Viktor Yushchenko, the third president of Ukraine, is famous for his love of cultural treasures, especially 20th century Ukrainian paintings and artifacts over 2,000 years old. The Guarantor’s love for historical values has served well for the Kalos Limen reserve, which appeared in Crimea in 1997. By a decree of 2009, it was legalized, financed and surrounded by a kind of buffer zone — the national park «Beautiful Harbor».
What is this «Kalos Limen» and what does it have to do with the Beautiful Harbor and Mr. Yushchenko? The place with an outlandish name is a city. It was built by the Ionian Greeks, who scoured the entire Black Sea basin in search of unpopulated lands suitable for colonization. The Tarkhankutsk peninsula, its bays, fresh coastal lakes and fertile soils attracted the attention of visitors from the Peloponnesian Peninsula. In the IV century B.C. Greeks founded a city here and named it Happy or Beautiful Harbor. Translated into the language of Homer, it sounded like «Kalos Limen».
The walled city is located on the shores of the bay on an area of 4 hectares. Fragments of the wall have been preserved and will be shown to all who will come on vacation in Chernomorskoye. Because of the fact that a tidbit of Tarhankutsk land claimed not only the sons of Ion, but also other Hellenes — Dorians, Achaeans and Aeolians, the founders of Kalos Limen had to «decorate» their wall with many towers. They were quadrangular and possessed slits, slaughterhouses. In addition to the towers, the excavations exposed the central gate, the slab-paved street, houses, wineries and granaries.
It was found that the land holdings or «chora» of the inhabitants of Kalos Limen were located parallel to the shore of Happy Harbor. One of the most interesting structures recovered from these Ukrainian Pompeii were the remains of a lighthouse and a citadel. The first one differed from its brethren, scattered all over the world, in that its foundation was a basement with food supplies in case of a long-term siege, and a real command center was built on its upper floor. The second fortification was located on the shore. It was equipped with stone cannons, whose «artillery volleys» were controlled by light signals from the lighthouse.
The riches of Kalos Limen attracted the attention of foes. Neither the miracle beacon nor the fortress saved the inhabitants of the Beautiful Harbor from capture by the Chersonesites. The Dorians were driven out of here by the warlike Scythians. And they in their turn were knocked out of Kalos Limen by a special punitive detachment of Greeks sent by Mithridates VI Eupator. The detachment was led by a certain Diophantos, who returned to the Greeks their polis and land holdings. Thanks to their efforts by the beginning of our era Kalos Limen became the most popular port on the western coast of Crimea. But due to the continued raids of the Scythians, Sarmatians, Roxolans and Huns, the grandeur of the Beautiful Bay faded. The last time it was mentioned on the maps of the Genoese, who began their colonization of the Crimean peninsula.
A century later, the fertile bay and the surrounding lands were developed by Crimean Tatars. The place was under the protectorate of the Crimean Khanate and was called Ak-Mechet. In 1944, the Tatars were deported, and the oldest settlement was named Chernomorskoye.
Having planned holiday in Chernomorskoe, the guest of the peninsula will be able to witness the excavations, which are still going on the territory of the reserve «Kalos Limen». The most valuable finds are sent to the local museum of local lore, and those that do not get there because of their size, are studied and preserved. Thanks to President Yushchenko, the lands around these Tarhankutsk Pompeii were included in the national park «Beautiful Harbor», which increased the chance of preserving this attraction of Crimea for posterity.