CHERSONESUS MUSEUM

M.I. ZOLOTAREV ()

Abstract The first excavations of the and Byzatine city of Chersonesus in the occurred episodically after the 1820s, but in 1888 a full research program was initiated under the aegis of the Imperial Archaeological Commission. By the time after the Second World War much of the ancient city had been excavated, and investigation began of the Chersonesian chora and the Archaic settlement underlying the Doric city. In 1892 a small site museum was established which in 1924 took over apartments in the Monastery of Chersonesus and establish- ed the first exhibition of excavation finds. The Museum collections, some of which have now been published, contain over 120,000 items, including a unique collection of over 400 local grave monuments.

The State Historico-Archaeological Preserve of Chersonesus in modern Sevastopol in the Crimea embraces the territory of the ancient Greek and Byzantine city of Chersonesus. The history of its archaeological investigation covers about one and a half centuries, the first excavations dating back to the first decades of the 19th century. Those were undertaken by several intellec- tuals from among the officers of the navy. In 1827 by order of Admiral S. Greig, the commander of the Black Sea squadron, Lieutenant von Kruse excavated several Byzantine monuments in Chersonesus. That was done to commemorate the conversion of to Christianity in 988. From then until 1888 all archaeological works carried out in Chersonesus were merely episodic. We should mention, however, the excavations of 1854 under- taken by Count A.S. Uvarov,l as well as some small-scale excavation work surveyed by the Odessa Society of History and Antiquities carried out in the 1870s at the request of the monastery of Chersonesus. In 1888 the direction of all excavations in Chersonesus was entrusted to the Imperial Archaeological Commission. From that time they were carried out regularly each year, according to a strict scientific program. One of the members of the Commission, K.K. Kostzushko-Valuzhinich, became the first surveyer of these works. After his death they were continued by R.Kh. Leper. Under his guidance considerable areas of the ancient city were uncovered. At the same time, besides architectural and archaeological monuments, such important sources as inscriptions (V.V. Latyshev), coins (A.V. Oreshnikov) and stamps on pottery (I. Makhov) were studied. 221

1. Portrait of a youth (wax-colours on limestone).

2. The main street of Chersonesus.