Tauric Chersonesos: history, leisure and attractions

Tauric Chersonesos appears in any modern textbook of ancient history. Every student has heard about the ancient Greek culture, and quite a lot of people are interested in it. At the same time, a trip to Greece is the best, but still an 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 in bus access from this place, because such a monument of history and architecture should be included in the mandatory program.

Chersonesus is a greatest value as an ancient city that existed for about two thousand years. It is often called the ancient Greek policy, which is not entirely true, since in fact it existed until the late Middle Ages, and therefore at the end of any ancient Greeks we were no longer talking. At that time, it already belonged to the Genoese, and after all, Italy is even farther from our edges than Greece, because such a landmark acquires special value, especially since it represents two in one.

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

The significance of a dilapidated city is recognized even by international organizations - in particular, the policy itself and the surrounding area, once formerly agricultural, included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site. At the same time, international organizations have suspended monitoring of the object since 2014, as the world community does not recognize the legality of joining the peninsula to Russia.

The year of foundation of the settlement at this place is definitely unknown - a Hellenic colony called Chersonesos was founded in 424-421 BC, but there are hypotheses that people lived here before. Thus, the total age of the settlement is at least two and a half thousand years, if a little rounded up. The colony was founded by immigrants from the city of Hercules Pontic, which existed in Asia Minor.

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

The historical value of Chersonesos lies in the fact that it was a typical policy. In the center 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 a choir, that is, adjacent agricultural land. Due to the fact that, according to the ancient rules of the choir, it is part of the city, ancient Khersones can be considered territorially larger than modern Sevastopol. The Greeks grew mainly cereals and grapes, the supports for the latter are still well preserved in some places.

For his region, Chersonesus was a real political curiosity, since it was governed by democratic principles. At the same time, he was not divorced 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 already 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 at the edge of the ancient Greek world, and then at the edge of European civilization, led to the fact that for almost its entire history the city was at war with various opponents. In the II century BC, a long-term bloody war broke out with the Scythians, during which the Khersonians 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 increasingly engage with the Roman Empire, which by this time had already become a very influential power. The Romans played with the neighboring Bosporus kingdom, which often served as an ally of Rome, in geopolitics - to appease local kings, they were subordinated to Chersonese, if they began to show inappropriate ambitiousness, they granted freedom to the Dorian policy.During the 1st century BC, such changes occurred repeatedly.

From the beginning of our era, Chersonesos 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 rich families who inherit their influence.

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 this, the Roman troops did not disappear, and Chersonesus 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 prosecuted by law, turns into a state religion, and after that, in the polis, as in other parts of the empire, ancient temples and monuments, as well as theaters, are massively destroyed. Instead, Christian architecture appears - churches and chapels.

The geographical position of the city played a cruel joke with him during the Great Migration - from the 4th century, Chersonesus was one of the first to meet more and more barbarians, each of whom sought to capture the polis. As we recall from the school lessons of history, in the end, the Roman Empire could not withstand their onslaught, but Chersonese, backed by help and its own fortress walls, could resist. Historical perturbations led to the fact that the city again changed the management system - now it has become not even oligarchic, but feudal.

Since the eastern part of the former Roman Empire was able to maintain its integrity, and was closer to Chersonesus both geographically and culturally, the policy from the 5th century became part of this state, known to us as the Byzantine Empire.

In the status of the Byzantine city of Chersonese, the next several centuries existed, but it was difficult for him. From all sides, the fortress was surrounded by nomads, from the Khazars to the Pechenegs and Polovtsy, who repeatedly encroached on the freedom and independence of the ancient polis.

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

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

From the north, the Tatar-Mongols were running out, from the territory of the former Byzantium, the Seljuk Turks attacked, who managed to close all trade in the region to themselves. Trade routes shifted, but representatives of the Apennine peninsula reappeared in the region - this time not the Romans, but the Genoese.

For some time, the ancestors of modern Italians, who were notable masters of trade, controlled Chersonese, 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, local residents gradually made attempts to revive the ruined, cared about both functional aspects and aesthetic ones. 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 it was another new enemy - the Lithuanians.

In fairness, it should be noted that the Genoese did not care too much about the future of Chersonesos - they only controlled it, while the main forces to support development and trade were sent to their own colonies in 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 only 100 years, Martin Bronevsky, the Polish ambassador, who visited this place, found only the ruins.

Sevastopol, as you know, is not part of Crimea, it is on the territory of this city (administratively) that the ancient Khersones is located. If you focus on 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 Drevnaya Street, but be prepared for the fact that there is really no street in the conventional sense.

If you look at the map, then Khersones 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 in the city, 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 in the season the reserve is open for visits for a longer time. At the same time, Khersones, not being a beach resort, works year-round, which means 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, please note that the schedule is not uniform for the whole territory - for example, admission of new guests may end earlier, you can stay longer inside, and the toilet and the store can work according to 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 under the age of 16, as well as residents of Sevastopol, are allowed to enter the territory for free, but, interestingly, with this method of visiting, the toilet is paid separately. Without falling into the above categories, an adult can enter the territory of Chersonesos for 100 rubles.

Antique and Byzantine expositions are paid separately, the first costs 150 rubles, and the second costs 100, and these tickets already include a toilet, included in the price. If you intend to visit everything that is on the territory of the museum, you can lay out 350 rubles for a single ticket - there are no discounts, as you can see, 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 these tickets for half the cost.

If you still abandoned the organized tour and decided to wander around the city on your own, you need to at least roughly imagine what he is famous for, and what exactly needs to be seen here. Let us briefly go through the iconic places of the ruins.

The central square of the ancient Greek policies was an obligatory architectural feature of the city and was present everywhere, where democracy was a form of government - this is where all pressing issues were addressed. As it should be, it is located in the middle of the main street, was laid down in the project when the polis was founded, and then for two millennia kept its significance without being reconstructed 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 churches is being built here, and it was here that Vladimir was allegedly baptized, about to marry the Byzantine princess Anna. At the end of the year before last, it was decided to build the Vladimir Cathedral on this site as a tribute to the baptism of Russia, and although it was thoroughly destroyed during the Second World War, after the collapse of the USSR it was restored.

The amphitheater in Khersones 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 in the territory of the former Soviet Union, even despite the presence of other Black Sea colonies of the Hellenes. All the ancient attributes of theatrical life took place here - mass celebrations, dramas, and gladiatorial 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 are destroyed by time and modern vandals, ancient architecture is still visible.

Zeno Tower is a well-preserved defensive structure, which clearly demonstrates why ancient Chersonesus could not be captured by any enemies for such a long time. Excavations here periodically continue to this day, archaeologists are finding more and more artifacts in the form of sculptures, paintings and other crafts of great historical value.

The bell is one of the largest attractions of Chersonesos. Do not be surprised that it has been preserved so well - compared to most of the ruins around 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 they brought it to the site of the planned construction of the cathedral.

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

Naturally, in the history of such an ancient city there simply cannot be curious pages that not everyone knows about. If you were on a self-guided tour, such information could pass by you, but we will share it with pleasure.

• In many states, the practice of expelling unreliable citizens somewhere north away from the capital was used, and for Byzantium it was Chersonesus who was perfectly suited for this role.Whoever finds himself here, falling into disgrace - the number of famous prisoners, for example, includes even two popes (Clement I and Martin I), as well as the former emperor Justinian II.

• Awareness of the historical significance of Chersonesos happened back in the century before last, because it was often visited by the first persons of Greece (as descendants of the founding fathers) and Russia (as the controlling state). For example, Queen of Greece Olga 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 Empress Catherine II in honor of Khersones, but experts were critical in this regard - at least in those days the remnants of the Hellenic policy were located on the territory of the independent Crimean Khanate, and interest in them was not at all that as in subsequent centuries.

• The bell from Chersonesos even got into the cinema - it can be seen in the Soviet film adaptation of “Pinocchio's adventures”.

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

• In 2009, Ukrainian scientists, cooperating with their American counterparts, carried out fundamental work on digitizing the entire range of documents present in the museum. To understand the scale of work, it should be said that the digital version required as many as 75 DVDs.

• According to Putin, Chersonesus is of great importance for the entire Orthodox world, since the Russian president compared it to the Temple Mount in Israeli Jerusalem, which is 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 Prince Vladimir of Kiev was not proved 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, those who fell in love with history were afraid that less attention would be paid to the ancient monuments themselves, while the emphasis would be on turning the museum into a Christian shrine, which it cannot be considered unequivocally.

See more information about Tauric Chersonesos in the next video.