Description of the attraction
Right in the center of Anapa there is an open-air archaeological museum - the ancient city of Gorgippia, which was once located on this place. Remains of city buildings, walls and towers, burials and temples - all this takes us two thousand years ago, to the time of the heyday of this city.
Gorgippia
The city of Gorgippia existed from the 4th century BC BC to AD 240 NS … It was the capital Black Sea Sindi tribe … Not much is known about Sindh - for example, we know almost nothing about their language. But it is known that they were one of the most numerous Black Sea tribes and willingly made contact with the Greeks. From the IV century. AD the Sindi form their own state - Sindiku … They minted their own silver coins, used their own weapons - their settlements can be easily distinguished by their characteristic swords. From the 4th century onwards, Sindika fell under the influence of the Bosporus kingdom, and then became part of it. After the coup, he became the governor of the city Gorgippus, brother of the Bosporus king Leucon I, and the capital of Sindica was renamed Gorgippia in his honor.
Under him, the city not only received a new name. It was significantly re-planned, construction began in it new harbor and temples … It is built here temple in honor of Artemis, continue to mint their coins, make wine and pottery, and successfully trade with the entire coast. The population of the city is mixed - part speaks Greek, part - Sarmatians and Scythians.
In the 1st century BC. the territory of Crimea entered Kingdom of pontus … After a series of Mithridates wars, the Black Sea region falls under the influence of Rome. Gorgippia becomes an ally of Rome, in fact obeying him, but maintaining independence in the field of domestic politics. The kings add the phrase "friend of the Romans and Caesar" to their title, and the city introduces cult of roman emperors.
The year 240 is officially considered the end of Gorgipia. No documentary evidence of this has survived. But archaeologists confidently say: about then a huge fire, which destroyed almost all city buildings. Most likely, this is due to the invasion of the Crimea by tribes ready - apparently, then the city was destroyed. However, archaeologists say that this was not yet the final death. Life in the city continued until the 4th century. Gorgippia was completely destroyed by the invasion Attila.
For almost a millennium, the city stood in ruins until they came here genoese and did not build their own fortress, which gave rise to modern Anapa.
Archaeological reserve
Wild predatory excavations have been conducted in this territory, as well as throughout the coast, since time immemorial. The first scientific research began in the middle of the 19th century at the initiative of the Odessa Society of History and Antiquities. At the beginning of the 20th century, a professor lived in Anapa at his dacha N. Veselovsky - a renowned historian and archaeologist. In 1909, he organized a small museum in the city - Cabinet of Antiquities, and an antique crypt excavated nearby was transported to the city garden. Anapa Museum it was almost completely destroyed twice: after the 1917 revolution and after the Great Patriotic War. Its current history begins in 1945.
In the postwar years, archaeologists begin to discover the ruins of Gorgippia. First found necropolis - it was opened during the construction of a new city cinema.
From 1961 to 1996 officially works here Anapa archaeological expedition … During this time, several hundred burials were investigated in Anapa itself and its environs, the ruins of the city, temples, houses, estates of the nobility in the vicinity of the city. The current museum, an open-air archaeological reserve museum, was established in 1977 and celebrated its centenary in 2009.
Now it occupies about two hectares. This is the northeastern part of the city of Gorgippia, about the fortieth part of all buildings. The city layout, the remains of houses and streets are clearly visible. The Greek cities of the Black Sea region were built up regularly: with square blocks and parallel streets. The houses were square, adobe on stone foundations. They were covered with tiles. Each successive ruler put his own mark on the tiles, so that the date of construction can be accurately dated by this mark. The houses were quite high - two or even three stories high. The reconstruction of such a house can be seen in the museum.
One of the most interesting houses in Gorgippia - "Merchant's House" … This building had two whole underground warehouses for storing food and goods, they were fed up through hatches in the floor. Grain storage pits were dug in one of the cellars.
A whole wine-making complex of the 2nd century AD has been preserved. NS. It occupies about 80 square meters: there were three pressure presses with three tanks for grape juice.
One of the most interesting exhibits - 3rd century marble slab engraved with the names of the winners of the competition in honor of Hermes. They competed in four sports, of which only three were able to read on the slab: long-distance running, torchlight running and wrestling. Among the participants, judging by the names, were both Greeks and Sarmatians and Scythians.
Can see part of city fortifications … The rich city has been surrounded by a wall since ancient times, but fragments of the walls of the 2nd-3rd centuries have survived. AD with traces of the then fire. This is a part of the wall, the thickness of which reaches almost three meters, and a square powerful tower made of cut stones. In the museum you can see a commemorative inscription telling about the construction of these walls.
Part of the territory is exhibition of sarcophagi and tombstones - these are the remains of the city necropolis. Almost all the burials have come down to us already plundered, but the stone sarcophagi themselves with various carvings and holes that the robbers made in them have survived.
Museum
The Archaeological Museum is designed from the inside as antique buildings with snow-white columns … There is also a city square with a statue of the ruler, and two halves of a typical Greek house - women and men, and a potter's shop with amphoras, kilikas and other vessels, and a blacksmith's shop with metal products.
The museum exposition presents archaeological finds from the territory of the city. The most interesting exhibit is things from the "Crypt of Hercules" … In 1975, a crypt was found in Anapa with perfectly preserved frescoes depicting the exploits of Hercules. Now the frescoes have been carefully removed from the walls of the crypt and are displayed in the museum, and the hewn stone blocks themselves were transported to the territory of the reserve and can be seen in an open exhibition. Near the "Tomb of Hercules" were found two undisturbed burials of the 2nd-3rd centuries BC with many different utensils and gold ornaments. Were found rings, a wreath of golden leaves, bracelets, brooches … Most of all this can now be seen in a museum in Krasnodar, but some of the items are on display in Anapa itself.
In the collection of the museum you can see many terracotta figurines, marble and bronze images, painted antique ceramics, household items. In the first place in the exposition is Tuche statue - the goddess of luck, who was worshiped in the city along with Hermes.
There is also a permanent exhibition that is not related to the ancient heritage. it memorial office of the famous mother Maria, Elizaveta Yurievna Pilenko (Skobtsova) … She spent her childhood and youth in Anapa, her first poems were dedicated to the Crimea and the Black Sea. Since 1920, she found herself in exile in France and took monastic vows there - we know her as a member of the French Resistance. She died in 1945 in a concentration camp. The descendants of this family transferred to Anapa the things that remained from it. Another part of the exhibition - items donated from the Pukhtitsa Assumption Monastery in Estonia, which she visited and which has preserved the memory of this.
Interesting Facts
The second most famous settlement of the Sindi was in the Kuban - we know it as the Sevenfold Settlement
In the summer, the museum hosts an interactive exhibition "Living History": reenactors showcase ancient crafts, hold master classes and tell about the life of the ancient city.
On a note
- Location: Anapa, st. Embankment, 4.
- Official website:
- Working hours: 10: 00-18: 00, closed on Monday.
- Ticket prices: Adult - 350 rubles, concessionary - 200 rubles.
