The museum city of Kerch ... oh, no, the hero city of Kerch is located on the Crimean peninsula and proudly sits between two seas: the Azov and the Black. Forgive the reader for an involuntary typo, the fact is that Kerch is one of the oldest cities in the world, it is more than 26 centuries old. And therefore, there are so many antiquities in it that the people of Kerch rightly believe that they live in the oldest open-air museum.
I'll tell you about Kerch
Nymphaeum, Korchev, Cherkio, Charshi, Vosporo, Panticapaeum, Bospor - these 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, who has already seen the city. Fortunately, this "old man" did not fall into insanity and remembers everything, the Kerch museums are proof of this.
The year of the founding of the city is not known to anyone, it is considered that in 2000 it was 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 spread to the crossroads of trade routes in Europe, Asia, the Mediterranean and China. This is a city of 5 ports!
And it is quite natural that many peoples wanted to have such a sweet and warm place. Who was not there: the ancient Greeks, and Scythians with Sarmatians, and barbarians, and Polovtsy, and the Turkic Kaganate. In the future, Italians also came here, leaving their descendants (there is still an Italian community in Kerch whose representatives preserved their surnames, culture and language), the Huns from Ancient China, the Nazi invaders, and even 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 respectable and therefore, antiquities are constantly found here, and excavations have been conducted from time to time for many years: Panticapaeum, Mermiky, royal mounds, fortresses 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. Yes, and just a walk around the city is worth a lot: you go, and you feel right with your skin that you are walking along a living history. This is an indescribable feeling, as if power is pouring into you, because you feel part of it, oneness with it. This is especially evident when you climb Mount Mithridates.
There is another place in Kerch that instills power in man - this is the Church of St. 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 I century with the blessing of St. Andrew, and completed in VIII. He, like the city, changed its owners during its existence, was an Orthodox church, then a mosque, since 1774 it is again Orthodox. Inside the temple are still the very stones from the 1st century, and under the dome there are frescoes that were painted by the disciples of Theophanes the Greek.
As a tornado fought over the city, closing half the sky at once
From time immemorial, peaceful, hardworking people have lived in Kerch: they were engaged in fishing and farming. Panticapaeum was the main breadbasket of Ancient Greece. Scientists and philosophers lived here, such as Difil Bosporit, Smekr, Straton, Anarchis and Spheres of 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 what they need! From the early raids of nomadic tribes to the last years of recent 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, Kerch's life 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 crazy bullets fell into random passers-by. Unemployment and shortages of fresh water captured the city, but nothing broke the Kerch.
At all times, both the Great Patriotic War and the post-perestroika period, Kerch residents were able to preserve their cultural heritage, and the wealth of Kerch museums was not affected. The city rightfully bears its proud title of a hero, because, as you know, no place paints a person.
Once upon a time, Mithridates, the lord of two seas
One of the most famous inhabitants of Kerch was, of course, Mithridates VI Eupator. His father, King Mithridates V Everget, was poisoned by relatives as a result of a conspiracy. It is not surprising that the heir to 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 temper the body with all the poisons available in those days. He began to drink them in small quantities, gradually increasing doses to develop immunity to poisoning. Do not try to repeat this trick, no one else succeeded!
Mithridates Eupator was not only a tough warrior, but also an esthete-collector: he collected beautiful precious gems around the world. Some of them were stored in the Archaeological Museum-Reserve of Kerch, 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 the mountain was named on which the city of Panticapaeum was located, where he died, and they gave the name to another Crimean city - Yevpatoria.
And Demeter lives nearby
Not only glorious kings lived in Kerch, but there were also some gods. One of the powerful goddesses of Olympus - Demeter - fell in love with Kerch and endowed the land 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 funerary crypt was built, in which a noble resident of the city was buried.
In 1895, this crypt was discovered by chance. Characteristically, it was not plundered, and all the rich jewelry, remains and sarcophagus of the noble lady, as well as frescoes with the face of Demeter, were perfectly preserved by the time of the find. But as soon as the crypt was opened and research began inside, the lady's remains turned to dust, and from contact with the air, the frescoes began to fade rapidly, and the images began to disappear. Therefore, in 1908, the murals were exactly copied so that this masterpiece would not be completely lost.
Nowadays, the original crypt is closed to visitors, but in 1998, at the foot of Mount Mithridates, an exact copy of this crypt was built. The technological model of the crypt of Demeter belongs to the Archaeological Museum of Kerch, and everyone can enjoy 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 in my veins. These are Starokaraninsky and Adzhimushkaysky quarries. They played out the most tragic moments of military history. Starokarantinsky quarries are famous for the fact that they held the defense of the young partisans for six months, among whom was Volodya Dubinin. In the Adzhimushkay quarries, the partisans held the defense for 170 days, with them civilians and children went down to the underground garrison. They did not hide there from the Germans, but fought!
People held on very firmly, but it ended tragically: the Nazis, enraged by the spirit of spirit, first deprived the people of water, poisoning it in wells, but seeing that they still didn’t give up, they pumped poison gas into the quarry, knowing full well that women and children were there .
“This has not happened in the world. Forget it!
Forget your heart as soon as possible
How the little children gasped
For the dead clinging to mothers "
13,000 people went down to the garrison, and only 48 came out alive. In the middle of May and beginning of June, red poppies bloom around the quarries - "the bitter memory of the earth." They are not sown specifically, they themselves grow in that place. An impressive sight, especially when you leave the quarries, which went down on a tour, and listened to the whole story.
Glory comes in without gaps
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 that this was really the last time. After tens of centuries, merciless bloody battles flared up 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 around for many decades, and all residents of the city participate, without exaggeration. And they do not intend to abandon this tradition.
A huge human river with lit torches rises up the steps to Mount Mithridates, after which a requiem performance dedicated to the battles for Kerch awaits them at the top of the mountain. Each year, viewers are shown a new story based on real events. After the performance, all spectators will see a festive fireworks display. And on May 9, on Victory Day, at exactly 10 p.m. a real military festive salute thunders, as in all hero cities.
Keeps the sun vibrant
Oddly enough, Kerch is not a classic tourist center: there are no five-star all inclusive hotels, tourism is not developed. It is a port industrial city. But this does not mean that guests are not welcome here. Even as happy! Kerch - a hospitable people, they have something to show and what to tell. There are a lot of places that are definitely worth a visit, many stories that are worth listening to. There are clean, well-groomed beaches where tourists do not push their elbows.
During the international campaign "Night at the Museum" in Kerch, 2 museums are still open: the Lapidarium and the fortress "Kerch". But the city has many more museums, and he himself is a living museum!