Before the capture of Crimea by the Mongol-Tatars and the reign of the Golden Horde here, many peoples lived on the peninsula, their history goes back centuries, and only archaeological finds indicate that the indigenous peoples of Crimea settled the peninsula 12,000 years ago, during the Mesolithic. Sites of ancient people were found in Shankobe, in the Kachinsky and Alimov canopies, in Fatmakoba and in other places. It is known that the religion of these ancient tribes was totemism, and they buried their dead in log houses, placing high mounds on top of them.
Chimerians (9th–7th centuries BC)
The first people that historians wrote about were the ferocious Chimerians who inhabited the plains of the Crimean Peninsula. The Chimerians were Indo-Europeans or Iranians and practiced agriculture; The ancient Greek geographer Strabo wrote about the existence of the capital of the Chimerians - Kimeris, which was located on the Taman Peninsula. It is believed that the Chimerians brought metalworking and pottery to the Crimea; their fat herds were guarded by huge wolfhounds. The Chimerians wore leather jackets and trousers, and pointed hats crowned their heads. Information about this people exists even in the archives of the king of Assyria Ashurbanipal: the Chimerians more than once invaded Asia Minor and Thrace. Homer and Herodotus, the Ephesian poet Callinus and the Milesian historian Hecataeus wrote about them.
The Chimerians left Crimea under the pressure of the Scythians, part of the people joined the Scythian tribes, and part went to Europe.
Taurus (VI century BC, - 1st century AD)
Tauris - this is what the Greeks who visited Crimea called the formidable tribes living here. The name may have been related to the cattle breeding they were engaged in, because “tauros” means “bull” in Greek. It is unknown where the Taurians came from; some scientists tried to connect them with the Indo-Aryans, others considered them Goths. The culture of dolmens – ancestral burial grounds – is associated with the Tauri.
The Tauri cultivated the land and grazed livestock, hunted in the mountains and did not disdain sea robbery. Strabo mentioned that the Tauri gathered in Symbolon Bay (Balaklava), formed gangs and robbed ships. The Arikhs, Sinkhs and Napei were considered the most evil tribes: their war cry made the blood of their enemies freeze; The Taurus stabbed their opponents and nailed their heads to the walls of their temples. The historian Tacitus wrote how the Tauri killed the Roman legionnaires who had escaped from a shipwreck. In the 1st century, the Tauri disappeared from the face of the earth, dissolving among the Scythians.
Scythians (VII century BC – III century AD)
The Scythian tribes came to Crimea, retreating under the pressure of the Sarmatians, here they settled down and absorbed part of the Tauri and even mixed with the Greeks. In the 3rd century, a Scythian state with its capital Naples (Simferopol) appeared on the plains of Crimea, which actively competed with the Bosporus, but in the same century it fell under the blows of the Sarmatians. Those who survived were finished off by the Goths and Huns; the remnants of the Scythians mixed with the autochthonous population and ceased to exist as a separate people.
Sarmatians (IV-III centuries BC)
The Sartmats, in turn, replenished the genetic diversity of the peoples of Crimea, dissolving into its population. The Roksolani, Iazyges and Aorses fought with the Scythians for centuries, penetrating into the Crimea. With them came the warlike Alans, who settled in the southwest of the peninsula and founded the Goth-Alans community, converting to Christianity. Strabo in his “Geography” writes about the participation of 50,000 Roxolani in an unsuccessful campaign against the Pontic people.
Greeks (VI century BC)
The first Greek colonists settled the Crimean coast during the time of the Tauri; here they built the cities of Kerkinitis, Panticapaeum, Chersonesos and Theodosius, which in the 5th century BC. formed two states: Bosporus and Chersonesos. The Greeks lived by gardening and winemaking, fishing, trading and minting their own coins. With the advent of the new era, the states fell under the subordination of Pontus, then of Rome and Byzantium.
From the 5th to the 9th century AD In Crimea, a new ethnic group “Crimean Greeks” arose, whose descendants were the Greeks of antiquity, Taurians, Scythians, Goto-Alans and Turks. In the 13th century, the center of Crimea was occupied by the Greek principality of Theodoro, which was captured by the Ottomans at the end of the 15th century. Some of the Crimean Greeks who have preserved Christianity still live in Crimea.
Romans (1st century AD – 4th century AD)
The Romans appeared in Crimea at the end of the 1st century, defeating the king of Panticapaeum (Kerch) Mithridates VI Eupator; Soon Chersonesus, which had suffered from the Scythians, asked to come under their protection. The Romans enriched Crimea with their culture, building fortresses on Cape Ai-Todor, in Balaklava, on Alma-Kermen and left the peninsula after the collapse of the empire - professor of Simferopol University Igor Khrapunov writes about this in his work “The Population of Mountain Crimea in Late Roman Times.”
Goths (III–XVII centuries)
The Goths lived in Crimea, a Germanic tribe that appeared on the peninsula during the Great Migration. The Christian saint Procopius of Caesarea wrote that the Goths were farmers and their nobles held military positions in the Bosporus, which the Goths took control of. Having become the owners of the Bosporan fleet, in 257 the Germans launched a campaign against Trebizond, where they captured countless treasures.
The Goths settled in the north-west of the peninsula and in the 4th century formed their own state - Gothia, which stood for nine centuries and only then partially became part of the Principality of Theodoro, and the Goths themselves were obviously assimilated by the Greeks and Ottoman Turks. Most of the Goths eventually became Christians; their spiritual center was the Doros (Mangup) fortress.
For a long time, Gothia was a buffer between the hordes of nomads pressing on Crimea from the north and Byzantium in the south, survived the invasions of the Huns, Khazars, Tatar-Mongols and ceased to exist after the invasion of the Ottomans.
Catholic priest Stanislav Sestrenevich-Bogush wrote that back in the 18th century the Goths lived near the Mangup fortress, their language was similar to German, but they were all Islamized.
Genoese and Venetians (XII–XV centuries)
Merchants from Venice and Genoa appeared on the Black Sea coast in the middle of the 12th century; Having concluded a treaty with the Golden Horde, they founded trading colonies that lasted until the Ottomans captured the coast, after which their few inhabitants were assimilated.
In the 4th century, the Crimea was invaded by the cruel Huns, some of whom settled in the steppes and mixed with the Goth-Alans. Jews and Armenians fleeing from the Arabs also moved to Crimea, the Khazars visited here, East Slavs, Polovtsians, Pechenegs and Bulgars, and it is absolutely no wonder that the peoples of Crimea are not similar to each other, because the blood of a variety of peoples flows in their veins.
- November, 10th 2013In recent years, after the return of the Tatars from deportation, interethnic and interregional relations on the Crimean Peninsula have worsened. The basis of the conflict is a dispute: whose land is this and who is indigenous to Crimea? First, let's define who historical and ethnographic sciences classify as indigenous peoples. The Encyclopedia gives this answer:
An indigenous people is an ethnic group that has mastered a territory that was not inhabited by anyone before.
Now let’s trace the changes in Crimean ethnogenesis (the emergence of various peoples), although this will be far from full picture, but nevertheless it is impressive. So, they lived in Crimea at different times.
About 300 thousand years ago– primitive people (Early Paleolithic); tools for labor and hunting were found at sites on the South Coast.
About 100 thousand years ago– primitive people (Middle Paleolithic); more than 20 human sites are known: Kiik-Koba, Staroselye, Chokurcha, Shaitan-Koba, Akkaya, Zaskalnaya, Prolom, Kobazi, Wolf Grotto, etc.; religion - animism.
40-35 thousand years ago– people of the Upper Paleolithic; religion - totemism; 4 sites were found, including Suren I.
12th-10th millennium– people of the Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age); more than 20 sites were found throughout Crimea: Shankoba, Fatmakoba, Alimov canopy, Kachinsky canopy, etc.; religion - totemism.
8th millennium– Neolithic (New Stone Age) people; Kemi-Oba culture (Tashair); religion - totemism.
5th millennium(Bronze Age) – the arrival of the tribes of the “Catacomb” and “Srubnaya” cultures to the Crimea (burials in mounds).
The existence of different cultures did not pass without leaving a mark on them - they undoubtedly influenced each other, changed and enriched, and possibly merged, giving rise to new cultures. Perhaps this was the beginning of the culture of the Cimmerians (alien tribes) and the culture of the Taurians (local tribes):
3rd millennium BC(Iron Age) – Cimmeria, Cimmerians – warlike people, Indo-Aryans are people of the European type; their distribution area: the south of modern Russia, Ukraine, the North Caucasus, Crimea; religion – polytheism. They lived in the valleys. Most likely, they brought the ability to mine and process iron to Crimea.
X century BC– Tavria, Tavrika, Tavrida, brands ( united people they can be called only with a certain stretch; rather, it is a conglomerate of various tribes: Arichs, Napei, Sinkhs, etc.) They lived in the mountains, were engaged in agriculture, cattle breeding, hunting, and fishing; their burials have been preserved - dolmens and fortifications: Uch-Bash, on Cape Kharaks, on Mount Castel Seraus, Koshka, Karaul-oba, on the rocks of the Kachin Gate, Ai-Yori and in the Karalez Valley; religion - the cult of the Virgin and other gods.
These tribes were united by one name by the Greeks, who were already visiting the Crimean shores in those days. It is not clear why they called them that: either because of their ferocious disposition, or because of their countless herds (“tauros” is a bull from Greek), or this word meant “highlanders” (taurus-tur-mountain)…
VII-VI centuries BC- Greeks. Chersonese Tauride, Cimmerian Bosporus on the shores of the Pontus Euxine (Black Sea) and Maeotis ( Sea of Azov). The Greeks founded these two states, as well as hundreds of settlements along the coast; religion - polytheism, Pantheon of Olympian gods led by Zeus (Cronos); from the 1st century AD – gradual Christianization; The Greeks were the first in Crimea to begin trading local slaves “for export” (how, by the way, could the Tauri, and then the Scythians, treat them, because they didn’t even consider them people?)
VIII-VII centuries BC– Scythia, Scythians (Skolot), Sindians, Meotians, Sakas, Massagetae and other Indo-Iranian nomadic tribes, which practically displaced the Cimmerians from the Crimean expanses and gradually became settled in vast territories (the capital of Scythia was near modern Nikopol, and the second - in the Crimea (Simferopol) - Scythian Naples, built in the 3rd century BC) Religion - polytheism. Pantheon of gods led by Popeye.
The eternal and irresistible process of mutual influence and mixing of peoples led to the fact that in the first centuries of our era the Tauri were no longer separated from the Scythians, but were called Tauro-Scythians, and some of the Scythian settlements mixed with the Greek ones (for example, the Tatars already in the 13th century found a poor Greek village, which was named Kermenchuk). But let's continue the list.
2nd century BC Sarmatia. The Sarmatians pushed the related-speaking Scythians out of the Northern Black Sea region and the Azov region into the Crimea; religion - polytheism.
1st century BC– Jewish Diaspora – Semites. Religion – monotheism (god Yahweh); gravestones with seven-branched candlesticks and inscriptions in Hebrew were discovered on the Kerch and Taman peninsulas.
I century BC - I century AD– Pontic people (Pontic Bosporus); settled on the site of the Bosporan Cimmerian kingdom led by Mithridates VI Eupator (Kerch); religion - polytheism. Together with the Pontic people, Armenians appeared on the peninsula.
1st century BC – III century AD– the Romans and Thracians, after the defeat of the Pontic Kingdom, captured Crimea (now this is the easternmost outskirts of the Roman Empire); religion - polytheism, and from 325. – Christianity; The Romans introduced local residents to their culture and introduced them to the virtues of Roman law.
Until the 4th century AD– Eastern Slavs: Antes, Tivertsy (Artania) – known in the Northern Black Sea region since ancient times; pushed to the north during the Great Migration of Peoples, partially preserved in Taman - the future Tmutarakan; religion - polytheism.
III century AD– Germanic tribes: Goths and Heruli (Gothia, Captaincy of Gothia); came from the Baltic states, destroyed Scythia and created their own state of Gothia on the southern coast of Crimea. Later, they left the Huns to the west, some returned in the 7th century. The Goths were the impetus for the unification of the Slavs; religion - polytheism, and later - Christianity.
III century AD– Alans-Yas, related to the Sarmatians (distant ancestors of the Ossetians); together with the Sarmatians they settled among the Scythians; best known in Crimea for their settlement of Kyrk-Ork (until the 14th century, then Chufut-Kale), when they were pushed into the mountains by the Huns; religion – Christianity.
IV century– Huns, Xiongnu (Hun Principality) – the ancestors of today’s Tuvans; invaded from the Trans-Altai region, dealt a powerful blow to the Goths, drove away a significant part of the population, thereby marking the beginning of the Great Migration of Peoples; religion - paganism, later - Christianity.
IV century– Byzantium (East Roman Empire), Kherson theme; after the collapse of the Roman Empire, Taurica, as it were, was “inherited” by Byzantium; strongholds in Crimea - Kherson, Bosporus (Kerch), Gurzuvits (Gurzuf), Aluston (Alushta), etc. In 325. accept Christianity.
VI century– the Turks (Turkic Mongoloids) raided to the Crimea from Siberia, establishing their Ashin dynasty in Khazaria (lower Volga and Terek), but did not gain a foothold on the peninsula; pagans.
VI century- Avars (obry) - created the Avar Kaganate in Transnistria, also raided the Crimea until they were defeated by the Bulgars; pagans.
VII century– Bulgars (Bulgarians). Some of them settled in the Crimea, becoming settled from nomadic, settling in foothill valleys and engaging in agriculture (in general, the Volga Bulgar-Turks moved to the West; another wave of them went north, creating the Kazan Khanate; in the Balkans they assimilated with the southern Slavs, founding Bulgaria and adopting Christianity ); pagans, and from the 9th century. - Orthodox Christians.
VII century– Greekized superethnos (Gothia, Doros) – formed the Greek-speaking basis of the population of the Mangup principality (Dori); Byzantium is strengthening, uniting multilingual peoples who lived in the mountainous Crimea and along the South Coast; religion – Christianity, as well as other religions.
VIII-X centuries– Khazar Khaganate, Khazars (Turkic-speaking peoples of the Dagestan type); religion is paganism, later some converted to Islam, some to Judaism, and some to Christianity. Power in the Kaganate is first seized by the Turkets-Ashins, then by the Jews; Judean Khazaria captures part of the steppe and coastal Crimea, competes with Byzantium, and seeks to subjugate Rus' (destroyed by Prince Svyatoslav in 965).
VIII-X centuries– Karaites; came to Khazaria from Israel through Persia and the Caucasus; crossed with the Khazars; forced out by Rokhdanite Jews to the outskirts of Khazaria, including the Crimea; language – Kynchak dialect of the Turkic language, close to Crimean Tatar; religion – Judaism (only the Pentateuch – Torah is recognized).
VII-I centuries– Krymchaks (Crimean Jews) – remained in Crimea and Taman as fragments of the defeated Khazar Kaganate (known as residents of the Tmutarakan principality and Kievan Rus); the language is close to Karaite; religion – Orthodox Judaism-Rabbinism.
Late 9th – early 19th centuries.– Pechenegs-Bejans (Turkmens) – Turks from the Baraba steppes; defeated by the Polovtsians and Guzes; some dispersed to the Crimea, some to the Lower Dnieper region (Karakalpaks); were assimilated by the Eastern Slavs; religion – paganism.
X-XI centuries– Guz-Oghuz (Turkmen) – Turkic people. Leader - Oguz Khan; ousted the Pechenegs from the Crimea and the Northern Black Sea region, and then, together with the Pechenegs, opposed the Russes (Rugs), Slavs and Polovtsians; religion – paganism.
X-XIII centuries- Eastern Slavs (Tmutarakan Principality as part of Kievan Rus). This is the principality (Taman and Korchev-Kerch), founded by Prince Vladimir in 988, in 1222. together with the Polovtsians, they fought off the Turks; at the Battle of Kalka in 1223. Ataman Tmutarakan Plaskinya took the side of the Mongol-Tatars; religion – Christianity.
XI century– Polovtsians (Kypchaks, Cumans, Komans). They created the state of Odzhaklar in the Black Sea region and Crimea with its capital Sarkel (on the Don). They alternately fight with Russia and make alliances; together with four Russian princes Mstislav and Khan Katyan, they were defeated on the Kalka River in 1223; some went to Hungary and Egypt (Mamluks), the rest were assimilated by the Tatars, Slavs, Hungarians, Greeks, etc. Religion - paganism.
XI century– perhaps Armenians were settling in Crimea at this time (their homeland was being tormented by the Persians and Seljuk Turks). Mountain Taurica east of present-day Belogorsk has for some time been called Primorsky Armenia; in a wooded tract there emerges the Armenian monastery of Surb-Khach (holy cross), known even outside of Crimea; Belogorsk itself is a large and rich city - Solkhat (it is inhabited by Kipchaks, Alans and Rus, as well as Soldaya, Surozh (Sudak).
Ancient authors have many reports about the dews (Rus) who lived from the first centuries of our era in the Northern Azov region, the Black Sea region and in the Crimea. In Byzantine documents it was stated: “ Scythians, who are Russians" In the 9th century. The Black Sea was called the Russian Sea by the Arabs (previously it was the Rum Sea - “Byzantine”). In the 9th century. The enlightener Kirill saw books “written in Russian characters” in Taurica. The word "ros" means "light, white." The Tarkhankut Peninsula was designated as the “white coast”, and the Dews lived there. The Arabs called the Rus Slavs, the Greeks called the Scythians, and the Cimmerian Bosporus was considered their homeland. There is a version that the Novgorod prince Bravlin, who went to the Greek settlements, was a local Tauro-Scythian leader, and the “Russian new town" - most likely Scythian Naples. In the 11th century. Kerch Strait is called the Russian River, and on its Crimean bank, opposite Tmutarakan, stands the city of Rosia - the White City (Kerch?). The Russian merchant Afanasy Nikitin in 1474, when returning from “Overseas”, visited Crimea, where he saw many Russians and people in general Orthodox faith, as well as baptized Tatars (which he wrote about in his diaries).
XII-XV centuries- Venetians, Genoese, Pisans founded trading posts in Crimea: Kafa, Soldaya, Vosporo, Chembalo. They appeared in Crimea back in Byzantine times and participated in the Battle of Kulikovo in Mamai’s army. In 1475 Kafa (modern Feodosia) fell under the attacks of the Turks and Tatars. Religion – Catholicism.
XII-XV centuries– in Crimea, the multi-ethnic Mangup principality of Theodoro emerges, having connections with Constantinople, Europe, Moscow and numbering 200 thousand. people of the population (most of them are Greeks). It extended from Balaklava to Alushta, located in the mountainous Crimea; defeated by the Turks and Tatars in 1475. After 300 years, only 30 thousand remained in Crimea. Greeks, half of them Urums (Tatarized). In 1778, the Greeks left for the Azov region (Mariupol).
Beginning of the 13th century.– Crimea is inhabited by Tatars – Ulus of the Golden Horde. The capital becomes Eski-Crimea - Old Crimea (formerly Solkhat). Transbaikalian tribes of Tatars and Mongols led by Genghis Khan, having captured the Yenisei and Ob Kirghiz, conquered the peoples Central Asia. At the beginning of the 13th century. Genghis Khan moved west towards the Kipchaks and Kievan Rus. In Crimea - since 1239; pagans, and from the 14th century - Sunni Muslims.
Crimean Khanate (Tatars) - from 1428. the capital moved from Solkhat to Bakhchisarai; formed after the collapse of the Golden Horde. Since 1475 to 1774 this state is a vassal of the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire; liquidated in 1783 Religion – Islam.
XIII century– Gypsies – known in Crimea since the time of the Crimean Khanate. They may have first appeared in Khazar times; religion - paganism, and then partly Christianity, partly Islam.
XV century – 1475-1774– Turks, Ottoman Empire(the first attempt to establish itself in Crimea was in 1222) The Turks capture Kafa, Sudak, the cave cities of Mangup and Chufut-Kale, and the Sultan becomes the religious head of the Crimean Tatars. Religion – Islam.
XVIII - XX centuries.– Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Bulgarians, Germans, Czechs, Estonians, Moldovans, Kara Greeks, Wallachians, Georgians, Azerbaijanis, Kazan and Siberian Tatars, Koreans, Hungarians, Italians, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, etc.
After the annexation of Crimea to Russia in 1783. Turks and most of the Tatars go to Turkey, and the settlement of Crimea and the Novorossiysk region by Slavic and other peoples (including from abroad) begins. Religion – various religions and denominations.
Afterword
The article uses data from the article “Indigenous and local” (newspaper “Krymskaya Pravda” dated January 27, 2004), written by Vasily Potekhin, candidate of historical sciences, Honored Education Worker of Crimea, member of the Writers' Union, who states:
None of the peoples currently living in Crimea are aboriginal - autochthonous, that is, indigenous. The principle of our peaceful multi-ethnic existence today is reflected on the coat of arms of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea in the form of the motto: “Prosperity in unity.” Nationalism inevitably leads to national fascism. Crimea was, is and will be a historical testing ground for the creation of multinational Eurasian culture.
Culture will save the world.
Pontus Euxine - Scythian Sea
For world history, Crimea became known many centuries BC. In ancient times, the peninsula was called Tavrika. This name was recorded by the Byzantine historian of the 6th century AD Procopius of Caesarea. The Old Russian chronicle “The Tale of Bygone Years” gives a slightly modified form of this name - Tavriania. Only in the 12th century did the Tatars, who conquered the peninsula, call the Greek city of Solkhat (now Old Crimea) Crimea, which became the center of their possessions. Gradually, during the XIV-XV centuries, this name spread to the entire peninsula. Names of Greek colonies that arose in Crimea in the 6th century BC. cannot be considered the oldest Crimean toponyms. Before the arrival of the Greeks in Crimea, numerous tribes lived here, leaving their mark on history, archeology, and toponymy.
Crimea belongs to those few places on earth where people have appeared since time immemorial. Here, archaeologists have discovered their sites from the Paleolithic - Early Stone Age era.
Scientists believe that before the divergence of peoples began, it was around 3700 BC. throughout the Caspian steppes of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, there was a single language of communication, the roots of which lie in.
The roots of the most ancient names of Crimean places, rivers, mountains, lakes should be sought in the Proto-Indo-European language - Vedic Sanskrit: support, stronghold, tower, tower, pylon.(a related word in Old Russian: KROM - castle, fortification, secluded, hidden from...; Kromny - outer edge (edge); KROMA - edge, piece of bread;) At the root of the word Kram - kram - fortress, verb " kR" and "krta" - create, build, make, that is - this is a man-made structure - a Fortress, the Kremlin.
Slavic historian, archaeologist, ethnographer and linguist, author of the 11-volume encyclopedia “Slavic Antiquities” Lyubora Niederle claimed that “...among the northern neighbors of the Scythians mentioned by Herodotus, not only the Neuroi... but also the Scythians, called plowmen and farmers... were undoubtedly Slavs, who were influenced by the Greco-Scythian culture."
The first population of Crimea known to us from ancient Greek sources were the Scythians, Taurus and the Cimmerians, who were related or Thracian.
In the southwestern part of the Crimean peninsula, 15 km from Sevastopol, there is ancient city Balaclava, which has a rich history dating back more than 2,500 years.
Since ancient times, it has been a powerful military fortress created by nature itself. Balaklava harbor is closed by high cliffs on all sides from sea storms, and the narrow entrance to the harbor reliably protects it from enemy invasions from the sea. reports that in the mountains of Tauris there lived Taurians who knew a lot about the art of war.
within the Dnieper Left Bank there are two toponyms ancient Slavic look– Perekop, near Sreznevsky – Perekop, possible tracing of relict Indo-Aryan *krta – “made (that is, dug by hand)” , hence the name Crimea. In approximately the same place, at the base of the Crimean Peninsula, there is another Russian. Oleshye , one of the “inhabited places” by the sea, which since time immemorial - from Herodotus Hylaea (‘Y – “forest”) to the present Aleshkovsky (!) Sands – firmly conveyed and preserved the image of this “wooded” patch among the surrounding treeless spaces.
The name "Balaclava" comes from the word "strength, power, energy, force, military force, army, army." The word "Bala" comes from - RV). Perhaps the name of the harbor “Bala+klava” comes from “Bala” - military, “Klap, kalpate” - klṛ p, kalpate - “to strengthen, strengthen, fortress” (from the root “kḷ p”), that is - Military Fortress.
The ancient Greek geographer and historian Strabo (64 BC - 24 AD) and the Roman writer, author of Natural History Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD) associated the name of the harbor and military fortress with the name of their son (II century BC) Palak - “strong warrior.” Names of the god of war in ancient Greece - Pallas (Pallas), epithet of the goddess Athena Palada(ancient Greek Παλλὰς Ἀθηνᾶ) – warlike goddess of the military strategy and wisdom, and the name of the Scythian prince Palak - "warrior", come from the same root.
In the 5th century, a powerful city emerged on both banks of the Kerch Strait, whose inhabitants consisted of representatives of various nations - Greek colonists, Scythians, Maeotians. Dominant dynasty The Spartacids were of Thracian origin, and the royal guard also consisted of Thracians. In the Proto-Indo-European language lie the roots of the language of the Scythians, Cimmerians, Greeks, Goths, which is why they found a common language and, allowing for the interpenetration of cultures and language borrowings on the peninsula, for example, from the Germanic tribes - the Scythians, who were part of a single Gothic union of tribes in the Crimea .
The role of the Goths in the life of Crimea was very significant, since even in Byzantine medieval sources Crimea was called Gothia. belongs to the Indo-European group of languages. A few fortified Ostrogothic settlements remained in the Black Sea region in the western mountainous part of Crimea, inhabited by the Greeks and subordinate to Byzantium, and also from the 5th century in the Azov region on the Taman Peninsula, the Ostrogoths at the end of the 4th century were cut off by the invasion of the Huns and other nomads in the Black Sea region. Byzantine Emperor Justinian I built a line of fortifications in Crimea to protect the settlements of the Ostrogoths (Eastern Goths). In Taurida (Crimea) there was Gothic the fortified city of Mangup, the cities of Doro (Doros), Theodoro,
Gothic traders living on the “table mountain” (near Alushta). In the 6th century, the Crimean Goths accepted Orthodox Christianity and patronage from Byzantium. In Crimea for a long time the Crimean-Gothic language was preserved, dating back to the Ostrogothic dialect of the tribes of the eastern Goths, who came to the Black Sea region and the Azov region in 150 - 235, and lived in the vicinity of Greek settlers and Scythians. The Flemish monk V. Rubruk, who testifies in 1253 that the Goths in Crimea at that time spoke the “Germanic dialect” (idioma Teutonicum). Important place
occupies the Crimean Peninsula in the history of Ukraine. The population of Crimea and Ukraine was connected by common economic, political and cultural processes. Spread of power Kyiv princes of Ancient Rus' on a fairly large part of the peninsula, closely and for a long time brought the population of Crimea closer to ancient Russian state . There was a kind of gate here through which Kievan Rus went out to communicate with the countries of the East. In the first centuries AD, Slavs
. Their resettlement to the peninsula is most naturally explained by the so-called great migration of peoples in the 2nd-7th centuries.
Byzantine sources mention the Slavs in Crimea from time to time. But scientists were able to get a more complete picture of their life on the peninsula only starting from the era of Kievan Rus. Archaeologists have discovered in Crimea the remains of material culture, the foundations of architectural structures close to those built in the cities of Kievan Rus. Moreover, the fresco paintings and the plaster itself of the Crimean Russian churches are very similar in composition to the fresco paintings of Kyiv cathedrals of the 11th-12th centuries.
Much about the ancient Russian population of Crimea becomes known from written sources. From"The Lives of Stephen of Sourozh" In the 9th century, the Russian prince Bravlin took possession of the Crimean cities of Korsun (or Kherson, this is how Chersonesus began to be called in the Middle Ages) and Pike perch. And in the middle of the same century, the ancient Russians settled for a long time in the Azov region, taking possession of the Byzantine city of Tamatarcha and later Tmutarakan, the capital of the future ancient Russian principality, part of whose lands extended in the Crimea. Gradually, the Kiev government extends its power to the northwestern part of it to the outskirts of Kherson, the entire Kerch peninsula.
Principality of Tmutarakansi developed in the middle of the 10th century. Remote from other Russian lands, it was under constant pressure from Byzantium, but managed to survive. Successful Vladimir Svyatoslavich's campaign against Kherson in 989 expanded ancient Russian possessions in Crimea. According to the Russian-Byzantine agreement, Kievan Rus was able to annex the city of Bosporus with its outskirts to the Tmutarakan principality, which received the Russian name Korchev (from the word “korcha” - forge, present-day Kerch).
The Arab geographer Idrisi called Kerch Strait “the mouth of the Russian river”. There he even knew a city called “Russia”. Medieval European and eastern geographical maps of Crimea recorded many toponyms, names of cities and settlements, indicating the long and long stay of the Russians in Crimea: “ Cosal di Rossia”, “Russia”, “Rosmofar”, “Rosso”, “Rossica” (the latter near Evpatoria), etc.
At the end of the 12th century, an influx of nomadic Polovtsians, who took possession of the steppes of the northern Black Sea region, cut off Crimea from Kievan Rus for a long time. At the same time, the Polovtsians destroyed the Tmutarakan principality, but a significant part of the Russian population remained on the peninsula. One of its strongholds was the city of Sudak (Russian name Surozh). According to the reports of the Arab writer Ibn al-Athir. At the end of the 12th and beginning of the 13th centuries, many Russian merchants lived in Crimea. The Russian population of the peninsula, as well as representatives of other local peoples, suffered an irreparable blow from the conquest of the peninsula Mongol-Tatars after 1223.
Peoples inhabiting Crimea
The ethnic history of Crimea is very complex and dramatic. One thing can be said: the national composition of the peninsula has never been monotonous, especially in its mountainous and coastal areas. Speaking about the population of the Tauride Mountains back in the 2nd century. BC, the Roman historian Pliny the Elder notes that 30 peoples live there. Mountains and islands often served as a refuge for relict peoples, once great, and then disappeared from the historical arena. This was the case with the warlike Goths, who conquered almost all of Europe and then disappeared into its vastness at the beginning of the Middle Ages. And in Crimea, Gothic settlements remained until the 15th century. The last reminder of them is the village of Kok-Kozy (now Golubinka), that is, Blue Eyes.
Today there are more than 30 national cultural associations in Crimea, 24 of which are officially registered. The national palette is represented by seventy ethnic groups and ethnic groups, many of which have preserved their traditional everyday culture.
Random photos of Crimea
The most numerous ethnic group in Crimea is, of course, Russians. It should be noted that they appeared in Crimea long before the Tatars, at least since the time of Prince Vladimir’s campaign against Chersonesos. Even then, along with the Byzantines, Russian merchants traded here, and some of them settled in Chersonesos seriously and for a long time. However, only after the annexation of Crimea to Russia does a numerical superiority of Russians arise over other peoples inhabiting the peninsula. In a relatively short time, Russians already make up more than half of the population. These come mainly from the central black earth provinces of Russia: Kursk, Oryol, Tambov and others.
Since ancient times, Crimea was a multi-ethnic territory. Over the course of a long time, a rich, interesting and globally significant historical and cultural heritage has been formed on the peninsula. From the end of the XVIII - early XIX centuries due to a number of historical events Representatives of various peoples began to appear on the peninsula, playing a certain role in economic, socio-political and cultural (architecture, religion, traditional everyday culture, music, fine arts, etc.) life.
Ethnicities and ethnic groups have contributed to the cultural heritage of Crimea, which together constitute a rich and interesting tourist product, united in ethnographic and ethnic tourism. Currently, there are more than 30 national cultural associations in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, 24 of which are officially registered. The national palette is represented by seventy ethnic groups and ethnic groups, many of which have preserved their traditional everyday culture and are actively promoting their historical and cultural heritage.
Secondly, peoples (ethnic groups) that appeared en masse on the peninsula 150 or more - 200 years ago, having a unique history and culture. Their traditional everyday culture was, to one degree or another, subject to ethnic assimilation and mutual influence: regional features appeared in it, and some aspects of material and spiritual culture were preserved and began to be actively revived from the late 80s to early 90s. XX century. Among them are Bulgarians, Germans, Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Jews, Czechs, Poles, Assyrians, Estonians, French and Italians.
And thirdly, after 1945, Azerbaijanis, Koreans, Volga Tatars, Mordovians, Chuvashs, Gypsies, as well as Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians from various regions began to come to Crimea and gradually form diasporas, adding to the East Slavic population of Crimea. This page describes ethnographic objects that characterize the culture of 16 ethnic communities.
This includes architectural monuments left in the Middle Ages by the Italians (Venetians and Genoese) and early Christian cultural monuments, which are considered multi-ethnic objects, since it is not always possible to determine the ethnicity of the creators of religious buildings, or the complexes include objects created by representatives of different ethnic groups, long time neighboring on the territory of Crimea.
Photos of beautiful places in Crimea
Armenians
To characterize objects according to the traditional culture of Armenians, it is necessary to turn to the history of their resettlement from the ancient capital of Armenia, Ani. The core of the first Armenian settlements was ancient Solkhat (Old Crimea) and Kafa (Feodosia), as evidenced by numerous chronicle sources. The best monuments of Armenian architecture are concentrated in the eastern and southeastern parts of Crimea and date back to the 14th - 15th centuries. Excellent examples of urban housing of a later period have been preserved in Feodosia, Sudak, Old Crimea and small villages.
Of particular excursion interest is the monastery complex Surb-Khach ("Holy Cross"), construction date - 1338. It is located three kilometers southwest of the city of Old Crimea. The ensemble of the Surb-Khach monastery is one of best works Armenian architects not only in Crimea. It revealed the main features of Armenian-Asian Minor architecture. Currently, the monastery is under the jurisdiction of the ARC State Committee for the Protection and Use of Historical and Cultural Monuments.
The former monastery of St. Stefanos (6.5 km south of the city of Old Crimea) and the miniature Church of the Twelve Apostles, part of the medieval fortress complex in Sudak, are also worthy of attention. Of the 40 Armenian churches in Kafa, few have survived to this day. Among them is the Church of St. George the Victorious - a tiny basilica building, the larger churches of John the Baptist and the Archangels Michael and Gabriel with a carved turret decorated with the finest stone carvings. In Feodosia, Sudak and Old Crimea and their environs, khachkars - ancient tombstones with the image of a cross - have been preserved.
In Old Crimea, once a year, members of the Armenian community of Crimea, guests from Armenia and foreign countries - up to 500 people - gather for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. During the holiday, services are held in churches, traditional rituals are performed, and national dishes are prepared.
Belarusians
The history of the appearance of Belarusians in Crimea dates back to the end of the 18th century. Settlers from Belarus arrived on the peninsula in the 19th and 20th centuries. Currently, the places of compact residence of Belarusians are the village of Shirokoe, Simferopol district, and the village of Maryanovka Krasnogvardeisky district. In the village of Shirokoye there is a folk museum with an ethnographic exhibition on the traditional everyday culture of Belarusians; there are children's and adult folklore groups. The days of culture of the Republic of Belarus have become traditional, in which not only Belarusians of Crimea, but also professional performers from Belarus actively participate.
Bulgarians
Of interest is the culture of the Bulgarians, whose appearance in Crimea dates back to the beginning of the 19th century. According to the traditional everyday culture of the Bulgarians, 5 ethnographic objects have been identified that deserve attention. They can serve as preserved houses built in the 80s. XIX century - beginning of the 20th century in a traditional architectural style and with a traditional layout in the village of Kurskoye, Belogorsk district (former colony of Kishlav) and the town. Koktkbel, who played a significant role in the economic, socio-political, religious and cultural life up to 1944 Rich folklore heritage is preserved in the village of Zhelyabovka, Nizhnegorsky district, folk holidays are organized, customs and rituals are played out.
Greeks
The ethnic group of the Greeks of Crimea (modern times) falls into the field of research of the Crimean Ethnographic Museum, the Institute of Oriental Studies, and the Center for Greek Studies. These are descendants of settlers of various periods from mainland Greece and the islands of the archipelago of the late 18th - early 19th centuries.
One of the villages that have preserved monuments of the traditional culture of the Greeks who arrived in Crimea after the Russian-Turkish War (1828-1829) from Rumelia (Eastern Thrace) is the village of Chernopolye (formerly Karachol) in the Belogorsk region. Dwellings dating back to the early 20th century have been preserved here. Currently, the church in the name of Saints Constantine and Helena (built in 1913) has been restored; there is a source of St. Constantine - the “Holy Spring”, where the Greeks come after the liturgy for ablution and drinking. The holy holiday of Panair, held annually by the Chernopol community on June 3-4, is famous among the Greeks of Crimea and the Donetsk region. Folk rituals, traditions and customs, rich song folklore are preserved not only in families, but also in folklore groups. In January 2000, an ethnographic house-museum was opened in the village of Chernopolye.
In addition to the so-called “Modern Greek” monuments, many monuments characterizing various periods have been preserved in Crimea Greek culture in Crimea. Christian and Muslim necropolises of the 16th-17th centuries were discovered and explored in the Bakhchisarai region. Among the old-timers of the Greek population were Greek Christians (Rumeians) and Turkic-speaking ones - Urums, therefore the inscriptions on the tombstones are found in two languages. These priceless historical and cultural monuments, many of which are dated and have preserved their ornamentation, arouse enormous interest among residents of the peninsula and researchers. Thus, the villages of the Bakhchisarai region Vysokoye, Bogatoye, Gorge, Bashtanovka, Mnogoreche, Zelenoe with Christian and Muslim necropolises, preserved dwellings of the 19th century. can be distinguished as ethnographic objects characterizing the spiritual and material culture late medieval population of Crimea - Greeks.
Over the course of a long stay with representatives of other ethnic groups (Russians), there was a mutual influence of cultures not only in the material, but also in the spiritual. The self-name of the people of one of the branches in the Greek line is known - Buzmaki, which appeared as a result of the long coexistence of several ethnic groups. Such mixing and layering of cultures is known in the village of Alekseevka, Belogorsk district (formerly the village of Sartana). These objects require further study and special arrangement.
Many religious monuments of Christianity during the Middle Ages and modern times are associated with the culture of the Greeks. One of interesting monuments Greek Christian culture is the Assumption Monastery in the rocks near Bakhchisarai, the foundation of which dates back to the 7th century. ad. The significance of the monastery as a patron of Christians attracted many local residents to settle around it. In the Middle Ages, there was a Greek settlement near the monastery, where, according to legend, the icon of the Mother of God Panagia appeared to the residents. Nowadays, this site attracts many pilgrims; divine services are held there.
The total number of allocated objects on Greek culture is 13, geographically they are located in the Bakhchisarai and Belogorsk districts and the city of Simferopol (Greek shopping arcades, former church Constantine and Helena, A. Sovopulo fountain).
Jews
The history of the various peoples of Crimea has been studied unevenly. Currently, the greatest interest of scientists is attracted by the history of Jewish communities on the peninsula, which appeared here from the first centuries of our era, as well as the history of the Karaites and Krymchaks, who emerged from medieval Jewish communities and consider themselves independent ethnic groups.
After 1783, numerous people began to move to Crimea Jewish families Ashkenazi persuasion (Ashkenazi Jews made up about 95% of the Jews of the former USSR, i.e. they were descendants of the so-called German Jews). The appearance of numerous Ashkenazi Jews on the peninsula was associated with its inclusion in 1804 in the Pale of Settlement, i.e. areas where Jews were allowed to settle. Throughout the 19th century. communities appear in Kerch, Feodosia, Simferopol, Evpatoria, Sevastopol, as well as in rural areas. 1923-1924 marked by the spontaneous resettlement of Jews to Crimea, mainly from Belarus, and the creation of Jewish agricultural colonies, mainly in the steppe part of the peninsula. Of interest may be the typical houses for Jewish settlers preserved in the steppe Crimea, built under the program of the American Jewish United Agronomic Corporation (Agrojoined), as a basis for creating an ethnographic museum under open air or ethnographic village.
Currently, the interest of tourists and excursionists may be aroused by the traditional activities of the Jewish urban population in the field of handicrafts (tailors, artists, jewelers, etc.), as well as the religious and spiritual life of the community. According to the degree of preserved objects (synagogues, residential buildings, schools), we should highlight the cities of Simferopol, Feodosia, Kerch, where by the beginning of the 20th century. lived a large community.
In Kerch, the buildings of several synagogues, the house of the Ginzburg family, in good condition, and the former Jewish street (now Volodya Dubinin Street), located in the historical part of the city, have been preserved.
Italians
The ethnic group of Italians may also be of interest to tourists, which throughout the first half of the 19th century V. was formed in Feodosia and Kerch. The Kerch group of Italians was one of the numerous in the south of Russia, after the Italians of Odessa, and remained largely intact in the 30s and 40s. XX century, and their descendants still live in the city today. The Kerch “colony” was not a continuous settlement occupied only by Italians. They settled on the outskirts of Kerch, and currently the streets where they lived form part of the city. One of the surviving buildings is the Roman Catholic Cathedral, built in the mid-19th century. and currently active. It is located in the historical part of the city. An interesting fact is that under the Catholic Church, nuns of Italian origin were engaged in knitting elegant lace.
Karaites
The culture of the Karaites is of great interest to tourists. In the 19th century the center of social and cultural life of the Karaites from Chufut-Kale moved to Yevpatoria, there were communities in other cities of the peninsula - in Bakhchisarai, Kerch, Feodosia, Simferopol.
Ethnographic objects can serve as preserved monuments in Evpatoria - the kenassa complex: large kenassa (built in 1807), small kenassa (1815) and courtyards with arcades (XVIII - XIX centuries), a number of residential buildings with traditional architecture and layout (for example , the house of M. Shishman, the former dacha of Bobovich, the house with the armechel of S. Z. Duvan, etc.), the Duvanov Karaite almshouse, as well as a unique Karaite necropolis, which did not escape losses in previous years.
Objects in Feodosia should also be added to this list: the former dacha of Solomon Crimea (built in 1914) and the building of the former dacha of Stamboli (1909-1914). The first building now houses the Voskhod sanatorium, and the second building houses the Feodosia City Executive Committee. In addition, the Feodosia Museum of Local Lore exhibits a permanent exhibition on the culture of the Karaites.
In Simferopol, the building of the kenassa (1896, reconstruction 1934/1935) has been preserved, where the editorial office of the State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company "Crimea" is currently located, as well as houses belonging to the Karaites in the historical part of Simferopol, the so-called. "Old city".
One of the masterpieces of medieval architecture is the fortress and cave city "Chufut-Kale", where many monuments of the history and culture of the Karaites have been preserved (fortress, "cave city", kenassy, A. Firkovich's house, Karaite cemetery Banta-Tiymez). This complex of Karaite culture is one of the most promising ethnographic sites. Karaite society has a plan for its development. The Bakhchisaray Historical and Cultural Reserve houses and exhibits a collection of the culture of the Karaite communities of Chufut-Kale and Bakhchisaray. The number of cultural objects is more than 10, the main one of which is Chufut-Kale, which is already used in tourist and excursion services.
Krymchaks
The center of Krymchak culture in the 19th century. Karasu-Bazar remained (the city of Belogorsk; the Krymchak community appeared here in the 16th century). The city has preserved the so-called "Krymchak settlement", which developed on the left side of the Karasu River. In the 20th century Gradually, the spiritual and cultural life of the Kramchak community moved to Simferopol, which remains so at the present time. Of the surviving monuments, we should remember the building of the former Krymchak kaal.
Crimean Tatars
Ethnographic objects of the Crimean Tatar culture should include, first of all, religious objects. By religion Crimean Tatars- Muslims, profess Islam; their places of worship are mosques.
The influence of Turkish architecture on the architecture of Crimea can be considered the buildings of the famous Turkish architect Haji Sinan (late 15th - 16th centuries). These are the Juma-Jami mosque in Evpatoria, a mosque and baths in Feodosia. The Juma-Jami Mosque is well preserved. It rises like a mighty bulk above the one-story city blocks of the old part of the city. Mosque of Khan Uzbek in the city of Old Crimea.
Interesting buildings are the tombstone mausoleums-durbes. They are octagonal or square in plan with a domed ceiling and a crypt. Such durbes were identified as ethnographic objects in the Bakhchisarai region.
The Khan's palace in Bakhchisarai is called a masterpiece of Muslim architecture. In 1740-43. A large Khan-Jami mosque was built in the palace. Two minarets have been preserved, which are tall thin towers with spiral staircases inside and balconies at the top. The western wall of the mosque was painted by the Iranian master Omer. Now this is the exhibition space of the Bakhchisarai Historical and Cultural Museum. The Small Palace Mosque is one of the early buildings of the palace (XVI century), built according to the type of Christian churches. The latest restoration work has restored the painting of the 16th - 18th centuries.
The Eski-Saray mosque in the Simferopol region was built in the 15th century. There is an assumption that the Khan was here mint. The mosque is a square building, above which a dome is erected on an octagonal base. The mosque building was transferred to the Muslim community of Simferopol.
In 1989, the Kebir-Jami mosque in Simferopol was transferred to the Muslim community. Built in 1508, it was built in the traditional Muslim architecture style and was restored several times. At the mosque there was an educational institution - a madrasah, the building of which has also been preserved in the city.
Of great interest is the Zindzhirli Madrasah, located on the outskirts of Bakhchisarai - Staroselye (formerly Salachik). The madrasah was built in 1500 by Khan Mengli Giray. This is a work of early Crimean Tatar architecture. It is a smaller and simplified version of the Seljuk madrassas in Asia Minor. The madrasah is the only surviving building of its kind in Crimea.
Old Tatar cemeteries with burials of the 18th - 19th centuries, which have preserved traditional tombstones with inscriptions and ornaments, can also be classified as ethnographic objects of the culture of the Crimean Tatars. Location - villages and inter-village territories of the Bakhchisarai region.
Traditional (rural) Crimean Tatar architecture is of interest to tourists. Examples of housing, as well as public and economic buildings, have been preserved in almost all regions of Crimea, having regional characteristics (steppe part, foothills and the southern coast of Crimea). The greatest concentration of such ethnographic objects occurs in the city of Bakhchisaray, Bakhchisaray, Simferopol and Belogorsk districts, as well as the villages of Alushta and Sudak city councils and the city of Stary Crimea. A number of rural places and cities are currently meeting places for fellow villagers and holding folk festivals.
The revival of a certain specificity of objects that interested tourists and travelers already in the 19th century is possible at the present time. For example, music and dance, where professional and folk groups will be involved. They can also be used in staging traditions, rituals, and showing holidays. At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. The attention of vacationers was attracted and widely used in excursion services by guides and shepherds, who differed from other layers of the Crimean Tatars in their way of life and even traditional clothing.
In total in Crimea, as the best preserved in places of good transport accessibility, with a base for further development in currently More than 30 objects of traditional Crimean Tatar culture can be identified.
Germans
The attention of tourists can also be attracted by the culture of the Germans, which has been preserved in Crimea in the form architectural objects- public and religious buildings, as well as traditional rural architecture. The most optimal way to get acquainted with the material and spiritual culture of the Germans is through direct trips to the former German colonies founded in 1804-1805. and throughout the 19th century. on the peninsula. The number of German colonies was numerous, they were concentrated mainly in the steppe part of the Crimea.
Currently, a number of villages (former colonies) have been identified that played a significant role in the economic, socio-political, religious and cultural life of the Germans until 1941. First of all, these are the former colonies of Neusatz, Friedenthal and Rosenthal (now the villages of Krasnogorye, Kurortnoye and Aromatnoye, Belogorsk district), located at a short distance from each other and acting as complex ethnographic objects that characterize the traditional layout of villages and architecture (houses, estates, outbuildings).
There is an opportunity to get acquainted with religious buildings - the building of the Catholic Church (built in 1867), in the village. Aromatic - currently under the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church Crimean Diocese. Getting to know the destroyed church in the village. Krasnogorye can be carried out based on materials from the State Archive of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. The building was built in 1825, rebuilt in 1914, the church was named in honor of Emperor Nicholas II, but in the 60s it was completely destroyed.
Among the surviving objects are the building of the primary school and the central school (built in 1876), as well as old German cemeteries (XIX-XX centuries). These objects have good transport accessibility, a degree of preservation of the monuments, but require further development, registration of the monuments and interest on the part of German societies, since at present there are no Germans living in the villages. Among the objects in rural areas, a number of other villages can be distinguished, for example, Aleksandrovka and Leninskoye (former colony of Byuten) in the Krasnogvardeisky district, Zolotoe Pole (colony of Zurichtal) in the Kirov region and Kolchugino (colony of Kronental) in the Simferopol region. The cultural objects of the Crimean Germans must also include places of worship, buildings of public importance in cities, for example, Simferopol, Yalta, Sudak (in the latter place, objects have been preserved in the village of Uyutnoye, Sudak City Council, i.e. the territory of the former colony of Sudak, which was its winemaking specialization).
Currently, the number of ethnographic (in rural areas) and architectural objects identified by German culture is more than 20.
Russians
Almost all of the monuments of Russian culture in Crimea are under state protection and, in one way or another, are included in various tourist routes. An example is the palace of Count Vorontsov in Alupka, which is one of the most unique architectural monuments of the “Russian period” in the history of Crimea (after Catherine II signed the manifesto on the annexation of Crimea to Russia, many luxurious cultural monuments, executed in the best traditions of that time, belonging to Russians and Russian-born people arose nobles and nobility).
The Alupka Palace was built according to the design of the English architect E. Blair, but embodied the features of both classicism and romantic and Gothic forms, as well as techniques of Moorish architecture. This building could be classified as a multi-ethnic cultural monument, but ethnicity is not always determined by the manner of execution, the styles used, techniques and even the affiliation of the architect. The main feature that distinguishes this object is its Russian environment.
According to the same principle, the Livadia Palace, built in 1911, is classified as a monument of Russian culture. according to the design of the Yalta architect N. Krasnov, on the site of a building that burned down in 1882. palace The building was built with the latest technology: there is central heating, an elevator, and electric lighting. Fireplaces installed in the halls serve not only as decorative decoration, but can also heat the halls of the palace. Traditional for Russian architecture of the 17th century. the forms determine the appearance of the Alexander Church in Yalta, also built by the architect Krasnov (1881).
In Sevastopol, many buildings made in the tradition of the Russian-Byzantine style have been preserved. A striking embodiment of this direction is the Vladimir Cathedral - the tomb of admirals M.P. Lazareva, V.A. Kornilova, V.I. Istomina, P.S. Nakhimov (built in 1881 by architect K.A. Ton). Using forms and techniques, the classics were built in the 50s. XX century ensembles of residential buildings on Nakhimov Avenue. A number of buildings in Simferopol were made in the style of Russian classicism - the former country estate of the doctor Mühlhausen (1811), the Taranov-Belozerov hospice house (1825), Vorontsov’s country house in the Salgirka park. All these buildings are protected by law and decrees of the republican authorities on protection, and can be included in the list of ethnographic objects of Russian culture.
Masterpieces of traditional rural Russian culture were revealed during the study of the Simferopol region. These are the villages themselves, founded at the end of the 18th century. retired soldiers of the Russian army - Mazanka, Kurtsy, Kamenka (Bogurcha). Among the first Russian settlements is also the village. Zuya, Belogorsky district, village. Prokhladnoye (formerly Mangushi), Bakhchisaray district, Grushevka (formerly Saly) Sudak city council. In these settlements, dwellings from the late 18th - early 19th centuries have been preserved. (Mazanka, Grushevka). Some of them are abandoned, but have preserved elements traditional architecture, internal layout. In some places, dugouts that preceded the mud hut dwellings of Russian soldiers have been preserved.
Far from the village Muzanka preserved old Russian cemetery with burials from the beginning of the 19th century, well-preserved stone tombstones in the form of a St. George's cross, inscriptions and ornaments can be seen in places.
Religious buildings of traditional architecture include the existing St. Nicholas churches: in Mazanka, Zuya, Belogorsk, the foundation of which dates back to the beginning - mid-19th century.
The most significant objects include the Peter and Paul Orthodox Cathedral, the Holy Trinity Cathedral, and the Church of the Three Saints in Simferopol. All these places of worship are operational. A number of Orthodox cathedrals, churches, and chapels are identified as ethographic objects in the areas of Greater Yalta and Greater Alushta. On the eastern tip of our peninsula, one can highlight such an ethnographic site as the Old Believer village of Kurortnoye, Leninsky district (formerly Mama Russian). The prayer house, the traditional way of life of the Old Believers have been preserved here, and customs and rituals are performed. In total, 54 ethnographic objects reflecting Russian material and spiritual culture in Crimea were identified, including some objects marked as “East Slavic”. This is explained by the fact that many so-called Russian-Ukrainian, Russian-Belarusian families were classified as the Russian population.
Ukrainians
To study the culture of the Ukrainian ethnic group in Crimea, the village of Novonikolaevka, Leninsky district, can be identified as a complex ethnographic object, which has a museum of ethnography, which also presents an exhibition of both East Slavic traditional material and spiritual culture, and also includes a subject series on the Ukrainians of Crimea, settlers of the 19th - early 20th centuries Dwellings have also been preserved in the village late XIX century, one of them is equipped as a museum “Ukransky Khata” (initiative and ethnographic material of local resident Yu.A. Klimenko). The traditional interior is maintained, household items and furniture are presented, and many folklore sketches are collected.
In terms of holding folk holidays, performing Ukrainian rites and rituals, the resettlement villages of the 50s are interesting. XX century Among them are Pozharskoye and Vodnoye, Simferopol district (folklore ensembles in traditional costumes stage costume performances on themes of beliefs and traditions). The chosen venue for the holidays was "Weeping Rock" - a natural monument not far from the village. Water.
Among the ethnographic objects identified during the research work of the staff of the Crimean Ethnographic Museum, there are also objects on the traditional culture of such small ethnic groups, like the French, Crimean gypsies, Czechs and Estonians.
French people
The culture of the French is associated with a number of places on the peninsula. Undoubtedly, identifying objects and their further use will be interesting for tourists.
Crimean gypsies
In the culture of the Crimean gypsies one can identify a number of interesting moments, for example, one of the Chingine groups (as the Crimean Tatars called the gypsies) were musicians by their occupation, who in the 19th century. played at Crimean Tatar weddings. Currently, the Chingins live compactly in the village. Oktyabrsky and town. Soviet.
Czechs and Estonians
The places of compact residence of Czechs and Estonians is the steppe part of the peninsula: Czechs - village. Lobanovo (formerly the village of Bohemka) Dzhankoy district and the village. Aleksandrovka, Krasnogvardeisky district, and Estonians - the villages of Novoestonia, Krasnodarka (formerly the village of Kochee-Shavva) of the Krasnogvardeisky district and the village. Beregovoe (village Zashruk) Bakhchisaray district. All villages have preserved traditional dwellings with a characteristic layout and decoration elements of the late XIX - early XX
A week-long tour, one-day hiking and excursions combined with comfort (trekking) in the mountain resort of Khadzhokh (Adygea, Krasnodar Territory). Tourists live at the camp site and visit numerous natural monuments. Rufabgo waterfalls, Lago-Naki plateau, Meshoko gorge, Big Azish cave, Belaya River Canyon, Guam gorge.
Every self-respecting person tries to study the past. Possessing such a wealth of knowledge, we can draw conclusions about the phenomena and processes that occurred in a certain territory. In addition, they say that a happy future can be built only after realizing the mistakes of our ancestors.
Understanding the life and activities of people who lived many years ago is also an incredibly exciting experience. All peoples, ethnic groups, and countries that have ever existed are interesting in their own way. The history of Crimea, a beautiful peninsula that has more than once become the cause of disagreements between different tribes and states, occupies a special place in science.
Chronological information on ancient Crimea:
1) Paleolithic in the history of Crimea:
From 5 million years ago to the middle of the 9th millennium BC.
It includes:
Lower (early) Paleolithic periods:
- Olduvai, from 5-7 million years ago to 700 thousand years ago;
- Acheulian, about 700 - 100 thousand years ago.
Middle (Mousterian) Paleolithic: from 100 to 40 thousand years BC.
Upper (late) Paleolithic, from 35 thousand years to 9 thousand years BC.
2) Mesolithic in the history of Crimea: from the end of 9 to 6 thousand years BC.
3) Neolithic in the history of Crimea: from 5 to early 4 thousand years BC.
4) Chalcolithic in the history of Crimea: from the middle of 4 to 3 thousand years BC.
The history of the appearance of the first people
on the territory of ancient Crimea, their appearance and habitat
However, the question of the existence of the peninsula itself remains open. In 1996, American geologists from Columbia University published a scientifically based proposal that ancient Crimea was part of the land mass until approximately 5600 BC. e. They argued that the one described in the Bible global flood- the result of a breakthrough in the Mediterranean Sea, after which 155,000 square meters were under water. km. territory of the planet, the Sea of Azov and the Crimean Peninsula appeared. This version is either confirmed or refuted again. But it seems quite plausible.
Be that as it may, science knows that 300-250 thousand years ago Neanderthals already lived in Crimea. They chose the caves of the foothills. Unlike the Pithecanthropes, who apparently settled only on the South Coast, these people also occupied the eastern part of the present peninsula. To date, scientists have been able to study about ten sites that belonged to the Acheulian era (early Paleolithic): Chernopolye, Shary I-III, Tsvetochnoye, Bodrak I-III, Alma, Bakla, etc.
Among those Neanderthal sites ancient Crimea, which are known to historians, the most popular is Kiik-Koba, located near the river. Zuya. Its age is 150-100 thousand years.
On the way from Feodosia to Simferopol there is another witness to the early history of Crimea - the Wolf Grotto site. It arose in the Middle Paleolithic era (Mousterian) and belonged to a type of man who was not yet Cro-Magnon, but also differed from Pithecanthropus.
Other similar dwellings are also known. For example, at Cape Meganom near Sudak, in Kholodnaya Balka, Chokurcha in the Simferopol region, a cave near Mount Ak-Kaya near Belogorsk, sites in the Bakhchisarai region (Staroselye, Shaitan-Koba, Kobazi).
The Middle Paleolithic period of the history of Crimea is characterized by the development of the southern coast of the territory of the modern peninsula, its mountainous part and foothills.
Neanderthals were short and had relatively short legs. When walking, they slightly bent their knees and spread their lower limbs. The brow ridges of people from the ancient Stone Age hung over their eyes. The presence of a heavy lower jaw, which almost no longer protruded, suggests the beginning of the development of speech.
After the Neanderthals, Cro-Magnons appeared in the Late Paleolithic era 38 thousand years ago. They were more similar to us, had a high forehead without an overhanging ridge, and a protruding chin, which is why they are called people of the modern type. There are Cro-Magnon sites in the river valley. Belbek, on Karabi-yayla and above the river. Kacha. Ancient Crimea of the late Paleolithic era was a completely populated territory.
End of 9-6 thousand BC e. in history it is usually called the Mesolithic era. Then ancient Crimea acquires more modern features. Scientists know many sites that can be attributed to this time. In the mountainous part of the peninsula these are Laspi, Murzak-Koba VII, Fatma-Koba, etc.
Vishennoe I and Kukrek are the most famous historical monuments of the Mesolithic era in the Crimean steppe.
The Neolithic period occurs between 5500 and 3200 BC. BC e. The New Stone Age in ancient Crimea was marked by the beginning of the use of clay kitchen utensils. At the very end of the era, the first metal products appeared. To date, about fifty open-type Neolithic sites have been studied. During this period in the history of Crimea, there were much fewer dwellings located in grottoes. The most famous settlements are Dolinka in the steppe part of the peninsula and Tash-Air I in the mountains.
From the middle of 4 thousand BC. e. the ancient inhabitants of the peninsula began to use copper. This period is called the Chalcolithic. It was relatively short-lived, smoothly transitioned into the Bronze Age, but was marked by a number of mounds and sites (for example, Gurzuf, Laspi I in the south, Druzhnoe and the last layer of Fatma-Koba in the mountainous Crimea). The so-called “shell heaps”, which are located on the coastline from Sudak to the Black Sea, also belong to the Copper-Stone era. The area of farmers of that time was the Kerch Peninsula, the valley of the river. Salgir, northwestern Crimea.
Tools and first weapons in ancient Crimea
The people who inhabited ancient Crimea first used stone axes. 100-35 thousand years ago they began to make flint and obsidian flakes, and made objects from stone and wood, for example, axes. The Cro-Magnons realized that they could sew using crushed bones. Neoanthropes (people of the Late Paleolithic era) hunted with spears and pointed points, invented scrapers, throwing rods, and harpoons. A spear thrower appeared.
The greatest achievement of the Mesolithic was the development of the bow and arrow. To date, a large number of microliths have been found, which were used in this era as spearheads, arrows, etc. In connection with the advent of individual hunting, traps for animals were invented.
In the Neolithic, tools made of bones and flint were improved. Rock art makes it clear that pastoralism and agriculture prevailed over hunting. Ancient Crimea of this period of history began to live a different life, hoes, plows, sickles with silicon inserts, tiles for grinding grain, and yokes appeared.
At the beginning of the Eneolithic, the ancient Crimeans were already thoroughly processing stone. At the dawn of the era, even copper tools repeated the shape of pre-existing stone products.
Life, religion and culture of the inhabitants of ancient Crimea
People of the Paleolithic era initially led a wandering lifestyle, they were like a primitive herd. The consanguineous community appeared in the Mousterian period. Each tribe had from 50 to 100 or more members. Active relationships within such social group gave rise to the development of speech. Hunting and gathering were the main activities of the first inhabitants of Crimea. In the Late Paleolithic, the driven method of hunting appeared, and neoanthropes began to fish.
Hunting magic gradually arose, and in the Middle Paleolithic the ritual of burying the dead arose.
From the cold climate we had to hide in caves. In Kiik-Kobe, scientists found ash that remained after a fire. There, right inside the primitive house, the burial of a woman and a one-year-old child was discovered. There was a spring nearby.
As the weather warmed, the usual cold-loving animals disappeared. Mammoths, woolly rhinoceros, steppe bison, musk ox, giant deer, lions, and hyenas were replaced by previously unknown small representatives of the fauna. The shortage of food forced us to think about new ways of obtaining food. As the mental abilities of the inhabitants of ancient Crimea developed, weapons that were revolutionary for that time appeared.
With the emergence of the Cro-Magnon man, the family structure of the inhabitants of ancient Crimea changes - the tribal matriarchal community becomes the basis of interpersonal relations. The descendants of the cave dwellers began to settle on the plains. New houses were built from bones and branches. They looked like huts and half-dugouts. Therefore, in case of bad weather, they often had to return to the caves, where cult worship was also held. The Cro-Magnons still lived in large clans of about 100 people each. Incest was prohibited; in order to get married, men went to another community. As before, the dead were buried in grottoes and caves, and things that were used during life were placed next to them. Red and yellow ocher were found in the graves. The dead were tied up. In the Late Paleolithic there was a cult of the female mother. Art immediately appeared. Rock art animals and the ritual use of their skeletons indicate the emergence of animism and totemism.
Mastering the bow and arrow made it possible to go on individual hunts. The inhabitants of ancient Crimea of the Mesolithic era began to engage in gathering more actively. At the same time, they began to domesticate dogs and built pens for young wild goats, horses and wild boars. Art manifested itself in rock art and miniature sculpture. They began to interred the dead, tying them up in a crouched position. The burials were oriented to the East.
In the Neolithic era, in addition to the main dwellings, there were temporary sites. They were built for the season, mainly in the steppe, and with the arrival of cold weather they hid in the caves of the foothills. The villages consisted of wooden houses, still similar to huts. Characteristic feature This period in the history of ancient Crimea is the emergence of agriculture and cattle breeding.
This process was called the “Neolithic revolution”. Since then, pigs, goats, sheep, horses and cattle have become domesticated animals. In addition, the ancestors of modern man gradually learned to sculpt pottery. It was rough, but it made it possible to fulfill basic economic needs. Already at the end of the Neolithic, thin-walled pots with ornaments appeared. Barter trade was born.
During the excavations, a burial was found, a real cemetery, where the dead were buried year after year, first sprinkled with red ocher, decorated with beads made of bones, and deer teeth. The study of funeral gifts made it possible to draw a conclusion about the origin of the patriarchal system: in women's graves there were fewer items. However, the Neolithic Crimean people still worshiped the female deities of the Virgin Huntress and the Goddess of Fertility.
With the advent of the Eneolithic, life in ancient Crimea changed radically - houses with adobe floors and fireplaces appeared. Stone was already used for their construction. Over time, cities grew and fortifications were erected. Wall painting became more common, and three-color geometric designs were found on chests of the time in which ashes were buried. Mysterious vertical steles - menhirs - are a phenomenon of the Crimean Eneolithic, probably a cult place. In Europe this is how they worshiped the Sun.
Where are the archaeological finds representing ancient Crimea stored?
Many archaeological finds of ancient Crimea are preserved in Simferopol in the form of exhibits of the Crimean Republican Museum of Local Lore.
In the Bakhchisarai Historical and Architectural Museum you can see world-famous flint products, molded utensils and tools from the Eneolithic period.
To explore the variety of artifacts of ancient Crimea, it is worth visiting the Evpatoria local history museum, Kerch Historical and Archaeological Museum, museums of Yalta, Feodosia and others settlements peninsula.
The history of Crimea from the Paleolithic in the form of numerous tools, various dishes, clothing, weapons, monoliths and other ancient objects is a kind of journey into the world of our ancestors.
Be sure to visit the museums of Crimea!
INLIGHT
