Kalos Limen Black Sea. medieval period. Architectural features of the settlement Kalos Limen

Representing the small village of Chernomorskoe, Kalos Limen is the oldest and most significant archaeological site in the North-Western Crimea, being at a great distance from other ancient cities of the peninsula. It was located in a convenient harbor, which was the same in the location of all Greek settlements, which gave them a lot of advantages, and the specified settlement was also given the name - Beautiful Harbor, which is fully consistent with reality.

The policy owned quite extensive and fertile lands, and agricultural products, or rather its volumes, began to bring a good income, the welfare of citizens increased, but the envy of neighbors grew along with it. For this reason, the settlement quickly lost its independence and almost all the time of its existence was in the sphere of influence of the Bosporus, and the proximity of the steppe peoples determined its largely tragic fate.

Where is the ancient policy in the Crimea?

The ancient settlement is located in the northeastern, steppe part of the peninsula, on the territory of the modern. The ruins of the city of Kalos Limen are located 1.5 km from the resort village of Chernomorskoye, on the coast, in the area of ​​Uzkaya Bay.

Kalos Limen on the map of Crimea

The history of the emergence and fall of the city

It was founded by the Ionian Greeks at the beginning of the 4th century BC, in a beautiful harbor, which is reflected in the name of the settlement. Much more important for the settlers were the extremely rich, fertile chernozems, which yielded impressive crops of grain and grapes. Advantageous position, fat fields, rapidly growing prosperity of the population could not but attract the envious glances of warlike neighbors oriented towards an aggressive policy.

The worst of all possible scenarios, the inhabitants of the settlement of Kalos Limen considered the devastating raids of the Scythians who lived to the north. Since its inception, it has been constantly strengthened, but what the fortifications were remained unknown. Understanding the seriousness of the situation, the settlers, faced with the Scythian barbarians, considered joining Chersonese as a lesser evil, which happened already in the second half of the 4th century BC. Until the middle of the III century BC. there was a large-scale construction of a fortress wall with impressive towers capable of withstanding an enemy assault. Remains of these impressive structures can still be seen today.

For a long time, nothing was known about it, until the ancient city of Kalos Limen near the village of Chernomorskoye was dug up by Soviet archaeologists, led by Moiseev in 1929, who established that the settlement had been abandoned long before the rise of other Greek cities in the Crimea. It turned out that in the II century BC. Chersonese, being at that moment not in the best position, was forced to cede the described settlement to the Scythians.

But they did not last long either. Some time later, after the campaign of Diophantus in the northeastern part of the Crimea, the ancient city of Kalos Limen and its neighbor were annexed to. Over the next 200 years, he constantly passed from hand to hand, which is why he was in complete decline. Finally, at the beginning of the 1st century, it was completely destroyed during a large campaign of the Sarmatians from the Northern Black Sea region. There is evidence that people lived in the area of ​​the ancient settlement until the 16th century.

What is interesting about Kalos Limen near Chernomorskoye?

Its existence was known for a long time, mainly from the works of famous ancient authors such as Strabo, Flavius ​​Arrian, Claudius Ptolemy. However, where he was, for a long time remained unknown. The first to conduct excavations in the Chernomorskoye area was the archaeologist Shmakov. He found one of the city's towers in 1838,
but the mystery of the ancient settlement of Kalos Limen excited the minds for almost a century.

And although the excavations have not actually stopped since 1929, and the city has been completely excavated, it has been studied quite poorly. Archaeological research continues even now, which makes it somewhat difficult to visit it. But today, most of the settlement is open to tourists. Of course, only the foundations remained from the ancient fortifications and residential quarters, but this place can rightfully be called an open-air museum. As well as the photos of these romantic ruins, which have flown around all authoritative scientific publications, made them world famous.

The Kalos Limen area was small - only about 2.5 hectares, so visiting and exploring it will not take much time. According to the remains of ancient structures, a clear layout is clearly visible, slightly disturbed by the high density of buildings. Residential buildings here are literally sandwiched between powerful fortress walls. Their ruins are still impressive today, with traces of battering rams and other battering rams.

Kalos Limen, or as it is called the Magical or Beautiful Harbor, is one of the largest settlements of ancient times on the coast in the western part of the Crimean peninsula. Kalos Limen is also known as Ak-Mechet and Black Sea settlement.

It can be called one of the most real archaeological finds and a delightful attraction.

From the very first days of its inception, Kalos Limen became one of the centers from where the Hellenes, that is, the Greeks, began to conquer and develop new lands of the North-Western part of Tavria.

The very convenient strategic and geographical location of the ancient city did not give impetus to the fact that for different times of its existence it combined various functions: it was both the economic and military-political center of the western Crimea.

The uniqueness of this ancient town lies in the fact that not only unique architectural structures for various purposes are amazingly preserved here, but also numerous archaeological materials that are valuable for the rich history of structures throughout the Northern Black Sea region.

Not far from there are many ruins of ancient cities, but the most studied and explored is definitely the ancient Greek city of Kalos Limen near the urban-type settlement of Chernomorskoye.

Kalos Limen, which in translation means "the harbor of the Chersonites on the Scythian land" is often recalled in the works of many ancient authors, in addition, it is mentioned in the "Oath of the Citizens of Tauric Chersonesos".

For a long time, archaeologists and historians argued about its location, until all the questions were sorted out at the Ak-Mechet settlement during the excavations of 1929. The Hellenes first appeared on this territory at the very beginning of the 4th century BC, choosing a place for themselves near a comfortable bay, from which now only a shallow estuary remains. It must be said that the policy originally belonged to one of the most ancient settlements of the Western Crimea, most likely, and then gradually passed under power.

Most of the settlements burned down in fires, but Kalos Limen was able to survive, although the results of the excavations show that almost all of its inhabitants died. I must say that the town was empty and revived only after a few decades. It should be emphasized that, due to its important military-strategic significance and comfortable bay, it existed almost until the end of the Hellenistic period in the history of Crimea.

Little by little, a city was built on the site of a small settlement, which retained its former name. It should be noted that it flourished for almost half a century, until the 70s of the 3rd century BC, when wild Sarmatian tribes ran into the peninsula.

At the end of the II century BC. Kalos Limen was lured into the confrontation with the Scythians and the Pontic state and repeatedly passes from one hand to another. Few people know that near the policy there was the last decisive battle of the Pontic leader Diafant, who came to the rescue of Chersonese, besieged from all sides, and fifty thousand strong and united army of Alans and Scythians.

This battle was crowned with the victory of the Pontic commander, but it did not bring the former life of Kalos Limen, the settlements on the western coast of Crimea were gradually destroyed, and their ruins were covered with sand.

The famous bay, which gave shelter to merchant and warships, gradually separated from the sea by a sand spit and, in the end, turned into a shallow estuary. A little later, nothing reminded that there was a prosperous policy, which bore the proud name Beautiful Harbor.

On the site of the ancient town, a massive stone structure remained, which somehow resembled the ruins of a small pyramid. Everyone knows that in the 18th century, after the reunification of Crimea to Tsarist Russia, there was a small redoubt here, and then, right up to the start of World War II, there was a border zone with a checkpoint.

What was the purpose of the mysterious "pyramid" for a long time remained unknown, several different hypotheses were put forward. But everything fell into place after the excavations in 1929.

On the site of a kind of "pyramid" in Kalos Limen, there was a long sixteen-meter watchtower. It was the tallest building in the fortress, and therefore served as a lighthouse - at night, a fire was lit in it for ships floating on the waves. It should be emphasized that edible supplies were kept in the cellars of the tower in case of a siege of the fortress.

On the upper floors there was a command post, in addition, stone-throwing tools were installed that protected and controlled the entrance to the bay.

In the area of ​​​​the huge Scythian ash pan, scientists unearthed another undestroyed tower with a semi-submerged chamber and a staircase, in addition, part of the protective fortress wall and the main entrance to the Kalos Limena area, from which a huge stone survived (tracks were visible on it, knocked out by antique cart wheels).

During the excavations of this part of the territory, archaeologists found many different items that were stored both in the tower and in adjacent structures. Judging by the excavations, this area of ​​the town suffered more than the others during the attack of the Sarmatians - during excavations, arrowheads are often found, stuck into thick walls made of unbaked bricks.

When the fortresses began to be attacked by the Scythians, the tower was reinforced with another belt of stone, which gave it the shape of a pyramid, which has survived to this day. It goes without saying that the fortification served as a defense against ramming, traces of which until that time were visible on the walls. Soon after the raids, the Scythians converted the tower into a bastion that protected the settlement from the land.

Scientists have found the remains of fortress moors, several towers that protected the gates, the corner fortification of the fortress and several dozen residential buildings.

One of the buildings is very well preserved, and it is shown to tourists for inspection in order to imagine the everyday life of ancient ancient times.

From the remains of the lighthouse to the mounds overgrown with thorns, you can walk along a small path. Imagine one fact that in ancient times the main city street passed here, which was more than 6 meters wide. It must be said that it connected the main gate with the bay, was lined with compacted rocky crumb, which was not inferior in its fortress even to asphalt. A ditch ran down the center of the paved road, and along one side, as is customary in many large cities, there was a sidewalk.

A patch of road, the ruins of Scythian and Greek settlements can be observed in the center of the settlement. And it is not even necessary to say that the Scythian buildings, which were distinguished by a slightly sloppy masonry, were the most ideally preserved. It can be seen that the Scythians never reached the skill of the Hellenes in construction, they remained a steppe nomadic people until the very end of their existence.

Not far from the settlement rise small hills. Everyone has long known that under the embankments there are crypts made of skillfully hewn stone and mud bricks, and even ordinary graves, simply covered with slabs. Few people know that archaeologists were lucky enough to find many clay vessels, tools, toilet items and simple jewelry.

A good reference for everyone in Kalos Limen is a small lighthouse. For those who want to see the ruins of ancient cities, and to see the unique finds, it is best to contact the historical and archaeological reserve "Kalos-Limen", which is located in the building of the music school of the Chernomorskoye village.

Crimea is rightly called a unique open-air museum. A direct confirmation is the ancient city of Kalos Limen on Tarkhankut. Every year, thousands of tourists visit the museum-reserve to breathe in the memory of two millennia among the once non-criminal walls.

Photo Kalos Limen from users:

This is interesting:
The name of the settlement Kalos Limen means "Beautiful Harbor". Located 1.5 km from the resort village of Chernomorskoe on the coast of Karkinitsky Bay. This is the center of Western Crimea. The ancient city was part of the ancient state of Chersonese.

The history of the settlement

The Tarkhankut Peninsula is an exceptional territory in all natural, geographical and cultural parameters. Since ancient times, there have been complex ethnic processes associated with the constant influx and settlement of peoples. People rushed here in search of fertile land, abundant pastures, water sources, building stone and other natural resources. The first people appeared on the territory of the Tarkhankut region more than 4 thousand years ago. They were still representatives of primitive society. They did not know how to work metal, but used flint tools to extract food sources.

In the 4th century BC, numerous settlements appeared on Tarkhankut, the inhabitants of which were Ionian Greeks, immigrants from modern Turkey. Relations between the Greeks and the Scythians developed contradictory. The Scythians often disturbed the Greek settlements with attacks, but tried to maintain trade relations. A hundred years later, the city was captured by the Dorians, Spartans and Chersonesites.

Kalos Limen was the third largest of the settlements that were part of the Chersonesus policy. The settlement occupied a vast territory - about 4 hectares. A large number of ancient unique buildings have survived to this day: living quarters, towers, some fragments of defensive walls and the city citadel. The tower, which formed the citadel, is framed by an anti-ram belt. This pyramidal structure was necessary to protect against the barbarian raids of the Scythians and Sarmatians, who lived on the mainland of the Crimean peninsula. In the 3rd century BC, a series of Greco-Scythian wars began, and the settlement changed hands several times.

On the left side of the tower there were structures that adjoined the defensive wall, the so-called barracks. It was in them that young Greeks underwent compulsory military training. Arrowheads and a unique coin of Diophantus, a commander who was in the service of Mithridates, were found here.

Video review:

Archaeological site of the Beautiful Harbor

No one knew the exact location of the Greek-Scythian settlement, which was described by many ancient medieval authors. Archaeologists and historians for a long time could not determine exactly where the settlement was located. After the discovery of a man-made hill, which contained the ruins of a 16-meter tower, it became a pointer for archaeologists. The study of the cultural and natural resources of the area began almost immediately after the annexation of the Crimea to Russia and the acquisition of the town of Ak-Mechet by Count Vorontsov. The first large-scale archaeological expeditions began work in 1929.

In the center of the excavations there is a building that is very reminiscent of a Scythian sanctuary. It is believed that the Scythians worshiped many gods, but the main goddess was Tabiti. Her sanctuary was located on the coast, but after a landslide came down, it was destroyed. The remains of lacquer ceramics speak of its existence. The eastern gate completes the expedition to the ancient settlement of Kalos Limen. It was in this part that the settlement ended. On the threshold of the gate, two ruts left by the chariots are clearly visible.

Note:
To date, the settlement has been excavated by 10 percent, and its 70 meters have gone under water due to changes in the coastline.

In the museum-reserve, in addition to valuable finds of antiquity, exhibits from different times are shown. The history of the region from primitive times to the present is collected in the vastness of 8 halls of the museum. Historical and archaeological museum-reserve "Kalos-Limen" was founded on April 22, 1997. This event was preceded by a long and difficult journey aimed at studying this unique historical complex, which is located on the shore of the Narrow Bay. In 2001, the Black Sea Historical and Local Lore Museum Complex was added to the territory of the reserve.

In 2011, a lapidarium was opened at the museum - a collection of stone objects found on the territory of the Black Sea: architectural fragments, tools, household items, artifacts related to the spiritual life of a person. The collection of ancient amphoras is recognized as the gold fund of the Kalos Limen Museum-Reserve.

In the 4th century AD, Crimea was captured by the process of the great migration of peoples. It was visited by different tribes and nationalities. In the VIII-X centuries AD. e. the Polovtsians roamed the territory of the peninsula, who left statues in the form of stone guards in memory of themselves. One of these statues is presented in the museum, and a tractor driver discovered it during field work.

In total, the museum has several main areas: archeology, things, nature, documents, photographs, numismatics, weapons. The museum's funds began to form from the moment the Black Sea Museum of History and Local Lore was founded, and today there are more than ten thousand exhibits. This figure is growing rapidly, thanks to new finds from archaeological excavations.

How to get there

The most convenient route to Kalos Limen is a departure from the Evpatoria bus station. Buses to Chernomorskoye go every 1.5 hours. From the Black Sea bus station, you can walk to the place on foot. You should go to the sea and poison yourself along the beach strip, focusing on the lighthouse.

A visit to the ancient settlement remains in the memory for a long time, leaving amazing impressions that are difficult to convey in words.

Kalos Limen on the map of Crimea

GPS Coordinates: 45°31’0″N, 32°42’46″E Latitude/Longitude