Attractions of Kerch

A sarcophagus with the remains of a noble Bosporan woman of the 1st century AD was found on the territory of Kerch in the 19th century.

The burial chamber is frescoed with scenes of the abduction of Persephone, daughter of the fertility goddess Demeter. The Crypt of Demeter is considered a vivid and unique example of decorative painting on mythological subjects, executed in the so-called floral style, most characteristic of Bosporan painting of the 1st-2nd centuries AD.

Due to constant flooding, the crypt is preserved, the technological model is installed on the first tier of the Great Mithridatic Stairs. The 1:1 scale model is created with exact adherence to all dimensions, proportions, frescoes and painting.

The Melek-Chesme Barrow is a monument of funerary architecture of the heyday of the Bosporan kingdom.

It got its name from the river that flows nearby - Melek-Chesma, which means "Royal River" in Turkic.

The Melek-Chesme mound consists of a burial chamber with a pyramidal vault and a corridor (dromos) leading to it, made of smoothly hewn blocks. It is considered to be the most technically and artistically advanced among the Bosporus concession crypts.

The most valuable finds: a twisted gold hryvnia with figures of equestrian Scythians on the ends, a gold cup, rich pendants with medallions depicting the head of Athena in a helmet, a famous vase made of electro (an alloy of gold and silver) with scenes from Scythian life, and others. The treasures were taken to the Russian Hermitage.

The ruins of the ancient city of Panticapaeum are located on the top and slopes of Mount Mithridates in the center of modern Kerch.

Panticapaeum was founded by the Greeks from Miletus, until the 6th century it remained the capital of the Bosporus kingdom. The Pontic emperor Mithridates VI Eupator, who fought against the expansion of Rome, spent the last years of his life here. In 63, he committed suicide in the Panticapaean citadel, having learned that his son Pharnak II was in command of the forces besieging it.

The city occupied an area of about 100 hectares, the ruins of the magnificent building of the temple of Apollo Ietra and other buildings have been preserved (they are being excavated). Access is free.

The Great Mithridates Stairs (1833-1840), consisting of 428 steps, lead to the top of the mountain from the city center.

The Turkish fortress of Yeni-Kale is located in the narrowest part of the Kerch Strait in the northeastern part of the city.

The name in Turkish means New Fortress. Yeni-Kale could accommodate up to 12 thousand soldiers, controlled the passage of ships between the Azov and Black Seas, and even served as the residence of the Turkish Pasha.

It was built in several tiers, walls and powerful bastions surrounded the moat on three sides. A ceramic underground aqueduct from a source several kilometers away was used for water supply.

In 1771, the Yeni-Kale fortress was surrendered to Russian troops without a fight. The graceful South-Western bastion above the sea is best preserved. Access is free.