Where is the navel of the earth? You will be surprised, but there are many answers to this question - and they are all correct. The classic version assumes that in Greece: Zeus empirically calculated the location of the center of the earth, launching two eagles in different directions. The birds met exactly over Delphi. There, at Mount Parnassus, the Greeks installed the first omphalus. The first, but far from the last. For very soon every earth, by all means, needed its own navel - its own sanctuary, its own starting point, its concentration of all the most important and important …
The center of the world
The same Greeks found another navel of the earth in Sicily - in the city of Enna, the highest in all of Italy. It was there, in ancient times, the god of the kingdom of the dead, Hades, once kidnapped Persephone, the daughter of the goddess of fertility Demeter. Other peoples also did not stand aside for a long time: stone hemispheres resembling half an egg were found in India, America, and many Asian countries. Christians have appointed Jerusalem as the navel of the earth …
As you can see, there are many navels of the earth. So is it any wonder that one of them is in Odessa? There is so much in this city! Everyone knows that any smuggled goods come from Malaya Arnautskaya Street, but they say that even the famous gold of Heinrich Schliemann, known as Priam's treasure, was also made somewhere in Odessa. Where do such talents come from? Not only does the proximity to the center of the universe, found on Zhevakhova Gora, affect …
Brick by history
Strictly speaking, the Zhevakhova mountain can only be called a mountain with a big stretch - for example, a 40-meter clay hill located between the Khadzhibey and Kuyalnitsky estuaries. But he also attracted the attention of archaeologists, moreover, in the 19th century. The fact is that the entire surface of Zhevakhova Mountain was strewn with fragments of Greek ceramics. Researchers rightly reasoned that an ancient settlement was once located on this place. However, scientists could not study the hill in detail: it was owned by Prince Zhevakhov.
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A few years later, the city bought the land from the prince (the name of the mountain still reminds of the former owner), but, alas, not to please archaeologists. Exactly in 1902, German doctors discovered that the mud of the Kuyalnitsky estuary, located next to the Zhevakhovaya Gora, smells bad, but at the same time has healing properties. Then they thought: "Why don't we start arranging health baths?" The fathers of the city of Odessa liked the idea so much that they not only paid a tidy sum to Prince Zhevakhov, but also overtook a hundred fellows armed with shovels into the estuary.
Those zealously got down to business and quickly dug down the burial mound - a longtime neighbor of Zhevakhova Gora. Why stand on ceremony with him? It interferes with business! It was then that the Greek amphoras of the 5th century BC came to light. e. Instead of businessmen and excavators, historians ascended to Zhevakhova Mountain. And on April 26, 1902, at a meeting of the Imperial Society of History and Antiquities, Professor Ernst von Stern said: "The key to solving the mystery of the ancient predecessor of Odessa should be sought on Zhevakhova Hill."
While archaeologists were pondering on which side it would be better to start excavations and get the key they were looking for, a certain kind of troubles began to shake the Russian Empire. Then other times came - and it was not up to history at all. Zhevakhova Gora, however, also attracted the new government: the quality and quantity of clay, its component, were such that enterprising comrades immediately built a brick factory next to it. You understand that no one here was involved in sorting the ancient Greek shards: so, one must think, the local bricks came out wonderfully well …
Retreat but don't give up
Historians retreated, but only for a while: when circumstances allowed, they resumed excavations on Zhevakhova Gora. So they dug here in the 1950s and in 1972. They found the remains of living quarters and deep pits filled with ash and ash. And they also found a letter on a lead tablet addressed to a certain Protagoras: in a few lines the Greek was asked to return home due to the fact that the events that had an unfavorable resonance for him had subsided. Oddly enough, it was this message from time immemorial that allowed scientists to achieve that Zhevakhova Gora finally acquired the status of a historical monument. Apparently, the history of Protagoras was close to the officials …
In the summer of 2006, an expedition from the South Ukrainian Pedagogical University began excavations at Zhevakhova Gora. Scientists followed in the footsteps of their predecessors and started from garbage pits. It was then that it became clear that, firstly, the pits are by no means garbage, and secondly, they are located in accordance with a strict planning. In some, arrows predominated, in others, dishes, others were full of lead weights, and the fourth with coins. Inscriptions-dedication were found on many objects.
In a word, the nature of the finds led researchers further and further from the generally accepted idea that there was once a settlement on Zhevakhova Gora. But what then? Archaeologists were able to answer this question when they found a vast cylindrical pit, at the bottom of which a cone-shaped embankment was discovered - nothing more than an om-fal, or the navel of the earth. Only then did it become obvious that scientists were dealing with an ancient sanctuary.
Something about a ghost
Further research convinced archaeologists that the ancient Greek sanctuary on Zhevakhovaya Gora is one of the largest in the entire Northern Black Sea region.
In ancient times, along the line of the present Khadzhibey estuary, there was a border of the spheres of influence of two neighboring city-states: Olbia and Istria. Their inhabitants, as well as sailors entering the harbor, probably constituted the main clientele of the sanctuary on Zhevakhova Gora.
And why did the Greeks come to the navel of the earth? To find out about your future, of course. For example, a specially trained pythia sat next to the reference Delphic omphalus, designed to broadcast their fate to the curious. True, before starting to prophesy, the pythia sat down at a crevice in the rock, from which fetid vapors rose, and deliberately inhaled them. The visionary instinct of the priestesses of Zhevakhova Mountain was probably exacerbated by the aromas of the curative mud of the Kuyalnik estuary. Jokes aside: the proximity of the foul-smelling estuary, most likely, really became one of the reasons why the navel of the earth was “set up” on Zhevakhova Mountain. But there were other arguments, which, by the way, have not gone anywhere to this day.
Powerful tool
Psychics assure that the presence of powerful radiation of unknown origin is felt on Zhevakhova Mountain. It is extremely dangerous to be in its field all the time. The fact that the microdistrict Zhevakhova Gora ranks first in Odessa in terms of the number of suicides and people who have lost their minds is another confirmation of this. But if you urgently need inspiration, if you need strength in order to decide on this or that step - in a word, if you need doping, know that you will find all this by climbing Zhevakhova Mountain. As they say, only the dose determines whether the drug is a poison or a healing drug. One-time lifts will not harm you, but, on the contrary, will fill you with strength and energy, give the necessary impulse.
In addition, here, on the site of the ancient sanctuary, thoughts become clearer. Therefore, everyone who is in confusion, who is confused or, perhaps, even lost the meaning of life, should come to Zhevakhova Mountain. And who knows, maybe for the same reason UFOs regularly visit here? In any case, they are seen here with enviable regularity …