Countries<Ukraine<Crimea<Sevastopol< Tauric Chersonese

Tauric Chersonese(Sevastopol)

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Description

And in 2013 Chersonese was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Tauric Chersonese is an outstanding testimony to the exchange that took place between the Greek, Roman and Byzantine empires and the population of the Northern Black Sea. Polis and its chora have maintained the role of a centre of exchange of influences and mutual enrichment between cultures for a very long time and with continuity for thousands of years.
Tauric Chersonese and its Chora are a relict agricultural landscape of a huge and well-preserved land allocation system. There are more than 400 flat plots of land around the polis. The remains of walls, fortifications, farmsteads and the characteristic street network reflect the lifestyle of the city's inhabitants and illustrate the use of agriculture and the continuity of the landscape despite subsequent changes in production.

Tauric Chersonese was founded in the 5th century BC by the Dorian Greeks. The name Chersonesus itself means peninsula. On the Heracleian peninsula (southwestern part of Crimea) was founded a polis, which was surrounded by agricultural areas. Over time, Chersonesus became a city-state, which flourished in the 4th-2nd centuries BC. It minted its own coin, and the economy was based on viticulture, fishing, crafts and trade.

From the 2nd century BC Chersonesus was part of the Bosporan kingdom, but after the death of King Mithridates VI Eupator, the city sided with Rome. It was in Roman times that powerful defensive walls were built, the remains of which we see today. Chersonese was a Roman outpost in the Crimea, and it was from Rome that it received Christianity. It happened in the 5th century. Then the ancient temples were demolished to build Christian ones. Then the city became part of the Byzantine Empire.

For a long time, Tauric Chersonese fought against numerous tribes of barbarians who moved to the west. Behind the powerful fortress walls the townspeople felt protected, so the city grew, and by the 11th century it became the largest polis of the Northern Black Sea.

From the 13th century Chersonesus was part of the Empire of Trapezund and Genoa. In 1399, the city was burned down by the Golden Horde Edigei and after that it never recovered as a powerful center of life, trade and crafts. Although the majestic temples and walls of Chersonesus were built so well that they stood until the 19th century, when new barbarians - Russians - came here. The ancient ruins were destroyed with explosives and stretched for building materials. Ancient Chersonese became the basis for the construction of Sevastopol.

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