Kalos Limen [1] ( dr. Greek Κᾰλός Λῐμήν ) is an ancient Greek city in the north-west of Crimea , which existed from the 4th century. BC e. according to the 1st century n e. on the site of the modern village of Black Sea . The name translates from ancient Greek as "beautiful harbor."
Content
History
Kalos Limen was founded by the Ionian Greeks in the 4th century. BC e. The city with an area of about 4 hectares was surrounded by a fortified wall with quadrangular towers. The surrounding lands were delimited into plots.
The basis of the economy of the Beautiful Harbor was agriculture. The agricultural territory of the city, its own choir , was located on the sides of the Ak-Mechet Bay in a radius of about 2 km.
Favorable strategic position of the city, fertile lands in its district and a convenient harbor attracted more powerful neighbors. Therefore, by the end of the IV century BC. e. the city was captured by Khersonesites . In the III century. BC e. new applicants appear - Scythians and Sarmatians . Their raids forced the Greeks to strengthen the existing fortifications and build a new line of defense - a multi-tower citadel near the bay itself. There is evidence of a 16-meter lighthouse, in the cellars of which were stored food supplies in case of siege. And on the upper floors the command post was located and stone-throwing tools were installed to control the entrance to the bay.
These measures delayed the fall of Kalos Lymena, but already in the II century. BC e. the city passes into the hands of the Scythians. Soon, he, along with Kerkinitida , became the most important seaport of the Late Scythian state.
At the end of II century. BC e. to the northwestern Crimea is again at the center of hostilities. Here appears an expeditionary force led by the commander Diophantus . The Greeks defeated the Scythians and the Sarmatians allied with them and again subjugated Kerkinitida and Kalos Limen, as evidenced by honorable decrees - one in honor of Diophantus and the second - in honor of the Chersonesite detachment that captured Kalos Limen.
In the middle of the 1st century BC e. Kalos Limen again falls under the power of the Scythians. The end of the city dates back to the 1st century. n e., when the Sarmatians invading from the northern steppes finally destroyed this once prosperous center.
The last time the already distorted name of the policy - Kalo Limena, confined to the Ak-Mechet Bay, is mentioned on the maps of Italian compass maps of the XIII - XVI centuries, then this last mention of the ancient city disappears.
Modernity
Now in the territory of the ancient city is located the national park "Kalos Limen" and the historical and archaeological museum-reserve "Kalos Limen" [2] . It was founded in 1997 to study and popularize this unique archaeological site. [3] . In the center of the Black Sea (the nearest settlement to the excavations) is the local history museum "Kalos Limen", founded in 1987 .
Successful archaeological excavations are underway in Kalos Limen. The remains of an ancient Greek fortress and houses are discovered. The central city gates and the main thoroughfare paved with slabs, on which traces of the carts have been preserved, have been completely excavated [4] .
Notes
- ↑ Kalos Limen / Y. M. Paromov // Iceland - Clericalism. - M .: Big Russian Encyclopedia, 2008. - P. 547. - ( Big Russian Encyclopedia : [in 35 vols.] / Ch. Ed. Yu. S. Osipov ; 2004—2017, vol. 12). - ISBN 978-5-85270-343-9 .
- ↑ State budget institution of the Republic of Crimea “Historical and Archaeological Museum-Reserve“ Kalos Limen ” . Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Crimea. Official website (2015).
- ↑ Historical and archaeological reserve "Kalos Limen" (inaccessible link)
- ↑ V.Perfiliev. Kalos-limen - Ak-mosque - Black Sea // Crimean News. - 2006. - No. 79 (3553) . Archived March 4, 2016.