A Brief History of Panticapaeum. Panticapaeum: from antiquity to the present of a powerful policy
Location:
G. Kerch, st. Upper Mithridates, Mount Mithridates
To see the ruins of ancient cities, someone goes to Italy, Greece and other countries, and we will go to Ukraine to one of the most ancient cities in the world - Kerch. Life on the Kerch Peninsula has been in full swing since ancient times. Thanks to a fortunate combination of circumstances, evidence of that time has been preserved from that distant era. The ruins of the ancient city have been one of the most popular attractions of Kerch for more than a century. Panticapaeum on Mount Mithridates.
Founded in the 6th century BC, Kerch was called Panticapaeum for a long time. More precisely, this is how the settlement founded near the strait was first named. This city for several centuries was one of the richest and most developed in the Black Sea, the capital of the Bosporan kingdom. Despite the fact that more than once it became the subject of disputes between states, partly the ancient progenitor of the present Kerch managed to reach us from the most distant times. It is this part on Mount Mithridates that today is called Panticapaeum - a unique landmark of modern Kerch, a world heritage site.
Mount Mithridates was the place where the most noble people of Panticapaeum lived - the Acropolis. These are the elevated fortified parts of the ancient Greek cities, « upper cities"or fortresses, on which the temples of the patron gods were also built. Apollo was the patron saint of Panticapaeum, and a temple was erected on Mithridates in his honor. The construction of the temple was completed at the end of the 6th century BC. Later, palaces of noble inhabitants appeared nearby, including the rulers of the Bosporan kingdom - the Spartokid dynasty, the temple of Dionysus and Aphrodite. Today, after 26 centuries, we will not see majestic temples and palaces on Mithridates, but of great interest to all connoisseurs ancient architecture represent the ruins of these once majestic buildings.
The path to the top of the mountain passes along the Great Mithridates Stairs, built in the middle of the 19th century by the Italian architect Alexander Digby. The solemn, beautiful and monumental staircase with 423 steps was made in the classical style of dark gray stone. Sculptures of griffins sit on the railings - the symbols of Kerch, mythical creatures with the head of birds and the body of a lion with wings. Near the top of the stairs before the Second World War there was a small chapel 6 meters high and 8 meters in diameter - the mausoleum of Stempkovsky, the former mayor of Kerch. Since 1944, on the site of the chapel destroyed during the war, the Obelisk of Glory to the victory over the German invaders has risen, and an eternal flame burns next to it. Winding further along the top of Mithridates, the path from the stairs leads to the ruins of Panticapaeum.
The foundations and remains of the walls of buildings, towers, marble columns have been preserved here, here and there stones remembering millennia peep through the ground. The most important symbol of the ruins of Panticapaeum is a high arch with columns and a stone carved portico. Also, a marble chair recently discovered by archaeologists, similar to the chair of the theater of Dionysius (Athens), has already gained popularity. According to legend, the legendary king Mithridates VI Eupator liked to sit in this chair, who almost won the war with Rome, but found his death on this mountain because of the betrayal of his son.
Archaeological excavations of the ancient city of Panticapaeum continue. Many secrets are kept not only by the top of the mountain, but also by its bowels, in which thousands of tombs of the former inhabitants of the city are located. Mithridatic catacombs are also part of the ancient city, they are located on north side mountains and explored only a tenth. For all tourists who came to rest in Kerch, a walk through the ruins of Panticapaeum will become an unforgettable event. On the famous landmark of Crimea - Mount Mithridates, everything is permeated with the spirit of antiquity, creating here the most amazing atmosphere, which A.S. himself once appreciated. Pushkin.
About 2600 years ago in the territory Kerch Strait The ancient Greek city of Panticapaeum was founded, now it is the city of Kerch. To this day, the inhabitants of the city carefully keep the legends, historical facts and attractions accumulated for centuries of history Kerch. One of the main and main attractions of Kerch are the ruins of the ancient Panticapaeum, which are located almost in the city center on the top and slopes of Mount Mithridates.
From the history of Panticapaeum
At the end of the 7th century BC, ancient Greek colonists founded several settlements on the territory of the Northern Black Sea region, the largest of which was Panticapaeum. There are two versions of the origin of the name of the city, some argue that the name was given in honor of the Panticapae river, other scientists say that in ancient Greek "panticapaeum" means "fish way".
During its heyday, Panticapaeum occupied an area of about 100 hectares and by 480 became the capital of the Bosporan state. This city occupied a pasture geographical position; trade routes connecting Europe, China, Asia and the Mediterranean passed through it. Fish, grain and wine were supplied from Panticapaeum. The Bosporan state and in particular its capital were attacked by the Ostogs, and in the 370s of our era, during the next invasion, Panticapaeum lost the status of the capital, and most of it turned into ruins. After that, the city changed and became the craft center of the Northern Black Sea region.
From the very foundation of the city, Apollo was considered its patron, in his honor was erected main temple Acropolis, its construction was completed only by the end of the VI century BC, by the standards of that time the temple was grandiose. Later, the temple of Aphrodite and Dionysus was erected in the city, royal palace, theater and agora square. A stone wall was erected around Panticapaeum, which performed a defensive function and surpassed the fortifications of Athens in its characteristics.
The inhabitants of Panticapaeum were engaged in construction and various crafts: metal processing and forging, stone processing, making pottery and jewelry, weaving, jewelry, ceramics, wood processing. Since the land on which the city stood was fertile, many inhabitants were engaged in agriculture, fishing, animal husbandry and trade.
Coinage
At the end of the 6th century BC, in Panticapaeum, as in some other cities, minting of coins begins. Later, the coins of Panticapaeum were recognized as the main ones on the market of the Bosporan state and replaced the coins of other cities. The first coins were made of silver, and starting from the 4th century BC, they began to be minted from gold and copper. The symbols of the capital were depicted on the coins: a griffin, an ear of bread, a lion, a ram, a sturgeon and a bull. According to the manufacturing technique, the coins of the city of Panticapaeum are a real work of art.
Starting from the second half of the 5th century BC, the first letters of the city began to be minted on coins, so the letters “PA”, “PAN” or “PANTI” appeared on coins from Panticapaeum. And after the Spartokid dynasty came to power, the monetary business was centralized and the attributes of Apollo began to be depicted on the money of that time.
During the period of the highest prosperity of the Bosporus, namely in the 4th century BC, when the economy and trade of the state were greatly developed, the minting of coins in individual cities was completely stopped, single center production became Panticapaeum. A bearded man began to be depicted on silver, copper and gold coins, it has not yet been possible to determine exactly who he was, but most scientists are inclined to believe that this is the head of God Pan (the patron saint of Panticapaeum). Some gold coins have retained the image of a griffin with a lion's head.
Many Panticapaeum coins were found during archaeological excavations, some of them are stored in the museums of the city of Kerch, some passed into the hands of resellers, and some especially valuable specimens are even put up at auctions.
Excavations of Panticapaeum
During the period of archaeological excavations on the site where Panticapaeum once stood, many historically valuable things were found: amphoras, painted pottery, coins, epigraphic documents, ancient dishes and jewelry.
Excavations of the ancient city of Panticapaeum began in the 19th century, archaeologists discovered entire systems of crypts, metalworking workshops and clay figurines. Excavations of the city were carried out by both professional archaeologists and local historians and even amateur treasure hunters. Everyone was looking for values for themselves here, someone was trying to understand how the ancient Greeks lived by examining the found household items, and someone was trying to find ancient coins and jewelry.
Every tourist can see the ruins of the city, you can get to the remains of Panticapaeum on foot from the center of the city of Kerch. Today Panticapaeum is a historical and archaeological museum not only of Kerch, but one of the most ancient museums in the country. In 1826, the found ruins of Panticapaeum were given the status of the Museum of Antiquity, here the residents of the city of Kerch and its guests can look at the finds of archaeologists. On Mount Mithridates, a special museum building was erected, which resembled temple of Athens Theseus, allowed during the Crimean War.
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And it was to him that the main temple of the acropolis was dedicated. The construction of the oldest and most grandiose by the standards of the Northern Black Sea region building of the temple of Apollo Ietra was completed by the end of the 6th century. BC e .. In addition, later, next to the Spartokid palace, there was a temple in honor of Aphrodite and Dionysus. The whole city was eventually surrounded by a powerful system of stone fortifications, surpassing the Athenian one. In the vicinity of the city there was a necropolis, which differed from the necropolises of other Hellenic cities. In addition to the earth burials common at that time for the Hellenes, the necropolis of Panticapaeum consisted of long chains of mounds stretching along the roads from the city to the steppe. WITH south side the city is bordered by the most significant ridge of mounds, today called Yuz-Oba - one hundred hills. Representatives of the barbarian nobility - Scythian leaders, who exercised a military-political protectorate over the city, were buried under their mounds. The barrows still make up one of the most striking sights of the Kerch environs. The most popular are such as Kul-Oba, Melek-Chesmensky, Golden and especially the famous Tsarsky.
Military confederation in the Bosporus. Panticapaeum
Ruins of Panticapaeum
The territory on which modern Kerch is located was already inhabited in the 17th-15th centuries BC. e. , as evidenced by archaeological excavations held in the area of Mayak village. However, the history of Kerch as a city began about 2600 years ago, when at the end of the 7th century BC. e. on the shores of the Cimmerian Bosporus (Kerch Strait), ancient Greek colonists founded a number of independent city-states (polises) that amounted to in the 40s. VI century BC e. military confederation. The purpose of the interpolis union was to resist the indigenous population - the Scythians. Panticapaeum was the largest, most powerful and probably the first. This is indicated by the fact that since the end of the 40s. 6th century BC e. Panticapaeum minted its own silver coin, and from the last third of the 70s. 4th century BC e. - and gold.
By the mid 80s. 4th century BC e. cities on both sides of the strait lose their independence and enter the Bosporan state of Spartokids with the capital Panticapaeum.
Thanks to his geographic location the city has long been at the intersection trade routes between Europe, Central Asia, China and the Mediterranean. The main export products of Panticapaeum were grain and salted fish. Winemaking has become widespread.
The capital of the Bosporan kingdom. Dynasties: Archaeanactides, Spartocids.
Entrance to the Royal Kurgan
A representative of the noble Milesian family Archeanakt, became an archon (elected magistrate) for the democratic union of most Greek cities in the Bosporus from 479 BC. e. with its capital at Panticapaeum. For the next 42 years, the Bosporus Confederation was presided over by the Archaeanactids, whom Diodorus, modernizing the past, mistakenly called "reigning" (for Diodorus, all the Bosporan rulers were kings). Under the Spartokids, who replaced the Archaeanactids in 438 BC. e. and ruling in the Bosporus until 109 BC. e. , without exception, all the cities of the former confederation were already subordinate to Panticapaeum - political, commercial, handicraft and cultural center. As a result of active foreign policy Spartokids - whose tyrannical power grew into royal - the Bosporan kingdom in the middle of the 4th century. BC e. included eastern Taurica and the Taman Peninsula.
The heyday of the Bosporan kingdom belongs to the period of the reign of Levkon I from 389 to 349. BC e. , his sons and ends with his grandson Eumela (309-304 BC), whose plans included making Pontus Euxinus (Black Sea) the inland sea of his kingdom.
The last of the Spartokids - Perisad V - could not resist the claims of the barbarians (Sarmatians?) for hegemony over the Bosporus and was forced to abdicate in favor of the Pontic king Mithridates Eupator. However, in 107 BC. e. during negotiations with Diophantus on the transfer of power to the Pontic king in Panticapaeum, an uprising of Savmakos broke out, and Savmakos, the last of the Spartokid family, was killed.
Savmak
The Scythian rebel leader Savmak became the ruler of the Bosporus. The system that was established during the reign of Savmak, which lasted about a year, is unknown. After a long preparation, Mithridates VI sent a large punitive expedition of Diophantus from Sinope. In the Crimea, the Chersonese detachments were included in it. The troops of Diophantus took Theodosia, passed the Kerch Peninsula and captured Panticapaeum. Savmak was captured, and the Bosporus kingdom came under the rule of Mithridates VI.
Mithridates VI Eupator
Having suppressed the uprising, Mithridates began to rule the Bosporan kingdom, which became part of the Pontic.
During the three Mithridatic Wars, Panticapaeum and the entire Bosporus kingdom worked for the Pontic king, who was at war with the Roman Empire.
In 65 BC. e. The defeated Mithridates takes refuge in Panticapaeum and, having learned in 63 BC. e. about the betrayal of his son Pharnaces II, is stabbed to death at his request by the head of his bodyguard detachment, when he is surrounded by troops who rebelled against him and incited by his son in the Panticapaeum citadel.
Roman colony. Tiberius Julia. Sarmatian King Aspurg
Finally, Panticapaeum as the capital of the state ceased to exist in the 370s AD. e. during the Hun invasion. Vast sections of the capital were reduced to ruins. However, the city continued to live, and, soon revived, turned into a major trade and craft center of the Northern Black Sea region.
Middle Ages
Byzantine part of the Church of John the Baptist in Kerch (VII-XIX centuries)
new time
The Obelisk of Glory on Mount Mithridates was opened on August 8, 1944. This is the very first monument dedicated to the events of the Great Patriotic War on the territory of the USSR.
Archeology
Excavations of the ancient policy of Panticapaeum on Mount Mithridates
Systematic excavations in Kerch began in the 30s of the 19th century. In the same year, during excavations in the area of the Yeni-Kale fortress, a lead seal of Ratibor, the governor of the Grand Duke of Kiev Vsevolod in Tmutarakan, was found, and during the excavations of the year, the seal of Theophania Muzalon, a Byzantine patrician, wife of Prince Oleg Svyatoslavich, was found.
Within the city there are several burial mounds - burial structures under a high artificial embankment. Regularly held archaeological work on Mount Mithridates, on top of which in the 5th century BC. e. -3rd century A.D. e. was the acropolis of Panticapaeum. The ancient settlements of Nymphea, Kitea and Porfmia are also systematically excavated. Several ancient cities from the period of the Bosporan Kingdom were discovered on Azov coast Kerch Peninsula, however, they have not been sufficiently studied so far.
Here is the most ancient building in the territory modern Russia which has just come under its jurisdiction. Kerch - small town(150 thousand inhabitants), at the eastern end Crimean peninsula. Despite its location around a small bay in the Kerch Strait between the Black and Seas of Azov, the city has never been a resort. There are very few beaches and resorts, but there are several ports, fishing piers, piers, shipyards and purely "land" enterprises. Therefore, the city center is not at all like other Crimean cities.
1. Almost all of the few entertainment infrastructure the city is in one place. 
2. Something reminiscent pedestrian boulevard- a very short lane Dimitrov between the unequipped embankment and Lenin Square. Yes, and entertaining establishments occupy only the right side of the lane. 
3. And along its left side stretches a square in which stands an amazing historical monument Byzantine culture with over a thousand years of history. 
4. This is the Church of John the Baptist, referring to Byzantine period history of the Crimea. 
5. The current appearance of the temple was largely formed in the 19th century, when aisles and a bell tower were added to a small cruciform temple. 
6. The most ancient part of the temple is viewed from the apse. Now the temple stands in the middle of a noticeable basin in the middle of a centuries-old cultural layer. 
7. Behind the temple lies main square city, traditionally named after Lenin. 
8. From it begins the shady pedestrian street of the same name. 
9. But our path lies in the other direction, to the monuments of ancient Greek culture. On the way we will see the building of the gymnasium of the end of the 19th century, which is still working for its intended purpose. 
10. At the foot of the mountain there is a column with a portrait of Mithridates VI Evpator (Evpatoria went from him), who was in 121-63 BC. e. the king of the Bosporan state, the capital of which was Kerch, then bearing the name of Panticapaeum. 
11. On the mountain where he stood ancient city, now you can climb the Great Mithridates Stairs, decorated with figures of griffins. 
12. From the top there is a panoramic view of central part of the city, Lenin Square and the Church of John the Baptist are visible. 
14. Here they are, the ruins of Panticapaeum, founded by ancient Greek colonists from Miletus at the end of the 7th century BC. e. The name Παντικάπαιον meant "fish way". 
15. The excavated foundations date back to the 5th-3rd century BC. e. 
16. Panticapaeum existed until the 5th century AD. e., after which it was under the rule of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire. 
17. In the center of the settlement, archaeologists restored the arch. 
18. In late antique times, the northern slope of Mount Mithridates was turned into a cemetery. Here, in the 19th century, many sarcophagi were discovered, some of them were wooden. 
19. Now the sarcophagi of Mount Mithridates can be seen in the exposition of the State Hermitage. 
20. In addition to sarcophagi, the Hermitage exhibits many other ancient monuments from Kerch. 
21. It is hard to believe that for many centuries this vessel has been preserved in its original form. 
22. Now several hundred crypts of the 3rd-5th centuries have been described, but according to assumptions, under Mount Mithridates there may be more than three thousand burials. 
13. And on the very top of the mountain there is an eternal fire, which is currently not active. 
23. A little lower, at the end of the Mithridates Stairs, a memorial was built to the liberators of Crimea during the Great Patriotic War. 
24. Today Mount Mithridates - main point for an overview of the surroundings. From here, the whole Kerch is at a glance. 
25. At the foot of the mountain, the Genoese pier and nightclub walkways protrude into the bay, where you can, if you wish, plunge into sea water and lie down on the sand, but no one wants to be seen. 
26. But people swim at the municipal water station, where there is also a jumping tower. 
27. If you look into the waters of the strait, you can see Krasnodar region. Tuzla Island is in the foreground, and the tanks of the bunkering complex near Taman are visible in the distance. 
28. And much closer - a city park with a Ferris wheel, the top of which is below the observation deck. 
29. Panorama shipyard and commercial port. 
31.
32. On the other hand, tanks are visible in the 2nd transshipment area of the commercial port. 
33. Shafts and bastions of the Kerch fortress are visible in the distance. It's 4 kilometers away. 
34. Let's go down the mountain and go to see other sights of the city. In the middle of the bus station there is a burial crypt of the times of Plato and Aristotle - Melek-Chismensky barrow. 
35. The burial consists of two parts - the dromos, the entrance to which is decorated with a pediment, and the burial chamber itself. 
36. Inside the structure is assembled from stone slabs shifted relative to each other, forming a stepped vault. 
37. The crypt, measuring 4 by 4 meters, has a pyramidal vault. It was plundered in ancient time, and is now completely empty. 
38. In 1474, Kerch passed from the Republic of Genoa to Ottoman Empire. On the shore of the Kerch Strait, on the far outskirts of the city, there is a monument of a completely different period in the life of Kerch - the Turkish fortress Yeni-Kale. 
39. The fortress occupies a vast area of 6 hectares. 
40. Sea waves are splashing near its walls. 
41. The fortress was built in the narrowest part of the Kerch Strait in 1706 to prevent the Russians led by Peter I from entering the Black Sea, who took the fortress of Azov in 1696. 
42. Several gates lead inside. 
43. The garrison of the fortress was more than a thousand people. 
44. Inside the fortress there were powder stores, an arsenal, a water tank, residential buildings, a bathhouse, a mosque and the residence of a Turkish pasha. 
45. The most remarkable part of the fortress is a small semi-bastion, on which turrets were restored by archaeologists for shelling the enemy. 
46. The walls of the semi-bastion form a closed courtyard with a well in the middle. 
47. During the Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774, the fortress was taken without a fight. According to the Kyuchuk-Kainarji Treaty, Kerch and Yeni-Kale were transferred to Russia. 
48. K XIX century fortress completely lost military value, and in 1835 a military hospital was placed on its territory, which lasted until 1880. After Yeni-Kale was finally abandoned. 
49. In the 20th century, the fortress was restored, but most of it is still in ruins. A railway line to the port of Crimea passes right through it. 
50. Halfway from the center of Kerch to Yeni-Kale is oldest structure Crimea - the burial place of one of the rulers of the Bosporan kingdom from the dynasty of Spartokids - the Royal Mound. The crypt is hidden in a hill 17 meters high. 
51. The dromos of the mound, 36 meters long, is made of blocks and in shape resembles a cypress, which the ancient Greeks considered the tree of the dead. 
52. The width of the corridor is not constant: it widens closer to the entrance to the burial chamber. 
53. The walls of the dromos are covered with cracks from numerous earthquakes that occurred in the Crimea from the 4th century BC. e., as well as crosses carved by early Christians. 
54. The arch of the burial chamber strikes the imagination: a tall dome, assembled from 12 concentric rings, rests on a plinth made of monolithic rock. Like Melek-Chismensky, the Tsarsky mound was plundered in antiquity, archaeologists got only fragments of a wooden sarcophagus. 
55. Adzhimushkay quarries are located a stone's throw from the Tsar's mound, but inside photography is strictly prohibited, as they are considered a war memorial. Although the museum there is impressive, you will have to limit yourself to a single shot. 
