Crimea is a unique place that has preserved traces different cultures and eras. Muslim mosques here are adjacent to Orthodox churches, the history of Byzantium is inseparable from the legends of the Golden Horde. East and west are intertwined in local architectural monuments and only a sophisticated researcher can separate them. The peninsula was and remains the intersection of sea and land routes. One of the most famous trade roads, for a long time connecting the Roman and Chinese empires, the famous Silk Road passed through this area.

The role of the Crimean lands in military and economic life Eastern and Western countries can hardly be overestimated. Recent political events have confirmed this. In our article we will briefly highlight the main events of the ancient and new history peninsula: we’ll talk about the milestones and stages of the development of Crimea in ancient times, we’ll talk about its fate in the Middle Ages, we’ll trace connections with Russia and other countries in the 19th and 20th centuries.

How it all began: primitive people on Crimean land

For a long time it was believed that the first man appeared here 300,000 years ago. The caves of the foothills were occupied by Neanderthals in the Early Paleolithic era. Scientists have discovered more than 10 sites along the east coast. Almost all of them were found at the end of the 19th – beginning of the 20th centuries. Here are the most interesting:

Wolf Grotto Baryu-Teshik

The cultural layer was discovered by Konstantin Sergeevich Merezhkovsky, the brother of the famous poet and main ideologist of the symbolist movement D. S. Merezhkovsky. Archaeological expeditions regularly visited this place in the future. So O. Bandera’s team managed to find a previously unnoticed location - the area in front of the grotto. Researchers also found animal remains and the remains of a fire. Mammoth bones, reindeer and arctic foxes hint to lovers of antiquity about serious climatic changes that occurred on the island.

The location of the grotto is unsuitable for permanent housing. The entrance is on the northwest side. This means that the cave was opened by cold north winds. The remains of flint tools lead scientists to believe that a “workshop” for processing flint could be located here.

The Wolf Grotto is open to visitors. Next to it there is a beautiful lake surrounded by rocks. Tourists make stops near it, take photographs and simply enjoy the coolness and beauty of nature.

Chokurcha

This historical monument world-class – the oldest surviving dwelling in Europe primitive people. Skeletons of former inhabitants were found here. The walls have preserved rock paintings. One of the most valuable finds is Mousterian microliths from the Early Paleolithic. These are spear points made from limestone and flint. The cave gave the world about 500 museum exhibits: bones of ancient animals, scrapers, samples of simple weapons. If you go on vacation to Simferopol, be sure to visit this place. Excursion buses leave from the city.

Kiik-Koba

A primitive site, a cultural landmark of the Belogorsk region. In the center of the cave there was a burial in which the remains of a woman and child were preserved. The cultural layer is similar to that found in Chokurcha: a stone shelter preserved the bones of a cave bear, wild horse, a giant deer and large number tools.

Neighborhood of White Rock

In the 1960s, the expedition of Yu. N. Kolosov found 20 sites near the northern slope. Not all of them are open for tourist excursions; there are also those where excavations continue in our time.

According to the latest scientific data, talking about Neanderthals as the predecessors of humans modern type it is forbidden. History specialists ancient world came to the conclusion that Cro-Magnons and Neanderthals lived on Crimean territory in the same time period. It's not two different types, but two subspecies of “homo sapiens”. Their representatives differed from each other in much the same way as Japanese and Europeans differ now.

But the team of Sergei Zhuk, an archaeological scientist from Yalta, refuted the established stereotype about the first people and excited the public for a long time by unearthing simple tools that are more than 800,000 years old. Historians have established that they belonged to Pithecanthropus. From Latin, the name of this type of proto-human is translated as “straightened man.” Based on the theoretical basis and the found exhibits, scientists suggested that a primitive ape-like tribe lived in the southern part of Crimea during the Olduvai Paleolithic era. Material evidence of this point of view was discovered near the village of Gaspra, in the vicinity of Artek and near the Echki-Daga mountain range.

Almost all evidence of the life of primitive man on the peninsula is in the exhibition halls. If you are interested ancient history, visit local history museums in cities:

• Simferopol.
• Evpatoria.
• Kerch.
• Yalta.
• Feodosia.

How many names did the Republic of Crimea have: history of the name

The ancient Greeks called the tribes that lived on the Crimean lands in the 1st millennium BC Tauris. The name of the people gave the name to the area. Until the 14th century, Crimea was called Taurida or Tavrika. Linguists have several versions of the origin of the word “taurus”:

• In Olympic Greece, this was the name given to bulls. There is a myth in which the god of fertility Dionysus plows the land of the peninsula with the help of these animals. But historians consider it late.
• People called any mountain landscapes Tavrika. This theory is based on the fact that similar names are found in other regions. For example, in Asia Minor there are mountain slopes of the Taurus.
• Another option: the area was named so because it was separated from the rest of the world by the Pereskop moat: an ancient defensive fortification was dug even before the first Hellenes set foot on the Crimean coast. "Tavros" means ditch. This point of view is confirmed by the fact that the Greeks called all the indigenous inhabitants of the island (Taurs, Scythians, Sarmatians) the same - Tauris.

The origin of the name "Crimea" is also unclear. There are many theories and new ones appear every year. We present the most popular of them:

• The Turkic language has the word “kyrym”. It means the same as "tavros". In the 13th century, in Tavria, by order of one of the khans of the Golden Horde, the city of Solkhat was renamed “Kyrym”. Probably, this decision was made because the settlement was reliably protected by a defensive rampart and surrounded by a deep ditch. It is believed that over time, the entire territory occupied by the Tatar-Mongol people began to be called by the name of the main city.
• Perhaps referring to the same Pereskop ditch, the Crimean peoples called their homeland “Kyrym Adasi”. Experts in the history of the Turkic language claim that the word meant “island behind the moat” and over time was shortened to modern name- Crimea.

Since in different times Different nations and peoples lived on the Crimean lands; documentary sources have preserved a lot of place names. So the area was called Cimmeria, Scythia, Sarmatia, Khazaria, Tataria.

Brief history of the Crimean peninsula since ancient times: who owned the peninsula and when

In the XV-XVIII centuries. BC the Crimean coast was occupied by the Cimmerian people. It was a warlike tribe with a developed military system. Evidence of them has survived to this day thanks to ancient Greek documents. The Cimmerians were mentioned in the Iliad in famous list ships. Homer depicts their homeland as gloomy and uncomfortable: “a sad region covered with damp fog and mist of clouds.”

The author of the first significant historical treatise, Herodotus, writes that the tribe could have repelled any invaders, even the warlike Scythians, but chose to leave their inhabited place and go to Asia Minor. Funeral mounds remind us of their presence: near the village of Tselinnoye in the Northern Sivash region and near the village of Zolnoye, near Simferopol. Remains of the Cimmerian culture were preserved in Lugovoye, Frontovoye and some other territories of Kerch. In the XI – VIII centuries. BC in the mountains and forests ancient Crimea Taurians live. They are neighbors with the Cimmerians and are widely known outside the peninsula. This people is mentioned in 50 ancient written sources.

In the 7th century. BC the Crimean steppes are conquered by the Scythians. Persian king Darius in 513 BC. unsuccessfully tried to conquer and enslave the proud people, but the military campaign ended in failure. The Persian army could not show their military skills, since the Scythians did not give them the opportunity to start an open battle. They went deep into the peninsula, sweeping away everything in their path. Enemies were met by scorched grass and drained springs.

In the VI-V centuries. BC e. Hellenes come to the Crimean coast. Until the end of the 3rd century AD. Scythians and Greeks divide these lands. Naples-Scythian is the capital of Lesser Scythia. In the 70s, the Romans, who conquered Greece, built the Charax fortress on Cape Ai-Todor and laid the first mountain road from it to Kherson. This is what the city of Sevastopol was once called.

From the end of the 3rd century AD until 565, the peninsula experienced hard times. Scythian settlements, heavily damaged by the Goths, could not survive the invasion of the Huns. The Huns practically wiped out all existing settlements at that time from the face of the earth.

In VI-XII Christians came to Taurida. The first cave settlements and monasteries appear. Many of the first righteous people were persecuted by the Byzantine authorities for venerating icons. In 988, Vladimir conquers Kherson.

The invasion of the Golden Horde in the 13th centuries did not pass without a trace for Crimea. Batu likes fertile hot lands and he creates the Crimean ulus. In the 15th century, Khan Girey proclaimed his khanate as an independent state and named Bakhchisarai the main city. He has a favorable attitude toward agriculture and the development of handicrafts, and does not interfere with the construction and neighborhood Christian churches and Muslim mosques. The khan's descendant, Mengli-Girey, continues his work: he takes control of the northern and eastern territories.

In 1475, the Khanate submitted to the Turkish invaders. The war between Russia and Turkey for the Crimean lands continues until the end of the 18th century. The last point of competition will be Russo-Turkish War, which ended with the recognition of the Russians’ right to annex Crimea.

Subsequently, the peninsula repeatedly became the site of bloody battles. He will survive the Crimean War (L.N. Tolstoy will describe it in “Sevastopol Stories”), withstand revolutionary unrest and suffer greatly during the Second World War. The leaders of the great powers will gather in Yalta in 1945: Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin. They will decide on the division of the defeated fascist Germany and the creation of the UN. Crimean castles and palaces will again welcome the top officials of Western and Eastern states.

In 1954, at the behest of N.S. Khrushchev, Crimea was transferred to the Ukrainian SSR. When the USSR ceased to exist, Crimea finally became part of Ukraine. The events of recent years have turned the history of the Crimean peninsula in an unexpected way: it returned to Russia. It is unknown what other twists and turns await him.

But we hope our brief historical summary helped you understand that these places are worth visiting. And our company will help you with this: contact us and we will organize an exciting trip for you big family, a noisy company or a loving couple. We will also select an individual travel program for those who prefer to travel alone.

The sites of primitive people discovered by archaeologists on the Crimean peninsula (Kiik-Koba, Staroselye, Chokurcha, Volchiy Grotto) testify to the settlement of the region by humans already in the Stone Age.

The most ancient population of the Black Sea region and Crimea consisted of those who lived here at the turn of the 2nd-1st millennia BC. e. semi-sedentary and nomadic tribes, known under the general name of Cimmerians. The memory of them was preserved in local toponyms mentioned in ancient Greek sources: Cimmerian Bosporus, Cimmeric, Cimmerium. The Cimmerians apparently inhabited all the Black Sea steppes, but in the Eastern Crimea, as well as on the Taman Peninsula, they lived longer.

In the 7th century BC e. The Cimmerians acted in alliance with the Scythians. There is information about a defeat in 652 BC. the Lydian capital Sardis by the Cimmerians and Scythians. The Cimmerian culture discovered by archaeologists is close to the Scythian and dates back to the end of the Bronze Age. This is evidenced by excavations on the Kerch and Taman peninsulas, where burials of the 8th-7th centuries were discovered. BC e., associated with the Cimmerians. According to the story of Herodotus, the Cimmerians were driven out of the Northern Black Sea region by the Scythians, who dominated here already in the 7th century. BC e.

The descendants of the Cimmerians are considered to be the Tauri, who already lived in the Scythian times in the mountains of Crimea. The mountain range on the south coast of the peninsula was also called Taurus. The Greek name of the Crimean Peninsula - Taurica, which was preserved in antiquity and the Middle Ages, is associated with this name.

The bulk of the Scythians were tribes that came in the 8th century. BC e. from Central Asia. Several Scythian tribes of the Northern Black Sea region are known: the royal Scythians, who also lived in the Crimea, the Scythian nomads, the Scythian ploughmen, the Scythian farmers, the Scythian Vonns. The social system of the Scythians in the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e. characterized by the gradual collapse of tribal lines and the emergence of class relations. Patriarchal slavery was already known among the Scythians. The change from Cimmerian culture to Scythian culture in the 8th-7th centuries. BC e. coincided with the transition from the Bronze Age to iron age. By the 4th century. BC e. The Scythian kingdom, which united individual tribes, turned into a strong military power that successfully repelled the Persian invasion. Remarkable monuments of the famous Scythian “animal” style were discovered by archaeologists in the burial mounds and mountainous mountains of Crimea - in the Kulakovsky Kurgans (near Simferopol, Ak-mosque), unique gold items depicting human figures, animals and plants were found in the famous Scythian burial mounds of Kul-Oba, Ak-Mosque Burun, Golden Mound.

In the VIII-VI centuries. BC e. there is an intensive process of Greek colonization of the North Pontic coast, due to economic and social development Ancient Hellas. In the 7th century BC e. the west was colonized, and in the 6th century. BC e. - northern coast of the Black Sea.

First of all in Taurida, probably in the first half of the 6th century. BC e., on the site of modern Kerch on the shores of the Cimmerian Bosporus, the city of Panticapaeum was founded by the Milesians. The city itself was called by the Greeks and simply Bosporus. Around the middle of the 6th century. BC e. Tiritaka, Nymphaeum, and Cimmeric arose in Eastern Crimea. In the VI century. BC e. Theodosius was founded by the Milesian Greeks, as well as Myrmekium, located not far from Panticapaeum.

Around 480 BC e. In the Eastern Crimea, the previously independent Greek city-states (polises) are united into a single Bosporan state under the rule of the Archeanactids, immigrants from Miletus. In 438 BC. e. power in the Bosporus passes to the Spartokids, a dynasty possibly of Thracian origin.

Craft, agriculture, trade, coin circulation of Panticapaeum, where from the middle of the 6th century. minted its own silver coin, were at relatively high level development. There was an expansion of the external expansion of the Bosporan state. However, in the III-II centuries. BC e. The onslaught of the Scythians intensifies from the west, and the Sarmatians penetrate from the Kuban region.

The creation of a Scythian state in Crimea and the aggravation of social contradictions in the Bosporan kingdom contributed to the weakening of the latter.

In the western part of Crimea, Chersonesos, founded in the 5th century, played an important role. BC e. immigrants from the southern shore of the Black Sea (from Heraclea Pontic). Initially it was a trading post, which later became a center of agricultural and handicraft production. Trade also grew, the development of which was associated with the issuance of its own coins made of silver and copper. The remains of ancient Chersonesus are preserved on the western outskirts of modern Sevastopol.

Chersonesos probably followed a hostile policy towards the Bosporus. However, by the end of the 2nd century. BC e. The onslaught of the Scythians on Chersonesos intensifies. The Pontic king Mithridates VI Eupator rendered military assistance Chersonese. Eastern Crimea and Chersonese then came under the rule of the Pontic king. Perisad - the last king Bosporus from the Spartokid dynasty - renounced the throne in favor of Mithridates VI. But this only exacerbated the emerging social contradictions in the slave-owning Bosporus. In 107 BC. e. An uprising led by the Scythian Savmak took place here, but it was suppressed by the troops of the Pontic king.

The Pontic kingdom became the main obstacle to the further expansion of the Romans to the East. This led to the wars of Mithridates with Rome, which lasted from 89 BC. e. until the death of the Pontic king in 63 BC. e. The death of Mithridates meant the actual loss of political independence by this part of the Black Sea region. By the end of the 1st century. BC e. A portrait of the Roman emperor and members of his family appears on Bosporan coins. True, in 25 BC. e. Rome confirms the independence of Chersonese, but this independence was largely nominal.

City-states of Taurica in the first centuries AD. were developed slave-owning policies. This opinion is supported by their administrative structure, as well as the monuments of material culture discovered by archaeologists.

The dominant force in steppe zone During this period there were Sarmatians, led by tribal nobility, surrounded by warriors. Several alliances of Sarmatian tribes are known - Roxolani, Aorsi, Siracs. Obviously, from the 2nd century. And. e. Sarmatians receive the general name Alans, probably from the name of one of their tribes. However, in Crimea, the Sarmatians, apparently, were inferior in number to the mass of Scythians who survived here, as well as the descendants of the ancient Tauri. In contrast to the Sarmatians, this old population is called Tauro-Scythians in ancient sources, which perhaps indicates the erasure of the differences between them.

The center of the Scythian tribes in Crimea was Scythian Naples, located on the site of present-day Simferopol. Scythian Naples was founded at the end of the 3rd century. BC e. and existed until the 4th century. n. e.

In the I-II centuries. The Bosporan kingdom is experiencing a new rise; it occupies approximately the same territory as under the Spartokids. Moreover, the Bosporus actually exercises a protectorate over Chersonesus. At the same time, Sarmatization of the population of the Bosporan cities occurs. In foreign policy The Bosporan kings showed a certain independence, including in relations with Rome.

In the 3rd century. In the Crimea, the Christian religion spread here, probably from Asia Minor. In the 4th century. an independent Christian bishopric already existed in Bosporus.

Chersonesus at this time continued to develop as a slave-owning republic, but the previous democratic system (within the framework, of course, of the slave-owning formation) was now replaced by an aristocratic one. At the same time, the Romanization of the ruling city elite took place. Chersonesus becomes the main stronghold of the Romans in the Northern Black Sea region. It housed a Roman garrison and supplied food to the center of the empire.

In the middle of the 3rd century. n. e. The Bosporan state was experiencing economic and political decline, reflecting the general crisis of the ancient slave system. Starting from the 50-70s. in Crimea, the onslaught of the Borans, Ostrogoths, Heruls and other tribes that were part of
to the Gothic League. The Goths defeated the Scythians and destroyed their settlements in the Crimea. Having captured almost the entire peninsula, with the exception of Chersonesus, they established their dominance over the Bosporus. The Gothic invasion led to the decline of the Bosporan kingdom, but it was dealt a mortal blow in the 70s. IV century tribes of the Huns who appeared in Eastern Crimea. The Bosporus, destroyed by them, lost its former significance and gradually disappeared from the historical arena.

From the collection “Crimea: past and present", Institute of History of the USSR, USSR Academy of Sciences, 1988

Yesterday in Moscow an agreement was signed on the inclusion of Crimea in the Russian Federation. PhotoTelegraph decided to remember complicated story Crimea. Here is a brief illustrated summary of the history of this territory and its peoples.

(29 photos)

In the first millennium BC. In the Crimea, inhabited by Scythian and Taurian tribes, Greek colonies began to appear. As a result of Greek expansion in the 5th century BC. The territory of the peninsula became part of two states - the Tauride Chersonese and the Bosporan kingdom.
In the 3rd century BC. The Scythians founded the city of Neapolis, or Scythian Naples (next to modern Simferopol).
In the photo: painting of a sarcophagus from the times of the Bosporan Kingdom.

Starting from the 3rd century, Crimea was invaded by various tribes - Goths, Huns, Bulgarians, Turks - who destroyed ancient cities. In the 8th century, Crimea became Byzantine, part of the peninsula belonged to the Khazar Khaganate.
In the photo: the ruins of Chersonesus.

Since the 9th century, the Rus penetrated into Crimea, who ultimately defeated the Khazars. In 988, Russian Prince Vladimir was baptized here. The territory of the peninsula, formerly Khazar, became part of the Russian Tmutarakan principality.
In the photo: Fresco by V. Vasnetsov “The Baptism of Saint Prince Vladimir”, Vladimir Cathedral in Kyiv, 1890

The end of Russian influence in Crimea is put by the Cumans, who have appeared here since the 12th century. The modern Crimean Tatar language, from which there are many toponyms in Crimea (including Crimea, Ayu-Dag, Artek), is a descendant of the Polovtsian language.
In the photo: painting by V. Vasnetsov “After the massacre of Igor Svyatoslavich with the Polovtsy”, 1880.

In the 13th century, the Tatar-Mongols invaded Crimea, making it part of the Golden Horde. Under an agreement with its khans, Genoa received some coastal cities of Crimea, and the Genoese also built new colonies.
In the photo: Genoese fortress in Sudak.

After the collapse of the Golden Horde in 1441, the remnants of the Mongols in Crimea were Turkified. At this moment, Crimea is divided between the steppe Crimean Khanate, the mountainous Byzantine principality of Theodoro and the Genoese colonies on the southern coast.
In the summer of 1475, the Ottoman Turks landed a large force in the Crimea, capturing all the Genoese fortresses and Byzantine cities. In 1478, the Crimean Khanate became a protectorate of the Ottoman Empire.
In the photo: coin Crimean Khanate 15th century.

Since the end of the 15th century, the Crimean Khanate made constant raids on the Russian state and Poland. The main purpose of the raids was to capture slaves and resell them in Turkish markets.
In the photo: Map of 1593. Crimea borders on the Moscow Principality in the north, and on the Great Lithuanian Principality in the west. Two Crimean Tatars lead a bear.

Crimean Khan Devlet I Giray waged constant wars with Ivan IV the Terrible, vainly seeking to restore the independence of Kazan and Astrakhan.
In May 1571, at the head of an army of 40 thousand horsemen, the khan burned Moscow, for which he received the nickname Takht Algan (“who took the throne”). During the raid on the Moscow state, as many historians believe, several hundred thousand people died and 50,000 were captured. Ivan IV undertook, following the example of Poland, to pay an annual tribute to the Crimea. Payments continued until the end of the 17th century and finally stopped only during the reign of Peter I.
In the photo: Map of 1630. In addition to the steppe and foothills of Crimea proper, the Khanate occupied the lands between the Danube and the Dnieper, the Azov region and most of the modern Krasnodar region Russia.

The Russo-Turkish War of 1768-74 put an end to Ottoman rule, and according to the Küçük-Kaynardzhi Peace Treaty of 1774, Crimea gained independence from the Ottoman Empire and came under Russian protectorate. In 1783, Crimea was included in the Russian Empire.
In the photo: Painting by Stefano Torelli “Victory of Catherine II over the Turks.”

After the annexation of Crimea to Russia, Russian troops entered its territory, and the city of Sevastopol was founded near the ruins of ancient Chersonesus. The Crimean Khanate was abolished, but its elite (over 300 clans) joined the Russian nobility and took part in the local self-government of the newly created Tauride region.
In the photo: Painting by M. Ivanov, “Russian military camp in Crimea”, 1783

In 1787, Empress Catherine made her famous trip to Crimea. In 1796, the region became part of the Novorossiysk province, and in 1802 it was again separated into an independent administrative unit. IN early XIX century, viticulture (Magarach) and shipbuilding (Sevastopol) are developing in Crimea, roads are being built. Under Prince Vorontsov, Yalta begins to develop, and the southern coast of Crimea turns into a resort.
In the photo: Fireworks in honor of Catherine’s arrival in Crimea.

In 1853, the Crimean War broke out, in which Russia fought against three empires: French, British and Ottoman. Fighting unfolded not only on the western and southern borders of Russia, but even in the Barents Sea and Kamchatka. Crimea became the hottest spot.
The heroic defense of Sevastopol lasted almost a whole year, but in the end the Russians were forced to abandon the city. During its defense, the famous Russian commanders Kornilov and Nakhimov died.
In the photo: Painting by V. Nesterenko “Defense of Sevastopol”, 1967

The medal “For the Defense of Sevastopol” was established especially for participants in the defense of Sevastopol, which was the first medal in Russian history that was awarded not for capture or victory, but for defense.

Painting by Richard Woodville “Charge of the Light Horse”, 1897
“Balaclava Day” has forever become a black date in military history England. As a result of the cavalry attack on the Russian position near Balaklava, almost all of it was killed. Many representatives of the English aristocracy remained on the battlefield, and the phrase “Charge of the Light Horse” became a household word.

Having captured Crimea, the allies began to export local cultural and historical values ​​to their museums.
In the photo: Samples ancient art, taken by the British from Sevastopol.

As a result Crimean War Russia lost influence in the Balkans and temporarily lost its Black Sea Fleet, but Crimea remained Russian.
In the photo: Monument to fallen Russian and French soldiers on the site of their common mass grave. Malakhov Kurgan, Sevastopol.

In 1874, Simferopol was connected to Aleksandrovsk by railway. The resort status of Crimea increased after the summer royal residence of the Livadia Palace appeared in Livadia.
Population of Crimea in 1897:
Russians – 404 thousand
Tatars – 197 thousand
Ukrainians – 61 thousand
Jews – 55 thousand
Greeks – 18 thousand
In the photo: Livadia Palace.

In the years Civil War on the territory of Crimea, “white” and “red” governments succeed each other several times, including the Soviet Socialist Republic of Taurida, the Crimean Soviet Socialist Republic, etc.
In the photo: Team of the tank “General Drozdovsky”. September 1919

After defeat White movement in October 1920, Crimea was conquered by the Red Army and incorporated into the RSFSR as the Autonomous Crimean Soviet Socialist Republic. In the captured Crimea, the Bolsheviks carried out mass terror, as a result of which, according to various sources, from 20 to 120 thousand people died.

In the fall of 1941, the German occupation of Crimea began.
“Crimea must be liberated from all strangers and settled by Germans,” Hitler said at a meeting at headquarters on July 19, 1941. According to his proposal, Crimea was transformed into the imperial region of Gotenland (the country of the Goths). The center of the region - Simferopol - was renamed Gottsburg (the city of the Goths), and Sevastopol was named Theodorichshafen (the harbor of Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, who lived in 493-526). According to Himmler's project, Crimea was annexed directly to Germany.
In the photo: German soldiers are monitoring Soviet positions from a trench on the Perekop Isthmus.

The most fierce battles in Crimea took place in the Sevastopol region. The defense of the city lasted about eight months.
In the photo: the ruins of Sevastopol.

Near Sevastopol in the first and last time The super-heavy 800-mm Dora gun was used, which weighed more than 1000 tons. It was secretly delivered from Germany and secretly placed in a special shelter carved into a rock mass in the Bakhchisarai area. The gun entered service in early June and fired a total of fifty-three 7-ton shells.

At the beginning of July 1942 Soviet troops were forced to leave Sevastopol, and then the entire peninsula. Their losses amounted to more than 200 thousand people.
For the capture of Sevastopol, the commander of the 11th Army, E. von Manstein, received the rank of field marshal.
In the photo: German soldiers in the destroyed Sevastopol.

In April 1944, the liberation of Crimea began. The Crimean operation ended in the complete defeat of the 17th German Army, whose irretrievable losses alone during the fighting amounted to more than 120 thousand people.
In the photo: Partisans who participated in the liberation of Crimea. The village of Simeiz on the southern coast of the Crimean Peninsula. 1944

In May 1944, 183 thousand Tatars were deported from Crimea. Mainly to Uzbekistan. Officially, the reason for the deportation was declared to be the facts of collaboration and cooperation of a large part of the Crimean Tatar population during the German occupation of Crimea. 20 thousand Crimean Tatars (every third of military age) wore the uniform of the Third Reich.
Crimean Armenians, Bulgarians and Greeks were also deported.

1954 – Crimea is transferred from Russia to Ukraine. Despite the fact that Sevastopol was removed from the Crimean region back in 1948, receiving a special status in Russia, due to legal inaccuracies it passed to Ukraine along with Crimea.
Population of Crimea in 1959: Russians - 858 thousand, Ukrainians - 268 thousand, Jews - 26 thousand.

On May 6, 1992, the constitution of the Republic of Crimea was adopted and the post of president was introduced. According to the recollection of Ukrainian President Kravchuk in an interview given to the Ukrainian program, at that time official Kyiv was considering the possibility of war with Crimea.
In March 1995, by decision of the central Ukrainian authorities, the 1992 constitution of the Republic of Crimea was canceled and the presidency in Crimea was abolished.

February 2014 – as a result of the coup d’etat in Kyiv, a sharp increase in pro-Russian activity occurred in Crimea.
On February 27, 2014, the Supreme Council of Crimea appointed Sergei Aksenov as head of the Council of Ministers.
On March 11, 2014, the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the Sevastopol City Council adopted the Declaration of Independence of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.
On March 17, 2014, as a result of the all-Crimean referendum held on March 16, 2014, on the basis of the Declaration of Independence, the sovereign Republic of Crimea was proclaimed, including the city with a special status of Sevastopol.
Population of Crimea according to the 2001 census: Russians - 1450 thousand, Ukrainians - 577 thousand, Tatars - 245 thousand.

On March 18, 2014, an agreement was signed between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Crimea on the admission of the Republic of Crimea to Russia. In accordance with the agreement, new entities are formed within the Russian Federation - the Republic of Crimea and the city federal significance Sevastopol.
In the photo: Crimeans celebrate the news of reunification with Russia.

Crimea is one of the amazing corners of the Earth. Due to its geographical location he was at the junction of habitat different nations, stood in the way of their historical movements. The interests of many countries and entire civilizations collided in such a small area. The Crimean Peninsula has more than once become the scene of bloody wars and battles, and was part of several states and empires.

Varied natural conditions attracted peoples of various cultures and traditions to the Crimea. For nomads there were vast pastures, for cultivators there were fertile lands, for hunters there were forests with a lot of game, for sailors there were convenient bays and bays, and a lot of fish. Therefore, many peoples settled here, becoming part of the Crimean ethnic conglomerate and participants in all historical events on the peninsula. In the neighborhood there lived people whose traditions, customs, religions, and way of life were different. This led to misunderstandings and even bloody clashes. Civil strife stopped when there was an understanding that it was possible to live and prosper well only in peace, harmony and mutual respect.

History of Crimea: short excursion into the history of the peninsula

A brief excursion into the history of the Crimean peninsula from ancient times to the present day.

Deep into the centuries

However, how old is Crimea? By different sources, its formation began in the Precambrian and Paleozoic. That is, 260-240 million years ago. Then he came Jurassic period(176 million years ago), followed by the Cretaceous (100 million years ago) and finally came the last stage of formation - the Miocene. As for us, Homo Sapiens, the first people appeared on the peninsula from 100 to 300 thousand years ago. Scientists give different numbers. Whoever has been here - the Cimmerians, Scythians, Taurians. In the fifth century, it was colonized by the Greeks, thanks to whom Chersonesus, Kafa, and Panticapaeum (today's Kerch with the ancient acropolis of Mithridates) appeared. In 63 AD, the peninsula was subjugated by the Roman Empire. Then, one after another, the warlike Goths, Scandinavians, and Huns came here. Since the sixth century, the Khazar Khaganate. The heiress of Rome, Byzantium, then strengthened Chersonesus, new fortresses appeared - Alushta, Gurzuf, Eski-Kermen, Inkerman. Byzantium weakened, and the Principality of Theodoro arose in its place. Crimea should definitely be considered the cradle of Russian Orthodoxy. In the first century, Apostle Andrew the First-Called visited Chersonesos.
In the Middle Ages, the development of Christianity began, and the great holy prince Vladimir himself was baptized, Orthodoxy spread throughout Rus'. In the eighth century, Slavic colonization began, which was actively opposed by the raids of nomads. In the 12th century, the peninsula became Polovtsian (remember the khan’s son Artek, Mount Ayu-Dag, the bear?!). The Polovtsians, however, did not last long. In the 13th century, they were replaced by the Tatar-Mongols, who founded their center Solkhat (Golden Horde) in Crimea.

New times of history

The entire history of Crimea is associated with invasions, wars, fierce battles, and all this for the right to possess it. In 1475 the peninsula was conquered Ottoman Empire, which declared the capital of the province the city of Kafa (present-day Feodosia). But Russia did not want to stay away from the battles. In 1736 and 1737, the armies of H. Minich and then Admiral P. Lassia opposed the Crimean Khanate. In 1769, Khan Kyrym Geray, who dreamed of creating an alliance with Western countries In order to crush the Russian Tsar, he died unexpectedly. The turning point came in the summer of 1771, when the general - ansher (lieutenant) Prince V. Dolgoruky won a convincing victory over the Turks on the Perekop line and at Cafe.

Since 1783, instead of the Khanate, the Russian province of Tauride appeared on the map. Well, then other new times in history followed. In 1921, the Crimean ASSR was formed as part of the RSFSR. And then the carousel started spinning. The fact is that the Crimean peninsula was densely populated along the coast. But in its flat expanses there were clearly not enough people to develop the land and develop industry. This is where “American California” appeared, but only in a different version. According to primary sources, it is known that the Khazar Kaganate used Judaism as a religion. But the Jews of the world were still looking for their “promised land.” So, in 1923, the International Jewish organization "Joint" turned to the Soviet government with a request to form something like the Jewish Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in the sparsely populated lands of Crimea. A 10-year plan for land and employment of Jews was even developed. And in 1929, a corresponding agreement on the development of Crimean lands was even signed between the Joint and the Central Executive Committee of the RSFSR. It even allocated $1.8 billion in investments. And things would have gone well, but in 1938 the agreement was suspended by I.V. Stalin. The idea hung in the air. After the Great Patriotic War The Joint demanded continued efforts to implement the signed agreement. But the USSR authorities opposed this. The Gordian knot was cut by Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev. In 1954, he transferred Crimea from the RSFSR to Ukraine. And since she did not sign any agreement with the Joint, it does not exist in nature. Sixty years later, the Crimean Peninsula returned to Russia. This happened as a result of the will of its residents, who voted almost unanimously in a national referendum on their reunification with their historical homeland. The mainland of the country with Crimea should be connected by a bridge, the construction of which across Kerch Strait is being carried out at an accelerated pace.

This is a brief excursion into the history of the Crimean peninsula - one of the all-Russian health resorts of the Russian Black Sea and Azov regions. And finally - an interesting fact! As scientists have found out, the city (in the distant past Panticapaeum), whose bridge will connect the mainland with the peninsula, is a year younger than Rome itself! It turns out that he is more than 2600 years old!

Peninsula today

Some geographers are not averse to considering Crimea an island. In fact, it is connected to the mainland by the Perekop Isthmus, which is seven kilometers long and separates the Black and Sea of ​​Azov in the area of ​​the Kerch Bay and Lake Sivash, known to every schoolchild. And yet, although the plot of land connecting it to the mainland is small and although its mountain-steppe surface is large, piercing far into the surface of the Tethys ocean that was in ancient times, Crimea is a peninsula: these are the strict criteria of specialists.
The location of the peninsula is amazing! On the globe it lies at the 45th parallel and occupies 33-37 degrees east longitude and 44-46 degrees north latitude. It turns out that it is equally distant from both the equator and North Pole. Here you have both Mediterranean and subtropical climatic zones with their inherent flora and fauna and very favorable for the existence of Homo Sapiens, that is, us humans. Therefore, to this day, part of the scientific world stubbornly believes that the spread of humanity across To the globe and it came from these places, however, the African continent also has many supporters. Who is right and who is wrong is difficult to prove; The Earth itself is billions and billions of years old, and Crimea is hundreds of millions!