Crimea has always been a cauldron of nations, where the fate of peoples and entire states was decided. Ancient and modern history The peninsula holds many mysteries, some of which we have yet to solve.
Origin of Crimea
The first mystery of the history of Crimea is the formation of the peninsula itself. In 1996, American geologists William Ryan and Walter Pitman from Columbia University formulated the theory of the so-called “Black Sea flood.” According to it, until the sixth millennium BC, Crimea was not a peninsula, but was a fragment of a larger land mass, which included the territory of the modern Sea of Azov.
Around 5500 BC as a result of an earthquake and shift lithospheric plates There was a breakthrough of water from the Mediterranean Sea, the Bosphorus Strait was formed, the level of the Black Sea rose by 140 meters, its volume increased by one and a half times.
There is a version that it was this event that served as the basis for the myth of the global flood that exists in many cultures. Some historians also connect Plato's story of Atlantis with the flooding of the Black Sea.
The Ryan-Pitman theory has been criticized, but it has not been refuted at this time. Having examined the shores of the Black Sea in 2000, conducting radiocarbon analysis of mollusks and changes in sedimentary rocks in the reservoir, the famous marinologist Ballard came to the conclusion that 7500 thousand years ago the Black Sea was absolutely fresh, which indirectly confirms the theory of the expansion of the Black Sea as a Flood .
Where did the Crimean Goths disappear to?
Since ancient times, Crimea was a real ethnic cauldron in which tribes, peoples and even entire states were melted down. Crimea survived the Cimmerian period, the Scythian period, the Greek period, the Gothic period, the period of the Mongol-Tatar invasion, the period of Genoese rule.
For a long time, the Goths ruled in Crimea. The stronghold of Crimean Gothia became the Doros fortress, after the conquest by the Khazars and to this day called Mangup-kale - a huge cave city, which is still a tourist mecca in Crimea.
The isolated mountain plateau was supplied with drinking water from mountain springs, and was therefore a unique, half artificial and half natural fortification.
In 1475, the Goths were defeated by the Ottomans. The Turks took Kafa (the fortress is currently preserved) and besieged Mangup. The region fell into decay, finding itself on the outskirts of Turkish lands, and the Gothic princely family was preserved in the boyar family of the Golovins - Gothic emigrant princes who lived in Moscow.
Where did the Crimean Goths themselves disappear to? The question is not idle. The envoy of the Austrian Emperor Ferdinand, Baron Ogier Ghislain de Busbecq, at the end of the 16th century mentioned in his letter that once during a diplomatic mission to Ottoman Empire, he met a man in Istanbul who claimed that he was a Crimean Goth. He forgot his native language, however, his companion, a Greek, allegedly spoke the Crimean-Gothic language, and after a short conversation, Busbeck compiled a small Crimean-Gothic dictionary, which is the only written monument of this language, similar to the Gothic of the time of Wulfila.
IN XVIII-XIX centuries Among the Crimean Tatars, ethnographers discovered atypical-looking people who vaguely resembled the Crimean Goths in anthropological characteristics, as a result of which the theory was born that the Goths continue to exist on the territory of Crimea. Nazi scientists cling to this theory, planning to annex Crimea to the Reich and create “Gotenland” there, that is, the land of the Goths.
Megaliths of Crimea
The most mysterious ancient structures of Crimea are megaliths. On the peninsula they are represented by menhirs - vertical stone pillars, dolmens - stone crypts of five slabs and cromlechs - circles of stones that most likely have a connection with the solar cults of the ancient peoples who inhabited the peninsula.
The most famous menhir in Crimea is the Bakhchisarai menhir. Interest in it grew after, at the end of the last century, the engineer of the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory, Alexander Lagutin, suggested that the Bakhchisarai menhir was built as an astronomical observatory. Lagutin conducted observations for several years, determining the relationship between the menhir and solar cycles and came to the conclusion that the orientation of the menhir was based on the spring equinox.
It is not possible to establish the exact age of the menhir. Most likely, it dates back to the time of the Taurus rule of Crimea.
Secret submarine base
Crimea has a truly heroic military history. And if a lot has been written about wars and battles on the territory of the peninsula, then about one strategic object on the territory of Crimea for a long time was unknown to the general public. We are talking about a secret submarine base in Balaklava, also called “object 825 GTS”.
This base was built after the war on the personal instructions of Stalin. The project was initially supervised by Lavrentiy Beria.
The construction of the facility was carried out by a specially created construction department No. 528. The base was built over 8 years, from 1953 to 1961, during which time about 120 tons of rock were removed. To ensure secrecy, the removal was carried out at night on barges to the open sea. First, the facility was built by the military, then by metro workers.
Object 825 GTS was built as an anti-nuclear defense structure of the first category (protection against direct hits atomic bomb power 100 kt). There was an underground water canal with a dry dock, repair shops, fuel and lubricants warehouses, and a mine and torpedo unit.
The secret submarine base was designed to shelter, repair and maintain Project 613 and Project 633 submarines and store ammunition for these submarines. The channel (length 602 meters) of the facility could accommodate 7 submarines of the specified projects.
Why was Crimea handed over to Ukraine?
The main geopolitical mystery of the history of Crimea remains the question of its transfer to the Ukrainian SSR in 1954. Scientists are still arguing about the reasons for this historic decision. According to one version, in this way the USSR avoided transferring Crimea to the Jewish Republic due to its “credit history” with American bankers (the “Joint” organization).
According to another version, it was a gift to Ukraine in honor of the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the Pereyaslav Rada. The reasons also include unfavorable conditions for farming in the steppe regions of the peninsula and the territorial proximity of Crimea to Ukraine. Many people support the version according to which the “Ukrainization” of Crimea should have contributed to the restoration of the destroyed national economy.
Despite its relatively small size, the Crimean Peninsula has not been fully explored. The number of secrets and mysteries that fill the peninsula can only be compared with the number of unsolved mysteries of ancient Hellas. One of the most exciting and unknown is the mystery of the origin and purpose of the Crimean pyramids, which were discovered by a research group in the city of Sevastopol.
The researchers reported their discovery to the committee responsible for protecting historical monuments at the Council of Ministers of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, but, unfortunately, the message was treated superficially and only taken into account. The story associated with the discovery of the Crimean pyramids began several years ago, when a group of geologists, headed by Candidate of Technical Sciences, Associate Professor Vitaly Anatolyevich Gokh, retired captain 1st rank, expert in technical sciences and underground surveying, former teacher at the Higher School of Engineering in the city of Sevastopol , searched around the city comfortable places for organizing the drilling of artesian wells. During the research, the receiver device detected the presence of a microwave field within a radius of 100 meters. Such instrument readings prompted geologists to think about the presence of some unknown object there. To establish the reason for the appearance of such strong microwave signals, scientists decided to dig a hole by hand and at a depth of just over nine meters they discovered a stone building that looked like one of the faces of a pyramid with a high-strength dome, hollow on the inside and a melted quartz surface, as well as a gypsum-silicate layer on the outside. sides.
Continuing their work, the researchers discovered that deeper, to the right and left, there were four more structures similar in design, but somewhat smaller in size. Scientists were able to verify that various building materials were used for the construction of the discovered objects. Ancient craftsmen strengthened large and carefully fitted blocks cut from limestone with a solution of egg yolks and whites, clay and a special putty based on copper sulfate. The researchers were able to break through the wall of the discovered object and go deeper inside the pyramid. They sank to a depth of almost forty meters from the surface of the earth. The data obtained as a result of the research was processed and, based on their results, the scientists made the following conclusions: the discovered object has the shape of a regular geometric pyramid with smooth pointed protrusions on all faces; the height of the pyramid from the base is 45 meters; the length of each side of the base is 72 meters. The ratio of the established values is 1:1.6, this indicator is standard for all known and explored pyramids in Egypt to date. In the future, scientists set a goal to establish the presence of other pyramids in the study area based on the principle of detecting powerful microwave radiation. The dimensions of the blocks from which the pyramids were built were up to 2.5 meters long and 1.5 meters high. Scientists have found that when finalizing the edges of the pyramids, ancient builders used: liquid glass, gypsum and lead.
One of the leading members of the research group, Viktor Taran, made a proposal not to stop the search, and soon six more similar pyramids were discovered, which were located on one straight line connecting Cape Sarych and the northwestern part of Kamyshovaya Bay, with a total length of more than 40 kilometers. It was also found that all the pyramids stand in a certain sequence, which remains a mystery.
The first pyramid is located at the bottom of the Black Sea near Cape Foros, the second is on the territory of Balaklava, the third was built in the vicinity of Cape Fiolent, the fourth was discovered underground near the Sevastopol-Tovarnaya station, and the fifth, which scientists discovered first, is located in the Kamyshovoye Highway area . At a distance of several kilometers from the fifth pyramid, two more similar pyramids were found.
According to scientists, all these pyramids represent part of a single system of the sacred center for the entire planet. The Crimean pyramids are built on a line that connects the pyramids built in the mountains of Tibet, the submerged pyramids of Easter Island and the English Stonehenge. The discovered Crimean pyramids during the summer of 2001 were carefully studied by scientists from many countries of the world, who agreed on one thing - all the structures found on the peninsula are unique. The underground pyramids were examined by scanning using the most accurate modern equipment; the result of a thorough analysis was the discovery of new objects. To date, the location of 37 megalithic structures has been established, and it has also been established that twenty-eight of them form a regular rhombus of enormous size, in the middle of which, in the area of the village of Red Mak, there is a central pyramid more than fifty meters high. Seven more smaller pyramids make up an internal additional rhombus of small size in the Yalta region, which also contains the central pyramid.
In order to confirm the idea that all the pyramids of the planet are one whole, a comparison was made of the Crimean pyramids with the three Great Pyramids located in the Giza Valley. As a result of the analysis, it was found that similar building materials were used in the construction of the Egyptian and Crimean pyramids. As evidence, a chip from a block of one of the pyramids was brought from Egypt. Even with comparative analysis it was obvious that the nummulitic limestone from which the blocks of the pyramids of Egypt were cut were identical to that mined in the Crimean mountains. The only difference in the building blocks is their size. Egyptian pyramids were built from blocks whose length reached twenty meters.
The most interesting thing about conducting research on pyramids was how pyramids affect people. So, when working inside the pyramids for a long time, it had a beneficial effect on the health of researchers. At the same time, during work related to the destruction of the integrity of the pyramids, various negative phenomena occurred. People who carried out destructive work experienced acute headaches and stomach discomfort. Various technical devices failed, but when work stopped, people’s health returned to normal, and the devices continued to function. useful work. Scientists have made a somewhat surprising and unprovable assumption: the Crimean pyramids were used by ancient people to control some important processes. This is also indicated by the fact that lead was used during construction, which resonates quite well, and the mixture of clay and aluminum oxide is an excellent semiconductor capable of converting incoming energy in frequency. If this is indeed the case, it is worth recognizing that the builders of the pyramids were representatives of a highly developed civilization.
The Crimean pyramids are an integral part of the worldwide system of pyramids, which form an energy-informational framework around the planet. This framework has undoubtedly existed since the Earth came into being. And the pyramids are located at the nodal points of the world frame. The energy-information field created in this way is a management process that influences all life processes that occur on Earth, including processes that occur inside the planet’s core, biological systems and the biosphere.
Scientists have suggested that the builders of the Crimean pyramids could have been ancient settlers from the lands of Hellas. The ancient Greeks used pyramids built top down as giant moisture condensers. Their construction consisted of digging a large funnel in the ground and lining its walls with stone. In continuation of the walls inside the pits, walls of similar material were erected on the surface, on which moisture collected during the day, and as the temperature dropped in the evening, condensation flowed down and filled the funnels. This was due to the fact that on the Crimean peninsula the presence drinking water has always been a pressing problem due to low level groundwater.
If we take into account that the Crimean pyramids were erected to perform ritual rites, it is necessary to remember that, starting from the 8th and up to the 3rd millennium BC, the territory around the Black Sea was part of one religious complex known as the Black Sea Mysteries. This complex was an exact analogue of the ancient Egyptian mysteries. Unlike the pyramids of Egypt, among the secrets of the Crimean pyramids there are also secrets related to the recent past. The first searches for the Crimean pyramids date back to 1926, and not only professional archaeologists took part in them, but also research fellows secret laboratory for neural energy. Unfortunately, the expedition was not successful at that time, main reason The failure was that the search for pyramids was carried out on the surface of the earth, but, as is now known, all structures are located underground. Control over search work carried out by the country's top leaders. So the first secret expedition was sent to Crimea directly on the instructions of Felix Dzerzhinsky. Neurophysiologist Alexander Barchenko, who managed the secret laboratory of neural energy at the Special Department of the OGPU, was appointed head of the expedition, and the main direction of the laboratory’s work was studying the heritage of ancient cultures. Alexander Barchenko argued that ancient civilizations could have universal knowledge, the secret of splitting the atom, sources of invisible energy and the ability to influence humans at a psychotropic level.
During the occupation of the Crimean peninsula by troops fascist Germany Scientists from this country also searched for pyramids. For this purpose, a group of esoteric scientists belonging to the Ahnenerbe organization arrived from Germany. But Crimea did not reveal its secrets to the occupiers.
The centuries-old history of the peninsula has been sharing its secrets with us for a long time, but it is impossible to say that Crimea has no blind spots. Perhaps we will soon learn about new discoveries that will allow us to further understand the history and culture of ancient civilizations.
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Crimea has always been a cauldron of nations, where the fate of peoples and entire states was decided. The ancient and modern history of the peninsula holds many mysteries, some of which we have yet to solve.
Origin of Crimea
The first mystery of the history of Crimea is the formation of the peninsula itself. In 1996, American geologists William Ryan and Walter Pitman from Columbia University formulated the theory of the so-called “Black Sea flood.” According to it, until the sixth millennium BC, Crimea was not a peninsula, but was a fragment of a larger land mass, which included the territory of the modern Sea of Azov.
Around 5500 BC, as a result of an earthquake and shifting of lithospheric plates, a breakthrough of water from the Mediterranean Sea occurred, the Bosphorus Strait was formed, the level of the Black Sea rose by 140 meters, its volume increased by one and a half times.
There is a version that it was this event that served as the basis for the myth of the global flood that exists in many cultures. Some historians also connect Plato's story of Atlantis with the flooding of the Black Sea.
The Ryan-Pitman theory has been criticized, but it has not been refuted at this time. Having examined the shores of the Black Sea in 2000, conducting radiocarbon analysis of mollusks and changes in sedimentary rocks in the reservoir, the famous marinologist Ballard came to the conclusion that 7500 thousand years ago the Black Sea was absolutely fresh, which indirectly confirms the theory of the expansion of the Black Sea as a Flood .
Mysteries of the Black Sea
In former times it was called the “Russian Sea”. However, so famous and dear, it still conceals a lot of mysteries.
Science knows more than twenty names of the Black Sea. When the Black Sea was still little developed, the ancient Greeks called it Pont Aksinsky, which translates as “inhospitable sea.” As the reservoir was developed, the name also changed. Now the same Greeks called it Pont Eusinius, which meant “hospitable sea.”
Today the sea is called “black”. Why? Science cannot give a definite answer to this question.
According to one version, this name comes from the color designation of parts of the world, where the North was marked black, and the Black Sea was considered the northern sea. According to another version, the Black Sea began to be called that due to the fact that any metal objects, lowered to its depth, become black due to the hydrogen sulfide contained in the water. Finally, according to another version, the Black Sea began to be called that because of the difficulties of navigation. Within the framework of this nominative theory, “black” became synonymous with the words “mysterious”, “unknown”
"Sea of Dead Depths"
Another name for the Black Sea sounds very ominous - “the sea of dead depths.” Indeed, the waters of the Black Sea have unusual characteristics. The depths of the Black Sea are divided into two levels. Below 150-200 meters there is practically no life here due to the high percentage of hydrogen sulfide contained in the deep layers of water.
Over the years of its existence, the Black Sea has accumulated more than a billion tons of this substance, which is a product of bacterial activity.
According to one version, the very appearance of the Black Sea (7500 years ago) was associated with the mass death of the freshwater inhabitants of the Black Sea lake that was once here. Because of this, reserves of hydrogen sulfide and methane began to accumulate at its bottom. However, scientists do not yet have a consensus on the origin of the huge volume of hydrogen sulfide in the waters of the Black Sea. The approximate amount of hydrogen sulfide in the Black Sea is 3.1 billion tons.
Research in recent years also allows us to speak of the Black Sea as a giant reservoir of not only hydrogen sulfide, but also methane. It is the detonation of methane due to movements of lithospheric plates that today explains the strange phenomenon that occurred during the earthquake of September 11, 1927.
Well-known researcher of Crimea, professor-geologist S.P. Popov described this phenomenon as follows: “... during the earthquake, observers of three lighthouses on the western coast of the Black Sea noticed a giant fiery stripe 55 kilometers from the coast over a long distance between Sevastopol and Cape Lucullus.” Subsequent interviews made it possible to establish that the fire was not isolated - observers noticed three explosions.
Black Sea flood
Around 5600 BC The Black Sea was within much more modest boundaries than it is now. According to the theory of American geologists Ryman and Pitman, the Black Sea was previously a freshwater lake, but then, due to earthquakes, the previously closed Mediterranean Sea connected with the Black Sea, which began to quickly fill with salty sea water.
Then the level of the Black Sea rose by 140 meters - at the same time the Sea of Azov arose, and instead of the modern Bosphorus Strait, an endless gigantic waterfall flowed, 200 times greater in volume than the Niagara waterfall.
A rapid increase in the volume of the Black Sea by 1.5 times led to the immediate flooding of a huge coastal zone.
There is a version that it was this event that served as the basis for the myth of the global flood that exists in many cultures. Some historians also connect Plato's story of Atlantis with the flooding of the Black Sea. In any case, the Black Sea flood caused a full-scale resettlement of peoples.
Having examined the shores of the Black Sea in 2000, conducting radiocarbon analysis of mollusks and changes in sedimentary rocks in the reservoir, the famous marinologist Ballard came to the conclusion that 7500 thousand years ago the Black Sea was absolutely fresh, which indirectly confirms the theory of the expansion of the Black Sea as a Flood .
The Flood on the Black Sea: how it happened
Of course, an increase in the volume of the Black Sea by 1.5 times led to the immediate flooding of a huge coastal zone. It is possible that it was this event that served as the basis for the myth of the global flood that exists in many cultures. Some historians also connect Plato's story of Atlantis with the flooding of the Black Sea. In any case, the Black Sea flood caused a full-scale resettlement of peoples.
Despite criticism of this theory, the famous marinologist Ballard in 2000 confirmed the guesses of geologists by exploring the ancient coastlines of the Black Sea. Using radiocarbon dating of shellfish and studies of changes in sedimentary rocks and species aquatic plants, scientists have concluded that approximately 7,500 thousand years ago the Black Sea was absolutely fresh.
Black Sea Gold
According to recent studies, the waters of the Black Sea are rich not only in hydrogen sulfide, but also in noble metals such as gold and silver. According to Gennady Bugrin’s calculations, the weight of silver contained in the water of the Black Sea is 540 thousand tons, the weight of gold is 270 tons.
Development of the extraction of precious metals from sea water has been going on for a long time. The most simple installations for such extraction are based on ion exchangers - ion exchange resins capable of attracting ions of substances dissolved in water. Türkiye, Bulgaria and Romania use such technologies today.
Nascent Ocean
The Black Sea is relatively young, which is why it is still growing, and the geological processes occurring at its bottom and along its shores (lithospheric shifts and the growth of coastal mountains) can speak of it as an emerging ocean. According to scientists, in just one century the shores of the Black Sea are expanding by 20-25 centimeters. This may seem insignificant if you do not know that the Black Sea already contains the ancient cities of Taman in its depths.
What you need to know about the Black Sea
Among all the seas, the most important for us is the Black Sea. Our genetic memory is connected with it, coming from the times when this sea was called “Russian” through the Soviet era, when the Black Sea remained the most “popular” and dear.
Hospitable/inhospitable
In terms of the number of names, the Black Sea may well be considered a champion among the seas. More than twenty names of this reservoir are known. Due to the inconvenience of navigation, the first ancient Greek colonists named it Pont Aksinsky, which translates as “inhospitable sea.” Then, when the sea had already been developed, the same Greeks began to call it Pontus Evsinsky, that is, “the hospitable sea.” Other historical names of the Black Sea are Temarun, Cimmerian, Akhshaena, Blue, Tauride, Ocean, Surozh, Svyatoe. In Rus' from the 10th to the 16th centuries, the Black Sea was called either the “Russian” or the “Scythian” sea. The Black Sea is home to 2,500 species of animals. For comparison, there are about 9,000 species living in the Mediterranean Sea.
Why is the Black Sea “black”
Why did the Black Sea become “black”? No one can answer this question unequivocally. According to one version, this name came from the color designation of parts of the world, where the North was marked black, and the Black Sea was considered just the northern sea. According to another version, the Black Sea became so called due to the fact that any metal objects lowered to its depth become black due to the hydrogen sulfide contained in the water.
Constantly growing
The Black Sea is constantly growing. Over the course of a century, its banks expand by 20-25 centimeters. This may seem insignificant if you do not know that the Black Sea already contains the ancient cities of Taman in its depths.
Knipovich glasses
If you look at the diagram of the Black Sea currents, you can see two looped whirlpools with a wavelength of 300-400 kilometers. They are shaped like glasses. In honor of the oceanographer Nikolai Knipovich, who first described the Black Sea currents, this scheme began to be called “Knipovich glasses.”
Harmless shark
In the Black Sea there are sharks - katrans. They are quite small - not more than a meter in length, and do not pose a danger to swimmers, since they stay in cold waters, rarely approach the shore and, in principle, are afraid of people.
They can only pose a threat to fishermen. Shark spines located on the dorsal fin are poisonous.
The substance contained in the katran liver helps to cure some forms of cancer and is part of the drug “Katrex”.
Dangers
In addition to practically harmless sharks, there are also quite dangerous creatures in the Black Sea. Such, for example, as the Black Sea scorpionfish. The poisonous spines located on its back can cause a lot of suffering to those who prick themselves on them. Sea dragons (poisonous spines on the dorsal fin) and stingrays can also pose a threat. If you encounter any of these marine creatures, you should immediately seek help from an emergency room and, at a minimum, take antihistamines.
Sea of dead depths
Another name for the Black Sea sounds very ominous - “the sea of dead depths.” The fact is that there is practically no life deeper than 150-200 meters in the Black Sea due to the high percentage of hydrogen sulfide contained in the deep layers of water. Over millions of years, the Black Sea has accumulated more than a billion tons of this substance, which is a product of bacterial activity. According to one version, the very appearance of the Black Sea (7500 years ago) was associated with the mass death of the freshwater inhabitants of the Black Sea lake that was once here. Because of this, reserves of hydrogen sulfide and methane began to accumulate at its bottom.
Alexey Rudevich
Mysteries of the poisonous sea
Amazing facts about the seemingly famous, but in fact the most mysterious sea on the planet - the Black Sea.
This is one of the most unique places on the planet. Here is the world's largest accumulation of poisons: hydrogen sulfide, ammonia and methane. However, not only the composition of the local water is unique, but also its inhabitants. More recently, creatures similar to the inhabitants of another planet were found here. Their living conditions are really not much different from the conditions on oxygen-deprived Mars.
But this place is famous not for its huge deposits of poisonous gases and not even for its “aliens”. Most of us know it simply as... a resort.
The Black Sea is a very ancient body of water. In fact, this is the remnant of the Tethys - an ancient ocean, in the process of active mountain building, divided into several separate reservoirs (Black, Azov, Aral and Caspian seas).
The Black Sea is part of the Atlantic Ocean. The total area is 422,000 km2. The maximum depth is 2210 m. This is the furthest sea from the ocean. The border between Europe and Asia Minor runs along the surface of the Black Sea.
Who salted it?
Why the seas are salty is still not entirely clear. According to one version, the rivers “oversalted” the water. For centuries, they washed mineral salts from rocks and carried them to the sea. According to another theory, the seas were salty from the very first days. And it’s not the rivers that are to blame, but the volcanoes. They erupted in the territory of the future world ocean, spilling salt solutions onto its bottom. However, it is not volcanoes or rivers that are to blame for the salinity of the Black Sea.
8,000 years ago, the Mediterranean Sea “salted” the deepest lake on Earth, and the lake turned into the Black Sea. This happened due to the sudden melting of ice. The water in the Mediterranean Sea rose so much that it washed away half of the territory of the future Istanbul, forming the Bosphorus Strait. By the way, due to its freshwater history, the Black Sea is still one of the least salty in the world. The salinity of the water in it is two times lower than in the Mediterranean, that is, about 17–18 ppm.
The reason for the low salinity of the Black Sea is hidden not only in its freshwater past. Unlike all other seas on the planet, the largest number of rivers flow into it: more than three hundred. Their total area is five times the area of the sea itself. Rivers dilute the salty sea water. This is especially noticeable in the places where they flow into the sea, where the level of salinity varies depending on the weather.
Kilometers of hydrogen sulfide
Despite the huge number of inhabitants, the Black Sea is the most sparsely populated compared to other seas. For example, in the Mediterranean Sea approximately five times more types animals than in Black. And this is explained not by the cold climate, but by another unique property of this sea. Most of the water mass of the reservoir is contaminated with hydrogen sulfide, so life exists here only in the upper zone: from the coastal zone to 150–200 m. Until recently, it was believed that only bacteria could survive in a toxic hydrogen sulfide environment. But a few years ago an amazing discovery was made. Small, sedentary creatures live right in the hydrogen sulfide masses, requiring neither oxygen nor sunlight. Because of hydrogen sulfide, life exists on a tenth of the entire sea area. But without this toxic substance, the researchers calculated, today it might not exist at all, just as without microorganisms.
The strongest poisons contribute to the preservation of the Black Sea and its inhabitants, making the reservoir not only suitable for life, but sometimes surprisingly fertile.
How chance saved the sea
Few people know that in the late 80s, due to human fault, the oldest sea in the world was on the verge of an environmental disaster. The number of its micro-inhabitants has decreased tenfold. Because of this, many species of fish, for which plankton is the main source of food, have almost completely disappeared. He was saved from the death of all living things and the transformation of the sea into a dead swamp... by chance. Collapsed Soviet Union, the socialist camp collapsed, and the deepest economic crisis had a positive impact on the Black Sea ecosystem. Runoff from agricultural fields has decreased, and industrial runoff has dropped sharply. And the numbers and species diversity of the Black Sea gradually began to recover.
What was bad for the economy turned out to be a salvation for the environment. By 2000, the level of microorganisms in the Black Sea had recovered to the level of the 60s, and with it the fish population had increased. The sea became alive and safe again.
Currently nature is waiting. The Black Sea today is no longer the same as it was yesterday. But what it will be like tomorrow is still an open question. The fate of the most amazing sea on the planet is in the hands of man.
Dead Pont. About how soon the Black Sea can turn into a toxic swamp
novoye-vremya.com
In September, an international group of scientists from Belgium, Germany, Italy and the USA published results of research conducted over almost 60 years in the Black Sea. The conclusions reached by experts are frightening: if the trend towards global warming continues, and the countries of the region do not reduce the discharge of industrial waste into the rivers of the Black Sea basin, soon the Pont Euxine, as the ancient Greeks called the sea, will become completely uninhabitable. Moreover, we are not talking about some long-term perspective, but about periods of only tens of years.
Lake-sea
To understand the essence of the catastrophe threatening the sea, you need to know the basic hypothesis about its origin. In the Pliocene, about 1.5–2 million years ago, the connection of the Black Sea (at that time it was combined with the Azov and Caspian Seas into one system) with the ocean completely ceased. The salinity of the water begins to fall, and a mostly freshwater fauna is formed here, representatives of which are preserved today in the Caspian Sea, the Azov Sea and in some northern regions of the Black Sea.
Later, the Caspian Sea separated from the Black Sea, and the latter increasingly transformed into a lake, maintaining an irregular connection with the Caspian Sea through the Kuma-Manych depression and with the Mediterranean Sea through the Marmara Sea. By the end of the last ice age, the Black Sea was a closed body of water with highly desalinated water and corresponding flora and fauna. However, then the ice began to melt, the level of the World Ocean rose, and the waters of the salty Mediterranean Sea poured through the Bosporus into the Black Sea, raising its level by 100 m and flooding many coastal areas. This event occurred around 7–8 thousand years BC and, according to one hypothesis, served as the basis for legends about the Great Flood. At the same time, due to a sharp increase in water salinity, almost all freshwater organisms of the Black Sea died (most of the modern Black Sea species - about 80% - are newcomers from the Mediterranean), during the decomposition of which a layer of hydrogen sulfide with a volume of more than 20 thousand cubic meters was formed. km. In fact, until recently, life in the Black Sea was concentrated in the upper layers of water up to 150–200 m deep; below this level there is no oxygen (the depth of the sea exceeds 2.2 thousand m), only a few types of bacteria live there, which decompose the remains, falling from the surface and emit hydrogen sulfide. “A lifeless abyss filled with poisonous, flammable, explosive gas with a disgusting smell of rotten eggs,” - this is how the media figuratively describe lower layers of the sea.
Deep gas
But this state of affairs lasted only until the middle of the twentieth century. As scientists found out, they took 4,385 water samples in the period from 1955 to 2015. various areas sea, the layer of water saturated with oxygen during this time decreased by 44%, and today its depth barely exceeds 90 m. According to researchers, from 1955 to 2005, the oxygen layer decreased by 7.9 m per decade, then this rate slowed down somewhat , but in recent years they have begun to grow again, which scientists associate with general climate warming.
The hydrogen sulfide zone and the surface layer of water are separated in the Black Sea by an intermediate cold layer located at depths from 30 to 100 m. It is most saturated with oxygen, and its temperature is always lower than that of deep waters, since, cooling in winter, it does not have time to warm up during summer. In the Mediterranean Sea, this layer sinks almost to the bottom in the spring, saturating the water with oxygen, while in the Black Sea, winter waters linger at a depth of 50–70 m.
Plus due to global warming There are fewer and fewer such “winter waters” every year, and scientists believe there is no reason to believe that the situation will stabilize. The reduction of the oxygen layer is fraught with breakthroughs to the surface of the sea of huge masses of hydrogen sulfide - a gas dangerous for all living things.
In September 2005, due to a strong cyclone, hydrogen sulfide was recorded at a depth of only 30 m. And although the authors consider such cataclysms unlikely, it is quite possible that something similar happened in the recent past - during the famous Crimean earthquake of 1927. Then eyewitnesses claimed that they saw “a red fire in the form of a strong lightning” in the sea. According to one version, it was hydrogen sulfide that burned, escaping from the depths of the sea during seismic vibrations.
The authors of the study do not have a recipe for how to avoid a catastrophe, but they call on all interested parties to organize continuous monitoring of oxygen reserves in the Black Sea in order to at least be prepared for the upcoming changes.
Human factor
However, interested parties, primarily countries located in the Black Sea basin, are themselves directly involved in increasing hydrogen sulfide levels.
According to the study, the most dynamic reduction in oxygen volumes in sea waters coincided in the 70–80s of the last century with the growth of economic activity on its shores. An increase in runoff from agricultural land and industrial discharges led to eutrophication (overfertilization), which caused rapid growth of phytoplankton, filamentous algae, and more organic remains began to form, from which hydrogen sulfide is formed when rotting.
In those same years, fish catch volumes also reached peak levels: from 300–400 thousand tons annually in the 1970s, to 700–800 thousand in the 1980s.
The collapse of the USSR and the collapse of the entire socialist system in the countries of Eastern Europe, accompanied by a sharp drop in industrial and agricultural production, reduced the anthropogenic load on the Black Sea. Its ecosystem, like any other that has not yet been led to a dead end by humanity, began to cleanse itself, and its biological diversity began to recover.
However, as soon as the economic situation in the Black Sea countries began to improve, the amount of waste dumped into the sea immediately increased: from 1990 to 2001, their volume almost doubled.
It should be mentioned here that the water balance of the sea is more than half provided by the flow of rivers, and each of them, experiencing its own environmental problems, carries almost all the elements of the periodic table, including heavy metals. In addition, pollution occurs due to the ballast water of tankers, with which oil products (up to 170 thousand tons annually) enter the water.In total, today, according to various sources, about 13 billion cubic meters of wastewater enter the Black Sea annually, directly damaging the oxygen layer and only increasing the amount of hydrogen sulfide.In addition, all coastal countries, without exception, practice dumping untreated sewage into the sea and sea dumping of industrial waste, construction waste, chemicals and radioactive substances.Everything is alive
Narrowing of the boundaries of suitable water space for life, deterioration of water quality along with height In recent years, the volume of fishing - primarily due to sprat, goby, sprat and anchovy, that is, the food supply of large animals - has led to a gradual impoverishment of marine fauna.
In the Black Sea, seals, sturgeon and tuna have practically disappeared, the number of dolphins, sharks and flounder has decreased, and the population of higher crustaceans has suffered greatly.
“The problem of reducing the amount of oxygen in the aquatic environment of the Black Sea is well known. Indeed, the layer of water suitable for living organisms is decreasing, says Konstantin Zgurovsky, consultant for the sustainable fisheries program at WWF Russia. “As a result, the water purification process catastrophically deteriorates and the entire ecosystem is disrupted. First, microalgae begin to die, then oysters and mussels. Further, the pollution intensifies even more; the algae begin to become covered with mucus, which prevents them from developing and growing. These consequences, like a snowball, lead to a reduction in biodiversity. There are already fewer horse mackerel, crabs, and mussels in the Black Sea. It is possible that if hydrogen sulfide rises further, the sea will turn into a fetid puddle.”
According to the expert, in order to avoid such a scenario, it is necessary, first of all, to seriously reduce pollution of the Black Sea by curtailing uncontrolled construction along the banks and starting to clean up the rivers. “Finally,” recalls Zgurovsky, “there is projects for the extraction of sulfur and hydrogen from the Black Sea. It's hard to say how much of this is feasible and how much of it is a fantasy plan, but in theory it could help the ecosystem."
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The Black Sea: what threats does it pose?
Black Sea. It would seem so familiar and absolutely safe. Nothing like this. In its waters, not only are poisonous sea creatures lurking for you, but there is a more serious threat - suffocating toxic fumes.
Dead zone
Not everyone knows that 90% of the Black Sea waters are saturated with hydrogen sulfide. This discovery was made back in 1890 by Russian geologist Nikolai Andrusov. In some places, the hydrogen sulfide layer is located at a distance of 50 meters from the sea surface, and it constantly continues to move upward. Periodically, a liquid lens of “dead” water comes very close to the surface layers, which has a detrimental effect on the inhabitants of the underwater world.
However, there is still life in the hydrogen sulfide cloud, although in the absence of oxygen only some species of sea worms and anaerobic bacteria involved in the decomposition of the remains of living organisms.
Hydrogen sulfide in water is not a unique phenomenon; it is also found in other seas and oceans. But given that the Black Sea is virtually isolated from the World Ocean by the shallow Bosporus and there is practically no normal water exchange, the concentration of hydrogen sulfide here is off the charts.
Sometimes, as a result of storms, hydrogen sulfide vapor escapes, and then in the area where the gas escapes there is a specific smell of rotten eggs. This is fraught with extreme danger. If large amounts of hydrogen sulfide come into contact with air, an explosion may occur. According to experts, the explosion of all the hydrogen sulfide contained in the Black Sea can be comparable to the consequences of the fall of an asteroid weighing half the mass of the Moon.
But something similar has already happened. In the dead of night on September 12, 1927, the Crimean peninsula experienced the full power of an 8-magnitude earthquake. The epicenter was located 25 kilometers south of Yalta, gigantic landslides were recorded, almost the entire crop was lost, and many buildings were destroyed.
As eyewitnesses testified, the vibrations of the earth's surface were accompanied by a disgusting stench and flashes that soared from the surface of the sea to the sky. The pillars of fire, shrouded in smoke, reached several hundred meters in height. This is how the Black Sea burned. Most scientists have no doubt that hydrogen sulfide was to blame.
Experts are seriously puzzled by the problem of accumulating hydrogen sulfide in the surface layers of the Black Sea. Any tectonic shift can lead to the release of a huge amount of toxic substance, and then the consequences can be much more serious than during the Crimean earthquake.
Oceanologist Alexander Gorodnitsky is convinced that such a threat is quite real: “The Black Sea is a seismically active region, there are earthquakes that provoke emissions of gas hydrates - compressed under high pressure accumulations of methane and other flammable gases.”
In an unfavorable scenario, tons of concentrated sulfuric acid will enter the atmosphere: thousands of people will die from suffocation, millions will have to move away from the coast, but even there they will be overtaken by hydrogen sulfide, causing acid rain.
Several years ago, a release of hydrogen sulfide was recorded at the Koblevo resort in the Nikolaev region (Ukraine). There were then more than 100 tons of dead fish on the shore. Engineer Gennady Bugrin, who participated in the liquidation of the consequences of the disaster, warns that such an emergency could happen again at any time and on a larger scale.
Toxic waters
The situation with the ecological situation in the waters of the Black Sea is no better, primarily due to the waste constantly entering them from the Danube, Prut and Dnieper. Industrial enterprises and public utilities shamelessly pour tons of industrial and human waste into rivers, which leads to the gradual extinction of many species of flora and fauna of the Black Sea coastal waters. In Russia, the most polluted marine area is located near the ports of Novorossiysk and Taman.
Together with river water, pesticides, heavy metals, phosphorus, and nitrogen enter the Black Sea, as a result of which phytoplankton multiplies rapidly and the water begins to bloom. And this leads to the destruction of bottom microorganisms, which in turn causes hypoxia and the subsequent death of many inhabitants of the seabed - squid, mussels, oysters, young sturgeon, crabs. According to environmentalists, the area of the kill sometimes exceeds 40 thousand square meters. km.
Of course, all this does not pass without a trace for humans. The head of the Department of Extreme Natural Phenomena and Man-Made Disasters of the Southern Scientific Center, Candidate of Biological Sciences Oleg Stepanyan, warns and reminds that the Black Sea is not a pool with filtered water and you need to choose the right places for swimming, because often even on city beaches you can see how they are drained into the sea wastewater from nearby cafes and eateries.
And although, according to Stepanyan, special services monitor the cleanliness of the beaches and the bacterial situation on them, it is important to be vigilant. Sandy and pebble beaches large resort towns, where the process of water self-purification is slow.
Deputy coordinator of the public organization "Ecological watch for North Caucasus» Dmitry Shevchenko notes that there are areas in the Black Sea that are so polluted, for example, in Gelendzhik or Anapa bays, that going into the water is simply a health risk.
Today, a constant problem for the Black Sea has become the massive development of green filamentous and lamellar algae, including the so-called sea lettuce (Ulva). Eating such algae is fraught with serious poisoning, since they grow in places overflowing with organic substances coming through wastewater.
Doctors also caution when talking about possible harm for the body of mussels and rapana caught in large port waters of Novorossiysk, Tuapse, and Sevastopol. Mussels actively filter poisoned sea water, and rapana are predators that eat them. But if someone still decides to enjoy the Black Sea delicacies, then you should pay attention to the color of their meat. Light yellow or pinkish most likely indicates its suitability for consumption, but blue, black or simply very bright indicates that the mollusks have accumulated heavy metals, petroleum hydrocarbons and other toxicants.
Dangerous inhabitants
In the waters of the Black Sea, of course, there are not as many poisonous inhabitants as in tropical seas, but extreme caution must still be exercised here. First of all, we are talking about large jellyfish with a diameter exceeding 30 centimeters. Under no circumstances should you touch them, as you can get burned by the stinging cells. A “kiss” from such a jellyfish in the throat or chest area can cause respiratory paralysis or heart failure.
In the sandy shallows of the Anapa bank, in the area from the village of Volna to the village of Blagoveshchensky, the stingray is often found, the poisonous spine of which can pierce even a thick rubber coating and cause a very sensitive wound with subsequent swelling of the damaged part of the body.
The small scorpion fish, or, as it is also called, the sea ruff, also poses a serious danger. She mainly hunts among rocks, and hypothetically you can step on her. The prick of its poisonous thorns will be very painful and the wound will take several weeks to heal.
The sea dragon, although it does not look intimidating, poses no less a threat than a stingray or scorpionfish. Venom glands are located on its first dorsal fin. Fishermen or divers sometimes inadvertently grab a thorn, and as a result, excruciating sharp pain in the wound area and a feverish state accompanied by a rise in temperature. In this case, it will not be possible to do without a doctor.
Where did the Crimean Goths disappear to?
Since ancient times, Crimea was a real ethnic cauldron in which tribes, peoples and even entire states were melted down. Crimea survived the Cimmerian period, the Scythian period, the Greek period, the Gothic period, the period of the Mongol-Tatar invasion, the period of Genoese rule.
For a long time, the Goths ruled in Crimea. The stronghold of Crimean Gothia became the Doros fortress, after the conquest by the Khazars and to this day called Mangup-kale - a huge cave city, which is still a tourist mecca in Crimea.
The isolated mountain plateau was supplied with drinking water from mountain springs, and was therefore a unique, half artificial and half natural fortification.
In 1475, the Goths were defeated by the Ottomans. The Turks took Kafa (the fortress is currently preserved) and besieged Mangup. The region fell into decay, finding itself on the outskirts of Turkish lands, and the Gothic princely family was preserved in the boyar family of the Golovins - Gothic emigrant princes who lived in Moscow.
Where did the Crimean Goths themselves disappear to? The question is not idle. The envoy of the Austrian Emperor Ferdinand, Baron Ogier Ghislain de Busbeck, mentioned in his letter at the end of the 16th century that once during a diplomatic mission to the Ottoman Empire, he met a man in Istanbul who claimed to be a Crimean Goth. He forgot his native language, but his companion, a Greek, allegedly spoke the Crimean-Gothic language, and after a short conversation, Busbeck compiled a small Crimean-Gothic dictionary, which is the only written monument of this language, similar to the Gothic of the time of Wulfila.
In the 18th-19th centuries, among the Crimean Tatars, ethnographers discovered atypical-looking people who vaguely resembled the Crimean Goths in anthropological characteristics, as a result of which the theory was born that the Goths continued to exist on the territory of Crimea. Nazi scientists cling to this theory, planning to annex Crimea to the Reich and create “Gotenland” there, that is, the land of the Goths.
Megaliths of Crimea
The most mysterious ancient structures of Crimea are megaliths. On the peninsula they are represented by menhirs - vertical stone pillars, dolmens - stone crypts of five slabs and cromlechs - circles of stones, most likely having a connection with the solar cults of the ancient peoples who inhabited the peninsula.
The most famous menhir in Crimea is the Bakhchisarai menhir. Interest in it grew after, at the end of the last century, the engineer of the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory, Alexander Lagutin, suggested that the Bakhchisarai menhir was built as an astronomical observatory. Lagutin conducted observations for several years, determining the relationship between the menhir and solar cycles and came to the conclusion that the orientation of the menhir was based on the spring equinox.
It is not possible to establish the exact age of the menhir. Most likely, it dates back to the time of the Taurus rule of Crimea.
Secret submarine base
Crimea has a truly heroic military history. And if a lot has been written about wars and battles on the territory of the peninsula, then for a long time the general public was unknown about one strategic object on the territory of Crimea. We are talking about a secret submarine base in Balaklava, also called “object 825 GTS”.
This base was built after the war on the personal instructions of Stalin. The project was initially supervised by Lavrentiy Beria.
The construction of the facility was carried out by specially created construction department No. 528. The base was built for 8 years, from 1953 to 1961, during which time about 120 tons of rock were removed. To ensure secrecy, the removal was carried out at night on barges to the open sea. First, the object was built by the military, then by metro workers.
Object 825 GTS was built as an anti-nuclear defense structure of the first category (protection against a direct hit from an atomic bomb with a power of 100 kt). There was an underground water canal with a dry dock, repair shops, fuel and lubricants warehouses, and a mine and torpedo unit.
The secret submarine base was designed to shelter, repair and maintain submarines of the 613th and 633rd projects and store ammunition for these submarines. The channel (length 602 meters) of the facility could accommodate 7 submarines of the specified projects.
Why was Crimea handed over to Ukraine?
The main geopolitical mystery of the history of Crimea remains the question of its transfer to the Ukrainian SSR in 1954. Scientists are still arguing about the reasons for this historic decision. According to one version, in this way the USSR avoided transferring Crimea to the Jewish Republic due to its “credit history” with American bankers (the “Joint” organization).
According to another version, it was a gift to Ukraine in honor of the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the Pereyaslav Rada. The reasons also include unfavorable conditions for farming in the steppe regions of the peninsula and the territorial proximity of Crimea to Ukraine. Many people support the version according to which the “Ukrainization” of Crimea should have contributed to the restoration of the destroyed national economy.
Alexey Rudevich
The main mysteries of CrimeaCrimea has always been a cauldron of peoples, where the fate of peoples and entire states was decided. The ancient and modern history of the peninsula holds many mysteries, some of which we have yet to solve.
1. Origin of Crimea
The first mystery of the history of Crimea is the formation of the peninsula itself. In 1996, American geologists William Ryan and Walter Pitman from Columbia University formulated the theory of the so-called “Black Sea flood.” According to it, until the sixth millennium BC, Crimea was not a peninsula, but was a fragment of a larger land mass, which included the territory of the modern Sea of Azov.
Around 5500 BC, as a result of an earthquake and shifting of lithospheric plates, a breakthrough of water from the Mediterranean Sea occurred, the Bosphorus Strait was formed, the level of the Black Sea rose by 140 meters, its volume increased by one and a half times. There is a version that it was this event that served as the basis for the myth of the global flood that exists in many cultures. Some historians also connect Plato's story of Atlantis with the flooding of the Black Sea.
The Ryan-Pitman theory has been criticized, but it has not been refuted at this time. Having explored the shores of the Black Sea in 2000, conducting radiocarbon analysis of mollusks and changes in sedimentary rocks in the reservoir, the famous marinologist Ballard came to the conclusion that 7500 thousand years ago the Black Sea was absolutely fresh, which indirectly confirms the theory of the expansion of the Black Sea as a Flood .
Development by the Scythians and Greeks
Since ancient times, Crimea has been a real ethnic cauldron in which tribes, peoples and even entire states were melted down. Crimea survived the Cimmerian period, the Scythian period, the Greek period, the Gothic period, the period of the Mongol-Tatar invasion, and the period of Genoese rule.Around 722 BC e. The Scythians were expelled from Asia and founded a new capital, Scythian Naples, in Crimea on the Salgir River (within the boundaries of modern Simferopol). The "Scythian" period is characterized by qualitative changes in the composition of the population itself. Archaeological data show that after this the basis of the population of the north western Crimea were peoples who came from the Dnieper region. In the VI-V centuries BC. e., when the Scythians ruled the steppes, the Greeks founded their trading colonies on the coast of Crimea. In the first half of the 5th century BC. e. Two independent Greek states emerge on the shores of the Black Sea.
One of them is the democratic slave-owning republic of Chersonesus (the Tauride Peninsula), which included the lands of western Crimea. Chersonesus is hiding behind powerful stone walls. It was founded on the site of a Taurus settlement by Greeks from Heraclea Pontus. The other is the Bosporan autocratic state, whose capital was Panticapaeum (“the way of the fish”). Greek colonists brought to the shores of Cimmeria-Taurica their art of building ships, growing grapes, olive trees and other crops, and erecting beautiful temples, theaters, and stadiums. Hundreds of Greek settlements - policies - appeared in Crimea.
The invasion is ready
Guest tribes also ruled in Crimea. Their migration, which was caused in part by climate change, marked the beginning of the great era of migration of peoples, under the pressure of which Rome perished. This invasion became another bloody page in the history of Crimea. On their way, they defeated the warring Scythians, Alan tribes, pretty much plundered the Black Sea territories, defeating such rich cities as Trebizond, Tanais, Panticapaeum, as well as “Scythia Minor”. Crimea began to be called “Gothia”.The stronghold of Crimean Gothia became the Doros fortress, after the conquest by the Khazars and to this day called Mangup-kale - a huge cave city, which is still a tourist mecca in Crimea.
The isolated mountain plateau was supplied with drinking water from mountain springs, and therefore was a unique, half artificial, and half natural fortification. In 1475, the Goths were defeated by the Ottomans. The Turks took Kafa (the fortress is currently preserved) and besieged Mangup. The region fell into decay, finding itself on the outskirts of Turkish lands, and the Gothic princely family was preserved in the boyar family of the Golovins - Gothic emigrant princes who lived in Moscow. 
Where did the Crimean Goths themselves disappear to? The question is not idle. The envoy of the Austrian Emperor Ferdinand, Baron Ogier Ghislain de Busbeck, mentioned in his letter at the end of the 16th century that once during a diplomatic mission to the Ottoman Empire, he met a man in Istanbul who claimed to be a Crimean Goth. He forgot his native language, but his companion, a Greek, allegedly spoke the Crimean-Gothic language, and after a short conversation, Busbeck compiled a small Crimean-Gothic dictionary, which is the only written monument of this language, similar to the Gothic of the time of Wulfila.
In the 18th-19th centuries, among the Crimean Tatars, ethnographers discovered atypical-looking people who vaguely resembled the Crimean Goths in anthropological characteristics, as a result of which the theory was born that the Goths continued to exist on the territory of Crimea. Nazi scientists cling to this theory, planning to annex Crimea to the Reich and create “Gotenland” there, that is, the land of the Goths.
The Goths were very receptive to the trends of local customs, they quickly came under the cultural influence of Byzantium, and Christianity, albeit of the Arian (heretic) type, spread among them. According to sources, including archaeological ones, the blue-eyed population of the Germanic ethnic group withstood the invasion of the Huns, but was destroyed by the Tatar-Mongol invasion.
Mongol-Tatar invasion
At the beginning of the 13th century, Crimea was captured by the Mongol-Tatars. The Ulus Beys distributed the lands of Crimea among themselves and founded beilyks - principalities - on them. The residence of the governor was in the city of Solkhat (now Old Crimea). It was the Tatars who began to call this city Crimea. Later this name began to refer to the entire peninsula. Modern historians believe that the name Crimea comes from Turkic word"kyrym" - ditch. Obviously, this meant a ditch on the Perekop Isthmus.Initially, the Tatars settled in the eastern and steppe Crimea. After the invasion of Crimea by the troops of the Golden Horde Khan Nogai in 1299, due to the unrest that arose in the Crimean ulus, the Tatars penetrated into southwestern Crimea. By the end of the 14th century, a new region appeared in Crimea with its center in Kyrk-Ora (Chufut-Kale) near modern Bakhchisarai. The Tatars, who settled in Crimea in the 14th and 15th centuries, are fighting for separation from the Golden Horde and the formation of an independent state. The Golden Horde is entering a period of civil strife.
Already at the end of the 14th century, an Arab author recalls the time when caravans, moving from Khorezm to Crimea, did not leave the borders of one state, as irrevocably past. In 1395, Timur's troops destroyed Solkhat-Crimea. Khan Tokhtamysh's attempt to unite Golden Horde at the turn of the XIV - XV centuries it turned out to be unsuccessful. At the beginning of the 15th century, Hadji-Girey (grandson of Tokhtamysh from the clan of Genghisids, i.e. descendants of Genghis Khan) became the Golden Horde governor in Crimea. He made a lot of efforts to achieve independence and become the head of a khanate, separate from the Golden Horde. With the support of the Crimean beys, he achieves his goal. Hadji Giray became khan in 1428. This year can be considered the year of the founding of the Crimean Khanate.
Expulsion of the Genoese
A long period of Crimean history is associated with the Genoese. In the 60s of the 13th century, under an agreement with the Tatars, the Genoese founded their trading post, Caffa, on the site of ancient Feodosia. They maintained allied relations with the Golden Horde khans, who were formally the supreme rulers of the territories of the colonies, but provided them with complete self-government, retaining power only over the khans' subjects. In 1380, the Genoese infantry even took part on the side of Mamai in the Battle of Kulikovo.After the fall of Byzantium in 1453, Genoa ceded the Black Sea colonies to its Bank of San Giorgio (Bank of St. George). The international position of the colonies worsened: the military-political pressure of the Crimean Khanate increased, relations with the Principality of Theodoro in Crimea worsened. In 1475, the Genoese colonies were conquered by Ottoman troops under the command of Pasha Gedik Ahmed and incorporated into the Ottoman state. Representatives of the Genoese aristocratic family of Ghisolfi remained on the Taman Peninsula longer than others (until 1482). The Genoese period in the history of Crimea was characterized by the rise of trade relations and the development of culture.
Annexation of Crimea to Russia
In the winter of 1780, a rebellion broke out in the Crimean Khanate, as a result of which the pro-Russian Khan Shahin-Girey was forced to flee to the Russian port of Kerch. His place was taken by Bahadir-Girey, who was oriented towards Turkey. Moreover, there was already an agreement between Crimea and Turkey, according to which the Sultan recognized Shahin-Girey as Khan for life; Now the Turkish authorities were determined to change the terms of this agreement. Catherine was faced with a choice: either simply restore Shahin-Girey to the throne, or, taking advantage of the situation, finally resolve the territorial issue in her favor.In August 1782, Catherine gave Potemkin the order to enter Crimea and return power to his former protege. But even then she understood that this would be only the first step towards the subsequent annexation of Crimea. Taking advantage of the support of England and France, who were interested in weakening Turkey, Potemkin and his associates began to develop a scenario in which Russia would have sufficient grounds to annex Crimea. The reason could have been Turkey's interference in the internal affairs of Crimea, its failure to comply with the terms of the treaties, but Turkey did not give such reasons, so they had to use the pretext of declaring that the Turks attacked Taman.
Transfer of Crimea to Ukraine
The main geopolitical mystery of the history of Crimea remains the question of its transfer to the Ukrainian SSR in 1954. Scientists are still arguing about the reasons for this historic decision. According to one version, in this way the USSR avoided transferring Crimea to the Jewish Republic due to its “credit history” with American bankers (the “Joint” organization).
According to another version, it was a gift to Ukraine in honor of the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the Pereyaslav Rada. The reasons also include unfavorable conditions for farming in the steppe regions of the peninsula and the territorial proximity of Crimea to Ukraine. Many people support the version according to which the “Ukrainization” of Crimea should have contributed to the restoration of the destroyed national economy.
7 facts about the transfer of Crimea to Ukraine
So, on February 19, 1954, a decree was adopted on the transfer of the Crimean region to the Ukrainian SSR. Nikita Khrushchev with a sweeping gesture handed over Crimea to Ukraine. It's time to talk about this historic decision.1. "Credit history"
One of the versions of the transfer of Crimea is a “credit history” connecting the RSFSR and the American Jewish organization “Joint”. The idea of relocating Jews to Crimea began to be discussed immediately after the end of Civil War. Foreign foundations actively lobbied for the issue. The Politburo repeatedly discussed this project. Its active supporters were Trotsky, Kamenev, Zinoviev, Bukharin, Rykov.
A branch of Agro-Joint Bank was created in Simferopol. In January 1924, there was already talk of an “autonomous Jewish government, federated with Russia,” and a draft decree was prepared on the creation of a Jewish Autonomous SSR in the northern part of Crimea. The Jewish Telegraph Agency (ETA) distributed a corresponding message abroad on February 20, 1924.
In 1929, an agreement was concluded between the RSFSR and the Joint organization. The document, which bore the beautiful name “On Crimean California,” contained the responsibilities of the parties. The Joint allocated 1.5 million dollars a year to the USSR (until 1936, 20 million dollars were received), and for this amount the Central Executive Committee pledged 375 thousand hectares of Crimean land. They were issued in shares, which were bought by more than 200 Americans, including politicians Roosevelt and Hoover, financiers Rockefeller and Marshall, General MacArthur.
The decision to create “Crimean California” was delayed. During the Tehran Conference, Roosevelt reminded Stalin of his obligations, the Secretary General was in no hurry, but some historians explain the deportation of the Tatars in 1944 precisely by the liberation of Crimea for Jewish settlers. 1954 was the deadline for paying off debts and Khrushchev made a “knight’s move”, giving Crimea to Ukraine.
2. National question
One of the main “Crimean” issues is a national issue. In 1944, the deportation of peoples began from Crimea. Usually they only talk about the deportation of Tatars, but not only Tatars were evicted. Greeks (almost 15 thousand) and Bulgarians (12.5 thousand) were deported. The Tatars left most of all for Uzbekistan. Greeks and Bulgarians were settled in Central Asia, Kazakhstan and certain regions of the RSFSR. According to the 1939 census, about 50% of Russians, 25% of Tatars and only 10.2% of Ukrainians lived in Crimea.
After the deportation of the Tatars in 1944, Crimea “howled.” Agriculture suffered especially heavy damage. In 1950, compared to 1940, grain production fell by almost five times, tobacco production by three times, and vegetables by half. In 1953, there were 29 grocery stores and 11 department stores throughout the region.
In the 60s, the process of returning the Tatars and settling Crimea with Ukrainians and Russians began. Voluntary-forced Ukrainization was underway. Everywhere except Sevastopol, it was introduced into the school curriculum Ukrainian language.
Today there are more than 2 million people in Crimea. 1 million are Russians, more than 400 thousand are Ukrainians, and 240 thousand are Tatars. 
3. Historical background
The transfer of Crimea to Ukraine is an idea that was in the air ten years before 1954. Even at the height of the Great Patriotic War, when the Germans were driven out of the peninsula, Khrushchev, who was then the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, ordered a certificate to be drawn up on Crimea. Khrushchev searched in the archives historical connections Russia and Ukraine.
One of the staff members recalled that Nikita Sergeevich told him about 1944: “I was in Moscow and said: “Ukraine is in ruins, and everyone is pulling out of it. What if we give her Crimea? "After that, they didn’t call me anything and they didn’t shake my soul. They were ready to grind me into dust.”
4. The question of legitimacy
The issue of the legitimacy of the transfer of Crimea is still controversial. The main noise arises when the question of a referendum arises. Allegedly, a nationwide referendum was to be held in the country, but the rights and legal framework for the referendum were not described in the Soviet Constitution, except for the mention in Article 33 that the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR could hold it. Important: I could, but I don’t have to. Thus, the question of a referendum is removed.
The answer to the question about the body that has the authority to give or not give consent to change borders is given to us by Article 22 of the Constitution: " Supreme body The state power of the RSFSR is the Supreme Council of the RSFSR." According to Article 24, "The Supreme Council of the RSFSR is the only legislative body of the RSFSR." Article 151 states that changing the Constitution is possible only by a decision of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR, adopted by a majority of "at least two-thirds of the votes."
Thus, the amendment to Article 14 of the Constitution of the RSFSR and the removal of the Crimean region from it can be regarded as consent received for the transfer of this region to another union republic. Therefore, the legal procedure for transferring Crimea to Ukraine in 1954 was absolutely correct. The issue was discussed by the Presidiums of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation and the Ukrainian SSR, and they jointly appealed to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. And only on the basis of this appeal was a resolution adopted and a decree signed on the transfer of Crimea to Ukraine.
5. Who made the decision?
It is believed that the decision to transfer Crimea was made by Khrushchev. In November 1953 he made a trip to Crimea. According to his son-in-law, journalist Alexei Adzhubei, who accompanied him, he was shocked that in the southern region there were no vegetables and fruits in state trade. A common misconception is that Khrushchev was Ukrainian and this influenced the decision to transfer Crimea. This is, of course, not true. Khrushchev was not a Ukrainian, he never spoke Ukrainian. Another thing is that he had a certain Ukrainian sentiment, as well as a feeling of guilt for participating in the repressions.
This could have an indirect impact, but government decisions are not made at the level of sentiment, and Khrushchev was not the only one who made the decision on the transfer. It is the retinue that makes the king. Khrushchev's retinue included Bulganin, Malenkov, Molotov, Kaganovich, Kuusinen. The main role was played by Georgy Malenkov, who headed the Council of Ministers.
6. Black Sea Fleet
The issue with the Black Sea Fleet, based in Sevastopol, remained problematic for a long time. According to Ukrainian laws, the presence of foreign military facilities on its territory was prohibited, but for Russian fleet Ukraine made an exception. In April 2010, Viktor Yanukovych agreed to extend the lease with Russia naval base in Sevastopol, which expired in 2017, for another 25 years with the possibility of extension. During the transfer of Crimea to Ukraine, the issue of the fleet was not raised; Ukraine was a union republic, legal problems appeared already in 1991.
7. Return
The first of the big ones Russian politicians Vice President Alexander Rutskoy spoke about the return of Crimea. Since that time, the issue of the return of Crimea to Russia has been raised many times. Several referendums held in Crimea have shown the population's loyalty to reunification with Russia. According to the results of the last official census, conducted in 2001, 10.1% of residents of Crimea named Ukrainian as their native language. Today, 97% of the population is Russian-speaking.
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In conclusion, let’s talk about a couple more mysteries of the peninsula.
Megaliths of Crimea
The most mysterious ancient structures of Crimea are megaliths. On the peninsula they are represented by menhirs - vertical stone pillars, dolmens - stone crypts of five slabs and cromlechs - circles of stones that most likely have a connection with the solar cults of the ancient peoples who inhabited the peninsula.
The most famous menhir of Crimea is the Bakhchisarai menhir. Interest in it grew after, at the end of the last century, the engineer of the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory, Alexander Lagutin, suggested that the Bakhchisarai menhir was built as an astronomical observatory. Lagutin conducted observations for several years, determining the relationship between the menhir and solar cycles and came to the conclusion that the orientation of the menhir was based on the spring equinox.
It is not possible to establish the exact age of the menhir. Most likely, it dates back to the time of the Taurus rule of Crimea.
Secret submarine base
Crimea has a truly heroic military history. And if a lot has been written about wars and battles on the territory of the peninsula, then for a long time the general public was unknown about one strategic object on the territory of Crimea. We are talking about a secret submarine base in Balaklava, also called “object 825 GTS”. This base was built after the war on the personal instructions of Stalin.
The project was initially supervised by Lavrentiy Beria. The construction of the facility was carried out by specially created construction department No. 528. The base was built for 8 years, from 1953 to 1961, during which time about 120 tons of rock were removed. To ensure secrecy, the removal was carried out at night on barges to the open sea. First, the object was built by the military, then by metro workers.
Object 825 GTS was built as an anti-nuclear defense structure of the first category (protection against a direct hit from an atomic bomb with a power of 100 kt). There was an underground water canal with a dry dock, repair shops, fuel and lubricants warehouses, and a mine and torpedo unit. The secret submarine base was designed to shelter, repair and maintain submarines of the 613th and 633rd projects and store ammunition for these submarines. The channel (length 602 meters) of the facility could accommodate 7 submarines of the specified projects. 
Crimea has always been a cauldron of nations, where the fate of peoples and entire states was decided. The ancient and modern history of the peninsula holds many mysteries, some of which we have yet to solve.
Origin of Crimea
The first mystery of the history of Crimea is the formation of the peninsula itself. In 1996, American geologists William Ryan and Walter Pitman from Columbia University formulated the theory of the so-called “Black Sea flood.” According to it, until the sixth millennium BC, Crimea was not a peninsula, but was a fragment of a larger land mass, which included the territory of the modern Sea of Azov.
Around 5500 BC, as a result of an earthquake and shifting of lithospheric plates, water broke out from the Mediterranean Sea, the Bosphorus Strait was formed, the level of the Black Sea rose by 140 meters, its volume increased by one and a half times.
There is a version that it was this event that served as the basis for the myth of the global flood that exists in many cultures. Some historians also connect Plato's story of Atlantis with the flooding of the Black Sea.
The Ryan-Pitman theory has been criticized, but it has not been refuted at this time. Having examined the shores of the Black Sea in 2000, conducting radiocarbon analysis of mollusks and changes in sedimentary rocks in the reservoir, the famous marinologist Ballard came to the conclusion that 7500 thousand years ago the Black Sea was absolutely fresh, which indirectly confirms the theory of the expansion of the Black Sea as a Flood .
Where did the Crimean Goths disappear to?
Since ancient times, Crimea was a real ethnic cauldron in which tribes, peoples and even entire states were melted down. Crimea survived the Cimmerian period, the Scythian period, the Greek period, the Gothic period, the period of the Mongol-Tatar invasion, the period of Genoese rule.
For a long time, the Goths ruled in Crimea. The stronghold of Crimean Gothia became the Doros fortress, after the conquest by the Khazars and to this day called Mangup-kale - a huge cave city, which is still a tourist mecca in Crimea.
The isolated mountain plateau was supplied with drinking water from mountain springs, and was therefore a unique, half artificial and half natural fortification.
In 1475, the Goths were defeated by the Ottomans. The Turks took Kafa (the fortress is currently preserved) and besieged Mangup. The region fell into decay, finding itself on the outskirts of Turkish lands, and the Gothic princely family was preserved in the boyar family of the Golovins - Gothic emigrant princes who lived in Moscow.
Where did the Crimean Goths themselves disappear to? The question is not idle. The envoy of the Austrian Emperor Ferdinand, Baron Ogier Ghislain de Busbeck, mentioned in his letter at the end of the 16th century that once during a diplomatic mission to the Ottoman Empire, he met a man in Istanbul who claimed to be a Crimean Goth. He forgot his native language, but his companion, a Greek, allegedly spoke the Crimean-Gothic language, and after a short conversation, Busbeck compiled a small Crimean-Gothic dictionary, which is the only written monument of this language, similar to the Gothic of the time of Wulfila.
In the 18th-19th centuries, among the Crimean Tatars, ethnographers discovered atypical-looking people who vaguely resembled the Crimean Goths in anthropological characteristics, as a result of which the theory was born that the Goths continued to exist on the territory of Crimea. Nazi scientists cling to this theory, planning to annex Crimea to the Reich and create “Gotenland” there, that is, the land of the Goths.
Megaliths of Crimea
The most mysterious ancient structures of Crimea are megaliths. On the peninsula they are represented by menhirs - vertical stone pillars, dolmens - stone crypts of five slabs and cromlechs - circles of stones that most likely have a connection with the solar cults of the ancient peoples who inhabited the peninsula.
The most famous menhir in Crimea is the Bakhchisarai menhir. Interest in it grew after, at the end of the last century, the engineer of the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory, Alexander Lagutin, suggested that the Bakhchisarai menhir was built as an astronomical observatory. Lagutin conducted observations for several years, determining the relationship between the menhir and solar cycles and came to the conclusion that the orientation of the menhir was based on the spring equinox.
It is not possible to establish the exact age of the menhir. Most likely, it dates back to the time of the Taurus rule of Crimea.
Secret submarine base
Crimea has a truly heroic military history. And if a lot has been written about wars and battles on the territory of the peninsula, then for a long time the general public was unknown about one strategic object on the territory of Crimea. We are talking about a secret submarine base in Balaklava, also called “object 825 GTS”.
This base was built after the war on the personal instructions of Stalin. The project was initially supervised by Lavrentiy Beria.
The construction of the facility was carried out by specially created construction department No. 528. The base was built for 8 years, from 1953 to 1961, during which time about 120 tons of rock were removed. To ensure secrecy, the removal was carried out at night on barges to the open sea. First, the facility was built by the military, then by metro workers.
Object 825 GTS was built as an anti-nuclear defense structure of the first category (protection against a direct hit from an atomic bomb with a power of 100 kt). There was an underground water canal with a dry dock, repair shops, fuel and lubricants warehouses, and a mine and torpedo unit.
The secret submarine base was designed to shelter, repair and maintain Project 613 and Project 633 submarines and store ammunition for these submarines. The channel (length 602 meters) of the facility could accommodate 7 submarines of the specified projects.
Why was Crimea handed over to Ukraine?
The main geopolitical mystery of the history of Crimea remains the question of its transfer to the Ukrainian SSR in 1954. Scientists are still arguing about the reasons for this historic decision. According to one version, in this way the USSR avoided transferring Crimea to the Jewish Republic due to its “credit history” with American bankers (the “Joint” organization).
According to another version, it was a gift to Ukraine in honor of the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the Pereyaslav Rada. The reasons also include unfavorable conditions for farming in the steppe regions of the peninsula and the territorial proximity of Crimea to Ukraine. Many people support the version according to which the “Ukrainization” of Crimea should have contributed to the restoration of the destroyed national economy.