensive structure, which clearly shows why ancient Chersonesos could not be captured by any enemies for so long. Excavations here periodically continue to this day, archaeologists find more and more artifacts in the form of sculptures, paintings and other handicrafts of great historical value.

The bell is one of the largest sights of Chersonesos. Don't be surprised that it has been preserved so well - compared to most of the ruins around it, the bell is relatively new. There are two versions of how and when it appeared. According to the first, it was cast back in 1778 in Taganrog, and 30 years later it was brought to the site of the planned construction of the cathedral.

However, the cathedral was not built then, and after the Crimean War of 1853-56. it was taken abroad as a trophy. It was allegedly returned back only in 1913. This version is considered official, but there is also an alternative one - a bell was cast on it in 1890 especially for the Vladimir Cathedral, and in 1925 the Soviet government, which created a museum here, decided to find practical applications for the construction, and carried it ashore, making a sound Lighthouse.

Naturally, the history of such an ancient city simply cannot but contain interesting pages that not everyone knows about. If you were on an independent excursion, such information could pass you by, however, we will be happy to share.

• In many states, the practice of expelling unreliable citizens somewhere to the north, away from the capital, was used, and for Byzantium it was Chersonesos perfectly suited for this role.Whoever found itself here, falling out of favor - among the famous prisoners, for example, even two popes (Clement I and Martin I), as well as the former emperor Justinian II.

• Awareness of the historical significance of Chersonesos occurred in the century before last, therefore it was often visited by the first persons of Greece (as the descendants of the founding fathers) and Russia (as the controlling state). For example, Queen Olga of Greece and Prince George came here, and from the Russian side - Emperors Alexander III and Nicholas II.

• There is a widespread version that the modern city of Kherson was named by Empress Catherine II in honor of Chersonesos, but experts are critical in this regard - at least in those days, the remnants of the Hellenic polis were on the territory of the independent Crimean Khanate, and interest in them was by no means so as in subsequent centuries.

• The bell from Chersonesus even made it into the cinema - it can be seen in the Soviet film adaptation of "The Adventures of Buratino".

• Recently, the ruins of Chersonesos have repeatedly found themselves on the banknotes of different states. Thus, characteristic landscapes can be found on an old banknote of 1 Ukrainian hryvnia, and since 2017 - on the back of 200 Russian rubles.

• In 2009, Ukrainian scientists, in cooperation with their American colleagues, carried out fundamental work to digitize the entire set of documents present on the territory of the museum. To understand the scale of the work, it should be said that the digital version required as many as 75 DVDs.

• If Putin is to be believed, Chersonese is of tremendous importance for the entire Orthodox world, as the Russian president has compared it to the Temple Mount in Israeli Jerusalem, a sacred place for Muslims and Jews. Such a statement sounds quite loud, given that the city was never considered a recognized center of Christianity, and the fact of the baptism of the Kiev prince Vladimir has not been proven here.

• In 2015, a scandal erupted when the local authorities of Sevastopol decided to appoint a clergyman as the new director of the reserve. Even the collective rebelled - apparently, the employees, who are in love with history, were afraid that less attention would be paid to the actual ancient monuments, while the emphasis would be on turning the museum into a Christian shrine, which it definitely cannot be considered.

For even more information about Tauric Chersonesos, see the next video.