Chersonesos was an ancient Greek colony founded approximately 2,500 years ago in the southwestern part of the Crimean Peninsula. Settlers from Heraclea Pontica in Bithynia established the colony in the 6th century BC.
The ancient city was located on the shore of the Black Sea on the outskirts of present-day Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula, where it is referred to as Khersones. The site is part of the National Preserve of Tauric Chersonesos. The name Chersonesos in Greek means "peninsula."
The new Chersoneses is adjacent to the ruins of the ancient city of Chersonesos.
It took one year and 8 months to construct the entire complex - an amazingly short time, that includes 6.5 million artifacts from ancient and Byzantine times.
The museum-church complex, “New Chersonese” represents an entirely new level of organization for historical, museum, educational, leisure, and cultural spaces not only in Russia but also worldwide. The buildings and structures, with a total area of 140,000 square meters, (459,317 square feet) are located on
24 hectares (55 acres) of landscaped territory transformed into a unique garden-park ensemble. As a result, a true Byzantine city has emerged next to ancient Chersonese, impressing visitors with its scale and beauty.
The main centers of “New Chersonese” are three museums: Christianity, Antiquity and Byzantium, and Crimea and Novorossiya.
We visited The Museum of Crimea and Novorossiya which was the only one of the three that was opened. This is the country’s first museum dedicated to the history of Russia’s new regions! The area of its exhibitions is a massive 12,000 square meters (39,370 square feet).
This massive structure contains multimedia equipment, classic artifacts, interactive rooms that plunge visitors into the events of bygone eras, and a 5D cinema. In addition to twenty-five exhibition halls, the museum also includes observation decks, landscaped areas, fountains, and facilities to accommodate visitors with limited mobility.
We also visited the newly renovated cathedral of
St. Vladimir that has recently been decorated with mosaics covering every square meter of this amazing cathedral
Originally a follower of Slavic paganism, Vladimir was baptized on this spot in 988, and Christianized the Kievan Rus.
In 1891, the majestic St. Vladimir Cathedral was erected on the main square of Chersonesos where Vladimir was believed to have been baptized.
Alexander II ordered the construction of the cathedral in 1859, and ordered the delivery of the relics of St. Vladimir from St. Petersburg. He also took part in the ceremony of laying the foundation of the Cathedral in1861. Alexander III allocated funds for the interior decoration of the Cathedral in1888.
The two-story cathedral had five altars and was not completed until 1891. On October 2, 1924 the cathedral was closed by the Bolsheviks who began the destruction of churches and the abolition of religion.
0In WWII, the cathedral was badly damaged by Nazi bombardments and was completely restored in 2004. Divine services resumed in 1992.
“New Chersonese”