Dear visitor!

We hope that your visit is not accidental and you are really interested in archaeology, that of Tauric Chersonesos in particular. Archaeology is a profession that public opinion calls romantic one because of expeditions and discoveries, unraveling mysteries and finding ancient treasures...

This side of the profession of archaeologist has been described in multitude of popular movies, books and articles. This is certainly true, but not the whole truth. The work of archaeologists consists of hard labor under difficult circumstances and includes producing a parcel of documents. One can call archaeologists workaholics, romantics, bureaucrats. There are field journals and lists of finds, but drafts, drawings and photographs are necessary, too: that is all to remain of the object investigated by archaeologists.

The history of archaeological investigations of Chersonesos and other monuments related to it numbers about two centuries. This long period has accumulated a great number of documents that are stored in the Scholarly Archive at the National Preserve of Tauric Chersonesos. These documents have become background for a number of scholarly works analyzing the history, culture and daily life of the ancient city, as well as they allow us to trace the history of uncovering the ancient city, year by year, decade by decade.

Our web site is dedicated to some episodes of this discovery: here you can see rare archival documents, such as photographs and excavation reports, view how the fortifications, houses and churches of Tauric Chersonesos appeared from under the layers of soil.

Do not judge too severely our web page for it will be filled gradually - certainly not so long as Chersonesos was studied, but we will need some time. Be with us during this period, and we will be grateful for any of your comments and suggestions. 

Archive staff