Tanais who used to live there. Tanais is an ancient city at the mouth of the Don River. Tanais - Greek colony

Updated 08/05/2019 Views 223 Comments 31

There are several large nature reserves in the Rostov region, and we visited one of them. This is the almost perfectly preserved archaeological museum of Tanais, an ancient ancient settlement, excavations of which are still ongoing. And our trip to this place made an indelible impression on us. And not only because this place is very significant historically and culturally, but also because we had a wonderful opportunity to talk a little there with an amazing person, Valery Fedorovich Chesnok, whose thoughts and general life position made us look differently at many things that interest us questions.

Tanais Rostov region

To appreciate the importance of Tanais, you need to read historical information and visit museums (after all, many museums around the world store exhibits from these excavations), but for us this settlement turned out to be significant for its symbolism. And the former director of the archaeological museum, Valery Fedorovich Chesnok, who worked here for 30 years, helped us understand this. He gave us a short tour of the museums of the ancient settlement and the excavation sites themselves. He said that the first buildings date back to the 3rd century BC. This city stood simultaneously at the mouth of the river and on the shores of the Sea of ​​Azov, and was a major economic and commercial center and port. Tanais existed for about 8 centuries, but due to the fact that the sea began to shallow and recede, trade died out, and the city, accordingly, slowly died.

Tanais is a developing structure

Valery Fedorovich has repeatedly emphasized that Tanais is a developing structure, and not just an open-air museum. Here, clubs for children are organized, and theatrical holidays are held, and a major reconstruction of the city is planned, and new excursion routes will be developed. For example, the Tanais-Sochi Olympic route, in which we were also offered to participate.

We are all one

But what attracted our attention most of all in the stories of Valery Fedorovich was that, ethnically, Tanais is a very complex monument. This is not just a Greek city, it is a Greco-Scytho-Sarmatian-Miotian monument, and it turned out that its inhabitants formed their own community, a special ethnic group - the Tanaitians. And this is where the most fascinating part of the story of our interesting interlocutor began for Oleg and me. If we express this idea of ​​Valery Fedorovich in a nutshell, then in the historical space we are all mixed up; there are a lot of moments in history that united different nationalities and ethnic groups. And if you can truly feel this, then all sorts of modern ills of society, such as chauvinism, nationalism, etc., begin to seem ridiculous and useless. Did you know, for example, that an entire ancient settlement of Sungir was found in the Vladimir region, and from the remains you noticed that the settlers who lived there had pronounced Negroid facial features? It turns out that we are all a little bit Negroid, in some places Mongoloids, in some ways Asians... And how many excavations have not yet been carried out, how many more we still have to find and what unexpected discoveries about ourselves we still have to learn! Maybe archeology can reconcile us all and clearly prove that we are all brothers and sisters, the same blood flows in us all.

Travel as knowledge of truth

I have never compared archeology and travel in my life, I have never thought about how much these two phenomena have in common. And Valery Fedorovich, a famous and respected archaeologist, so easily draws analogies between them, telling us how important it is to travel, to see the life, customs of other people, and to penetrate into another culture. And not only because “everything is known by comparison,” but also because there is always something to learn from other peoples, something to adopt from them. And maybe we shouldn’t worry so much about the fact that we are adopting the cultural features of some other countries, that we consider something fashionable that was not inherent in us before: “Close the doors to delusion. “But how will the truth come in?”

Visiting information

Tanais is located in the Rostov region on the outskirts of the Nedvigovka farm, 30 km from.

Tanais operating hours: from 9 to 17 hours without days off and breaks.
Cost of visiting the museum-reserve: depends on whether you will visit museums or just walk around the fort (all prices are in the photo).
How to get to Tanais: by train Rostov-Taganrog to Tanais station, by buses 158 and 158A from Rostov (central market).

Tanais was founded in the third century BC by immigrants from the Bosporan kingdom. Very soon the city became, thanks to its location, one of the largest shopping centers. To protect the marketplace, a stone fortress was erected and berths for merchant ships were equipped. Tanais was a free polis, but the kings of the Bosporus (in turn dependent on Rome) tried to gain control over it (and over the cash flows of trade). The most successful in this was a certain Polemon. Presumably in the eighth year BC, his troops captured Tanais, destroying part of the fortifications and destroying the western part of the city. After some time, the walls and towers of Tanais are restored, their thickness and height increase. The city is surrounded by a deep moat, dug and hollowed out of the mainland rock. By the second century, Tanais became one of the most fortified fortresses of that time. But the power of the fortifications did not save the pampered perverts of the inhabitants of Tanais from the invasion of the harsh and intolerant Goths. In 237, ancient Tanais was completely destroyed by them. After some time, some Sarmatian tribe settled on the ruins of Tanais. Earthen ramparts were placed on the surviving foundations of the walls, and the rubble was partially dismantled. However, the new city was only a shadow of the past. It didn't last long. By the fifth century, perhaps due to the invasion of the Huns, Tanais was completely abandoned.

History of the reserve

An original monument to archaeologists.

Tanais was found in 1823 by Colonel Ivan Alekseevich Stempkovsky. Having heard about certain ditches in the Nedvigovka area, he assumed that this was the Tanais described by Strabo. Arriving at the place, the colonel immediately appreciated the strategic importance of the hill and saw in the reliefs the ditches and remains of the walls of the ancient fortress. Excavations of the ancient settlement were started by Pavel Mikhailovich Leontyev, a professor at Moscow University, and continued by Vladimir Gustavovich Tizengauzen. Unfortunately, having discovered numerous traces of a late Sarmatian settlement, they concluded that the excavated city was not Tanais. The exploration of the site was stopped. And only in 1955, the Lower Don archaeological expedition led by Dmitry Borisovich Shelov excavated the remains of ancient Tanais. In 1961, the Tanais historical and architectural reserve was opened on its territory.

Cats

There are an incredible number of cats in the reserve and they feel like they are not guests there. This is not easy. Scientists believe that it was from Tanais that cats, like domestic animals, began to spread across the northern Black Sea coast and further - to Rus' and Scandinavia. Apparently, the reserve remembers this.

Travel to Tanais

You can get to Tanais, as I wrote above, by car or by train. The latter run quite often and start from half past five in the morning. The most convenient times are those departing around half past nine and half past twelve (check!!!).
By car from Rostov we drive along the Taganrog highway to the second interchange to Nedvigovka (red line on the map). Continue along the main (wide and paved) road to the entrance to the reserve (11). You can leave your car at the entrance to the territory. On summer weekends there is a rush.

Geography, life hacks

The upper part of the museum-reserve. The antique tower is the tower of poets, on the left is the roof of the new museum.

The territory of the reserve can be divided into two parts. In the upper (northwestern) part of the reserve there is an administrative and exhibition zone. Here, exhibitions and services are located in small houses. Excavated part of Tanais- further, in the southeastern part of the reserve.
In the nature reserve two cash registers. One is at the top (11), right behind the entrance. The other (12) is in the courtyard of the administrative and exhibition area, in front of the entrance to the excavations. At the box office, in addition to tickets to exhibition pavilions, proudly called museums, you can purchase souvenirs. Prices are not high. In principle, if you don’t want to look into the pavilions, you can proudly walk past the ticket office.
Toilet (9)(in good condition) is located in a separate house not far from the lower ticket office and the Meota house (5). The entrance is free.
Opposite the lower ticket office is a mysterious stone structure (6). In fact, this is a water tower (water pump). On the reverse side there is a tap from which you can get quite drinking water.
There are signs everywhere, so getting lost in the area is quite problematic.
There are no stalls, cafes, or liqueurs on site. Therefore, you should take care of food and water in advance. An impromptu picnic can be organized on benches or under a canopy (10) near the Tower of Poets.
Yes, and it all works from nine to five. Except Monday.

What to watch?

Polovtsian sanctuary (2). Reconstruction. The place was chosen correctly, the stone women are authentic.

Patio. Along the paths there are also authentic stone women and Greek vessels the size of a man for all different types of grain and oil. There is also a reconstruction of the hut in which the Peisan-Meots from the surrounding villages lived, a place called a children's playground (6) with scattered ancient millstones (?), a model of the fortress towers, a water pump and a toilet. Two museums - old and historical costume.

Old Museum (3). Here you can view finds in Tanais and more ancient (Neolithic, however) in the vicinity of Nedvigovka (on the Tsarsky Kurgan and in Kamennaya Balka), modern works of art on Tanais themes. Two halls are dedicated to the history of excavations.

Museum of Historical Costume (4). Two rooms in which you can see how the inhabitants of Tanais and the surrounding area (all sorts of Meotians and Sarmatians) dressed. By the way, they dressed very smartly, despite the lack of sewing machines and looms. There are also a lot of changing exhibitions and all sorts of interactive activities. But, for a fee.

Tower of Poets (8). Remake. A cult place where the poets of the “Zaozernaya School” drank, created and revived ancient Greek traditions.
The dead Donets, skirting my house, languishes with autumn ripples...
All this is just to say that it’s time, that it’s really necessary
Quickly get ready and bring some nice water
from the neighboring village!
Alexander Brunko
It is located in a picturesque ravine, and is very watchable (outwardly).

New Museum (7). Just one room, but with a lot of all sorts of authentic ancient Greek and modern models of ancient things. Very informative.

Excavations of Tanais (1). Actually, that's it. They start with the remains of a defensive ditch. The defensive ditch runs across the bridge. This is a remake, made according to the canons of Roman defensive structures. Next are the originals. The bridge leads us to the bases of the defensive towers, from them the remains of the western wall with adjacent residential buildings go down to the Don, and to the east - city blocks. The western part of Tanais, destroyed by Polemon, is of little interest. The city center is not visible from the bridge; it is hidden by a small hill (as well as an observation point). Until recently, it was possible to wander around the excavations, but some time ago a platform was built over the excavation area. Now the ancient city can only be viewed from above. Pros: safety for both excavations and visitors.

After the destruction of the Elizabethan settlement, the Greeks from the Bosporan kingdom founded a new trading center, named after the river on the banks of which it stood, Tanais. This happened in the 70s. in the 3rd century BC e. on the right bank of the then main branch of the mouth of the Tanais River (now Don) - the Dead Donets. For many centuries, Tanais was a major economic, political and cultural center of the Don-Azov region. The city of Tanais existed for 750 years. Ancient geographers and historians drew the border between Europe and Asia from Tanais. The Greek geographer Strabo calls it the largest market place for barbarians after Panticapaeum (the capital of the Bosporan kingdom, in the territory of present-day Kerch). The Bosporan kings ruled Tanais through their governors. However, being on the outskirts of the kingdom, Tanais enjoyed greater independence than other cities, and had its own internal government. The population consisted of Greeks - “Hellenes” and “Tanaites” - representatives of the local tribes of the Sarmatians and Meotians. Each group of residents settled in their own neighborhoods and had their own elected officials - Hellenarchs and Archons. Their task was to take care of the improvement and construction, restoration of defensive or public structures.

The city grew up on the edge of a steep river bank, cut by gullies. It had a central part, fortified by a wall and surrounded by a moat, the depth of which reached 7-8 m. However, it soon became crowded outside the city walls. Estates appeared behind the moat; their owners, in case of danger, hurried to take refuge behind the fortress walls.

The building area located outside the fortress walls expanded rapidly. Residential areas extended west to a deep ravine that crossed the coastal terrace. The city's citadel had an almost square shape, 225*240 m. There were towers at its corners.

The city was densely built up. It was cramped behind powerful walls; they were repaired several times. The names of those who provided funds for these works were immortalized on plates installed in public places in the city. On the south side of the river, there was an entrance to the city. There was also a pier for ships and a market. The stepped entrance from the south had various slabs on the sides with the decrees of the Bosporan king. In this area, archaeologists found fragments of slabs dotted with ancestral signs left by nomads. The stepped entrance led to the central square, near it, apparently, there was a temple. Unfortunately, in subsequent centuries this part of the city was rebuilt and destroyed several times.

In the early period of the city's life, a network of streets emerged. A wide street crossed the city from north to south. Narrow alleys led off from it to the estates. Each estate had a small courtyard, paved with slabs sloping towards its center, where there was a cistern carved into the rock to collect water. Often the alleys turned into real labyrinths.

In the estate, adjacent to the courtyard was a house built of torn limestone. It was covered with reeds. In rare cases, the house was covered with tiles, which were delivered by ship from overseas. Probably some houses were two-story. Under the house there was always a large cellar carved into the rock. Stone from the cellar was used in the construction of the walls of the house. A wooden staircase led to the cellar. It itself was covered with a wooden floor. Slaves could be seen in Tanais. They were kept in iron shackles. Similar shackles were found in several city basements.

The main meat product of the townspeople throughout the existence of the city was beef, although they also consumed pork, lamb and horse meat. Camel bones were found, they were crushed, and the brain was extracted from them.

Hunting and fishing supplemented the diet of the city's residents. There were probably fields and some garden plots not far from the city.

There were several major disasters in the life of the city. One of them occurred at the end of the 1st century. BC e. It is probably due to the fact that the inhabitants of Tanais, which had already existed for two hundred years, took advantage of the leapfrog of palace changes, the replacement of one ruler by another, and decided to gain their independence. This desire was punished. Soon the Bosporan king Polemon and his army approached the walls of the city, which seemed impregnable, and took the city. Tanais was punished “for disobedience,” and the city’s fortifications were destroyed.

The Bosporan king Aspurgus, who had established himself on the throne, paid attention to the city of Tanais and resettled some of the population from Bosporus here for permanent residence. The settlers, who usually bought goods and did not exchange them, as was customary before, and Tanais, had small change coins. Judging by the inscription from Kerch, Aspurg was the king of the Tanaites. Under him, Tanais again gained strong support from the Bosporan king.

In the middle of the 3rd century. the city was captured by the tribes of the Gothic alliance. After some time, it was reoccupied and rebuilt. At the turn of the era, the districts of Tanais begin to form. On the ancient hills where people lived in the Bronze Age, life is being revived again. Villages of Meotians, immigrants from the Kuban, appear. Currently, a number of Meotian settlements are located on the territory of the modern city of Rostov-on-Don or near it. These are Suho-Chaltyrskoye, Temernitskoye, Rostovskoye, Kizitirinskoye, Kobyakovskoye settlements. Over many centuries, next to the city walls of Tanais, a large cemetery grew up, the “city of the dead” - a necropolis. Stone tombstones were sometimes placed over the graves of townspeople to improve funeral rites. But often the burial mounds remained without identification marks, and soon they were difficult to distinguish on the ground. Often the graves of subsequent generations of townspeople destroy more ancient burial grounds. This is typical for all city cemeteries.

Famous mounds, tombs of noble residents. The necropolis covers a fairly large area and has a strong influence on the energy of Tanais.

The population of Tanais is Greeks, who had their own governance structure and were considered the most noble part of the townspeople. Below were the so-called “Mix-Hellenes” - Lesser Hellenes (Greeks). They were descendants of Hellenes and local barbarian tribes. In the neighborhoods on the outskirts of the city people from the tribes surrounding Tanais merged: Sarmatians, Meotians, Scythians.

Traders mainly lived behind the fortress walls. Archaeologists find numerous amphorae in their houses.

Local tribes had their own bodies of self-government, which nominated delegates to the city council. Tanais was governed by a council of citizens. To discuss matters, the Tanaites regularly met, according to the Greek model, in the central square of the city.

Tanais became famous for the fact that people of different tribes and nations coexisted there. The appearance of Tanait for the first time in the century AD was very original. Tanait could wear Sarmatian trousers, a Greek tunic and a Scythian cap. The Tanaites loved their city very much. When Tanait became rich, he donated part of the money for his protection - he erected a personal tower. The weapons used were Sarmatian - a long sword, a jacket covered with scales of armor, a round wooden shield. The Tanait were skilled shipbuilders and fishermen.

The Tanaites considered the river god Tanais their patron. Since the city was a trading city, Hermes, the god of traders and travelers, was worshiped there. Bronze images of Hermes were kept in the houses of merchants. Residents from local tribes revered the horseman god. At the end of the 1st century. BC e. Religious associations - fias - are spreading in Tanais. The most numerous was the fias of the god “Hearing.” According to legend, at the same time, the Christian Apostle Andrew visited Tanais.

Tanais is a large trade and craft center.

Tanais was associated with the Roman Empire, Egypt, Gaul, many Greek islands, and the Bosporan kingdom. Through Tanais, local tribes sold huge reserves of grain and fish. The second most profitable trade was the slave trade. Local tribes deliberately staged raids to capture captives, whom they sold in Tanais. People came to Tanais from Rome itself for slaves. In Tanais, a slave was ten times cheaper.

Local tribes brought livestock and herds of horses to Tanais and sold game, skins and meat. The Tanaites and local tribes bought luxurious fabrics, gold and silver dishes, weapons and wine, precious stones, and spices from visiting merchants. Tanais was also a craft center. Archaeologists have found numerous spindle whorls - weavers' tools, foundry molds for casting earrings and pendants, blacksmith's chisels, and ceramics made from local Don clay. They also made various trinkets, cast small mirrors from bronze, which were hung from a belt by a miniature loop, and bent brass brooches - pins with a spring clasp for folding clothes. In one estate there was a glass workshop, whose master made glassware.

In the early period of the existence of Tanais, fishing played a major role, later the main role passed to agriculture. The fertile plain gave a good harvest of wheat, rye, and especially barley. The Tanaites were also involved in cattle breeding: they raised sheep, goats, pigs, horses, and cows.

All Lower Don settlements of the first centuries of our era - Sukho-Chaltyrskoye, Kobyakovskoye, Nizhne-Gnilovskoye and others - were economically closely connected with Tanais and formed its district.

The central part of Tanais was a rectangle, fortified with powerful stone walls up to 4 meters thick, with towers and a ditch, the depth of which reached 7-8 meters. In one of the towers, archaeologists found fragments of an amphora. “Nafa” was written on it in ocher (red paint), and oil residues were preserved on the inner surface. Perhaps it was used for lighting, and the tower could serve as a beacon that showed the way for ships to the city. In the southern part, the sea approached the walls; the harbor and port facilities of Tanais were located here.

Tanais was densely built up. Small neighborhoods were separated from each other by narrow, crooked passages. The streets were like a labyrinth. In some places two people could barely separate. All the houses in Tanais were squat, built of stone; The walls facing the street had no windows or doors. The floors and walls of the houses were made of adobe, the roofs were covered with reeds and sometimes with imported tiles. Under the house there was always a cellar in which various supplies were stored: amphoras with wine, olive oil, grain. The names of the owners were sometimes written on the necks of the amphorae. In addition to living quarters, the Tanaita estate consisted of a courtyard and outbuildings. One of the courtyards still has a drain for collecting rainwater. There were no stoves in the houses; the premises were heated by portable braziers. When night fell, lamps were lit in the house. They were filled with fish oil or olive oil, and a wick was inserted into the horn. The appearance of the lamp depended on the wealth or poverty of the owner. A bronze lamp depicting the tragic mask of an actor was found in the house of a Greek merchant.

Probably, in the fluctuating flame the mask came to life, and the owner, looking at it, remembered his distant homeland of Greece.

The population of the city lived very crowded. The city area was small, and settling outside the city walls, in the face of restless nomads, was dangerous. They only buried the dead there.

At the beginning of the Middle Ages, the Venetians founded the city of Tana in a new place - on the changed main branch of the Don mouth, now called the Old Don. Later, control of the city passed to Genoa, who built a Genoese fortress here. In Polovtsian times, the colony of Tanais began to be called Tan for short. In 1395, Tamerlane's troops razed the city to the ground, completely destroying the walls.

In the 15th century, the Tang colony was partially restored on the site of the later city of Azov. The rule of the Genoese came to an end in the fall of 1475. The Ottoman Turks, having previously captured all the Genoese fortresses of Crimea (captaincy of Gothia) and the Orthodox Crimean principality of Theodoro in the same year, landed troops and captured the Tang colony. The Turks owned the city, which finally received the name Azov, with short breaks (in 1637-1643 and 1696-1711) from 1475 to 1736, when, as a result of numerous wars, it finally passed to the Russian Empire.

Ancient authors often alternately called either the Don River or the Seversky Donets Tanais (Girgis). The ancient Greek cartographer Ptolemy gave the coordinates of the source and mouth of the Tanais, according to which this is exactly the Seversky Donets, brought along the lower reaches of the present Don to the Sea of ​​​​Azov; Thus, he considered Girgis (Don) to be a tributary of the Tanais (Seversky Donets), located closer to the then civilized world.

At the mouth of the Tanais River (Seversky Donets), not far from its confluence with the Sea of ​​Azov, on the then main river bed, two millennia later called the Dead Donets, the Greek colony of Tanais was founded.

In Russia, they learned about Tanais from the messages of the ancient Greek traveler, the “father of geography” Strabo, who in his writings gave the most general description of the ancient city, the importance of which for several centuries as the center of civilization in the Don region can hardly be overestimated. He wrote that “at the confluence of the river into the lake lies the city of the same name Tanais, founded by the Hellenes who own the Bosporus”; "Tanais is the largest trading place among the barbarians after Panticapaeum." From his messages it was known that Tanais was defeated “for disobedience” by the Bosporan king Polemon. The information is not rich, and it only became known at the beginning of the 19th century. They spoke of Tanais as a fabulous rich Greek city, and that its original location was near the Elizabethan settlement, in which many objects of Greek origin had long been discovered.

But when and where Tanais was founded, when its existence ceased, and the once vibrant economic, political and cultural life froze, no one really knew. And in October 1823, Russian archaeologist A.I. Stempkovsky, who served as Odessa mayor, driving along the banks of the Don in search of the location of Tanais and familiarizing himself with the findings of the residents, came to the conclusion that the mysterious city was located near Kh. Nedvigovka. Having carefully examined the area, he wrote: “This fortification is surrounded by a deep ditch and in some places on the rampart there are heaps of earth and stones, showing the base of the towers... behind the ditch, the entire surrounding area for a long distance is covered with pits, heaps of earth and ash (traces of former housing), equally many large and small mounds, like the surroundings of Olbia and Panticapaeum... Based on all these features, it is impossible not to recognize these ruins as the remains of an ancient Greek city. And this city cannot be other than Tanais.” Stempkovsky's intentions to begin excavations did not materialize; the tsarist government refused funds. And only 30 years later, after urgent and promising persuasion, the king gave permission to use government money to search for antiquities. This important task was entrusted to the archaeologist P. M. Leonyev. Under his leadership, more than 20 mounds were dug up. However, the mounds were plundered long ago by “treasure hunters.” Bitter disappointment then gripped Leontyev and his subordinates. However, he still hoped for luck and moved from the mounds to the excavations of the ancient settlement and caused a lot of trouble. Excavations were carried out without any scientifically based system, using a destructive search method, traces of which in the form of random ditches are still visible. Having not found any signs of a large city with rich Greek architecture for that time, Leontev lost his sense of optimism, all hope of success, and came to the conclusion that the Nedvigovskoe settlement did not represent any Greek city. From then on, this place did not attract archaeologists until the beginning of the 20th century. when the search for Tanais - the “younger” and Tanais - the “renewed” was carried out near the village of Elizavetinskaya and at the Nedvigov settlement. They are also known to not produce the desired results. Scythian Sauromat Tanais Don

At the end of the 1860s. During the construction of a section of the Rostov-Taganrog railway, workers who were engaged in breaking stone in the Nedvigovka area, but knew nothing about the archaeological excavations of Tanais, “discovered” it again. The Chairman of the Archaeological Commission, Count S. G. Stroganov, had correspondence on this matter with the ataman of the Don Army, M. I. Chertkov. Chertkov, in turn, sent the director of the Novocherkassk gymnasium Robush and the artist Oznobishin to Nedvigovka for inspection.

From 1870 until the very post-revolutionary period, when all ancient monuments were declared national property, protected by Soviet law, for 50 years local residents took away the settlement for their own needs.

In 1955, the USSR Academy of Sciences formed the Lower Don Archaeological Expedition, which, together with the Rostov State University and the Rostov Museum of Local History under the leadership of D. B. Shelov, began a systematic, strictly scientific study of the Nedvigov settlement and necropolis. The long-term research of this expedition was crowned with success. She gave answers to many questions, scientifically substantiated, and materially proved that the so-called Nedvigov settlement is the city of Tanais, which lay underground for 14 centuries, that it was not founded in the 1st century. n. e., and in III BC. e. Greeks of the Bosporus Kingdom and throughout its existence grew, strengthened, expanding its trade, economic and cultural ties with the tribes living in the Azov region, along the Don, Kuban, Volga and in the Ciscaucasia.

Four years later, the excavated site and burial ground were declared a protected area. And in 1961, one of the first archaeological museum-reserves in Russia was opened here, with an area of ​​more than 3 thousand hectares. From 1973 to 2002, the permanent director of the museum-reserve was V. F. Chesnok. Then the director for a short time was the former Deputy Minister of Culture of the Rostov Region V. Kasyanov. In 2005, V. Perevozchikov was appointed director.

If you adore stories about ancient civilizations that ceased to exist long before our modern and familiar world, you dream of coming into contact with the history of the ancient world and seeing the ruins of past centuries that miraculously survived, then you will enjoy visiting the archaeological museum, which is located on the territory of Rostov region, in the area of ​​the Myasnikovsky settlement.

The history of the Don is replete with interesting events and rich in protected places. Have you ever heard of Tanais? This museum-reserve can rightfully be considered one of the largest in the Russian Federation, because its holdings occupy more than three thousand hectares. Here you can see architectural monuments belonging to a variety of historical eras, from Paleolithic times until the recent nineteenth century.

The museum-reserve is located on a river called the Dead Donets, although in ancient times this river was called Tanais, for which the museum owes its name to it. The second largest city of the same name was located here, and the barbarians held their famous markets here.

Not interested in ruins - Dzhemete private sector by the sea. And there is also something to see around Anapa.

But let's return to the museum...

Once upon a time, it was here that the border between Europe and Asia passed, and ancient chroniclers and historians noted that for a visiting wanderer, upon entering the city, Asia stretched on the right hand, and Europe stretched its possessions on the left.

Tanais was discovered in the first quarter of the nineteenth century, but since the architectural monument was not protected for quite a long time after the excavations, local residents gradually began to plunder it, which is why it has now in some way become more scarce. But, starting from the mid-twentieth century, the Rostov Museum of Local Lore took patronage over the excavations, and serious archaeological work can be attributed to this time.

Reserve "Tanais". Excavation estates. 2007

Tanais ancient city at the mouth of the river. Don. In the first centuries A.D. e. belonged to the Bosporan kingdom. Located approximately 30 km west of Rostov-on-Don, near the Nedvigovka farm.

Tanais Nature Reserve is one of the largest archaeological museum-reserves in Russia. The territory of the Tanais reserve covers more than 3 thousand hectares and unites an ensemble of historical and cultural monuments of different times and peoples from the Paleolithic era to monuments of residential and religious architecture of the 19th century. This is the northernmost point of ancient civilization.

Also Tanais the ancient Greek name of the Don and Seversky Donets rivers.

History of Tanais

Tanais River and the Greek colony of Tanais, along with other Greek colonies along the northern coast of the Black Sea.

Tanais Greek colony

Tanais was founded in the 3rd century. BC e. Greeks, immigrants from the Bosporan kingdom, on the right bank of the then main branch of the mouth of the Tanais River Dead Donets. For many centuries, Tanais was a major economic, political and cultural center of the Don-Azov region. The Greek geographer Strabo calls it the largest marketplace of barbarians after Panticapaeum. Ancient geographers and historians drew the border between Europe and Asia from Tanais. The city gradually acquired features characteristic of the lifestyle of local tribes. Tanais fought for independence from the Bosporan rulers. In 237 AD e. it was destroyed by the Goths. Restored 140 years later by the Sarmatians, Tanais gradually turned into a center of agricultural and craft production, and at the beginning of the 5th century AD. e. fell into disrepair.

Tanais Italian colony

At the beginning of the Middle Ages, the Venetians founded the city of Tana in a new place - on the changed main branch of the Don mouth, now called the Old Don. Later, control of the city passed to Genoa, who built a Genoese fortress here. In Polovtsian times, the colony of Tanais began to be called Tan for short. In 1395, Tamerlane's troops razed the city to the ground, completely destroying the walls.

Tan = Azov

In the 15th century, the Tang colony was partially restored on the site of the later city of Azov. The rule of the Genoese came to an end in the fall of 1475. The Ottoman Turks, having previously captured all the Genoese fortresses of Crimea and the Orthodox Crimean principality of Theodoro in the same year, landed troops and captured the Tang colony. The Turks owned the city, which finally received the name Azov, with short interruptions from 1475 to 1736, when, as a result of numerous wars, it finally passed to the Russian Empire.

Tanais river

The ancient Greek cartographer Ptolemy gave the coordinates of the source and mouth of the Tanais, according to which this is exactly the Seversky Donets, brought along the lower reaches of the present Don to the Sea of ​​​​Azov; Thus, Girgis was considered by him to be a tributary of Tanais, located closer to the then civilized world

At the mouth of the Tanais River, not far from its confluence with the Sea of ​​Azov, on the then main channel of the river, two thousand years later called Dead Donets, the Greek colony of Tanais was founded.