The peoples inhabiting the northwestern Crimea. The peoples who inhabited the Crimea at different times

Ancient peoples of Crimea

The most ancient people who inhabited the Black Sea steppes and Crimea and whose name has come down to us are the Cimmerians: they lived here at the turn of the 2nd and 1st millennium BC. e. Herodotus, who visited the Northern Black Sea region in the 5th century. BC e., the Cimmerians, of course, did not find, and transmitted information that remained in the memory of the local population, referring to the surviving geographical names - the Cimmerian Bosporus, on the banks of which there were settlements of Cimmeric and Cimmerius, Cimmerian walls, etc. 1 According to the story of "father history", the Cimmerians, forced out by the Scythians, retired to Asia Minor. However, the rest mixed up with the winners: in the light of archeology, anthropology, linguistics, the Cimmerians and Scythians - kindred peoples, representatives of the northern Iranian ethnos, so it is obviously no coincidence that Greek authors sometimes confused or identified them.2 The question of archaeological culture, corresponding to the historical Cimmerians, is considered one of the most difficult. Some researchers considered the Taurians to be direct descendants of the Cimmerians. In the meantime, the accumulating archaeological material led to the identification of a special culture, called Kizilkoba after the place of the first finds in the area of ​​the Red Caves - Kizil-koba. Its carriers lived in the same place as the Taurians - in the foothills, at the same time - from the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. according to III-II centuries. BC e., were engaged in agriculture and distant pastoralism. However, there were significant differences in culture - for example, among the Kizilkobins, ceramics are decorated with geometric ornaments, among the Taurians it is usually absent; the funeral rite was also different - the first buried the dead in small mounds, in catacomb-type graves, in an extended position on their backs, usually with their heads to the west; the second - in stone boxes, sprinkled with earth, in a crouched position on its side, with its head usually to the east. Today, the Kizilkobians and the Taurians are regarded as two different peoples who lived during the 1st millennium BC. e. in the mountainous part of the Crimea.

Whose descendants are they? Obviously, the roots of both cultures go back to bronze age. Comparison of ceramics and funeral rite suggests that most likely the Kizilkoba culture goes back to the so-called late Catacomb culture, the carriers of which many researchers consider the Cimmerians.3

As for the Taurians, their most likely predecessors can be considered the carriers of the Kemioba culture (named after the Kemi-Oba barrow near Belogorsk, excavated by A.A. Shchepinsky, from which its study began), common in the foothill and mountainous Crimea in the second half of III - the first half of II millennium BC e. It was the Khimiobins who erected the first mounds in the Crimean steppes and foothills, surrounded by stone fences at the base and crowned with once anthropomorphic steles. These are large stone slabs, hewn in the form of a human figure, where the head, shoulders, belt are highlighted, they were the first attempt to create the image of a person in the monumental art of the Black Sea region at the end of the 3rd - beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. e. A true masterpiece among them is a one and a half meter diorite stele from Kazanki, found near Bakhchisarai.4

The problem of the origin of anthropomorphic steles, found not only in the Black Sea region, but also in the south of France, is directly related to the spread of megalithic structures - stone fences, stone boxes, pillar-like menhirs. Noting their great similarity with the monuments of the northwestern Caucasus, researchers prefer to talk not about the influence of the latter, but about common culture, widespread in the Bronze Age from Abkhazia in the east to Crimean mountains in the West. Much brings the Kemioba culture closer to the later Taurus. The Taurians, the true heirs of the megalithic tradition, reproduced its structures, albeit on a somewhat reduced scale.5

Notes

1. Herodotus. History in 6 books / Per. and comment. G.A. Stratanovsky. - L .: Science, 1972. - Book. IV, 12.

2. Leskov A.M. Kurgans: finds, problems. - M ... 1981. - p. 105.

3. Shchetsinsky A.A. Red caves. - Simferopol, 1983. - p. 50.

4. Leskov A.M. Decree. op. - With. 25.

5. Shchepinsky A.A. Decree. op. - With. 51.

This historical reconstruction of cultures along the lines of "Late Catacomb culture - Cimmerians - Kizilkobins" and "Kemiobins - Taurians", according to its author, should not be presented in a straightforward manner; there is still a lot of obscure and unexplored.

T.M. Fadeeva

Photo beautiful places Crimea

Population. Ethnic history of Crimea

The population of Crimea, including Sevastopol, is about 2 million 500 thousand people. This is quite a lot, its density exceeds the average, for example, for the Baltic republics by 1.5 - 2 times. But if we take into account that in August up to 2 million visitors are simultaneously on the peninsula, that is, the population as a whole doubles and in some areas of the coast reaches the density of the most populated areas of Japan - over 1 thousand people per square kilometer.

Now the main part of the population is Russians, then Ukrainians, Crimean Tatars (their number and share in the population are growing rapidly), a significant proportion of Belarusians, Jews, Armenians, Greeks, Germans, Bulgarians, Gypsies, Poles, Czechs, Italians. Small in number, but still noticeable in the culture of the small peoples of the Crimea - the Karaites and Krymchaks.

The language of international communication continues to be Russian.

The ethnic history of Crimea is very complex and dramatic. One thing can be said with certainty: the ethnic composition of the peninsula has never been monotonous, especially in its mountainous part and coastal areas.

Speaking about the population of the Tauride Mountains, the Roman historian Pliny the Elder, back in the 2nd century BC, notes that 30 peoples live there. Mountains and islands often serve as a refuge for relic peoples, once great, and then descended from the historical arena for a peaceful and measured life. So it was with the warlike Goths, who conquered almost all of Europe and then dissolved in its expanses at the beginning of the Middle Ages. And in the Crimea, the settlements of the Goths survived until the 15th century. The last reminder of them is the village of Kok-Kozy, that is, Blue Eyes (now the village of Sokolinoye).

The Karaites live in Crimea - a small people with a distinctive and colorful history. You can meet her at cave city"Chufut-Kale (which means Judaic fortress, Karaimism is one of the branches of Judaism). The Karaite language belongs to the Kypchak subgroup of the Turkic languages, but the way of life of the Karaites is close to Jewish. In addition to our land, the Karaites live in Lithuania, they are descendants of the personal guard of the Lithuanian great princes, as well as in western Ukraine.The historical peoples of Crimea are the Krymchaks.This people was subjected to genocide during the years of occupation.

Jewish merchants appeared in Crimea as early as the 1st century AD. e., their burials in Panticapaeum (present-day Kerch) date back to this time. The Jewish population of the region endured severe trials during the war years and suffered huge losses. Now in the Crimea, mainly in the cities and most of all in Simferopol, about 20 thousand Jews live.

The first Russian communities began to appear in Sudak, Feodosia and Kerch in the Middle Ages. They were merchants and artisans. Earlier (in the 9th and 10th centuries) the appearance of the squads of the Novgorod prince Bravlin and the Kyiv prince Vladimir was associated with military campaigns.

The mass resettlement of serfs from Central Russia began in 1783 - after the annexation of Crimea to the empire. Disabled soldiers and Cossacks received land for free settlement. Railway construction at the end of the 19th century. and the development of industry also caused an influx of the Russian population.

In Soviet times, retired officers and people who had worked in the North had the right to settle in Crimea, so in the Crimean cities, as already noted, there are a lot of pensioners (of course, not only Russians).

After the collapse of the USSR, Russians in Crimea not only did not lose interest in their original culture, but, like other peoples inhabiting the peninsula, they created their own society - the Russian cultural community, in every possible way maintain contact with their original historical homeland - Russia, incl. and through the established "Moscow-Crimea" Foundation. The Fund is located in Simferopol on the street. Frunze, 8. Exhibitions, meetings with compatriots, celebrations of dates uniting peoples - far from complete list events held within the walls of a well-equipped building. Foundation cell - Russian Cultural Center contributes to the strengthening of cultural ties between Crimea and Russia. Widely celebrated in the Crimea "pancake week" - Maslenitsa. Truly a holiday of Slavic cuisine - here are Russian and Belarusian pancakes, and Ukrainian mlintsi - with sour cream, honey, jam and even ... with caviar. Interest in Orthodoxy has revived, and the churches are now both elegant and crowded. The only pity is that there are no Russian restaurants where the style would be sustained in everything, and you simply cannot find a Russian oven.

Ukrainians in pre-war censuses are combined with Russians. But in the censuses late XIX V. they are in 3rd or 4th place. Ukraine has close ties with the peninsula since the time of the Crimean Khanate, Chumat carts with salt, mutual trade in Peaceful time and equally mutual raids in the military - all this served to move and mix people, although, of course, the main flow of Ukrainian settlers went to Crimea only at the end of the 18th century, and reached its maximum in the 50s of our century (after Khrushchev annexed Crimea to Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic).

The Germans, including immigrants from Switzerland, settled in the Crimea under Catherine II and were engaged, for the most part, in agriculture. The building of the Lutheran church and the school attached to it in Simferopol (Karl Liebknecht St., 16), built on private donations, has been preserved. In Soviet times, the German colonists formed several collective farms, which were famous for high culture agriculture and especially animal husbandry; German sausages in the Crimean markets had no equal. In August 1941, the Germans were deported to Northern Kazakhstan, and their villages in the Crimea were no longer restored.

The Bulgarians settled on the peninsula, like the Greeks, from the islands of the Aegean Sea, fleeing the Turkish yoke during the wars of the last quarter of the 18th century. It was the Bulgarians who brought the Kazanlak rose to the peninsula, and now our Crimea is the world's leading producer of rose oil.

Poles and Lithuanians ended up in the Crimea after the defeat of the national liberation uprisings of the 18th - 19th centuries. like exiles. Now the Poles, including descendants and later settlers, are about 7 thousand people.

A huge role in the history of the Crimea was played by the Greeks, who appeared here in ancient times and founded colonies on the Kerch Peninsula, in the South-Western Crimea, in the region of Evpatoria. The number of the Greek population on the peninsula varied in different eras. In 1897 there were 17 thousand of them, and in 1939 - 20.6 thousand.

Armenians have a long history in Crimea. In the Middle Ages, together with the Greeks of Asia Minor, who also left their homeland under the onslaught of the Turks, they constituted the main population of the South-Western Crimea, as well as cities in the Eastern Crimea. However, their descendants are now settled in the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov. In 1771, 31,000 Christians (Greeks, Armenians, and others), accompanied by Russian troops, left the Crimean Khanate and founded new cities and villages on the northern shore of the Sea of ​​Azov. This is the city of Mariupol, the city of Nakhichevan-on-Don (part of Rostov). The monuments of Armenian architecture - Surb-Khach monastery in the Old Crimea region, the church in Yalta and others can be visited with a tour or on your own. Armenian stone-cutting art had a noticeable influence on the architecture of mosques, mausoleums, and palaces of the Crimean Khanate.

Already after the annexation of our region to Russia, the Armenians lived for the most part in the Eastern Crimea; the region of Feodosia and Stary Krym is called Crimean Armenia. By the way, famous artist I.K. Aivazovsky, the best of marine painters, as well as composer A.A. Spendiarov - Crimean Armenians.

It is curious that the Crimean Armenians adopted Christianity from the Italians and therefore were Catholics, and their spoken language differed little from the Crimean Tatar. Naturally, mixed marriages have never been a rarity, and most native Crimeans are related to half of the world.

In the same place in the Eastern Crimea, in Sudak, Feodosia and Kerch, even before the revolution, curious fragments of the Middle Ages were preserved - communities of Crimean "zhenoveztsy" (Genoese), descendants of those same navigators, merchants and soldiers of Italian Genoa who once dominated the Mediterranean, Black and Seas of Azov and left towers in Feodosia. You can also see these ruins, it's all so romantic, picturesque, impregnable, and most importantly - authentic, that there are no words. You just need to go and climb around, feel this fortress with your hands and feet.

You can often see Koreans in the Crimean markets. They are good farmers, industrious and lucky. Most recently they have been in the Crimea, literally for the last 30 years, but the Crimean land responds to their work with rich gifts.

More and more in the markets and fruits grown by the Crimean Tatars, reviving the glory of gardeners, gardeners and shepherds of the peninsula.

Crimean Tatars as an ethnic community formed on the basis of the gradual merger of a number of ancient tribes of Taurica and several waves of steppe nomadic peoples(Khazars, Pechenegs, priests-Kipchaks and others). This process, in fact, has not even ended yet: there are differences in the language, appearance and lifestyle of the southern coast, mountain and steppe Tatars.

The cordiality and simplicity of the Crimean Tatars were noted even by the first Russian researchers, for example, P.I. Sumarokov. Their hard work and ingenuity in agriculture is respected by a peasant of any nationality. And modern Crimean Tatar music, in its melodiousness and incendiary rhythm, successfully competes with Jewish and gypsy music.

Unfortunately, among the part of the modern representatives of the Crimean Tatars, there are more and more adherents of aggressive Vakhabi movements. What this can lead to if the situation gets out of control, the events in modern Chechnya and Kosovo. I would not like to witness the development of events according to such a scenario. I would like to hope for the prudence of both the local authorities and the Tatars themselves ...

The Crimean gypsies, who called themselves "Urmachel", lived for many centuries settled among the indigenous population of Crimea and even converted to Islam. Some of their caste groups were engaged in jewelry craft, wove baskets and were garden workers (according to L.P. Simirenko, they were not inferior to the best Tatar ones). Not quite settled group of gypsies - ayuvdzhilar (bear cubs) were engaged in fortune-telling, bear training and petty trade. But the music for a long time in the Islamic Crimea, only gypsies were engaged, although they adapted it to local tastes. It was from the music of the Crimean gypsies in the 30s of our century that the modern Crimean Tatar music "came".

In 1944, the indigenous Gypsies were deported from Crimea along with other peoples. It is believed that in a foreign land they became ethnically close to the Crimean Tatars and are now inseparable from them. However, at train stations and bazaars, gypsies are conspicuous (almost in the literal sense of the word). But this is already a modern, post-war wave of settlement. The city of Dzhankoy is even shown in many atlases of the world as the center of gypsies: a large railway junction, gullible holidaymakers heading south, and finally, the gentle Crimean sun makes it possible to save traditional values camp life. In addition to fortune-telling "will there be an earthquake?" and "Who will you fall in love with at the resort?", petty trading with "fat" and currency exchange with elements of the transformation of banknotes into colored paper, Gypsies are also engaged in ordinary work: they build houses, work at enterprises in Dzhankoy and other cities.

Every self-respecting person tries to study the past. With such a wealth of knowledge, we can draw conclusions about the phenomena and processes that took place in a certain area. In addition, they say that a happy future can be built only after realizing the mistakes of the ancestors.

Knowing the life and work of people who lived many years ago is also an incredibly exciting experience. All ever-existing peoples, ethnic groups, countries are interesting in their own way. A special place in science is occupied by the history of the Crimea - a beautiful peninsula that has repeatedly become the cause of disagreements between different tribes and states.

Chronological information about the ancient Crimea:

1) Paleolithic in the history of Crimea:
From 5 million years ago to the middle of the 9th millennium BC.
It includes:
Lower (early) Paleolithic periods:
- Olduvai, from 5-7 million years ago to 700 thousand years ago;
- Ashel, about 700 - 100 thousand years ago.
Middle (Mousterian) Paleolithic: from 100 to 40 thousand years BC
Upper (late) Paleolithic, from 35 thousand years to 9 thousand years BC

2) Mesolithic in the history of Crimea: from the end of 9 to 6 thousand years BC.

3) Neolithic in the history of Crimea: from 5 to the beginning of 4 thousand years BC.

4) Eneolithic in the history of Crimea: from the middle of 4 to 3 thousand years BC.

The history of the appearance of the first people
on the territory of the ancient Crimea, their appearance and range

However, the question of the existence of the peninsula itself remains open. In 1996, American geologists from Columbia University published a scientifically based assumption that the ancient Crimea was part of the landmass until about 5600 BC. e. They claimed that described in the Bible global flood- the result of a breakthrough in the Mediterranean Sea, after which 155,000 square meters were under water. km. the territory of the planet, the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov and the Crimean Peninsula appeared. This version is either confirmed or refuted. But it seems quite plausible.

Be that as it may, science knows that Neanderthals already lived in the Crimea 300-250 thousand years ago. They chose the caves of the foothills. Unlike the Pithecanthropes, who apparently settled only on the South Coast, these people also occupied the eastern part of the present peninsula. To date, scientists have managed to study about ten sites that belonged to the Acheulian era (early Paleolithic): Chernopolie, Shara I-III, Tsvetochnoye, Bodrak I-III, Alma, Bakla, etc.

Among those Neanderthal sites of the ancient Crimea, which are known to historians, the most popular is Kiik-Koba, located near the river. Zuya. Its age is 150-100 thousand years.

On the way from Feodosia to Simferopol, there is another witness to the early history of the Crimea - the Wolf Grotto site. It arose in the era of the Middle Paleolithic (Mousterian) and belonged to a type of person who was not yet Cro-Magnon, but also differed from Pithecanthropus.

Other similar dwellings are also known. For example, at Cape Meganom near Sudak, in Kholodnaya Balka, Chokurcha in the Simferopol region, a cave near Mount Ak-Kaya near Belogorsk, parking lots of the Bakhchisaray region (Staroselye, Shaitan-Koba, Kobazi).

The Middle Paleolithic period in the history of Crimea is characterized by the development south coast the territory of the modern peninsula, its mountainous part and foothills.

Neanderthals were short, had relatively short legs. When walking, they slightly bent their knees and placed their lower limbs. The brow ridges of the people of the ancient Stone Age hung over the eyes. The presence of a heavy lower jaw, which almost did not protrude, suggests the beginning of the development of speech.

After the Neanderthals in the Late Paleolithic era, 38 thousand years ago, the Cro-Magnons appeared. They were more like us, had a high forehead without an overhanging roller, a protruding chin, which is why they are called people of the modern type. There are Cro-Magnon camps in the river valley. Belbek, on Karabi-yayla and over the river. Kacha. The ancient Crimea of ​​the late Paleolithic era was a fully populated territory.

The end of 9-6 thousand BC. e. in history it is customary to call the Mesolithic era. Then the ancient Crimea acquires more modern features. Scientists know many sites that can be attributed to this time. In the mountainous part of the peninsula, these are Laspi, Murzak-Koba VII, Fatma-Koba, etc.

Cherry I and Kukrek are the most famous historical monuments of the Mesolithic era in the Crimean steppe.

The Neolithic falls on 5500-3200 years. BC e. The New Stone Age in the ancient Crimea was marked by the beginning of the use of clay kitchen utensils. At the very end of the era, the first metal products appeared. To date, about fifty Neolithic sites have been studied. open type. During this period of the history of Crimea, there were much fewer dwellings located in grottoes. The most famous settlements are Dolinka in the steppe part of the peninsula and Tash-Air I in the mountains.

From the middle of 4 thousand BC. e. the ancient inhabitants of the peninsula began to use copper. This period is called the Eneolithic. It was relatively short-lived, smoothly passed into the Bronze Age, but was marked by a number of burial mounds and sites (for example, Gurzuf, Laspi I in the south, Druzhnoye and the last layer of Fatma-Koba in the mountainous Crimea). The so-called "shell heaps", which are located on the coastline from Sudak to the Black Sea, also belong to the copper-stone era. The area of ​​farmers of that time - the Kerch Peninsula, the valley of the river. Salgir, northwestern Crimea

Tools of labor and the first weapon in the ancient Crimea

The people who inhabited the ancient Crimea at first used stone axes. 100-35 thousand years ago they began to make flint and obsidian flakes, made objects from stone and wood, for example, axes. Cro-Magnons guessed that with the help of crushed bones you can sew. Neoanthropes (people of the late Paleolithic era) hunted with spears and points, invented side-scrapers, throwing twigs, harpoons. A spear-thrower appeared.

The greatest achievement of the Mesolithic is the development of the bow and arrows. To date, a large number of microliths have been found, which were used in this era as spearheads, arrows, etc. In connection with the advent of individual hunting, traps for animals were invented.

In the Neolithic, tools made of bones and silicon were improved. Rock art makes it possible to understand that cattle breeding and agriculture prevailed over hunting. The ancient Crimea of ​​this period of history began to live a different life, hoes, plows, sickles with silicon inserts, tiles for grinding grain, yokes appeared.

At the beginning of the Eneolithic, the ancient Crimeans already thoroughly worked the stone. At the dawn of the era, even copper tools repeated the shape of pre-existing stone products.

Life, religion and culture of the inhabitants of ancient Crimea

People of the Paleolithic era initially led a wandering lifestyle, they were like a primitive herd. The consanguineous community appeared in the Mousterian period. Each tribe had 50 to 100 or more members. Active relationships within such a social group gave rise to the development of speech. Battling hunting and gathering were the main activities of the first inhabitants of the Crimea. In the late Paleolithic, the driven method of hunting appeared, neoanthropes began to fish.

Hunting magic was gradually born, in the Middle Paleolithic a rite of burial of the dead arose.

From the cold climate had to hide in caves. In Kiik-Kobe, scientists found the ashes that remained after the fire. In the same place, right inside the primitive house, the burial of a woman and a one-year-old child was discovered. There was a spring nearby.

As the temperature warmed, the usual cold-loving animals disappeared. Mammoths, woolly rhinoceros, steppe bison, musk ox, giant deer, lion, hyena were replaced by previously unknown small representatives of the fauna. The scarcity of food made us think about new ways of obtaining food. As the mental abilities of the inhabitants of the ancient Crimea developed, weapons that were revolutionary for that time appeared.

With the advent of the Cro-Magnon, it changes family life inhabitants of the ancient Crimea - the tribal matriarchal community becomes the basis of interpersonal relations. The descendants of the cave dwellers began to settle on the plains. New houses were built from bones and branches. They looked like huts and semi-dugouts. Therefore, in case of bad weather, it was often necessary to return to the caves, where cult worship was also held. The Cro-Magnons still lived in large clans of about 100 people each. Incest was forbidden in order to marry, men left for another community. As before, the dead were buried in grottoes and caves, next to them were placed things that were used during life. Red and yellow ocher were found in the graves. The dead were tied up. In the late Paleolithic there was a cult of a woman-mother. Art appeared immediately. The rock carvings of animals and the ritual use of their skeletons testify to the origin of animism and totemism.

Mastering the bow and arrows made it possible to go on an individual hunt. The inhabitants of the ancient Crimea of ​​the Mesolithic era began to engage in gathering more actively. In parallel, they began to tame dogs, built pens for young wild goats, horses and wild boars. The art manifested itself in rock art and miniature sculpture. They began to intervene the dead, tying them in a crouched position. Burials were oriented to the East.

In the Neolithic era, in addition to the main dwellings, there were temporary sites. They were built for the season, mainly in the steppe, and with the advent of cold weather they hid in the caves of the foothills. The settlements consisted of wooden houses, still looking like huts. characteristic feature This period of the history of the ancient Crimea is the emergence of agriculture and cattle breeding.

This process was called the Neolithic Revolution. Since then, pigs, goats, sheep, horses and cattle have become domestic animals. In addition, the ancestors modern man gradually learned to sculpt earthenware. It was rough, but allowed to realize the basic economic needs. Already at the end of the Neolithic, thin-walled pots with ornaments appeared. Barter trade was born.

During the excavations, a burial was found, a real cemetery, where from year to year the dead were buried, previously sprinkling them with red ocher, decorating them with beads made of bones, deer teeth. The study of funeral gifts made it possible to conclude that the patriarchal system was born: there were fewer items in women's graves. However, the inhabitants of the Crimea of ​​the Neolithic era still worshiped the female deities of the Virgin-Huntress and the Goddess of Fertility.

With the advent of the Eneolithic, life in the ancient Crimea radically changes - houses with adobe floors and hearths appear. Stone has already been used for their construction. Over time, cities grew, fortifications were erected. Wall painting became more common, and three-color geometric designs were found on the chests of the time in which the ashes were buried. Mysterious vertical stelae - menhirs - is a phenomenon of the Crimean Eneolithic, probably a cult place. In Europe, they worshiped the Sun in this way.

Where are the archaeological finds representing the ancient Crimea stored?

Many archaeological finds of the ancient Crimea are preserved in Simferopol in the form of exhibits of the Crimean Republican Museum of Local Lore.

In the Bakhchisaray Historical and Architectural Museum you can see the world-famous flint products, stucco utensils and tools from the Eneolithic.

To explore the variety of artifacts of the ancient Crimea, it is worth visiting Evpatoria local history museum, Kerch Historical and Archaeological Museum, museums of Yalta, Feodosia and others settlements peninsulas.

The history of Crimea from the Paleolithic in the form of numerous tools, various utensils, clothes, weapons, monoliths and other ancient objects is a kind of journey into the world of ancestors.

Be sure to visit the museums of Crimea!

INLIGHT

Crimea is a unique historical and cultural reserve, striking in its antiquity and diversity.

Its numerous cultural monuments reflect historical events, culture and religion of different eras and different peoples. The history of Crimea is an interweaving of East and West, the history of the Greeks and the Golden Horde, the churches of the first Christians and mosques. Here, for many centuries, different peoples lived, fought, made peace and traded, cities were built and destroyed, civilizations arose and disappeared. It seems that the very air here is filled with legends about the life of the Olympic gods, Amazons, Cimmerians, Taurians, Greeks ...

50-40 thousand years ago - the appearance and residence on the territory of the peninsula of a person of the Cro-Magnon type - the ancestor of modern man. Scientists have discovered three sites of this period: Syuren, near the village of Tankovoye, Kachinsky canopy near the village of Predushchelnoye in the Bakhchisaray district, Aji-Koba on the slope of Karabi-Yaila.

If before the first millennium BC. e. historical data allow us to speak only about different periods of human development, then later it becomes possible to talk about specific tribes and cultures of the Crimea.

In the 5th century BC, the ancient Greek historian Herodotus visited the Northern Black Sea region and described in his writings the lands and the peoples living on them. were Cimmerians. These warlike tribes left the Crimea in the 4th - 3rd centuries BC new era due to no less aggressive Scythians and lost in the vast expanses of the Asian steppes. Perhaps only ancient toponyms remind of the Cimmerians: Cimmerian walls, Cimmerian Bosporus, Cimmeric...

They lived in the mountainous and foothill regions of the peninsula. Ancient authors described the Taurians as cruel, bloodthirsty people. Skilled sailors, they were engaged in piracy, robbing ships going along the coast. The captives were sacrificed to the goddess Virgo (the Greeks associated her with Artemis), dropping into the sea from a high cliff where the temple was located. However, modern scientists have established that the Taurians led a pastoral and agricultural lifestyle, were engaged in hunting, fishing, collecting mollusks. They lived in caves or huts, and in case of an enemy attack, they arranged fortified shelters. Archaeologists have discovered Taurus fortifications on the mountains Uch-Bash, Koshka, Ayu-Dag, Kastel, on Cape Ai-Todor, as well as numerous burials in the so-called stone boxes - dolmens. They consisted of four flat slabs placed on edge, the fifth one covered the dolmen from above.

The myth of the evil sea robbers Tauri has already been debunked, and today they are trying to find a place where the temple of the cruel goddess of the Virgin stood, where bloody sacrifices were made.

In the 7th century BC e. Scythian tribes appeared in the steppe part of the peninsula. Under the pressure of the Sarmatians in the IV century BC. e. the Scythians are concentrated in the Crimea and on the lower Dnieper. Here at the turn of the IV-III centuries BC. e. the Scythian state is formed with the capital Scythian Naples (on the territory of modern Simferopol).

In the 7th century BC, Greek colonization of the Northern Black Sea region and Crimea began. In the Crimea, in places convenient for navigation and living, Greek "polises" of the city-state Tauric Chersonesus (on the outskirts of modern Sevastopol), Theodosius and Panticapaeum-Bosporus (modern Kerch), Nymphaeum, Mirmekiy, Tiritaka arose.

Appearance Greek colonies in the Northern Black Sea region strengthened trade, cultural and political ties between the Greeks and the local population, the local farmers learned new forms of land cultivation, cultivation of grapes and olives. Greek culture had a huge impact on spiritual world Taurians, Scythians, Sarmatians and other tribes. But the relationship between different peoples was not easy. Peaceful periods were replaced by hostile ones, wars often flared up, which is why the Greek cities were protected by strong walls.

In the IV century. BC e. Several settlements were founded west coast Crimea. The largest of them are Kerkinitida (Evpatoria) and Kalos-Limen (Black Sea). In the last quarter of the 5th century BC. e. natives of the Greek city of Heraclea founded the city of Chersonesos. Now it is the territory of Sevastopol. By the beginning of the III century. BC e. Chersonese turned into a city-state independent of the Greek metropolis. It becomes one of the largest policies of the Northern Black Sea region. Chersonese in its heyday is a large port city surrounded by powerful walls, a trade, craft and cultural center of the entire southwestern coast of Crimea.

Around 480 B.C. e. from the unification of the originally independent Greek cities, the Bosporus kingdom was formed. Panticapaeum became the capital of the kingdom. Later, Theodosius was added to the kingdom.

In the 4th century BC, the Scythian tribes united under the rule of King Atey into a strong state that occupied a vast territory from the Southern Bug and the Dniester to the Don. Already at the end of the IV century. and especially from the first half of the 3rd c. BC e. the Scythians and, probably, the Taurians under their influence exert strong military pressure on the "polises". In the 3rd century BC, Scythian fortifications, villages and cities appeared in the Crimea, the capital of the Scythian state - Naples - was built on the southeastern outskirts of modern Simferopol.

IN last decade 2nd century BC e. Chersonese in critical situation, when the Scythian troops besieged the city, he turned for help to the Pontic kingdom (located on the southern coast of the Black Sea). The troops of Ponta arrived in Chersonese and lifted the siege. At the same time, the troops of Ponta stormed Panticapaeum and Theodosia. After that, both the Bosporus and Chersonesus were included in the Pontic kingdom.

From about the middle of the 1st to the beginning of the 4th century AD, the sphere of interests of the Roman Empire included the entire Black Sea region and Taurica as well. Chersonese became a stronghold of the Romans in Taurica. In the 1st century, Roman legionnaires built the Kharaks fortress on Cape Ai-Todor, laid roads connecting it with Chersonesos, where the garrison was located, and a Roman squadron was stationed in the Chersonese harbor. In 370, hordes of Huns fell upon the lands of Taurida. Under their blows, the Scythian state and the Bosporus kingdom perished, Naples, Panticapaeum, Chersonesus and many cities and villages lay in ruins. And the Huns rushed further, to Europe, where they caused the death of the great Roman Empire.

In the 4th century, after the division of the Roman Empire into Western and Eastern (Byzantine), the sphere of interests of the latter included South part Tauriki. Chersonesus (it became known as Kherson) becomes the main base of the Byzantines on the peninsula.

Christianity came to Crimea from the Byzantine Empire. According to church tradition, Andrew the First-Called was the first to bring the good news to the peninsula, and the third bishop of Rome, St. Clement, who was exiled to Chersonesus in 94, conducted a great preaching activity. In the 8th century, an iconoclasm movement began in Byzantium, icons and murals in churches were destroyed, the monks, fleeing persecution, moved to the outskirts of the empire, including the Crimea. Here, in the mountains, they founded cave temples and monasteries: Assumption, Kachi-Kalyon, Shuldan, Chelter and others.

At the end of the VI century in the Crimea appears new wave the conquerors are the Khazars, whose descendants are the Karaites. They occupied the entire peninsula, with the exception of Cherson (as Chersonese is called in Byzantine documents). Since that time, the city begins to play a prominent role in the history of the empire. In 705 Kherson separated from Byzantium and recognized the Khazar protectorate. To which Byzantium in 710 sends a punitive fleet with a landing force. The fall of Kherson was accompanied by unprecedented cruelty, but the troops did not have time to leave the city, as it revolted again. Having united with the punitive troops and allies of the Khazars, who had changed Byzantium, the troops of Kherson enter Constantinople and install their emperor.

In the 9th century, a new force, the Slavs, actively intervened in the course of Crimean history. At the same time, the decline of the Khazar state takes place, which was finally defeated in the 60s of the 10th century by the Kyiv prince Svyatoslav Igorevich. In 988-989 Kiev Prince Vladimir took Kherson (Korsun), where he accepted the Christian faith.

During the XIII century, the Golden Horde (Tatar-Mongols) invaded Taurica several times, plundering its cities. Then they began to settle on the territory of the peninsula. In the middle of the 13th century, they captured Solkhat, which became the center of the Crimean yurt of the Golden Horde and was called Kyrym (like the entire peninsula later).

In the 13th century (1270), first the Venetians and then the Genoese penetrated the southern coast. Having forced out competitors, the Genoese create a number of fortifications-factories on the coast. Kafa (Feodosia) becomes their main stronghold in the Crimea, they captured Sudak (Soldaya), as well as Cherkio (Kerch). In the middle of the XIV century they settled in the immediate vicinity of Kherson - in the Bay of Symbols, having founded the fortress of Chembalo (Balaklava) there.

In the same period, the Orthodox Principality of Theodoro was formed in the mountainous Crimea, with its center in Mangup.

In the spring of 1475, a Turkish fleet appeared off the coast of Kafa. The well-fortified city was able to hold out in the siege for only three days and surrendered to the mercy of the winner. Capturing coastal fortresses one by one, the Turks put an end to Genoese rule in the Crimea. Decent resistance was met by the Turkish army at the walls of the capital Theodoro. Capturing the city after a six-month siege, they ravaged it, killed the inhabitants or took them into slavery. Crimean Khan became a vassal of the Turkish sultan.

The Crimean Khanate became the conductor of Turkey's aggressive policy towards the Muscovite state. Constant raids of the Tatars on the southern lands of Ukraine, Russia, Lithuania and Poland.

Russia, seeking to secure its southern borders and gain access to the Black Sea, fought more than once with Turkey. In the war of 1768-1774. the Turkish army and navy were defeated, in 1774 the Kuchuk-Kaynarji peace treaty was concluded, according to which the Crimean Khanate gained independence. Kerch with the Yoni-Kale fortress, the fortresses of Azov and Kin-burn passed to Russia in the Crimea, Russian merchant ships could freely navigate the Black Sea.

In 1783 after Russian-Turkish war(1768-1774) Crimea was annexed to Russian Empire. This contributed to the strengthening of Russia, its southern borders ensured the safety of transport routes on the Black Sea.

Most of the Muslim population left the Crimea, moving to Turkey, the region became depopulated and fell into disrepair. To revive the peninsula, Prince G. Potemkin, appointed governor of Taurida, began to resettle serfs and retired soldiers from neighboring regions. Thus, new villages of Mazanka, Izyumovka, Chistenkoye appeared on the Crimean land... The works of His Serene Highness Prince were not in vain, the Crimean economy began to develop rapidly, orchards, vineyards, tobacco plantations were planted on the South Coast and in the mountainous part. On the shores of an excellent natural harbor, the city of Sevastopol is being laid as the base of the Black Sea Fleet. Near the small town of Ak-Mechet, Simferopol is being built, which has become the center of the Taurida province.

In January 1787, Empress Catherine II, accompanied by the Austrian Emperor Joseph I, traveling under the name of Count Fankelstein, the ambassadors of the powerful countries of England, France and Austria, and a large retinue, went to the Crimea to explore the new lands to demonstrate to her allies the power and greatness of Russia: the Empress stopped in travel palaces built especially for her. During lunch in Inkerman, the curtains on the window were unexpectedly parted, and the travelers saw Sevastopol under construction, warships that greeted the empresses with volleys. The effect was amazing!

In 1854-1855. in Crimea, the main events of the Eastern War (1853-1856), better known as the Crimean War, played out. In September 1854, the combined armies of England, France and Turkey landed north of Sevastopol and laid siege to the city. The defense of the city continued for 349 days under the command of Vice Admirals V.A. Kornilov and P.S. Nakhimov. The war destroyed the city to the ground, but also glorified it throughout the world. Russia has been defeated. In 1856, a peace treaty was concluded in Paris, which prohibited Russia and Turkey from having navies on the Black Sea.

Defeated in Crimean War, Russia was going through an economic crisis. The abolition of serfdom in 1861 made it possible to develop industry more rapidly; enterprises appeared in the Crimea engaged in the processing of grain, tobacco, grapes, and fruits. At the same time, the resort development of the South Shore began. On the recommendation of the doctor Botkin royal family acquires the Livadia estate. From that moment on, palaces, estates, villas were built along the entire coast, which belonged to members of the Romanov family, court nobility, rich industrialists and landowners. In a matter of years, Yalta turned from a village into a famous aristocratic resort.

Construction has had a great influence on the development of the region's economy. railways that connected Sevastopol, Feodosia, Kerch and Evpatoria with the cities of Russia. All greater value acquired the Crimea and as a resort.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Crimea belonged to the Taurida province, in economic and economic terms it was an agrarian region with a small number of industrial cities. The main ones were Simferopol and the port cities of Sevastopol, Kerch, Feodosia.

Soviet power won in the Crimea later than in the center of Russia. The support of the Bolsheviks in the Crimea was Sevastopol. On January 28-30, 1918, an Extraordinary Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies of the Taurida Governorate was held in Sevastopol. Crimea was proclaimed the Soviet Socialist Republic of Taurida. It lasted a little over a month. At the end of April, German troops captured the Crimea, and in November 1918 they were replaced by the British and the French. In April 1919, the Red Army of the Bolsheviks occupied the entire Crimea, except for the Kerch Peninsula, where the troops of General Denikin were fortified. On May 6, 1919, the Crimean Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed. In the summer of 1919, Denikin's army occupied the entire Crimea. However, in the fall of 1920, the Red Army, led by M.V. Frunze again restored Soviet power. In the autumn of 1921, the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was formed as part of the RSFSR.

Socialist construction began in the Crimea. According to the decree signed by Lenin "On the use of the Crimea for the treatment of workers", All palaces, villas, dachas were given over to sanatoriums, where workers and collective farmers from all the Union republics rested and were treated. Crimea has become an All-Union health resort.

During the years of the Great Patriotic War Crimeans courageously fought the enemy. The second heroic defense of Sevastopol, which lasted 250 days, the Kerch-Feodosiya landing operation, Tierra del Fuego Eltigen, the feat of the underground and partisans became pages of the military chronicle. For the steadfastness and courage of the defenders, two Crimean cities - Sevastopol and Kerch - were awarded the title of Hero City.

In February 1945, a conference of the heads of the three powers - the USSR, the USA and Great Britain took place in the Livadia Palace. At the Crimean (Yalta) conference, decisions were made related to the end of the war with Germany and Japan, and the establishment of a post-war world order.

After the liberation of Crimea from the fascist invaders in the spring of 1944, the restoration of its economy began: industrial enterprises, sanatoriums, rest houses, agriculture, the revival of destroyed cities and villages. The black page in the history of Crimea was the expulsion of many peoples. The fate befell the Tatars, Greeks, Armenians.

On February 19, 1954, a decree was issued on the transfer of the Crimean region to Ukraine. Today, many believe that Khrushchev, on behalf of Russia, gave Ukraine a royal gift. Nevertheless, the decree was signed by the chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR Voroshilov, and Khrushchev's signature in the documents relating to the transfer of Crimea to Ukraine is not at all.

During Soviet power, especially in the 60s - 80s of the last century, there was a noticeable growth in the Crimean industry and agriculture, the development of resorts and tourism on the peninsula. Crimea, in fact, was known as an all-Union health resort. Every year, 8-9 million people from all over the vast Union rested in Crimea.

1991 - "putsch" in Moscow and the arrest of M. Gorbachev at his dacha in Foros. The collapse of the Soviet Union, Crimea becomes autonomous republic as part of Ukraine, and Big Yalta - the summer political capital of Ukraine and the countries of the Black Sea region.

Sites discovered by archaeologists on the Crimean Peninsula primitive people(Kiik-Koba, Staroselye, Chokurcha, Wolf's Grotto) testify to the settlement of the region by humans already in the Stone Age.

The most ancient population of the Black Sea region and the Crimea consisted of those who lived here at the turn of the II-I millennium BC. e. semi-sedentary and nomadic tribes, collectively known as the Cimmerians. The memory of them is preserved in local toponyms mentioned in ancient Greek sources: Cimmerian Bosporus, Cimmeric, Cimmerius. The Cimmerians apparently inhabited all the Black Sea steppes, but in the Eastern Crimea, as well as on the Taman Peninsula, they lived longer.

In the 7th century BC e. Cimmerians acted in alliance with the Scythians. There is information about the defeat in 652 BC. the Lydian capital Sardis by the Cimmerians and Scythians. The culture of the Cimmerians revealed by archaeologists is close to the Scythian and belongs to the end of the Bronze Age. This is evidenced by excavations on the Kerch and Taman Peninsulas, where burials of the 8th-7th centuries were found. BC e., associated with the Cimmerians. According to the story of Herodotus, the Cimmerians were forced out of the Northern Black Sea region by the Scythians, who dominated here already in the 7th century. BC e.

The descendants of the Cimmerians are the Taurians, who lived already in the Scythian time in the mountains of Crimea. The mountain range on the south coast of the peninsula was also called Taurus. The Greek word is associated with this name. Crimean peninsula- Taurica, which was preserved both in the era of antiquity and in the Middle Ages.

The bulk of the Scythians were tribes that came in the VIII century. BC e. from Central Asia. Several Scythian tribes of the Northern Black Sea region are known: the royal Scythians, who also lived in the Crimea, Scythian nomads, Scythian plowmen, Scythian farmers, Scythian wonnes. The social structure of the Scythians in the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e. characterized by the gradual disintegration of tribal and the emergence of class relations. The Scythians already knew patriarchal slavery. The change of the Cimmerian culture of the Scythian in the VIII-VII centuries. BC e. coincided with the transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age. By the 4th century BC e. The Scythian kingdom, which united individual tribes, turned into a strong military power that successfully repelled the Persian invasion. Remarkable monuments of the famous Scythian "animal" style were discovered by archaeologists in the barrows and mountains of the Crimea - in the Kurgans of Kulakovsky (near Simferopol, Ak-mosque), unique gold items depicting human figures, animals and plants were found in the famous Scythian barrows Kul-Oba, Ak-Burun, Golden barrow.

In the VIII-VI centuries. BC e. there is an intensive process of Greek colonization of the North Pontic coast, due to economic and social development Ancient Hellas. In the 7th century BC e. colonized the western, and in the VI century. BC e. - northern coast of the Black Sea.

The earliest in Taurica, probably as early as the first half of the 6th century. BC e., on the site of modern Kerch on the banks of the Cimmerian Bosporus, the city of Panticapaeum was founded by the Milesians. The city itself was called by the Greeks and simply Bosporus. Around the middle of the VI century. BC e. Tiritaka, Nymphaeum, Kimmerik arose in the Eastern Crimea. In the VI century. BC e. Theodosius was founded by the Milesian Greeks, as well as Mirmekiy, located near Panticapaeum.

Around 480 BC e. in the Eastern Crimea, the previously independent Greek city-states (polises) were united into a single Bosporus state under the rule of the Archaeanactids, immigrants from Miletus. In 438 BC. e. power in the Bosporus passes to the Spartocids - a dynasty, possibly of Thracian origin.

Craft, agriculture, trade, monetary circulation Panticapaeum, where from the middle of the VI century. minted its own silver coin, were on a relatively high level development. There was an expansion of the external expansion of the Bosporan state. However, in the III-II centuries. BC e. the onslaught of the Scythians intensifies from the west, and the Sarmatians penetrate from the Kuban region.

The creation of the Scythian state in the Crimea and the aggravation of social contradictions in the Bosporan kingdom contributed to the weakening of the latter.

In the western part of Crimea important role played Chersonese, founded in the 5th century. BC e. immigrants from the southern coast of the Black Sea (from Heraclea Pontica). Initially, it was a trading post, which later became the center of agricultural and handicraft production. Trade also grew, with the development of which the issue of its own coin made of silver and copper was associated. The remains of ancient Chersonesos have been preserved on the western outskirts of modern Sevastopol.

Chersonesos probably pursued a hostile policy towards the Bosporus. However, by the end of the II century. BC e. the onslaught of the Scythians on Chersonese intensifies. Pontic king Mithridates VI Eupator provided military assistance to Chersonesos. Eastern Crimea and Chersonesos then pass under the authority of the Pontic king. Perisades, the last king of the Bosporus from the Spartokid dynasty, renounced the throne in favor of Mithridates VI. But this only exacerbated the urgent social contradictions in the slave-owning Bosporus. In 107 BC. e. there was an uprising led by the Scythian Savmak, but it was suppressed by the troops of the Pontic king.

The Pontic kingdom became the main obstacle to the further expansion of the Romans to the East. This led to the wars of Mithridates with Rome, which lasted from 89 BC. e. until the death of the Pontic king in 63 BC. e. The death of Mithridates meant the actual loss of political independence by this part of the Black Sea region. By the end of the 1st century BC e. a portrait of the Roman emperor and members of his family appears on Bosporan coins. True, in 25 BC. e. Rome confirms the independence of Chersonesus, but this independence was largely nominal.

The City-States of Taurica in the First Centuries A.D. were developed policies of the slave type. This opinion is supported by their administrative structure, as well as the monuments of material culture discovered by archaeologists.

The dominant force in the steppe zone during this period were the Sarmatians, at the head of which was the tribal nobility, surrounded by warriors. Several unions of Sarmatian tribes are known - Roxolans, Aorses, Siraks. Obviously, from the II century. And. e. Sarmatians receive the common name of the Alans, probably from the name of one of their tribes. However, in the Crimea, the Sarmatians, apparently, were inferior in number to the mass of the Scythians who survived here, as well as the descendants of the ancient Taurians. In contrast to the Sarmatians, this old population is referred to in ancient sources as Tauro-Scythians, which, perhaps, indicates the erasure of the differences between them.

The center of the Scythian tribes in the Crimea was Scythian Naples, located on the site of present-day Simferopol. Scythian Naples was founded at the end of the 3rd century. BC e. and lasted until the 4th century. n. e.

In the I-II centuries. The Bosporan kingdom is experiencing a new rise, it occupies approximately the same territory as under the Spartokids. Moreover, the Bosporus actually exercises a protectorate over Chersonese. Simultaneously, Sarmatization of the population of the Bosporan cities takes place. In foreign policy, the Bosporan kings showed a certain independence, including in relations with Rome.

In the III century. in the Crimea, the Christian religion is spreading, which probably penetrated here from Asia Minor. In the IV century. in the Bosporus there was already an independent Christian bishopric.

Chersonese at that time continued to develop as a slave-owning republic, but the former, democratic system (within the framework, of course, of the slave-owning formation) was now replaced by an aristocratic one. At the same time, the romanization of the ruling urban elite took place. Chersonese becomes the main stronghold of the Romans in the Northern Black Sea region. There was a Roman garrison in it, food was supplied to the center of the empire from here.

In the middle of the III century. n. e. The Bosporus state is experiencing an economic and political decline, reflecting the general crisis of the ancient slave system. Starting from the 50-70s. in the Crimea, the onslaught of the Borani, Ostrogoths, Heruls and other tribes that were part of
to the Gothic alliance. The Goths defeated the Scythians and destroyed their settlements in the Crimea. Capturing almost the entire peninsula, with the exception of Chersonesus, they established their dominance over the Bosporus. The Gothic invasion led to the decline of the Bosporus kingdom, but death blow he was inflicted in the 70s. 4th century Hun tribes that appeared in the Eastern Crimea. The Bosporus they defeated lost its former significance and gradually left the historical arena.

From the collection "Crimea: Past and Present"”, Institute of History of the USSR, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1988