Visit Tauric Chersonese, Ukraine (UNESCO site)

Add to My List Check Off

Tauric Chersonese was a Greeks and Romans city and territory located on the Crimean Peninsula on the Black Sea in Ukraine. The city was initially a small trading post around the harbour installations in Quarantinnaya Bay, but developed by the early 4th century BC into a classic ancient Greek polis, a democratic republic with a slavery system. Apart from the city itself, Chersonese included its agricultural hinterland (chora). Winemaking and production of related wine materials in the chora grew between the middle of the 4th century and the first half of the 3rd century BC, making the area a major winemaking centre of the Black Sea region. About half of the Chersonese choras' remain undeveloped. The landscape is still as it was comprising an area of about 2000 ha, with traces of the ancient chora demarcation clearly visible in the area. Particularly well preserved are the protected sites containing ancient testimonies — remains of ancient roads, division walls, vineyard planting walls, farmstead ruins and others. These areas include: Yukharina Gully (around 150 ha) Berman's Gully (around 20 ha) Bezymyannaya Height (over 17 ha) Streletskaya Gully (over 15 ha) Iisthmus of the Mayachny Peninsula (about 14 ha) Cape Vinogradny (over 8 ha) Thes sites were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2013. UNESCO said the following on why these istes became World Hertitage sites: "The polis and chora of the Tauric Chersonese are an outstanding example of an ancient architectural and technological ensemble consisting of the city and its agricultural hinterland, which was established as a result of varied economic and commercial activities of Greek colonists between the 4th and 3rd centuries BC and existed uninterruptedly for nearly 2000 years. The Chersonese and its chora are exceptionally well preserved examples of an ancient settlement, land-use and landscape formed in the specific natural environment of southwestern Crimea."

Write a Review

No Ratings Yet

Flag as inappropriate ›