The ruins of Chersonesus, an ancient Greek city located in Crimea, which was once in Ukraine. The site is included on UNESCO’s list of World Heritage sites. Credit: Dmitry A Motti/Wikimedia Commons/ CC BY-SA 3.0The UNESCO – listed city of Chersonesus, located on the southwestern part of the Crimean peninsula — now part of Russia after its 2014 invasion of the area — was an ancient Greek colony founded approximately 2,500 years ago.
Settlers from Heraclea Pontica in Bithynia established the colony, called Χερσόνησος in ancient Greek, in Crimea way back in the 6th century BC. In 2013 UNESCO listed Chersonesus as a World Heritage Site for Ukraine; now, after the Russian invasion of Crimea, it is part of the Russian Federation.
The ancient city on the shore of the Black Sea, on the outskirts of the present-day city of Sevastopol, is part of the National Preserve of Tauric Chersonesos, which enshrines the history of the entire Crimean Peninsula. The name Chersonesos itself in Greek means “peninsula” and it aptly describes the site on which the colony was established.
Oath of Chersonesos evidence of ancient Greek democratic ideals
The Greeks settled and came to rule over the area which was originally occupied by native Scythians and a people called the Tauri. During much of the classical period Chersonesus operated as an ancient Greek-style democracy, ruled by a group of elected Archons and a council called the Demiurgoi. As time passed, however, the government grew more oligarchic, with power concentrated in the hands of the archons.
Greek coin from the ancient Greek colony of Chersonesos in Crimea showing the ruler Diotimus. From the second century BC. Credit: Vlad Fedchenko/Public Domain
According to Theophanes the Confessor and others, Chersonesus was the residence of a Khazar governor (tudun) in the late 7th century. Between approximately 705 and 840, the city’s affairs were managed by elected officials called babaghuq, meaning “fathers of the city.”
In the year 833, the Emperor Theophilus sent the nobleman Petronas Kamateros, who had recently overseen the construction of the Khazar fortress of Sarkel, to take direct control over the city and its environs.
The area remained in Byzantine hands until the 980s, when historians believe it fell to Kiev. Some historians believe it became the scene of an important turning point in the spread of Christianity after Vladimir the Great agreed to leave the fortress only if Basil II’s sister Anna Porphyrogeneta was given him in marriage.
The demand understandably caused a scandal in Constantinople; as a pre-condition for the marriage, Vladimir was baptized as a Christian here in the year 988, thus paving the way for the growth of Christianity among the entire Kievan Rus’ people. Thereafter Korsun’ was evacuated.
Since this campaign is not recorded in Greek sources, however, some believe that the account actually refers to the events of the Rus’–Byzantine War (1043) and to a different Vladimir.
The “1935 Basilica” in the ancient Greek city of Chersonesos, in Crimea, was built on the site of a number more of ancient religious structures. Credit: Dmitry A. Motti/ CCBY SA 3.0Most of the historical treasures looted by the Slavs in what they called Korsun’ made their way to Novgorod (perhaps by way of Joachim the Korsunian, the first Novgorodian bishop, as his surname indicates ties to Korsun), where they were preserved in the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom until the 20th century. One of the most interesting items from this “Korsun Treasure” is the copper Korsun Gate, supposedly captured by the Novgorodians in Korsun’ — now part of St. Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod.
After the Fourth Crusade, which took place between 1202 to 1204, Chersonesus became dependent on the Byzantine Empire of Trebizond (Trabzon) as the Principality of Theodoro. After the Siege of Trebizond in 1461 the Principality of Theodoro became independent.
The city fell under Genoese control in the early 13th century, a development which was particularly galling for the Greek people in that they forebade Greeks to trade there. In 1299, the town was sacked by the Mongol armies of Nogai Khan’s Golden Horde.
Byzantine sources last mention Chersonesus as a city in 1396; based on archaeological evidence the historic city is presumed to have been abandoned in the following decades.
The archbishopric of Chersonesus disappeared as an entity after the Turkish conquest in 1475 and the destruction of the city.
Centuries later, the gleaming Saint Vladimir Cathedral was built in the 19th century in the Byzantine Revival style; intended to commemorate the exact place where the ruler was baptized, it was completed in 1892, and still overlooks the ruins of the ancient city.
The ruins were excavated by archaeologists working under the Russian government beginning in 1827. They are protected as an archaeological park today.
The buildings mix influences of Greek, Roman and Byzantine culture. The defensive wall was approximately 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) long, 3.5 to 4 metres wide and 8 to 10 metres high with towers at a height of 10 to 12 metres. The walls enclosed an area of about 30 hectares (74 acres).
Some of the spectacular buildings there include a Roman amphitheater and a Greek temple. The fact that the site has not been inhabited since the 14th century makes it an important representation of Byzantine life as it was in those times.
The remains of wine presses and defensive towers are still seen in the surrounding farmlands. According to archaeologists, evidence suggests that the local people were paid to do farm work; they were not enslaved.
One aspect of life in Chersonesus is seen in the fact that the tombstones there are for each individual person instead of an entire family, as is the case in ancient Greece. Disturbingly, in over half of the tombs archaeologists have found the bones of children; burned ruins are evidence that the city was plundered and destroyed.
In 2017, archaeologists discovered fragments of an ancient Greek altar with figures of gods near Chersonesus.
The “1935 basilica” is the most famous building excavated in Chersonesus. Since its original name is unknown, its name refers to the year it was discovered. The basilica was likely built in the 6th century on the site of an earlier temple, itself replacing a small temple dating from the early days of Christianity.
The basilica is often used as an image representing Chersonesos; its image appears on a Ukrainian banknote.
Chersonesus listed as UNESCO site in 2013; Crimea annexed by Russia the next year
The Institute of Classical Archaeology of the University of Texas at Austin and the local Archaeological Park has been in charge of investigating the site since 1992.
In 2013, “The Ancient City of Tauric Chersonese and its Chora” was finally listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
During the 2014 Crimean crisis, the Crimean peninsula was annexed by Russia, but UNESCO has maintained that it will continue to recognize Crimea and its heritage sites as belonging to Ukraine.
The encroachment of modern building in and around the ancient archaeological site, located just outside modern Sevastopol, coupled with a lack of funding to prevent such development pressures, has led to the ancient Greek site of Chersonesus in Crimea being considered “at risk.”
In an October 2010 report titled Saving Our Vanishing Heritage, Global Heritage Fund identified Chersonesus as one of 12 worldwide sites most “On the Verge” of irreparable loss and destruction, citing insufficient management and development pressures as primary causes.