Mount Mithridates description and photo - Crimea: Kerch

2024 Author: Graham Hoggarth | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-09 10:26

Description of the attraction

Mount Mithridates, on the slopes of which once was the ancient city of Panticapaeum, is the main attraction and heart of Kerch. The famous main staircase leads there, and from it a magnificent view of the Kerch Bay and its surroundings opens.

Panticapaeum

Once this mountain was nameless. The ancient city of Panticapaeum grew in terraces on its slopes. The city was founded around VIII century BC NS., and by VI - became the center of a large union of Greek city-states. At the top of the mountain was acropolis, the central part of the city. In the center of the acropolis stood temple of apollo … Apparently, it was the main and common temple for all the allied cities. Apollo was worshiped here as a Healer - after all, the famous doctor Asclepius was his son. We know about this from the inscriptions preserved here with a dedication to "Apollo the Doctor". The temple even minted its own coin with the image of Apollo. Only the remains of the foundation and fragments of the column capitals have survived from the temple, but scientists are confident enough to recreate its appearance. This was not the only temple of the acropolis - there was also a temple of the gods of wine and love - Dionysus and Aphrodite. The foundation has been preserved from it.

Stood on the acropolis royal palace … Two royal dynasties ruled in Panticapaeum - Archeonakdites (named after the first archon Archeonact) and Spartakis. We know almost all of them by name, because coins with their images have survived. The current Obelisk of Glory is located on the site of the former royal palace.

And the most beautiful tourist attraction, against which sea views are usually filmed, is the remains of the colonnade … They belong to the building of the pritania, that is, the state council. The colonnade was raised from the ground during excavation and restoration work in 1976; restoration is underway now.

Mithridates Eupator

The mountain got its name from the name of a completely historical person - Mithridates IV Eupator (Pontic) … He lived in the II-I centuries. BC NS. and became famous for his wars with Ancient Rome … His name is closely related to the history of Crimea.

For example, it was in his honor that Evpatoria was named - it was a fortress that he erected here after the victory over the Taurian tribes. Panticapaeum was then the capital Bosporan Kingdom … The last Bosporan king - Parisade - was ready to abdicate the throne in favor of Mithridates, the king of Pontus. But part of the nobility headed by Savmakom and seized power. The uprising lasted for several years, but in 107 BC. e Panticapaeum was captured by Mithridates.

After that, Mithridates decided to expand the boundaries of his possessions further - and collided with the eastern provinces of Rome. Historians count three "Mithridates wars" - grandiose clashes between the troops of Mithridates and the troops of Rome and his allies. The struggle continued for over thirty years. The wars ended with the complete victory of Rome - in 66 BC. NS. Mithridates was forced to return to Panticapaeum and deal with the internal affairs of his kingdom there: part of the Bosporan cities rebelled against him. In the end, his own son joined the conspiracy - Pharnaces … Upon learning of this, Mithridates committed suicide on the acropolis of Panticopeia, and the mountain received his name.

Archaeological site on Mithridates

Mount Mithridates has been the site of urban development since ancient times, and people live here. At the same time, it is pitted with catacombs, ancient masonry and foundations; numerous legends circulate among the townspeople about the treasures buried in it. For example, they are still looking for the golden horse of Mithridates - a precious statue that was allegedly buried in his grave.

In the 19th century, houses built on the mountain could be distinguished by the use of surviving fragments of antique buildings. The townspeople used these remnants, not distinguishing between temple columns and burial sarcophagi; they used everything they could for construction. Simple Kerchians began the first excavations on the mountain. But they were not interested in science, they were only interested in search for various antiquitiesthat could be sold profitably. The city's antique shops were overflowing with antique finds. When official excavations were finally begun under the supervision of scientists in 1859, armed soldiers had to be specially hired to guard the excavations. The study of the monuments was carried out under the leadership of the Odessa Society for the Study of Antiquities.

After the revolution, when treasure hunting intensified, Kerch Museum he simply allowed everyone to excavate, but stipulated for himself the priority right to purchase the finds.

Excavations and study of the remains of the ancient city continue to this day. Before the revolution, the leading researcher was Vladislav Vyacheslavovich Shkorpil - he dug mainly the northern slope of the mountain, on which part of the necropolis is located. In the thirties, the work almost stopped - in any case, there were no reports and finds about them. A full-fledged study of Mithridates and the remains of Panticapaeum began after the war. These works were carried out under the supervision of Vladimir Dmitrievich Blavatsky, head of the sector of antique archeology at the Institute of Archeology of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. He owns many articles and the most fundamental modern book on the city of Panticapaeum.

Research continues to this day: on Mount Mithridates, and now you can see open excavations in the summer.

Mithridates staircase

In the first half of the 19th century, the city was actively rebuilt. The mayor was then Zakhar Semenovich Kherkheulidzev … He came from a noble Georgian family, at one time he was an adjutant to M. Vorontsova, fought in the Russian-Turkish. He married a native of Kerch, a merchant's daughter Lydia Kushnikova, loved the city very much - and started a big construction here. New Kerch was to be built on a regular basis: with straight streets, flat quarters, comfortable embankments - and, of course, the city had to have a grand staircase!

The project was entrusted to a Tuscan architect Alexandru Digby … He arrived in Russia at the end of the 18th century. He became the chief architect in Astrakhan, then Odessa, he built a lot in the Caucasus. He owns the project of the first hospital building in Pyatigorsk - the resort had just begun to develop at that time. Astrakhan owes its layout to him - it was he who developed the general construction plan. And at the end of his life he worked a lot in Kerch.

A feature of his project was the orientation towards the "reverse perspective". From below, all flights of stairs should appear the same. In fact, it expands - each next tier is larger than the previous one.

The staircase was damaged during the Crimean War and was restored in the 1860s. It was necessary to restore the architectural monument again after the Great Patriotic War. Griffin statues were broken, part of the spans collapsed. Griffonov was able to restore the sculptor R Oman Serdyuk … This man devoted his life to the decoration of Kerch. He organized an art school here. Almost all post-war monuments in the city were created by him or his students, and not so long ago a monument to him was opened. The staircase was continued - a concrete section, built precisely in the post-war years, now leads to the very top. Initially, according to the architect's idea, the staircase consisted of three hundred steps, and now it is 423.

Unfortunately, the staircase is under threat at the moment. In 2015, part of the spans collapsed, now the restoration of the architectural monument is underway.

Small Mithridatskaya Stairs (Konstantinovskaya)

Another main staircase leads from the north to the mountain, which is also an architectural monument. The staircase was built in 1866 year on the wave of restructuring and improvement of the city after Crimean War.

Funds for its construction were donated by a merchant of the 1st guild. Alexei Kirillovich Konstantinov - this is what gave the staircase its second name. The merchant did a lot of charity work. At one time, the first female Kerch gymnasium was located in his mansion, and a male gymnasium was repaired with his money.

For his participation in the improvement of the city, he was awarded the Order of St. Stanislaus, 3rd degree. His name can still be seen on the white marble board at the foot of the stairs.

Memory of the Great Patriotic War

At the top of the mountain is set Obelisk of Glory … This is one of the first monuments to heroes in the USSR - it was erected even before the end of hostilities, on August 8, 1944. The remains of the Holy Trinity Cathedral, completely destroyed by the Nazis, went to the construction of the monument. Only the school building remained of the entire cathedral complex; now there is a memorial plaque on it in memory of the lost church.

The architect of the monument was A. D. Kiselev … The monument is a 24-meter stele with three cannons on the sides. On the edge of the stele, facing the city, there is a sign of the Order of Glory. The names of the soldiers who participated in the liberation of Crimea and received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union are written on the marble memorial plate - only one hundred and forty-six people. The silhouette of the mountain with an obelisk on it has become the main symbol of the city - it is visible from everywhere, from land and from the sea. Since 1959, an eternal flame has been burning next to the stele.

After the war, both the staircase and the mountain became symbols of the Victory. There was a custom to climb this mountain in the evening May 8 with candles and torches, in order to rejoice in the victory and honor the memory of those buried here. Now it is already an official annual torchlight procession, in which more and more people participate every year.

Interesting Facts

Mithridates of Pontic, although he died on Mount Mithridates, was not buried here at all, but in his homeland in Sinope.
They say that it was on the Mithridatskaya Stairs that the young actress Fanny Feldman came up with the stage name "Ranevskaya".