Kerch Museum City… oh no, the hero city of Kerch is located on the Crimean peninsula and proudly sits between two seas: the Azov and the Black. May the reader forgive the involuntary typo, the fact is that Kerch is one of the oldest cities in the world, it is more than 26 centuries old. And that is why there are so many antiques in it that the people of Kerch rightly believe that they live in an ancient open-air museum.
I'll tell you about Kerch
Nymphea, Korchev, Cherkio, Charshi, Vosporo, Panticapaeum, Bosporus are the most famous names of Kerch. And how many more names the city had for more than 2,600 years, only he knows - the gray-haired, wise, already seen city. Fortunately, this "old man" did not fall into insanity and remembers everything, the proof of this is the museums of Kerch.
The year the city was founded is not known to anyone, it is believed that in 2000 it turned 2,600 years old. The location of the city is such that in ancient times all roads led not only to Rome, but also to Kerch: it is located at the crossroads of the trade routes of Europe, Asia, the Mediterranean and China. This is a city of 5 ports!
And it is quite natural that suchmany nations wanted to have a sweet and warm place. Who was not here: the ancient Greeks, and the Scythians with the Sarmatians, and the barbarians, and the Polovtsy, and the Turkic Kaganate. In the future, Italians also came here, leaving descendants (there is still an Italian community in Kerch, whose representatives have retained their surnames, culture and language), the Huns from Ancient China, the Nazi invaders, and in recent history, as we have the opportunity to observe, not everything is smooth. The city is no stranger.
I'll tell you now
The age of the city is venerable and therefore antiquities are constantly found here, and excavations have been carried out from time to time for many years: Panticapaeum, Mermicium, royal burial mounds, the fortresses of Kerch and Yenikale, a recent new find - the Bosporus Gate.
You can visit the art gallery and museums of Kerch: historical and archaeological and the history of the Eltigen landing, ethnographic, oceanography and fisheries. And just walking around the city is worth a lot: you go, and you feel right on your skin that you are walking through living history. This is an indescribable feeling, as if strength is pouring into you, because you feel like a part of it, unity with it. This is especially evident when you climb Mount Mithridates.
There is another place in Kerch that inspires strength in a person - this is the Church of John the Baptist, which is located near Mithridates. One of the oldest temples in the world, and it still works. The foundation of the church was laid in the 1st century with the blessing of Andrew the First-Called, and completed in the 8th. He, like the city, for timeof its existence, changed owners, was an Orthodox church, then a mosque, since 1774 it is again Orthodox. Inside the temple, the same stones from the 1st century still stand, and under the dome there are frescoes that were painted by the disciples of Theophanes the Greek.
As a tornado beat over the city, covering half the sky at once
Peaceful hard-working people lived in Kerch from time immemorial: they were engaged in fishing and farming. Panticapaeum was the main granary of ancient Greece. Scientists and philosophers lived here, such as Difil Bosporite, Smikr, Straton, Anarchis and Sfer Bosporus. Metallurgists and steelworkers, simple hard workers and glorious sailors live and work here. Shipbuilding, the production of building materials, dishes, canned fish, and sewing are developed here.
The quality that unites those who have ever lived in Kerch is courage, valor and an amazing ability to never give up to anyone. The enemies of Kerch did not take this fact into account, well, that's how they should be! From the early raids of nomadic tribes to the last years of modern history, the people of Kerch never lost heart. They always gave a worthy rebuff to the most fierce enemies. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the life of Kerch plunged into darkness in the literal sense of the word, the most important factories stopped, and on the streets the bandits shot at each other in broad daylight, and stray bullets hit random passers-by. Unemployment and shortages of fresh water seized the city, but nothing broke the people of Kerch.
At all times, both the Second World War and the post-perestroika period, the people of Kerch were able to preserve their cultural heritage, and the we alth of Kerch's museums did not suffer. The city rightfully bears its proud titlehero, because, as you know, no place makes a person beautiful.
Once upon a time there lived Mithridates, lord of the two seas
One of the most famous residents of Kerch was, of course, Mithridates VI Evpator. His father, King Mithridates V Euergetes, was poisoned by relatives as a result of a conspiracy. No wonder that the heir of the deceased king had a fear of repeating the fate of his father. He was so great that he turned into paranoia, and Mithridates VI began to harden the body with all the poisons available at that time. He began to drink them in small quantities, gradually increasing the doses in order to develop immunity to poisoning. Do not try this trick, no one else has succeeded!
Mithridates Evpator was not only a tough warrior, but also an aesthete-collector: he collected beautiful precious gems around the world. Some of them were kept in the Kerch Archaeological Museum-Reserve, but during the Crimean War they were taken to Britain, and from there they never returned to their homeland. In honor of the great king, they named the mountain on which the city of Panticapaeum was located, where he died, and gave the name to another Crimean city - Evpatoria.
And Demeter lives nearby
Kerch was inhabited not only by glorious kings, but also by some gods. One of the powerful goddesses of Olympus - Demeter - fell in love with Kerch and endowed the lands belonging to the city with fertility, for which the inhabitants were grateful for such a gift and were proud of the favor of such an important person. In the 1st century AD, a beautiful burial crypt was built, in which a noble resident of the city was buried.
In 1895this crypt was discovered by accident. Tellingly, it was not plundered, and all the rich decorations, the remains and the sarcophagus of a noble lady, as well as the frescoes with the face of Demeter, were perfectly preserved by the time of the discovery. But as soon as the crypt was opened and research started inside, the remains of the lady turned to dust, and from contact with the air, the frescoes began to rapidly turn pale, and the images began to disappear. Therefore, in 1908, the frescoes were copied exactly so that this masterpiece would not be completely lost.
Today, the original crypt is closed to the public, but at the foot of Mount Mithridates, in 1998, an exact copy of this crypt was built. The technological model of the crypt of Demeter belongs to the Kerch Archaeological Museum, and everyone can admire it.
There was a landing on Kamysh-Burun, there was a landing on Adzhimushkay
There are museums in Kerch, from visiting which the blood runs cold. These are the Starokaraninsky and Adzhimushkaysky quarries. They played out the most tragic moments of military history. The Starokarantinsky quarries are famous for the fact that young partisans, among whom was Volodya Dubinin, kept the defense for half a year. In the Adzhimushkay quarries, the partisans held the line for 170 days, and together with them, civilians with children descended into the underground garrison. They did not hide from the Germans there, but fought!
knowing full well that women and children are there.
“This has never happened before. Forget!
To forget the heart as soon as possible, How little children suffocated, Clinging to dead mothers"
13,000 people went down to the garrison, and only 48 came out alive. In mid-May-early June, red poppies bloom on the ground around the quarries - "the bitter memory of the earth." They are not sown on purpose, they grow themselves in that place. An impressive sight, especially when you come out of the quarries where you went down on a tour and listened to the whole story.
Fame enters without omissions
Everything has been said about the military glory of Kerch for a long time. During the Second World War, the whole city stood up to fight the enemy. She was desperate, like the last time. We hope it really was the last time. Ruthless bloody battles flared up again after dozens of centuries on Mount Mithridates.
Those who come to visit the museums of Kerch on the eve of Victory Day, May 8, have the opportunity to participate in the torchlight procession. This tradition has been going on for many decades, and, without exaggeration, all the inhabitants of the city participate in it. And they do not intend to abandon this tradition.
A huge human river with lit torches climbs the steps to Mount Mithridates, after which a requiem performance dedicated to the battles for Kerch awaits them on the top of the mountain. Every year, viewers are shown a new story based on real events. After the performance, all spectators will have a festivefireworks. And on May 9, on Victory Day, at exactly 22 pm, a real military holiday fireworks thunders, as in all hero cities.
Keeps the sun bright speech
Oddly enough, Kerch is not a classic tourist center: there are no five-star all-inclusive hotels here, tourism is not developed. It is a port industrial city. But this does not mean that guests are not welcome here. How happy! Kerchans are hospitable people, they have something to show and talk about. There are a lot of places that you should definitely visit, a lot of stories that are worth listening to. Here are clean, well-groomed beaches where tourists do not push their elbows.
During the international action "Night at the Museum" in Kerch, 2 museums are open so far: Lapidarium and fortress "Kerch". But there are many more museums in the city, and he himself is a living museum!
