Books by Nikita Khrapunov
This book analyses six episodes in the history of the ancient city of Chersonese, which usually a... more This book analyses six episodes in the history of the ancient city of Chersonese, which usually appear outside of the scholars’ attention. It has been shown that in the Ancient Period the toponym Tauric Chersonese referred to the present-day Crimean Peninsula, though the city located in its south-western extremity was called simply Chersonese or Chersonese in Taurica. In the late fourth century AD, there appeared a new to ponym Cherson, which completely replaced the former city name in the late sixth century. The book uncovers the origin of the accounts of the raids of Prince Vladimir Monomach of Rus’ on Cherson in the second half of the eleventh century: it reveals that these accounts came from Siegmund von Herberstein’s information on another topic, which later sustained deep changes in the sources from the Modern Period. The monograph also studies new names of Cherson, such as Sary-Kermen, Tope-Torkan, or Čurč, that emerged among its Turkic-speaking neighbours at the latest stage of the city and after its abandonment. It has been discovered that when the last residents left the city, its place was forgotten, and Russian and foreign writers, cartographers, and travellers searched for ancient Chersonese in different locations in the Crimea and outside the peninsula. Finally, the history of the sacralization of Chersonese has been demonstrated: it was a later phenomenon. The ruins of the old city acquired particular significance for the Russian Orthodoxy in the second quarter of middle of the nineteenth century, when archaeological excavations uncovered ancient churches and other monuments which were supposedly related to the baptism of Prince Vladimir of Kiev.
For professional researchers, professors, lecturers, history students, and all those interested in the history of the Crimea.
This book publishes a unique album of the views of the Crimea created by two famous Britons: Regi... more This book publishes a unique album of the views of the Crimea created by two famous Britons: Reginald Heber, famous religious poet and the would-be bishop of Calcutta, and Robert William Hay, the future undersecretary of state for colonies. The first visited the Crimea in 1806, the second in 1807. Both made drawings. Later on, Hay united them into the album, supplying with excerpts from their travel journals and other sources to explain what was on the watercolours. The album was probably sold from an auction after the authors passed away and was purchased by famous Crimean scholar Alexandre Berthier Delagarde. Now it resides in the Central Museum of Taurida in Simferopol. There are 36 drawings in total showing mediaeval castles, churches, and mosques in Caffa (present-day Feodosiya) and Sudak, Kerch and Balaklava, Crimean khan's palace in Bakhchisarai and settlements in the Southern coast of the Crimea. These drawings allow the one to see the cultural heritage sites as they were more than 200 years ago, undamaged by natural and man-made factors. The English text is supplied with the Russian translation, introduction, and necessary commentaries. Particularly interesting is Heber's letter to Hay (also translated and commentaried) uncovering the specificity of travelling in Eastern Europe in the early nineteenth century and the origins of the Crimean tourism.
This book presents a collection of accounts of Bakhchisarai from the European travelogues by the ... more This book presents a collection of accounts of Bakhchisarai from the European travelogues by the writers who visited the Crimea after the Russian annexation of 1783. The image of Bakhchisarai, formerly the capital of the Crimean khanate, acquired new senses: the Russian government intentionally conserved its appearance in order to demonstrate the care of the Muslims, though the locals viewed the town as a point of attraction with its symbolical text talking of the past. The publication comprises of excerpts from 21 travelogues supplying unique data on the history, ethnography, economy, architecture, and archaeology of the microregion where the Muslim, Christian, and Karaite communities coexisted; the travellers' subjective words uncover the features of the Western perception of other cultures and the shaping of the stereotypes of the Crimea. Every passage is supplied with introductory chapter talking on the author and necessary commentaries. The conclusion presents a reconstruction of the image of the Crimea in the Western mind.
Following 1783, numerous Western travellers visited the Crimea. In the age when scientific knowle... more Following 1783, numerous Western travellers visited the Crimea. In the age when scientific knowledge was arising and mass media's potential was restricted, traveloges created the images of faraway countries in the collective mind of the West. These images influenced the reflections of the readers - intellectuals, businessmen, persons of state - who used travelogues when developing various political, economic, or military projects. This book is the first complex research of the image of the Crimea shaped by the Britons who visited this peninsula agter its appropriation by Russia. The book analyses travelogues by ten authors, who made their readers familiar with the exotic land, full of picturesque landscapes and unusual beasts, remains of ancient and mediaeval structures and exotic nations, where the one could evaluate Russia's efforts in transformation of the region and offer one's own plan of its economic and political development. These travel writings also created a set of stereotypes which are still topical in our turbulent days.
This book presents essays on various aspects of interrelations between the Russian Empire and the... more This book presents essays on various aspects of interrelations between the Russian Empire and the Crimea from the late eighteenth to early twentieth century. The hundred and a half years of the Crimea's being in the Empire shaped an unique experience of integration of this national borderland and its populations into the vast multi-cultural state. The analysis of the wide circle of sources and critical exploration of the results of Russian and foreign scholarship allowed the authors to uncover various aspects of the Crimea's life in all-Russia and international contexts. There are original interpretations of disputable cases in the history of the Crimean peninsula which raised conceptual disputes in the Russian and foreign scholarship, and also made considerable imprint on the modern developments in the Black Sea area.
This book addresses various aspects of the integration of the Crimea into political, ideological,... more This book addresses various aspects of the integration of the Crimea into political, ideological, administrative, legal, ethnoconfessional, cultural, and symbolical spaces of Russia after the first annexation in 1783. Russia faced the necessity to absorb the region having politico-legal and socio-economic relations based on principally different fundamentals. The state used that situation to develop new administrative methods according to the values of the Enlightenment, such as humanism, religious and national tolerance, and scientific approach. Despite of the abundant scholarship discussing various aspects of the problem, one should establish that some important topics have not been uncovered yet. The reason is that different historiographic trends operate different methods, naturally coming to different results, though there are entire groups of sources still not introduced into scholarly circulation. Their study requires complex interdisciplinary approach based on modern methods of new history, archaeology, ethnology, philology, art history, legal studies, demography, and statistics. In result, complete operation cycle performed by Russian administration in order to solve integration issues in the specific region has been discovered for the first time, including such components as information collection machinery, creation of alternative screenplays for the development of the Crimea and aspects of their implementation, variants of feedback between the imperial bureaucracy and local communities, principles of correction of already made solutions.
This paper analysis the growth of interest to the Byzantine heritage of the Crimean Peninsula aft... more This paper analysis the growth of interest to the Byzantine heritage of the Crimean Peninsula after its annexation by Russia in 1783. The cases of "cave towns," Prince Vladimir's baptism, and alleged Rus' raid on the Crimea in the eleventh century allows to trace how late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries intellectual travellers and historians used to discuss narrative sources' accounts and material monuments related to the Byzantine past of the Crimea. Conceptualizing the Crimean Peninsula as a part of Byzantine heritage, they tried to make its history a component part of complicated narratives, which covered the entire history and civilization of Russia. Some of the ideas produced in the period in question, such as those related to the origin of "cave monasteries" by runaway Byzantine monks, to eleventh-century Rus' attack on Kafa, or to the Crimea's especial role for Russian religion and culture appeared to be extraordinary strong and survived in scholarly and public discourses to these days.
The novelty of this publication lies primarily in its concept: the dictionary is aimed for practi... more The novelty of this publication lies primarily in its concept: the dictionary is aimed for practical use during fieldwork, which is to say direct communication with other scholars. Accordingly, the author's aim was to select and include in the dictionary terms that are most widely used in the practical language of archaeologists. The dictionary also contains words that are absolutely necessary for communication in the field (i.e. names of tools, human bones, materials, etc.) as well as popular archaeological jargon. The structure of the dictionary is similar to that of phrase books in that it helps the user not only find the translation of a term, but also a phonetic transcription and pronunciation. The small size and pocket format ensure that the book is easy to use in the field. In this newly revised (2007) version, the author has greatly expanded both the number and length of entries. Continuing to focus on the practical language of archaeologists, this edition has additional terms describing architecture, conservation, ancient glass and pottery, along with the names of tools, human bones, materials, numismatics, popular archaeological jargon, and measuring systems. Translations are accompanied by phonetic transcription and pronunciation. The guide still fits easily into a pocket, providing an invaluable resource for communicating with scholars and students in the field.
In September 2013, an international colloquium in Kiev discussed various aspects of Byzantine and... more In September 2013, an international colloquium in Kiev discussed various aspects of Byzantine and Rus’ seals. Representatives of research institutes from seven countries – Austria, Bulgaria, France, Russia, Sweden, Turkey, and Ukraine – came to Kyiv and presented over 20 lectures. This volume is the columination of these lectures and the colloquium as a whole.
The materials published in this volume present various aspects of sigillography and show the seals’ important role for the studies of particular and general topics of history and archaeology. A big group of papers introduces earlier unknown seals of Byzantine and Rus’ secular and church figures into scholarly circulation. General questions of the chronology and interpretation of Byzantine and Rus’ seals are discussed, as well as some aspects of Rus’ ideology and cultural reception from Byzantium. Attempts have been made to reconstruct Byzantine history and the empire’s administrative system by seals’ account. The papers on post-Byzantine seals uncover the continuity of cultural forms after the great empire ceased to exist.
This book presents abstracts of the international research colloquium held in Kyiv (Ukraine) on S... more This book presents abstracts of the international research colloquium held in Kyiv (Ukraine) on September 13-16, 2013. Leading experts in Byzantine sigillography came from Austria, Bulgaria, France, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine to discuss topical problems of mediaeval seals study. Brief abstracts of their lectures are provided with Russian / English translation. The conference proceedings will be published in 2014 / 2015.
This small book presents abstracts of the international research seminar held in Sevastopol (Crim... more This small book presents abstracts of the international research seminar held in Sevastopol (Crimea) on September 5-8, 2014. Researchers of six states met each other in Chersonesos preserve to discuss aspects of production and distribution of Byzantine glazed ware. The abstracts are bilingual, provided with Russian / English translation. The conference proceedings will be published in 2015.
This is the catalogue of exhibition “One Thousand
Years of Ukrainian Seal” at the Nation... more This is the catalogue of exhibition “One Thousand
Years of Ukrainian Seal” at the National Museum of
Ukrainian History (Kyiv, Ukraine), presenting photos, descriptions and interpretations of 400 seals from the age of Byzantium to the 20th century. The book covers five branches of sigillography. “Kyivan Rus” chapter analyses seal as an important component of the system of symbols in the given period, uncovering its relation to numismatics and herald-
ry, shedding life on Byzantine tradition. The book
widely presents seals of Kyivan princes, officials,
and clergymen. “Lithuanian-Polish” chapter represents a wide range of earlier unknown sigillographic materials personifying different social strata: nobility, clergy, and burghers. Particular attention is drawn by seal’s role as an important tool of contemporary legislation imprinted in the Lithuanian statues and Magdeburg laws.“Cossack period” chapter shows seals of two cores of the Zaporozhian Cossack’s life: Zaporozhian Host and Hetmanate, particularly national relics – state seals of the Zaporozhian Cossack Host of the Lower Dnipro, the main insignia of the Host otamans. “Imperial period: sigillography of Dnipro and Galicia Ukraine” chapter features seals of admi-
nistrators, educational establishments, and churches, forming an important feature of the imperial ideologies of the period and the political system built upon total regulation and unification in the late 18th - early 20th century. The last chapter “20th century: sigillography of struggle” uncovers dramatic events of Ukraine's national liberation competitions in 1917-1920, social transformations in the Soviet period, and the events of the Second World War. Particularly interesting are the seals of Ukrainian emigrants.
This popular book makes the reader familiar with the milestones of specific and varied history of... more This popular book makes the reader familiar with the milestones of specific and varied history of the Crimean peninsula from the extreme antiquity to present time. This volume is for the widest circle of readers who are interested in the history of the Crimea, the past and present of this magnificent peninsula.
Популярная книга знакомит читателя с основными вехами самобытной и многообразной истории Крымского полуострова с древнейших времён до наших дней. Издание адресовано самой широкой аудитории, интересующейся историей Крыма, его прошлым и настоящим.
Full text of kandidatskaya dissertation discussing the administration of Cherson, provincial city... more Full text of kandidatskaya dissertation discussing the administration of Cherson, provincial city located in the north-east extremity of the Byzantine empire. Outstanding number of sources (inscriptions, seals, chronicles, etc.) allows one to research the administration of this centre as a system, as well as to trace its development, its continuity and its similarity and differences with other Byzantine provinces.
Abstracts of the papers presented in 2010 in the conference “Inter Ambo Maria: Contacts between S... more Abstracts of the papers presented in 2010 in the conference “Inter Ambo Maria: Contacts between Scandinavia and the Crimea in the Roman Period.” The conference discussed various aspects related to history and archaeology of barbarian migration from Scandinavia, through the East Central and Eastern Europe, to the Crimea in the Late Roman and Great Migration periods.
Popular book on the history of the peoples who populated the Crimean peninsula from the Early Iro... more Popular book on the history of the peoples who populated the Crimean peninsula from the Early Iron Age (9th c. BC) to the Russian annexation (18th c. AD). Written by a team of local archaeologists, historians and anthropologists, it suggests a first look into the ethnic history of the area.
Papers by Nikita Khrapunov
Antichnaya drevnost’ i srednie veka, vol. 52, 2024
This article examines the interpretations of some architectural and archaeological heritage sites... more This article examines the interpretations of some architectural and archaeological heritage sites in the Crimea that appeared from the seventeenth to nineteenth century. It was the period when the travellers who described the Crimean Peninsula concluded that the most outstanding Friday mosques initially were the churches that experienced Muslim reconstruction. The travellers with their speculative ideas about architecture thought that the Muslims were unable to create these magnificent buildings. The speculations of the kind got an additional impetus when the Crimea was unified with Russia. The lack of knowledge on the early Christian history of the region and the history of architecture in general had an effect. Following the unification of the Crimea with Russia, some authors independently produced the idea that mediaeval “cave” towns and monasteries formed a link in the cultural and religious connections between Byzantium and Russia. This conclusion was based on the visual “similarity” between the artificial caves in the Crimea and the Sviatogorskii and Kiev-Pechersk monasteries. The cases under analysis uncover the attempts of finding the “most ancient past” of Crimean Christianity, which, however, had no relation to historical realities. Nevertheless, the conclusions under analysis are typical of the thinking of the intellectual elite of the Modern Period.
Materials in Archaeology, History, and Ethnography of Tauria, vol. 29, 2024
This article analyses the legends of the “traces of the Deluge” in the Crimea, as described in th... more This article analyses the legends of the “traces of the Deluge” in the Crimea, as described in the works of the “Western” and “Eastern” travellers and writers in the Modern period. These legends stated that the ancient inhabitants of the peninsula witnessed that the sea flooded most of the Crimea, so only the mountain tops rose above the waves. There the people built their dwellings, which remains survived as the “cave towns,” the sites, according to our present knowledge, dating back from the Byzantine period. The legends under study reflected the influence of the factors of multicultural origin: the accounts of classical writers, the Crimean Tatar tradition, the attempts of the scholars of the Enlightenment to explain the presence of fossils in highland layers, as well as the fantasies of travellers who tried to impress their readers by the exoticism of distant lands. In the absence of modern ideas concerning the history of the Earth, mountain formation, and geology, travellers’ fantasy, logic and so-called common sense became almost the only methods of studying the past. It is not surprising therefore that pseudo-historical reconstructions appeared
in the years when there was no reliable information about the Byzantine-period sites, and the methods of archaeological research were taking their first steps. However, the value of the accounts under present study
lies elsewhere: they allow the one to understand the peculiarities of the mentality of the period, as well as to reconstruct the complex, comprehensive process of intercultural communications.
Annual of French Studies, vol. 57, 2024
This paper discusses the evolution of the image of the Crimean Tatar warriors in the French trave... more This paper discusses the evolution of the image of the Crimean Tatar warriors in the French travel writings from the Early Modern Period. The materials under research are writings of the French travellers in Eastern Europe. Some of them visited the Crimea, others viewed Crimean Tatars during military campaigns in present-day Ukraine. It has been demonstrated that initial image of the Crimean Tatars represented archetypical nomads, who “inherited” some features of Scythians and Huns from Greco-Roman tradition and the mediaeval Mongols as the “messengers of the Apocalypse.” The Tatars were viewed as ruthless warriors, ideally fit to severe conditions of the steppe, who used unusual ways of fighting, provisioning, and handling the “living booty.” It was supposed that most of the population of Northern Asia, or Tartary, had the same features. After the Russian annexation of the Crimea, the image of the Crimean Tatars drastically changed. From that moment on, the Crimean Tatars were described as peaceful farmers, who lost their military valour to become “noble savages” of the Rousseauian tradition. Similarly to the most of ethnic stereotypes, this one was rather far from reality and demonstrated complexes and phobias of the Frenchmen.
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Books by Nikita Khrapunov
For professional researchers, professors, lecturers, history students, and all those interested in the history of the Crimea.
The materials published in this volume present various aspects of sigillography and show the seals’ important role for the studies of particular and general topics of history and archaeology. A big group of papers introduces earlier unknown seals of Byzantine and Rus’ secular and church figures into scholarly circulation. General questions of the chronology and interpretation of Byzantine and Rus’ seals are discussed, as well as some aspects of Rus’ ideology and cultural reception from Byzantium. Attempts have been made to reconstruct Byzantine history and the empire’s administrative system by seals’ account. The papers on post-Byzantine seals uncover the continuity of cultural forms after the great empire ceased to exist.
Years of Ukrainian Seal” at the National Museum of
Ukrainian History (Kyiv, Ukraine), presenting photos, descriptions and interpretations of 400 seals from the age of Byzantium to the 20th century. The book covers five branches of sigillography. “Kyivan Rus” chapter analyses seal as an important component of the system of symbols in the given period, uncovering its relation to numismatics and herald-
ry, shedding life on Byzantine tradition. The book
widely presents seals of Kyivan princes, officials,
and clergymen. “Lithuanian-Polish” chapter represents a wide range of earlier unknown sigillographic materials personifying different social strata: nobility, clergy, and burghers. Particular attention is drawn by seal’s role as an important tool of contemporary legislation imprinted in the Lithuanian statues and Magdeburg laws.“Cossack period” chapter shows seals of two cores of the Zaporozhian Cossack’s life: Zaporozhian Host and Hetmanate, particularly national relics – state seals of the Zaporozhian Cossack Host of the Lower Dnipro, the main insignia of the Host otamans. “Imperial period: sigillography of Dnipro and Galicia Ukraine” chapter features seals of admi-
nistrators, educational establishments, and churches, forming an important feature of the imperial ideologies of the period and the political system built upon total regulation and unification in the late 18th - early 20th century. The last chapter “20th century: sigillography of struggle” uncovers dramatic events of Ukraine's national liberation competitions in 1917-1920, social transformations in the Soviet period, and the events of the Second World War. Particularly interesting are the seals of Ukrainian emigrants.
Популярная книга знакомит читателя с основными вехами самобытной и многообразной истории Крымского полуострова с древнейших времён до наших дней. Издание адресовано самой широкой аудитории, интересующейся историей Крыма, его прошлым и настоящим.
Papers by Nikita Khrapunov
in the years when there was no reliable information about the Byzantine-period sites, and the methods of archaeological research were taking their first steps. However, the value of the accounts under present study
lies elsewhere: they allow the one to understand the peculiarities of the mentality of the period, as well as to reconstruct the complex, comprehensive process of intercultural communications.
For professional researchers, professors, lecturers, history students, and all those interested in the history of the Crimea.
The materials published in this volume present various aspects of sigillography and show the seals’ important role for the studies of particular and general topics of history and archaeology. A big group of papers introduces earlier unknown seals of Byzantine and Rus’ secular and church figures into scholarly circulation. General questions of the chronology and interpretation of Byzantine and Rus’ seals are discussed, as well as some aspects of Rus’ ideology and cultural reception from Byzantium. Attempts have been made to reconstruct Byzantine history and the empire’s administrative system by seals’ account. The papers on post-Byzantine seals uncover the continuity of cultural forms after the great empire ceased to exist.
Years of Ukrainian Seal” at the National Museum of
Ukrainian History (Kyiv, Ukraine), presenting photos, descriptions and interpretations of 400 seals from the age of Byzantium to the 20th century. The book covers five branches of sigillography. “Kyivan Rus” chapter analyses seal as an important component of the system of symbols in the given period, uncovering its relation to numismatics and herald-
ry, shedding life on Byzantine tradition. The book
widely presents seals of Kyivan princes, officials,
and clergymen. “Lithuanian-Polish” chapter represents a wide range of earlier unknown sigillographic materials personifying different social strata: nobility, clergy, and burghers. Particular attention is drawn by seal’s role as an important tool of contemporary legislation imprinted in the Lithuanian statues and Magdeburg laws.“Cossack period” chapter shows seals of two cores of the Zaporozhian Cossack’s life: Zaporozhian Host and Hetmanate, particularly national relics – state seals of the Zaporozhian Cossack Host of the Lower Dnipro, the main insignia of the Host otamans. “Imperial period: sigillography of Dnipro and Galicia Ukraine” chapter features seals of admi-
nistrators, educational establishments, and churches, forming an important feature of the imperial ideologies of the period and the political system built upon total regulation and unification in the late 18th - early 20th century. The last chapter “20th century: sigillography of struggle” uncovers dramatic events of Ukraine's national liberation competitions in 1917-1920, social transformations in the Soviet period, and the events of the Second World War. Particularly interesting are the seals of Ukrainian emigrants.
Популярная книга знакомит читателя с основными вехами самобытной и многообразной истории Крымского полуострова с древнейших времён до наших дней. Издание адресовано самой широкой аудитории, интересующейся историей Крыма, его прошлым и настоящим.
in the years when there was no reliable information about the Byzantine-period sites, and the methods of archaeological research were taking their first steps. However, the value of the accounts under present study
lies elsewhere: they allow the one to understand the peculiarities of the mentality of the period, as well as to reconstruct the complex, comprehensive process of intercultural communications.
they went so far as to claim that they entered a battle unarmed. From the very childhood, Crimean warriors were accustomed to campaigns and battles, scarce exotic food, and harsh natural conditions. According to the “Europeans”, the Crimean army not only practised “unconventional”
ways of battling, but also had severe discipline. Explaining the successes of the khan’s army, some writers greatly exaggerated its numbers. A special motif was the description of the suffering of the captives, who constituted the main trophy of the Ta(r)tars; the latter developed an effective system of getting, transportation, distribution, pricing, selling, and use of the “live goods”.
True Travels, Adventures, and Observations of Smith were written decades after the above-mentioned events; the author “refreshed” his memory by taking some information from accounts of other travellers and writers; moreover, he tried to present himself as a brave soldier, who skilfully applied stratagems and became famous after his valour presented in single combats. In result, Smith successfully created a narrative resembling a romance or adventure story, which did not cover horrific violence of battlefield, heavy consequences of incorrect political decisions, and simultaneously praised the frightening beauty of battles and single combats, as well as the valour of Smith and his brothers in
arms. The image of enemy was ambivalent: the Turks generally had no pronounced individual features, though the Crimean Ta(r)tars were represented as archetypical nomadic barbarians.
while de Peyssonnel’s historical studies are left aside from the analysis. It has been stated that the Frenchman’s works present one of the first attempts in the Modern Period to investigate the antiquities of the Crimean Peninsula. De Peyssonnel showed his knowledge of ancient and mediaeval written sources, contemporary cartography and scholarship, as well as the knowledge he got during his diplomatic service at the court of the Crimean Khan. He was particularly interested in the ancient topography of the Crimean Peninsula. Despite his vast knowledge, erudition, and practical wit, the Frenchman’s reflections may not always be called “academic” in the modern sense, for the basic methods and principles of current historical and linguistic research were not yet discovered in his age. Nevertheless, the Frenchman mapped many cities, towns, and settlements, which names he learned from ancient and mediaeval writers. De Peyssonnel’s memoires influenced the next generation of travellers and “armchair” researchers, whose works appeared after the annexation of the Crimea by Russia in 1783, particularly influential encyclopaedic travelogues published by Matthew Guthrie, Ebenezer Henderson, and Frédéric Dubois de Montpereux in the first half of the nineteenth century.
khanate’s troops on the Russian provinces supplied by the memoirs of
the French Consul in Bakhchisarai, Baron François de Tott. This book
was published 15 years after the mentioned event and a year after the
unification of the Crimea with Russia. A comparison with the reports which the Baron sent to the French foreign office shows that his memoirs was primarily aimed to entertain the public by telling a story of the adventures of a brave and witty European in exotic countries. However, the diplomat managed to gather quite a lot of factual information, often hidden behind descriptions of the hardships of the winter campaign. De Tott idealized Khan Krym-Girei, creating an image of barbarian, but a sympathetic one, who liked lofty conversations, harsh and hot-tempered, but fair and erudite person. The Frenchman described cruel and efficient tactics of the raid, original methods of the forming of the Crimean army, providing it with provisions and forage, maintaining discipline in the campaign, devastation of hostile territories, and distribution of trophies. He contrasted the Tatar (Nogai) army to the Turkish cavalry (sipahi), who were described as greedy, cruel, and unfit for the severe conditions of winter campaign. De Tott’s images of the Tatars probably contained some features of stereotypical descriptions of the northern barbarians, characteristic of the accounts of classical and Byzantine writers concerning the Scythians, Huns, etc.
at the imaginary border between Europe and Asia, the travellers used traditional in the European mind ideas of the historical roles of East and West, the historical mission of the European powers, and the essence of the Russian state. As the source base for the study, several of the most popular travelogues of the period under research were chosen, in particular the works of François de Tott and Edward Clarke, William Eton and Matthew Guthrie, Mary Holderness and Paul Guibal, Xavier and Adèle Hommaire de Hell, and Olimpiada Shishkina. The article shows the genesis of popular, and the same time opposite interpretations of the historical role and fate of the Crimean Khanate, from the “golden age” in the history of the region to the disaster that threw it far back. Depending on the author’s aim, the unification with Russia was interpreted as a “barbarian invasion,” or, alternatively, as a new possibility for fast progress. Moreover, the article uncovers the main criteria used by the travellers when evaluating the activities of the Russian government, their attitude towards the local residents, the ability to establish effective administration, develop trade, protect Christianity, keep archaeological and architectural monuments and sites, and so on. The work
analyses established stereotypes developed by the travellers, such as “huge economic potential” of the Crimea, the perception of its residents as “noble savages / lazy idlers,” “Russian barbarism” concerning cultural heritage, and “military impotence” of the Black Sea Navy. It is indicated that many such assessments depended on the travellers’ background and already existing opinion, which had been formed before the journey. The article demonstrates the continuity in the stereotypes and explanatory models, especially in the period of aggravation of relations between Russia and Europe on the eve and in the course of the Crimean War, when anti-Russian ideological patterns and discourses became in demand again.
during a travel to the Crimea in 1787 in the retinue of Empress Catherine II, these “letters” were created several years later, as sections of the pseudo-epistolography work fi rst published in 1801. Although the document has been the subject of many researches, the subject of their analysis was almost always restricted to the discourse, not taking into account the
information from other sources uncovering the local context. This article
provides a comparative analysis of de Ligne’s accounts and Crimean
realities reconstructed by more objective sources. The result shows how the prince’s imagination transformed and reinterpreted the places, persons, events and phenomena he saw. It has been shown that de Ligne translated the stereotypes he had learned long before his Crimean tour as a part of his own culture. The article has been analysed the following subjects: the localization of de Ligne’s estate, the so-called “Parthenizza”; pseudo-geography of the Crimea created by a talented man of letters; the legend of the “Balaklava Amazons”; the search for “oriental pleasures” in the Taurida as a part of European orientalism and symbolism of Catherine II’s reaction; the study of Oriental (Crimean Tatar) psychology; the discourse of the “Tatar laziness”; the stereotype of “optimistic perspectives” of Crimean businesses. The article has revealed the influence of de Ligne’s works on the Russian culture and particularly on the fact that, during the most part of the nineteenth century, the Crimea was associated with the “Russian Orient” rather than with the “origins of Russian Christianity”; it became the “Russian Alhambra” despite the pressure of the state ideology.
the famous poem by Aleksandr Pushkin The Fountain of Bakhchisarai and the embodiment of mysterious, romantic, and alluring Orient/East. The Poles remembered Bakhchisarai because of The Crimean Sonnets by Adam Mickiewicz. The public in different countries recollects the story of the southern tour of Russian Empress Catherine II in a company of Emperor Joseph II of the Holy Roman Empire and Western diplomats in 1787 and fantastic image of the khan’s residence in travelogues. Today the former palace of Crimean khans is the core of the Bakhchisarai Historical, Cultural, and Archaeological Museum Preserve comprising more than a hundred archaeological, architectural, and cultural sites from the Aeneolithic to the Modern Periods located in the town and its environs. Modern museum officially starts its history from 1917, when, following the collapse of the Russian Empire and the outburst of national movements in border regions, the national museum of the Crimean Tatars was established in the former khan’s residence. This article analyses the history of the monument during the fifty years after the unification of the Crimea with Russia, or the Russian annexation of the Crimea in 1783 (the choice of the word depends mostly on the user’s political views). This case characterizes the development of museums and cultural heritage protection in Russia during the Imperial Period. Interesting is the rank of the Palace, which actually was a museum, but did not have this status officially. Moreover, our intention is to uncover how the former residence of Muslim rulers turned into a phenomenon important to very different cultures.