In the western part of the Tarkhankut peninsula, in the vicinity of the village of Chernomorskoye, there is a unique attraction of Crimea, the remains of the ancient Greek city of Kalos Limen. The entrance to the ancient antique city is free, so every tourist can touch the past completely freely. You can get to Kalos Limen both from Simferopol and from railway station Evpatoria. There are regular buses running daily to the village of Chernomorskoye. route taxis, the road from Simferopol will take about 2-3 hours, and from Evpatoria about 1.5 hours.
From the history of Kalos Limen
The name of the city is due to its geographic location... Kalos Limen was located on the shore of the Kerkinitid Gulf and had a very convenient bay for ships to enter. The name of the city itself is translated from ancient Greek as "beautiful harbor", where "kalos" is "beautiful" and "limen" is the harbor.
The city was founded around the 4th century BC by the Ionian Greeks on an area of \u200b\u200b4 hectares. Like other cities of that time, Kalos Limen was surrounded by fortress walls with towers, which provided protection from nomads. The territory of the city was divided into small plots or allotments, in the center of which were residential towers or estates. The residents of Kalos Limen practiced agriculture, fishing and various crafts.
Since the city had not only an advantageous location, but also fertile lands, it often became the target of stronger neighbors. Because of this, the period of independence of Kalos Limen did not last long and in the second half of the II century BC the city passed into the possession of the Scythians, and then became a port of the Late Scythian state. At the end of the II century, Kalos Limen again became the center of hostilities between the Scythians and the Pontic kingdom, the latter conquered the city, but this did not bring him a second life. Kalos Limen began to gradually collapse, and the limen, or once beautiful harbor, became shallow and separated from the sea by a sandy mound.
In the 18th century, during the annexation of Crimea to Russia, a redoubt was located on the site of the ancient city, and in the 20th century, the building of the border cordon. Today, the village of Chernomorskoye carefully preserves what was once called Kalos Limen, from ancient city only parts of the fortress walls and towers remained, as well as the remains of residential buildings and utility rooms.
Archaeological excavations of the ancient city
The excavation of Kalos Limen began in 1929, and the work of archaeologists continues to this day, revealing more and more mysteries. So it was found out that the pyramid on the site of the ancient city was once a huge tower 16 meters high. It was the tallest structure in the fortress wall and served as a kind of beacon for ships. At the top of the tower, a fire was lit at night, stone-throwing guns were stored on the middle floors, and food supplies were kept in its basements. During the period of the Scythian attack, the tower served as the main defensive point, and was surrounded by an additional stone wall, which gave it the shape of a pyramid.
During excavations, archaeologists have found the remains of the Kalos Limen fortress wall, several protective towers at the gates, foundations of residential buildings, various household items, clay vessels, weapons and simple jewelry. Many finds are kept in the historical and archaeological reserve "Kalos Limen", which is located in the building music school village Chernomorskoe. Thanks to excavations, historians managed to understand that the city was equipped with a drain, the main street connecting the harbor and the gate was about six meters wide and was paved with compacted crumb, which is not inferior even to asphalt in terms of the fortress.
Kalos Limen: the history of the walled city
The fate of the Kalos Limen fortress can be safely called tragic. The fortified settlement appeared in about the 4th century. BC e. It was built by members of the Greek Ionian tribe, who arrived in Crimea with the aim of seizing land. The colonialists liked the place on the shores of the "beautiful harbor" in the north-west of the Crimean peninsula, which gave such a romantic name to the city they built.
At the end of the IV century. BC e. the fortress, unable to resist the attackers, falls under the sphere of influence of the Tauric Chersonesos. In the III century. BC e. Scythians began to storm the settlement. The local residents significantly strengthened Kalos Limen with the help of additional fortifications, but they did not manage to hold back the advance. Longtime enemies became the owners of the policy from the II century. BC e.
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| Corner Tower and Soldiers' Barracks Kalos Limen on the reconstruction sketch |
The further fate of the fortress is connected with the foreign policy activities of Tauric Chersonesos. After the Chersonesians asked for military assistance from the Pontic kings, Kalos Limen was recaptured from the Scythians by the army of Diophantus. The victory did not bring anything good to the settlement. Being a part of Tauric Chersonesos, it gradually begins to decline.
1st century BC e. - I century. n. e. - this is another period in the history of Kalos-Limen as part of the Scythian kingdom. It ends with the destruction of the settlement after the invasion of the Sarmatians.
Kalo Limen (a distorted name) is last mentioned in Italian maps of the 13th-14th centuries. It is known that in the 18th century, a Russian redoubt was located near the Uzkaya Bay, and later - the structure of the border cordon.
Architectural features of the Kalos Limen settlement
Kalos Limen stood on 4 hectares of territory on the coast of the bay. A fortress wall was erected around the city. This fortification was complemented by towers with right angles. There were huge gates inside the fortress.
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| North gate Kalos Limen, through it brought fallen warriors into the city |
Ruins of the north watchtower Kalos Limen |
With the growth of the Scythian-Sarmatian threat, the strengthening strengthens. Then a multi-turreted citadel appears. Archaeologists have discovered a 16-meter lighthouse tower, from which the Kalos-Limenians controlled the entrance to the bay using stone throwers. In the basement compartment of this building, the locals kept food that could be used in the event of a siege of the fortress. A little later, the tower was reinforced with a stone wall.
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The principle of building the settlement practically did not differ from that which was taken during the construction of Tauric Chersonesos. Throughout Kalos Limen there was a central street, covered with strong tamped crumb, and carts drove along it. Their traces can be seen on a stone slab near the entrance to the fortress. There was a drain running through the city. Orderly architectural style Greeks are very different from the one that was later used by the Scythians. The barbarians never learned to build the way the people from Hellas did.
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There was an agricultural district around the settlement. Scientists managed to determine its radius - 2 km. The land plots that were part of the choir were approximately the same. Each of them occupied 9 hectares of land. Houses or towers were erected on sites. Those farmers who, apparently, were not afraid of the enemy, attached farm yards to their dwellings.
From the very beginning of the existence of the polis, its inhabitants were engaged in agriculture, and later trade and handicrafts became the main activities of the Kalos-Limenians.
Fortress Kalos Limen in our time
The location of the Kalos-Limen settlement was unknown for a long time. Ancient travelers wrote a lot about him, but scientists still could not determine the territory on which the policy was located. The clue for the discovery of this historical monument was a clearly man-made hill, which later turned out to be a 16-meter tower covered with earth. Excavations of the Kalos Limen settlement began in 1929. Since then, archaeologists have found the remains of the fortress walls, towers, a citadel, the ruins of houses and soldiers' barracks.
The year 1987 was marked by the opening of the Kalos Limen Museum of History and Local Lore, which already then was in the center of the Chernomorskoye village.
Since 1997, the historical and archaeological reserve "Kalos Limen" has been operating on the site of the fortress. Its activity today is difficult to imagine without the Black Sea Museum of Local Lore, which houses an exposition of artifacts found during excavations.
Today the complex is called: Historical and Archaeological Museum-Reserve "Kalos Limen".
Where is Kalos Limen located and how to get there?
The ruins of Kalos Limen are located 140 kilometers from Simferopol. The distance between the fortress is half the distance. Regular buses and minibuses run from both cities. You will have to spend 1.5 - 3 hours on the way.
Ruin ancient fortress are located on a land plot near Uzkaya Bay (Tarkhankut), which is adjacent to the village of Chernomorskoye. This is Naberezhnaya street. You need to go along the asphalt road to the sea. To see what's left of Kalos Limena, entrance ticket not needed. You can touch its buildings absolutely free.
The museum is located in the center of the Black Sea settlement, at the address: Revolution Street, 8.
INLIGHT
The population was engaged in agriculture, viticulture, fishing until the 16th century. Archaeological research has found ruins of defensive walls with towers, residential buildings. In 1997, the Republican Historical and Archaeological Reserve "Kalos Limen" was created here. The Black Sea Historical local history museum, the funds of which number more than five thousand items. Tourism object.
Currently, the ruins of the ancient city represent a low hillock with gentle slopes, stretching from east to west, with an area of \u200b\u200b2.5 hapartially excavated.
History
Kalos-Limen was the third largest settlement in the Chersonesos polis. It is mentioned in the oath of the Chersonesos (IV - second quarter of the III century BC), in an inscription in honor of the commander Mithridates VI Eupator Diophantus of Sinop, a bronze statue embossed on the back edge of the pedestal, in a decree dedicated to the citizens of Chersonesos (114-108 BC) BC). Many ancient authors wrote about Kalos-Limen: Pompoius Mela, Flavius \u200b\u200bArrian, Pseudo Arrian, Claudius Ptolemy, Strabo.
The beginning of scientific work on the study of the city was laid in the first half of the XIX century by the archaeologist A. I. Shmakov (1837–1838). He described this monument as an angular fortification with a half-filled ditch and rampart. Ancient ruins settlement have repeatedly been the site of archaeological excavations. In 1929 L.A. Moiseev investigated one of the city towers, and in 1933 P.N.Schultz worked on the excavations. In 1948-1950, M. A. Nalivkina laid several excavations, in one of which she was able to partially uncover an antique house of the 4th-2nd centuries BC. e. (the foundation pit from the ruins of this building is still visible). At the same time, GD Smirnov examined one of the burial mounds at the city necropolis, studied two burials, the central one of which was badly damaged by robbers. In 1959, a small pit in the center of the settlement was laid by a detachment of the Soviet-Polish expedition. Archaeologists have unearthed two housing complexes of the 1st century BC. BC BC - I century. n. e. In 1962–63, the LOIA expedition conducted research on the settlement.
In ancient times, western Crimea was densely populated. But exploration and excavations throughout the Tarkhankut Peninsula showed that a settled agricultural population appeared only in the 4th century BC. e. as a result greek colonization... Who were the first settlers? Are they from the previously created Greek cities along the lower reaches of the Bug? Or maybe the inhabitants of Tauric Chersonesos, founded by the Heracleians in the 5th century BC. e. Scientists are still arguing about this. Who was at the head of the colony? What was the name oikista, who directed the development of the city? So far, archaeologists have no reliable information. But we know the name of one of the first inhabitants of Kalos Limen. "Geranicus, son of Damias" - carved on a stone slab that once served as a tombstone for a Hellenic who lived in Kalos Limen in the 4th century BC. e. It is possible that he was among the first settlers west coast Tavriki. The settlers had a hard time: everything had to start from scratch. Choose a place for the colony based on the number of families, determine its boundaries, divide the land into building plots, crops, vegetable gardens and vineyards. The sea level at that distant time was much lower than the modern one, the narrow bay, which the colonists liked so much, was obviously less open, went deep into the land and presented an ideal refuge for ships. From the very first days I had to deal with everything at once: construction, agriculture, fishing, and trade. And withstand the attacks of the enemy.
The settlement of Kalos-Limen was small, half the size of Kerkinitida (modern Evpatoria), occupying an area of \u200b\u200bjust over 4 ha... Like any ancient city, it was surrounded by a powerful fortress wall with towers built of large rectangular rusticated blocks. Currently, archaeologists have discovered the excellently preserved remains of a powerful Hellenic citadel. Its largest tower was surrounded by an anti-ram belt along the perimeter. The remains of Greek and Scythian houses have been discovered not only in the citadel, but also in the northwestern outskirts and in the very center of the archaeological site. The central city gates with a tower protecting them have been completely excavated. This opening, made in the eastern fortress wall, was equipped with sidewalks. The main part of the city is paved with slabs, on which the ruts from the carriage wheels have been preserved. The loophole is clearly visible in one of the towers of the settlement.
Kalos-Limen is little studied. But even a few archaeological finds made it possible to assume that the city was founded as a stronghold for the development of the northwestern coast of Tarkhankut and a port for exporting bread from the northern regions of the Chersonesos chora.
Although the layout of the complex remains unclear until the end, we can say that it was orthogonal (that is, the buildings were built according to a certain plan, with a clear breakdown on the ground, at right angles to each other). The central longitudinal street reached a width of just under 6 m (about 5.4 m). All the houses were one-story and had the same area - 150 sq. m... Each settler was allocated a standard plot (oikopedion) for residential development, as well as a land plot (clair) for farming.
The number of town houses, according to archaeologists, reached 140–160; since the average Greek family consisted of 7-8 people, it can be argued that in Kalos Limen at the end of the 6th - beginning of the 2nd centuries BC. e. lived 1200 people. During the excavations, a city manor was discovered, attached directly to the defensive wall. Its inhabitants from the street through the gate in the fence fell into a tiny courtyard (5 × 8 m), on one side of which there was a dwelling, and on the other - a shed for storing supplies and household equipment. Medium-sized house (12 × 8 m) consisted of five small rooms ranging from 8 to 14 sq. m.
Due to the lack of land in the city, surrounded by fortress walls, buildings were built close to each other, united in small rectangular blocks.
What did the inhabitants of Fairy Haven do?
From the finds of spinning wheels and weights from weaving machines, it can be established that women spun yarn, weaved, cooked food. The men were fishing. However, it was not fishing or handicrafts that formed the backbone of Fairharbor's economy, but agriculture. The inhabitants of Kalos Limen received allotments of land outside the defensive walls, on the territory of the chora (agricultural district), which was divided between them into equal areas of about 9 ha... Each Claire was fenced on all sides, and inside it was divided into small sections. Most of the inhabitants did not have country estates, since the allotments were located nearby, and the most remote of them could be reached in 30-40 minutes. Traces of the ancient fences land plots were first noted by archaeologist A.M.Shmakov in 1844. He wrote that around this bay one can see the remains of some regular fences or fences of various lengths and widths from 20 to 60 fathoms (i.e. about 43 and 128 m). Time razed them to the ground, but could not destroy the formed mounds of stones that once made up those fences. Traces of the ancient delimitation of Greek clares were visible back in the 60s, even within market square modern settlement, but then were completely destroyed in the process of reconstruction of the district center. Nevertheless, the Tarkhankut archaeological expedition in 1963–64 managed to study the system of ancient agricultural lands of Kalos Limen. The agricultural territory stretched along the sides of the bay in a semicircle, surrounding the city, occupied total area about 6 sq. km and was partially protected from the east by an artificial fence - a stone wall. It started from the seashore at about 1 km to the northeast of the extreme allotments and went southeast almost strictly parallel to the delimitation boundaries. The length of the wall could be 2 km, its main purpose was to protect the agricultural territory from the open flat side of the Tarkhankut Peninsula, from where the attacks of the nomads were expected.
On the shores of Vetrennaya Bay (behind a modern trading equipment factory), not far from Kalos Limen, archaeologists have discovered one of the Greek country estates. It was a one-story building made of mud bricks, 40 × 25 × 30 cm... Along the north-eastern side of the courtyard, four rooms were located in a row. In one of them there was a grape press, the other two were occupied by a home bath.
On the other side of the courtyard, the rooms ran in two rows, external and internal. One of the rooms - 48 sq. m- occupied by a warm winter kitchen with an original heating system between the walls. Such a heating system was first discovered by an American expedition during the excavations of Olynthos in Macedonia, destroyed in 348 BC. e.
In the back of the house, behind the kitchen, there was a grain and wine storehouse with ten huge pithos dug into the ground, the total capacity of which exceeded 10 you SL... Wine was kept in three pithos, and many charred grains of wheat were preserved in the rest. All these archaeological finds made it possible to suggest that the main products of the farm were bread and grapes. Three wine pithos held about 2000 l wine that could be obtained from about 5-6.5 thousand grape bushes, which occupied no more than 1.3 ha.
The containers for bread held about 7.5 thousand liters. If we translate into the weight of wheat, it turns out that the warehouse was designed for 5.5 tons of grain. Such a crop could be obtained from 5-7 ha... The main occupation of the inhabitants of the Beautiful Harbor was the cultivation of grain, and they were engaged in viticulture mainly to satisfy their own needs.
Archaeologists at the site have discovered shards of red-lacquered Hellenic dishes, which are not inferior in elegance and delicacy of the walls to modern porcelain, as well as terracotta figurines. The broken clay mace of Hercules, the most popular hero of antiquity, was also found here. The Greeks minted the image of Hercules on their coins, made prints on clay lamps, and put statues on him.
Judging by the numerous fragments of various details, there were monumental buildings of a cult character in the Beautiful Harbor. But none of them has been found yet.
Materials from the estate allow us to date the time of its construction to the second half of the 4th century BC. The estate died, possibly in the first half of the 3rd century BC. e. during the Scythian-Chersonese wars (A.N.Scheglov), and maybe during the raid of the Sarmatian tribes.
The Greco-Scythian opposition of the 2nd century BC entered a special page in the history of the Hellenic settlements. e. Having forced the nomads to lift the long-lasting siege of Chersonesos, the courageous Greeks, led by the commander Diophantus, moved to Tarkhankut. Having freed Kerkinitida and a number of coastal settlements from the Scythians, they approached the Beautiful Harbor.
Here the largest battle for those times took place, which brought victory to Diophantus. The Scythians were destroyed. Diophantus once again confirmed his fame as an experienced and skillful commander.
The liberation of Kalos-Limen from the barbarians hiding behind its walls was completed by a detachment of Chersonesites, which included the inhabitants of the Beautiful Harbor, who had left hometown and fled to Chersonesos during the Scythian advance on the settlements of Tarkhankut.
Several decades will pass, and the Scythians will again seize Kalos-Limen, taking advantage of the weakening of Chersonesos. But their stay in Western Crimea will not be long. The barbarians will be forced to leave the conquered Hellenic settlements under the onslaught of the Sarmatian tribes who arrived on the peninsula. They will be replaced by Roman soldiers guarding the coast of Tarkhankut.
Like all the sights of the Crimean peninsula, the ancient city of Kalos Limen, on the site of which the village of Chernomorsky is now located, keeps many historical secrets. Crimean researchers cultural property hitherto reveal the mysteries associated with the existence of this ancient Greek settlement.
The importance of Kalos Limen is evidenced by the fact that references to it are preserved by the works of such famous ancient authors as Herodotus and Flavius \u200b\u200bArrian. By the way, in the Crimea there are ruins with a very similar name, but they are located much further south - above.
Kalos Limen Open Air Museum
The beginning of the existence of the Beautiful Harbor (this is the name of the city in translation from ancient Greek) dates back to the 4th century BC, and the decline of its history came in the 1st century AD. The settlement was created by the Ionian Greeks, and the Sarmatians destroyed.
The ancient center, surrounded by defensive walls with towers, was located on a large territory - more than 3 hectares. The wealth of Fine Harbor was based mainly on the development of agriculture.
Fertile lands and a favorable location of the city attracted the attention of many contenders for its capture. At first they were Chersonesians who occupied the harbor at the end of the 4th century BC. e. Numerous raids of new potential invaders - Scythians and Sarmatians - forced its inhabitants to take care of strengthening defensive structures. For this purpose, a powerful citadel was erected. This is what her tower looked like:
And this is how it looks now:
It is known that in the basements of this 16-meter lighthouse, food supplies were stored in case of a state of siege, and on the upper floors there was a military checkpoint with stone-throwing guns, from where the entrance to the bay was clearly visible. Very similar towers can be seen in the settlements and.
In the II century BC. e. the city came under the control of the Scythians and soon became an important seaport.
The beautiful harbor changed hands several times as a result of hostilities. It was occupied either by the Greeks or by the Scythians, until the Sarmatians, who descended from the northern steppes, put an end to the history of the existence of the once lively trade and craft center.
In order to popularize the valuable archaeological site in Crimea, on the site of the settlement, in 1997, a reserve was created, and ten years earlier - the Kalos Limen museum, it is a branch of the local museum of local lore. There, in the lapidarium, the main artifact of the ancient city is kept - a plate with Scythian petroglyphs (a people who allegedly did not have a written language). Until now, no one has been able to read them.
To get in Black Sea I wanted it for several years - since I read that during the period of the development of Crimea by the Greeks, here, except Chersonesos and the then distant Bosporus kingdom, there were two more more or less major cities: Kerkinitida (now Evpatoria) and Kalos Limen (the current Black Sea). And if Chersonesos is a long familiar one, Evpatoria is close enough, then Black Sea - seemed in the distant steppe. But it turned out that the steppe is not that far - a little more than 800 km from Kiev, and only 15 km from (where I was resting).
So, once I allotted half a day to see Kalos Limen and the famous Cape Tarkhankut "in the first approximation". About 20 minutes drive from Mezhvodnoye - and I'm already in the Black Sea.
Having entered the town (more precisely, into an urban-type settlement) from the side of Razdolny, we turn right - closer to the sea and park. Of course, this is cooler than Mezhvodnoye - there are already monuments here (in the center we are met by the unforgettable Vladimir Ilyich), shady parks and even speed bumps.
But, as always, first - a little history.
The settlement was founded here by the ancient Greeks, who arrived here in the 4th century BC. It is possible that they sailed here from Olbia, which was located at the mouth of the Southern Bug, slightly south of modern Nikolaev. They swam into the bay, looked around and exhaled: “Wah! What a lovely harbor! " So the Greeks named their city “Kalos Limen” (this is how it sounds in Greek).
But the Beautiful Harbor was not independent for long - soon it was subdued by the Chersonesites (it is good that the Greeks too). In those ancient times, the territory of the city was about 4 hectares, and it was surrounded by land plots, on which grain was grown - the main export commodity. local residents... In the III century BC. from the mainland, the Scythians approached the coastal cities of the Crimea, and the policy had to be significantly strengthened. For this, a one and a half meters wide defensive wall was built, as well as a 16-meter watch tower-lighthouse. But in the II century BC. both Kalos Limen and Kerkinitida did not resist and fell at the feet of the Scythians, becoming the main ports of the Late Scythian state. Not resigned to such losses, the Chersonesites asked for help from the Pontic king Mithridates VI Eupator, whose troops helped to return the captured cities. However, not for long - in the second half of the 1st century BC. the Sarmatians had already conquered the Beautiful Harbor, and the beat of life in it gradually began to fade.
Since the times of the Crimean Khanate, the settlement on the shores of the Uzkaya Bay (this is the boring name that the Beautiful Harbor began to bear) was called Ak-Mechet, i.e. "White mosque". In 1944, destroying any memory of the Crimean Tatars who lived here, the village was renamed simply Chernomorskoe.
During the time of the Russian Empire, the local lands belonged to the Governor-General of the Novorossiysk Territory, Count Mikhail Vorontsov. In Ak-Mosque, he built a stone pier, the Church of Saints Zakhar and Elizabeth, opened a parish school.
In Soviet times, Chernomorskoye was a closed military town where an air defense regiment and a battalion of military boats were based. Now the military units have been disbanded, and the village, thanks to the proximity of Chernomorneftegaz, considers itself the capital of the oil and gas production of Crimea. However, this is not entirely accurate, since the port of Chernomorneftegaz is located near the bay (former lake) Panskoye.
So, leaving the car in the center of the village, passing the quarter with resort shops, we go to the seashore. Unlike Mezhvodnoye, not the entire coast of the bay is given to the beach here, but only a small part of it. Most of the coastal strip is occupied by berths - apparently, it was here that military boats were based.
And we went to the beach right at the base "Dynamics" (on the map number 20), near which, on a small promontory, there is a small lighthouse.
Actually, the Black Sea beach does not interest us very much - it is three times shorter than the Mezhvodnensky beach, and twice already. There are many people here, there is not enough space on the sand for everyone, so some lucky ones while away the summer heat in a nearby park. After passing through the beach, we find ourselves at the point we are looking for - the excavations of the ancient Greek Kalos Limen (number 10 on the map).
The settlement is located directly at the end of the city beach.
It is immediately striking that the excavations are not fenced off by anything, and vacationers walk along the ancient stones from the beach to the beach.
Systematic archaeological work in Kalos Limene has been carried out not so long - about 20 years. While no more than 10% of all possible is open, most of the ancient city is now under water.
Here, on a small hillock, there is another small lighthouse.
Of the sights of the Black Sea, one can note the local history museum, consisting of eight rooms, and the church of Saints Zakhar and Elizabeth built by M. Vorontsov in 1838. Both of these objects are located on central square village (in the same place as the market).
However, in Soviet times, the temple was so architecturally disfigured that, even being next to it, I could not guess that I was standing next to the church. I was looking at some kind of stone parallelepiped covered with a gray cement coat, at something like a town hall with a broken clock and could not believe that it was a church built in the middle of the 19th century. Therefore, I did not photograph such an ugliness. But it turned out - it didn't seem.
Now I could hardly find a photo of the Church of Saints Zakhar and Elizabeth on the forum of the site “Globus of Belarus”. thanks
