The ancient city of Gorgippia. Ancient cities in the Kuban In what year was the city of Gorgippia founded

The city of Gorgippia was not only a trading and craft center, but also a border fortress and one of the largest ports of the kingdom. At present, the ancient settlement, together with the necropolis, is located under the central part of the Anapa resort. Numerous archaeological finds record the existence of a Hellenic city on this site from the 5th century BC. e. to the 3rd century AD e. - when Gorgippia died as a result of an enemy invasion and this ended the ancient stage of her history.

Archaeological excavations

In 1949, archaeologist Vladimir Dmitrievich Blavatsky conducted the first reconnaissance work to find the ancient settlement. Five years later, excavations were organized at the site of the Gorgippian necropolis. Unfortunately, in the 50s, during construction work, significant areas of the ancient city were destroyed.

Systematic excavations of the ancient polis began in 1960. Then a stationary expedition of the Institute of Archeology of the USSR Academy of Sciences was opened under the leadership of I.T. Kruglikova. The dense building of the modern city complicated the excavations, and yet, over 15 field seasons, archaeologists managed to explore various parts of ancient Gorgippia and determine its layout. Scientists have recorded the cultural layer of the ancient city 800 meters along the Black Sea and 500 meters inland, with a total area of ​​about 40 hectares.

In 1977, by decision of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, the settlement of Gorgippii was declared a monument of archeology of federal significance, and a plot of almost two hectares was allocated on its territory, which received the status of an archaeological reserve.

archaeological finds

The earliest finds at the site of present-day Anapa date back to the 6th-5th centuries BC. e. The first settlement of the Greeks stretched for 400 meters along the sea. By the beginning of the 5th century BC. e. the city grew significantly: archaeologists found that the city market provided the neighborhood with Mediterranean goods for 15–20 km. From the residential buildings of ancient Gorgippia, cellars of houses were preserved, the walls of which were built of stone or made of mud bricks, and the roof was covered with tiles of various shapes. The streets of the city were paved with cobblestones and fragments of clay amphorae, cart tracks were preserved on the pavements, and ancient coins were found. The approaches to the city from land were covered by a powerful fortress explored in 1978-1980.

Fragments of inscriptions give an idea of ​​the administrative structure of the city, the composition of the population. A huge number of different items were found that tell about the economic activity and everyday life of the inhabitants of Gorgippia. Scientists have proven that iron and copper processing, glassmaking, stone-cutting and woodworking existed in the ancient city.

Crypts with unique frescoes and a large number of gold items from the first centuries of our era were discovered. One of the most interesting finds was made in 1975. An archaeological expedition of the Institute of Archeology of the USSR Academy of Sciences discovered a burial complex of two crypts and a rock tomb with a large number of gold and highly artistic items. The frescoes of the stone crypt depict the exploits of Hercules, who was considered the founder of the Cimmerian dynasty ruling in the Bosporus.

Today, archaeological finds of ancient Gorgippia are in various museums around the world.

Archaeological Museum-Reserve in Anapa

In 1977, the Gorgippia Museum-Reserve was created with an open-air exposition and a permanent exhibition of finds. An integral part of the reserve has become the Anapa Museum, which received the status of an archaeological museum.

Visitors can walk along the cobbled streets of the ancient city, see the foundations and walls of dwellings, the remains of workshops, wineries, wells, drains, marble slabs with inscriptions taken from the necropolis, sarcophagi of the local nobility, and architectural details. The total area of ​​the reserve is 1.6 hectares, of which 0.7 hectares are open to the public.

Several unique collections are stored in the halls of the museum: epigraphic monuments, a collection of terracotta figurines, frescoes of the Hercules crypt, a collection of amphoras, beads, tomb sculptures and sarcophagi, a collection of glass vessels, a collection of black-glazed vessels and a collection of ancient numismatics.

The ancient Greek city was called a polis. Each policy is a small state, which was called a city-state. There were hundreds of such cities in ancient Greece, and each of them had its own administration. The most powerful city-states were Athens and Sparta.

The polis consisted of the city itself, as well as the agricultural land adjacent to it, which was called chora.

The population of the policy consisted of citizens who were full-fledged, as well as slaves, of which there were much more. Each citizen of the policy must serve in the army, also have armor, a shield and a spear.

Greek policies named after three different state systems, among which are: democracy, monarchy and oligarchy.
The story should begin with information about the life of the Greeks.

Greek daily life
Greek dwellings

Greek houses were one and two storey, they had no windows - only smooth walls. A small open courtyard was in the center of the Greek house. Each Greek house was divided into two parts: women's and men's. Only family members had the right to enter the first one, and in the male part the head of the house received guests.

As you know, the Greeks had furniture, but its number was small. The furniture consisted of a family bed, several small tables. The owner of the house had his own armchair, and the women sat on wooden chairs.

There were no cabinets at that time, so the Greeks kept their things in chests, and hung the rest on the wall.

In addition to chairs, the Greeks also had benches of various sizes.

Poor citizens used clay dishes, while the rich used silver. Also, rich houses were decorated with mosaics and wall paintings.

Greek clothing

Most of the clothes the Greeks made at home - this was done by women. However, rich clothing was produced by artisans. Clothing for women and men was similar - they wore shirts, which were longer for women. Men also threw on a shirt something like a cloak. There were no pockets and buttons at that time. Hats were also worn, but they were worn only for protection from the sun's rays and only outside the city. Shoes mostly consisted of sandals. In addition, men wore boots, and women wore shoes.

Slaves most often did not wear any shoes, and their shirt was poor and made of coarse fabric.

The attire of the warriors consisted of bronze armor, a bronze helmet and greaves. In addition, they wore army cloaks. The main attribute of a warrior was a wooden shield, which was covered with bronze, such a shield was called a hoplon. Hoplite is a Greek infantryman, whose name comes from the name of the shield.

A Day in the Life of a Politician

The story of life in the Greek city should be based on the class division of Greek society. The life of slaves, women and free citizens was seriously different.

The Greeks got up as early as possible, with the first ray of the sun. Then they had breakfast. Tomorrow was often quite meager - just a few small pieces of bread.

Immediately after this, each citizen went to a large square, which was called the agora. It was the center of the whole life of the city, shopping was made here.

Citizens sold olives, beans, grapes, a large number of various vegetables and fruits. In addition, meat, various poultry, as well as eggs were sold. In addition to food, artisans also sold other goods, among which were weapons, household appliances, clothing, tools, shoes and utensils. In addition to shopping, in the agora, citizens discussed laws and exchanged news.

When evening came, the Greeks liked to walk around the neighbors. It is generally accepted that the Greeks were very sociable and were always for the sake of having guests in their house.

The guests sat on the couch, in front of which there were tables with food. The Greeks ate most often with their hands, since there were no forks, spoons were not common. The basis of the dishes during such gatherings was meat and fish, which were diluted with various vegetables, fruits, as well as a small amount of seasonings. In addition, there was bread on the table.

They drank only wine diluted with water. The Greeks did not drink pure wine, it was considered real barbarism. While drinking wine, the Greeks discussed many topics, from politics to gossip.

The poor people are much worse, they did not have time to go to the guests, the poor also did not go to the agora. Their main occupation was hard work. The diet was also meager: the cheapest wine, mostly small fish, bread and barley flour stew. The poor people ate meat very rarely, mostly only on holidays.

The life of Greek women

The life of women in the Greek policy was significantly different from the life of men, as they were not full-fledged residents. Women did not have the right to vote and did not participate in any way in the management of the policy.

Women have always obeyed their husbands, fathers, or brothers.

The main task of women was to educate the younger generation. Slaves and female slaves, who were in charge of women, were engaged in household chores. The hostess could also be engaged in a craft - weaving.

For most of the day, women did not even leave the house, they were not allowed to do this without the permission of their husband or father. Interestingly, poor women had much more freedom than women from wealthy families.

Gorgippia (Sindh harbor) (ant. Γοργιππία) - an ancient city on the Black Sea coast, which existed in the 4th century BC. e.-III century AD e. within the Bosporan kingdom.

Gorgippia began to exist on these lands from the 4th century BC. Prior to this, historical sources mention a settlement called Sindika, after the name of the Sind people living on the shore of a convenient bay. After the formation of the Bosporus kingdom, Sindika became part of it, the city was renamed Gorgippia, in honor of the governor Gorgipp, the son of the Bosporan king Satyr.

Gorgippia, according to experts, occupied an area of ​​at least 40 hectares. Large stone houses with cellars and courtyards were built in the city. The roofs of the houses were covered with tiles. Amphoras with grain, oil and wine were stored in the cellars. The walls of houses from the inside were coated with clay or plastered. Glass windows in Gorgippia appear only in the 3rd century BC. n. e. and were a rarity for the townspeople, so more often the windows were covered with bull bubbles. To maintain order on the streets of the city, drains were built. The drinking water problem was solved by a system of wells.

During its heyday, the city minted its own coin, which depicts the head of the god Dionysus on one side, and a bunch of grapes and the inscription GORGIPPIA on the other. This suggests that the inhabitants of the ancient Greek city were engaged not only in agriculture, various crafts, but also in viticulture and winemaking.

Life in the city was bright, noisy, various holidays and competitions were often held. The names of the winners were entered into special lists on a stone slab. For several decades, 226 names appeared on this plate.

With reverence, the Gorgippians treated their gods - Athena, Demeter, Zeus, Dionysus; they erected temples and statues. The inhabitants of Gorgippia were also reverent towards their dead.

Outside the city there was a necropolis - the city of the dead, where the dead were buried in crypts and sarcophagi.

At the end of the 30s of the 3rd century, Gorgippia was attacked, separate quarters or even the entire city were destroyed. Who destroyed Gorgippia? No written evidence of this has come down to us. Some ancient historians have versions that they were the Goths, who at that time, together with other tribes, invaded the borders of the Bosporan kingdom.

After the defeat, Gorgippia was never able to recover, although in some places the population restores the destroyed houses. And in the second half of the 4th century, a new disaster struck the Bosporus. The nomadic hordes of the Huns broke into the boundaries of this kingdom and, sweeping away everything in their path, plundered and destroyed cities and villages. Thus ended the life of a beautiful, civilized city. After several centuries, various agricultural tribes settled in its place.

The settlement is located in the center of the modern city of Anapa. Partially excavated city blocks, rich burials. An open-air museum-reserve "Gorgippia" has been created, which presents stone-paved streets, foundations and walls of dwellings, the remains of workshops, wineries, fish salting baths, marble slabs with inscriptions, sarcophagi of local nobility extracted from the necropolis, etc.

Anapa is a resort town on the Black Sea coast of the Krasnodar Territory. Most tourists come here on their summer holidays, dreaming of swimming in the sea, sunbathing and visiting the water park. But if the described option seems too boring for you, you can always go on excursions. One of the most unusual and interesting places to visit in Anapa is the Gorgippia Archaeological Museum.

Resort town full of history

Unenlightened tourists are dismissive of the Krasnodar Territory when it comes to historical sights. In Greece and Spain, literally at every step you can see ancient ruins, but what can the Russian south boast of? In fact, the Krasnodar Territory has an equally interesting history, the full version of which, perhaps, we have yet to find out.

On the site of modern Anapa, there was once the ancient Greek city of Sindh Harbor. Thanks to archaeological finds, it was possible to establish that it was founded no later than the 6th century BC. e. In the 4th century BC. e. the settlement passes into the subordination of the Bosporus kingdom and receives a new name - Gorgippia in honor of the ancient ruler Gorgipp. The city is rapidly developing and is famous as a craft and trade center. On the territory of Gorgippia there was a large quarter of master potters. In the second century BC. e. the city received the right to issue its own coins.

In the 2nd century A.D. e. Gorgippia is flourishing - the streets are decorated with skillful statues and obelisks, pompous temples are being built, wealthy citizens do not spare money to create elaborate tombs and necropolises.

What happened to the rich ancient city? Why is only the Gorgippia Archaeological Museum left of it today? In the 3rd century A.D. e. the city began to be constantly subjected to barbarian raids. The once flourishing settlement ends its history in the 4th century AD. After the next invasion of the Huns, Gorgippia disappeared forever from the world maps.

Museum expositions

They were started in the 19th century. In their course, it was possible to establish that the ancient city occupied more than 40 hectares and is located under modern Anapa, at a level of only about 1 meter.

Today, the archaeological museum-reserve "Gorgippia" is located in the center of the resort town and covers an area of ​​1.6 hectares. Excavations and research activities are still ongoing here. A 0.7-hectare site is open for tourists, which is fully explored and is an open-air museum.

Archaeological Museum "Gorgippia" invites everyone to walk around the real ancient city. During the tour you will see with your own eyes: the foundations and basements of residential buildings, streets, defensive buildings, wineries, drains, wells and a necropolis. Today it is the only archaeological museum in Russia that invites everyone to the excavation sites. On the territory of the reserve there is also a pavilion, which exhibits the most valuable and interesting exhibits.

Collection gems

The exposition of the museum presents an interesting collection of ceramics. During the tour, tourists will have to find out how pithoi differed from amphoras, and what other forms of vessels were most often used by our distant ancestors. In addition to household utensils, the Gorgippia Archaeological Museum delights guests with a collection of women's jewelry and bijouterie. The real pearl of the exposition is an ancient loom. No less interesting to see are statues and fragments of marble slabs with inscriptions in ancient Greek. Also in the museum's collection there are samples of weapons, tools and details of complex mechanisms.

Many unique and valuable exhibits are constantly exhibited in the largest museums in Russia - in Moscow and St. Petersburg. But, despite this fact, the permanent exhibition in the Gorgippia itself is very interesting and informative.

Opening hours and prices

Anapa Archaeological Museum-Reserve "Gorgippia" is open from Tuesday to Sunday inclusive. You can visit the exposition from 09:00 to 18:00. The cost of an adult ticket is 120 rubles, for children and beneficiaries the entrance costs 80 rubles. The following categories of citizens have the right to view the museum's collection at a reduced price: students, pensioners, the disabled, participants in wars, military contract servicemen, orphans. To receive a discount when purchasing a ticket, you must present an appropriate document confirming the preferential category.

How to get there? Address and directions

The exact address where the archaeological museum "Gorgippiya" is located: Anapa, Naberezhnaya street, house 4. This is the very center of the resort town. The nearest public transport stop is called Astrakhanskaya. Travel by buses and fixed-route taxis No. 1, 2, 6, 16 and 18. The exact coordinates of the museum-reserve for motorists: 44.896262; 37.310507.

The main attraction of Anapa (Krasnodar Territory, Russia) is the open-air archaeological museum " The ancient city of Gorgippia", where you can see the excavated part of the ancient Greek city, which for eight centuries (4th century BC - 4th century AD) was part of the Bosporan kingdom, which extended over the territory of the Crimean Peninsula and the modern Krasnodar Territory.

The ancient city of Gorgippia from a bird's eye view:

On the territory of Anapa from the 6th century BC. there was a Greek city of Sindh harbor. In the 4th century BC. the city entered the Bosporus kingdom and was renamed Gorgippia in honor of Gorgipp, who, being the brother of the king of the Bosporus kingdom, became the governor of the adjoining region.
Gorgippia becomes an important trade and craft center (there was a whole quarter of potters in the city), and in the second century BC. the city even gets the right to mint its own coin (silver drachma).

For some time (107-63 BC) Gorgippia was part of the Pontic state, after the fall of which it again becomes part of the Bosporan kingdom. The city experienced a new period of prosperity in the second century AD, when temples were built in Gorgippia, statues were erected, magnificent tombs were erected, and defensive walls were built.

Reconstruction of the temple in Gorgippia

Remains of an Ionic temple at Gorgippia:

In the 30s of the 3rd century AD, Gorgippia was destroyed by the barbarians (Goths, Sarmatians and Alans), but a few decades later the city was restored, although not completely. Gorgippia finally ceased to exist after the invasion of the Huns in the 70s of the 4th century.

Ancient Greek stele in Gorgippia:

Archaeological excavations of Gorgippia began in the middle of the 19th century. Now the museum "Gorgippia" includes 1.6 hectares of territory, of which 0.7 hectares have been explored and exhibited (in ancient times the city occupied an area of ​​more than 40 hectares). In the open-air museum you can see residential areas, roads, wells, drains, wineries, defensive structures. There are exhibitions of products made of bronze, ceramics, glass, architectural details, sarcophagi.
The Gorgippia Museum is visited annually by more than 150 thousand people.