To see the ruins of ancient cities someone goes to Italy, Greece and other countries, and we will go to Ukraine to one of the most ancient cities of the world — Kerch. Life on the Kerch Peninsula has been boiling since antiquity. Thanks to a fortunate coincidence of circumstances, the evidence of that time has survived from that distant era. One of the most popular attractions of Kerch for not the first century are the ruins of the ancient city of Pantikapeum on Mount Mithridates.
Founded in the VI century BC Kerch was called Panticapaeum for a long time. More precisely, this is how the settlement founded near the strait was first named. This city for several centuries was one of the richest and most developed in the Black Sea, the capital of the Bosporan kingdom. Despite the fact that not once it became the subject of disputes between states, part of the ancient ancestor of the present Kerch managed to reach us from the most distant times. It is this part on Mount Mithridates that today is called Panticapaeum — a unique landmark of modern Kerch, a World Heritage Site.
Mount Mithridates was the place where the most noble people of Panticapaeum lived — the Acropolis. These are the elevated fortified parts of ancient Greek cities, the «upper cities» or fortresses, on which the temples of patron gods were also built. The patron of Panticapaeum was Apollo, and on Mithridates a temple was erected in his honor. The construction of the temple was finished at the end of the VI century BC. Later palaces of noble inhabitants, including the rulers of the Bosporan kingdom — the Spartokid dynasty, the temple of Dionysus and Aphrodite appeared nearby. Today, 26 centuries later, we will not see majestic temples and palaces on Mithridates, but the ruins of these once majestic buildings are of great interest to all connoisseurs of ancient architecture.
The way to the top of the mountain passes on the Great Mithridates staircase, built in the middle of the XIX century by Italian architect Alexander Digby. Solemn, beautiful and monumental staircase with 423 steps was made in the style of classicism from dark gray stone. On the railing sit sculptures of griffins — symbols of Kerch, mythical creatures with the head of birds and the body of a lion with wings. Near the top of the stairs before World War II stood a small chapel 6 meters high and 8 in diameter — the mausoleum of Stempkovsky, the former mayor of Kerch. Since 1944 the Obelisk of Glory to the victory over the German invaders has been erected on the place of the chapel destroyed during the war, and next to it the eternal flame burns. Winding further along the top of Mithridates, the path from the stairs leads to the ruins of Panticapaeum.
The foundations and remains of the walls of buildings, towers, marble columns, here and there through the ground peek through the stones remembering millennia. The most important symbol of the ruins of Panticapaeum is a high arch with columns and stone carved portico. Also has already gained popularity recently discovered by archaeologists marble chair, similar to the chair of the theater Dionysius (Athens). According to legend, the legendary king Mithridates VI Eupator, who almost won the war with Rome but found his death on this mountain because of his son’s betrayal, liked to sit in this chair.
Archaeological excavations of the ancient city of Panticapaeum continue. A lot of secrets keep not only the top of the mountain, but also its bowels, which are located thousands of tombs of former residents of the city. Mithridates catacombs are also a part of the ancient city, they are located on the northern side of the mountain and are investigated only on the tenth part. For all those who came to rest in Kerch tourists, a walk through the ruins of Panticapaeum will be an unforgettable event. At the famous attractions of Crimea — Mount Mithridates, everything is permeated with the spirit of antiquity, creating here the most amazing atmosphere, which was once appreciated by A.S. Pushkin himself.