Kerch

Kerch is the city in the Eastern Crimea. It is the place of St. Luke’s birth (V. F. Voino-Yasenetskiy). The city has a rich historical background. In the 6th century B.C. ancient Greeks founded Panticapaeum (Fish Way) which soon became the capital of the Bospor Kingdom. Later Panticapaeum got the name of Korchev (in Old Russian “a mount” or “a throat”).

In the 10–11th centuries it entered the Old Rus principality of Tmutarakan.

The first thing that catches the eye in Kerch is Mitridat Mount. From the mount you can see the whole of the city and the outlines of the Taman Peninsula across the Strait of Kerch. Nowadays there is the Glory Obelisk on the top of the Mount. It commemorates the feats of the liberators of Kerch. The Glory Obelisk is 14 m high. In 1959 the Eternal Flame was lit there. In 1975 Kerch became Hero-City.

In Kerch you can see the monumental rich burials of the nobility of the Bospor Kingdom. Among them the Royal Barrow erected in the 4th century B.C. The Church of St. John the Baptist is an outstanding monument of Byzantine architecture. The Yeni-Kale Fortress was built by the Turks in 1710 at the entrance into the Strait of Kerch.

The Adzhimushkay quarries have become a monument to the heroic defenders of Kerch in the Great Patriotic War. Here rests of fortifications are preserved. The entrance into the underground museum is flanked with high pylons set up in 1982. The ancient city of Kerch grows younger every year.

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