The Goths, the people of the East German industry, played a significant role in the history of Taurida. Their ancestral home is on the lower reaches of the Vistula and Pregel rivers. Under the influence of some impulse, the Goths in the 2nd half of the 2nd century moved south in large numbers under the leadership of their king Filimer, crossed the swampy valley of the Pripyat River, crushing the Slavic tribes here, and by the beginning of the 3rd century penetrated the Black Sea regions. They quickly occupied the vast expanse of the Black Sea from the Don to the Danube, organized themselves into states and immediately faced the then cultural world and the great Roman Empire - almost simultaneously in the Danube and Dnieper regions and, which is especially interesting for us now, in Taurida. The most significant clash was on the Danube, and here the Goths often threatened the integrity of the Roman Empire.
The Goths entered Taurida in the middle of the 3rd century. During archaeological studies of burial grounds along the Black Sea coast, from Feodosia to Chersonesos (especially in the vicinity of Gurzuf), the so-called deformed skulls were found in large numbers, which some attribute to the Goths, others to the Alans. Here they settled quickly and almost unhindered. Events in the cultural centers of Taurida favored them: there were troubles in the Bosporus because of the throne, and Chersonesos, accustomed to living under the protection of Rome over the past 200 years, as a region of the Roman province of Moesia, did not show any resistance. Rome at this time had no time for Taurida, he removed the last troops from Taurica, leaving it to its own devices. All Tavrida is ready in hand. The Scythians (Tauride) from this time, as a political unit, no longer exist;they gradually lose their national characteristics and merge with the Goths and other peoples. Bosporus, Chersonesos and others - the obedient servants are ready, Theodosia falls heavily, and Ay-Todor fell silent forever. The Goths settled in Taurida so firmly that they later became its autochthons.
In their first period of domination, the Goths used the naval forces of the Bosporus and Chersonesos and ravaged, starting from the Caucasian ones, the shores of the Black Sea. After the first success, they are transferred to the Asia Minor coast and devastate cities such as Trapezun (257), Chalcedon, Nicomedia, Nicaea, Kios, Apameya, Prusu, etc., then on the western coast of the Black Sea - the cities of Istros, Tom, Anhiol, etc.., finally, they break through the Propontis and the Aegean Sea into the Mediterranean Sea, devastating the islands of Rhodes, Crete, Cyprus, etc.
The conquerors of Taurida encountered the culture of the former Hellenic colonies, fell under its influence, but at that time in Taurida, as in the entire Greco-Roman world, a great revolution took place in life - from pagan antiquity to Christianity. The latter captured both the Goths and quickly spread between them. Their campaigns in Asia Minor led to a direct clash with Christians. Often there were followers of Christ among the captives, and in their humiliation they subdued the overcomers to their God. Christianity among the Crimean Goths was adopted according to the Eastern rite, and their ties with the Christian East continue until the last days of their history. The neo-Caesarean bishop Gregory spoke about Christianity as early as 258. We know little of the Gospel apostles among the Goths, but it is indisputable that there were many of them, otherwise there would not have been such a success;Basil the Great has only one name, Eutychus. The Goths had many martyrs and martyrs, as recorded in the Georgian chronicles (see M. Dzhanashvili).
In the IV century, the Gothic diocese already appeared in Taurida, and the first bishop of Unila was ordained from the Patriarch of Constantinople John Chrysostom. Upon the death of Unil, the Gothic leader asks the Patriarch of Constantinople for a new bishop; this fact speaks for the fact that the Tauride Goths were Orthodox at the very beginning, and not Arians, like their other fellow tribesmen. The religious isolation of the Goths was greatly facilitated by their political isolation from the main mass of the Goths (Arians), which, after the defeat of the state of Germanarich (about 375) by the Hun leader Balamir, had to leave the Dnieper "glorious kingdom of the Goths" to the Eastern and Western empires.
Huns. The Huns are a Turkic tribe, about 371 they crossed the Don and smashed everything they met on the way. Most of them passed through the southern Russian steppes, and only a small part of them ended up in Taurida. The centers of her culture survived, but the Goths, after a stubborn struggle with the Huns, entered into a treaty agreement; some of them went to the eastern coast of the Kerch Strait, and most settled in the mountains of the peninsula, where they formed settlements under the protection of several barely accessible castels. (5) The steppes of the peninsula were occupied by the Huns, which fully corresponded to their character and nomadic way of life.
The proximity of the Huns' steppe to the Bosporus affected the latter's dependence on the Huns until the time of Emperor Justin (518-527).
The rise of Byzantium under Justinian (527-565) was reflected in Taurida as well. Justinian, wishing to keep the Tauride regions in the power of the empire, strengthens their cities to fight the steppe inhabitants. He draws on his side and is ready, building fortresses for the same struggle; on the seashore, as Procopius says: "he built a castle called Aluston (n. Alushta) and a castle in Gurzuvits (n. Gurzuf)." In these castles, minor remains of fortifications have been preserved. The investigated burial grounds near these castels belong to the Gothic scientists. The presence of fragments of Byzantine glazed utensils suggests that there was a Byzantine culture here. The Goto-Greek population left Gurzuf and Alushta at the end of the 18th century, with a general resettlement to Novorossia. Procopius calls the country the Goths Dori and says that it is fertile, although mountainous. The Goths concentrate mainly between Sudak and Balaklava. This area is also called "Gothia". In the mountains, the Goths retained their physical type from mixing with the Turkic-Mongols. Procopius describes the Goths as exemplary warriors and friendly Byzantium; This closeness has degenerated into dependence on the latter, in fact, fictitious. The Goths remained in this position until the fall of Byzantium in 1453. This dependence was maintained by the church. The Gothic diocese was dependent on the Patriarch of Constantinople even after the fall of Byzantium. The Goths remained in this position until the fall of Byzantium in 1453. This dependence was maintained by the church. The Gothic diocese was dependent on the Patriarch of Constantinople even after the fall of Byzantium. The Goths remained in this position until the fall of Byzantium in 1453. This dependence was maintained by the church. The Gothic diocese was dependent on the Patriarch of Constantinople even after the fall of Byzantium.
Promotional video:
Taurida in general, and the Goths in particular, have to reckon with new and new steppe dwellers: first, with the Avars, who in small numbers touched the peninsula; then with the Turks, who broke through about 580 and caused much trouble to both the Greek colonies and the mountain Goths. In the middle of the 7th century Khazars tried to subjugate Taurida, and at the end of the century a “tudun”, the governor of the Khazar Kagan, appeared on the Bosporus.
Khazars. From here the power of the Khazars extends to Sugdeya (n. Sudak) and across the mountainous Crimea. Their role is expanding in Taurida, especially under Justinian II (685-711). His story, full of tragic adventures, led the Khazars to take part in the internal politics of Byzantium, and after the death of the emperor, Chersonesos was under the protectorate of the Khazars, but was not annexed to their possessions.
A completely different fate of Gothia: it is subordinated to the Khazars, in their fortress Doros they put a garrison and their tudun; but the Gothic prince retained his post. From the history of Gothia of this time, we are given a lot of information in the "Life" of St. John of Gotha, written in the middle of the 8th century. St. John, a native of "the Torzhishche of the Parthenites", led (about 787) the Goth uprising against the Khazars. The uprising, which was successful at the beginning for the Goths, ended in victory for the Khazars, and the bishop was imprisoned in the fortress of Fulla (perhaps later Solhat), but then he fled to Amastrida, where he died; his body was brought and buried in the Partenita monastery. The Khazars were distinguished by their religious tolerance and, thanks to this quality, the politically dependent Goths freely developed their religion. Their bishopric was renamed the Metropolitanate, with a cathedra in the capital of Gothia, with frequent visits to the Partenit monastery. The metropolis was divided into seven bishops and seized a colossal territory: most of Taurida, the lower Don region and the lower Volga region. In the Khazar period, the until then almost unknown city of Sugdeya (Sudak, Soldaya, Surozh of ancient Russia) rises.
The second half of the 8th century is full of a struggle in the Christian world between iconodulers and iconoclasts, icon-worshipers and iconoclasts, accompanied by the horrors of persecution; the iconodules also found refuge in Taurida; almost all Christians of the peninsula belonged to the latter, led by the bishops of St. John of Gotha and St. Stefan Surozhsky. At this time, a huge number of monks who fled from the empire appear in Taurida; arriving in Taurida, they laid the foundation for many monasteries. The emergence of many cave monasteries is attributed to this period.
Let's list these forgotten corners known to many: Shuldan, Marmara, approx. v. Shulyu, Kachi-Kalen, Tepe-Kermen, Cherkes-Kermen, Mangup-Kale, Inkerman, Assumption skete, Bakla and many others. dr.
About cave dwelling, it must be said that it existed before - it can be attributed to the beginning of Christianity in Taurida. (6)
In the first half of the 9th century, Gothia was freed from the Khazar protectorate and entered the theme (7) of Chersonesos with the name of the Gothic "climates"; Khazars are weakening, probably due to troubles in the steppes. By this time, the appearance in Tavrida of Varangian squads, who plundered along the banks of Tavrida (for example, Prince Bravlin).
Khazar rule falls. The rule of the Magyars arises and quickly passes in the south of Russia, and behind them, between the Don and Danube, the Pechenegs appear, in whose hands all the ties of Taurida with the north are concentrated.
We know of Rus' connections only with the cultural centers of Taurida: Chersonesos and the Bosporus. The emergence of the Tmutarakan principality confirms the fact that the Khazars have lost their importance in the Kuban region and are weak in Pridonia and the Volga region. The influence of Byzantium was expanding along the Tauride coast. Sugdeya is also included in the category of the Chersonesos theme, only the Bosporus falls under the rule of the new Russian principality; the Chersonesus fema, and probably the Goths, pay Byzantium a certain tax. This dependence lasts from the XI to the beginning of the XIII century.