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KERCH, or KERTCH

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Originally appearing in Volume V15, Page 754 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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KERCH, or KERTCH , a seaport of S. See also:Russia, in the See also:government of See also:Taurida, on the Strait of Kerch or Yenikale, 6o m. E.N.E. of See also:Theodosia, in 450 21' N. and 36° 30' E. Pop. (1897), 31,702. It stands on the site of the See also:ancient Panticapaeum, and, like most towns built by the ancient See also:Greek colonists in this See also:part of the See also:world, occupies a beautiful situation, clustering See also:round the See also:foot and climbing up the sides of the See also:hill (called after See also:Mithradates) on which stood the ancient citadel or See also:acropolis. The See also:church of St See also:John the Baptist, founded in 717, is a See also:good example of the See also:early See also:Byzantine • See also:style. That of See also:Alexander Nevsky was formerly the Kerch museum of antiquities, founded in 1825. The more valuable See also:objects were subsequently removed to the Hermitage at St See also:Petersburg, while those that remained at Kerch were scattered during the See also:English occupation in the See also:Crimean See also:War. The existing museum is a small collection in a private See also:house. Among the products of See also:local See also:industry are See also:leather, See also:tobacco, See also:cement, See also:beer, aerated See also:waters, See also:lime, candles and See also:soap. Fishing is carried on, and there are See also:steam saw-See also:mills and See also:flour-mills.

A See also:

rich See also:deposit of See also:iron ore was discovered See also:close to Kerch in 1895, and since then See also:mining and See also:blasting have been actively prosecuted. The See also:mineral mud-See also:baths, one of which is in the See also:town itself and the other beside See also:Lake Chokrak (9 M. distant), are much frequented. Notwithstanding the deepening of the strait, so that See also:ships are now able to enter the See also:Sea of See also:Azov, Kerch retains its importance for the export See also:trade in See also:wheat, brought thither by See also:coasting vessels. See also:Grain, See also:fish, See also:linseed, rapeseed, See also:wool and hides are also exported. About 6 m. N.E. are the town and old See also:Turkish fortress of Yenikale, administratively See also:united with Kerch. Two and a See also:half See also:miles to the See also:south are strong fortified See also:works defending the entrance to the Sea of Azov. The Greek See also:colony of Panticapaeum was founded about the See also:middle of the 6th See also:century B.C., by the town of See also:Miletus. From about 438 B.C. till the See also:conquest of this region by Mithradates the See also:Great, See also:king of See also:Pontus, about too B.C., the town and territory formed the See also:kingdom of the See also:Bosporus, ruled over by an See also:independent See also:dynasty. Phanaces, the son of Mithradates, became the founder of a new See also:line under the See also:protection of the See also:Romans, which continued to exist till the middle of the 4th century A.D., and extended its See also:power over the maritime parts of Tauris. After that the town—which had already begun to be known as Bospora—passed successively into the hands of the Eastern See also:empire, of the See also:Khazars, and of various See also:barbarian tribes. In 1318, the See also:Tatars, who had come into See also:possession in the previous century, ceded the town to the Genoese, who soon raised it into new importance as a commercial centre.

They usually called the See also:

place Cerchio, a corruption of the See also:Russian name K'rtchev (whence Kerch), which appears in the Itth century inscription of Tmutarakan (a Russian principality at the See also:north foot of the See also:Caucasus). Under the See also:Turks, whose See also:rule See also:dates from the end of the 15th century, Kerch was a military See also:port; and as such it plays a part in the Russo-Turkish See also:wars. Captured by the Russians under Dolgorukov in 1771, it was ceded to them along with Yenikale by the See also:peace of Kuchuk-Kainarji, and it became a centre of Russian See also:naval activity. Its importance was greatly impaired by the rise of See also:Odessa and See also:Taganrog; and in 1820 the fortress was dismantled. Kerch suffered severely during the Crimean War. Archaeologically Kerch is of particular See also:interest, the kurgans or sepulchral mounds of the town and vicinity having yielded a rich variety of the most beautiful works of See also:art. Since 1825 a large number of tombs have been opened. In the Altun or Zolotai-oba (See also:Golden See also:Mound) was found a great See also:stone vault similar in style to an See also:Egyptian See also:pyramid; and within, among many objects of See also:minor See also:note, were golden dishes adorned with griffins and beautiful arabesques. In the Kul-oba, or Mound of Cinders (opened in 183o-1831), was a similar See also:tomb, in which were found what would appear to be the remains of one of the See also:kings of Bosporus, of his See also:queen, his See also:horse and his See also:groom. The ornaments and See also:furniture were of the most costly See also:kind; the king's See also:bow and buckler were of See also:gold; his very See also:whip intertwined with gold; the queen had golden diadems, necklace and See also:breast-jewels, and at her feet See also:lay a golden See also:vase. In the Pavluvskoi See also:kurgan (opened in 1858) was the tomb of a Greek See also:lady, containing among other articles of See also:dress and decoration a pair of See also:fine leather boots (a unique See also:discovery) and a beautiful vase on which is painted the return of Persephone from Hades and the setting out of See also:Triptolemus for See also:Attica. In a neighbouring tomb was what is believed to be " the See also:oldest Greek mural See also:painting which has come down to us," dating probably from the 4th century B.c.

Among the minor objects discovered in the kurgans perhaps the most noteworthy are the fragments of engraved See also:

boxwood, the only examples known of the art taught by the Sicyonian painter See also:Pamphilus. Very important finds of old Greek art continue to be made in the neighbourhood, as well as at Taman, on the See also:east See also:side of the Strait of Kerch. The catacombs on the See also:northern slope of Mithradates Hill, of which nearly 200 have been explored since 1859, possess considerable interest, not only for the See also:relics of old Greek art which some of them contain (although most were plundered in earlier times), but especially as material for the See also:history and ethnography of the Cimmerian Bosporus. In 1890 the first See also:Christian catacom b bearing a distinct date (491) was discovered. Its walls were covered with Greek See also:inscriptions and crosses. See H. D. See also:Seymour's Russia on the See also:Black Sea and Sea of Azoff See also:London, 1855) ; J. B. Telfer, The See also:Crimea (London, 1876) ; P. Bruhn, Tchernomore, 1852–1877 (Odessa, 1878) ; Gilles, Antiquites du Bosphore Cimmerien <1854) ; D. See also:Macpherson, Antiquities of Kertch (London, 1857) ; Compte rendu de la See also:Commission See also:Imp.

Archeologique (St See also:

Peters-See also:burg) ; L. Stephani, See also:Die Alterthiimer vom Kertsch (St Petersburg, 188o) ; C. T. See also:Newton, Essays on Art and See also:Archaeology (London, 188o) ; Reports of the [Russian] Imp. Archaeological Commission; Izvestia (Bulletin) of the Archives Commission for Taurida; Antiquiles du Bosphore Cimmeriert, conservees au Musee Imperial de l'Ermitage (St Petersburg, 1854) ; Inscriptiones antiquae orae septentrionalis Ponti Euxini graecae et latinae, with a See also:preface by V. V. Latyshev (St Petersburg, 189o) ; Materials for the Archaeology of Russia, published by the Imp. See also:Arch. Commission (No. 6, St Petersburg, 1891). (P. A.

K.; J. T.

End of Article: KERCH, or KERTCH

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