Black Sea conceals in itself many secrets, it is unique in nature and we, perhaps, do not always appreciate it properly. Most of the domestic divers strive to go to the resorts of Egypt, Turkey, Maldives, not fully understanding, and not even knowing what secrets are hidden under the waves of our sea. One of these secrets, which recently began to open its curtain to us, is ancient city Acre, nicknamed "Crimean Atlantis". Let's dive into the romance of underwater archeology, scientific research and simple recreational diving.
Acre is a kind of "Terra Incognita". At the end of the 18th century, Crimea was annexed to the territory Russian Empire... This event marked the beginning of an active scientific survey of these lands. Scientists-encyclopedists began to make their journeys to new lands. In parallel, they tried to localize the places of the Greek cities, known from ancient written sources.
In the "Periplus of Pontus Euxinsky" many cities are named on the shores of the Cimmerian Bosporus (Kerch Strait): Panticapaeum, Mirmekiy, Nympheus, Kitey and the village of Acra. Strabo, Greek geographer of the 2nd century AD, pointed out that Acre is located opposite Corokondama at the entrance to the strait. But Pliny the Elder, a Roman scholar, ranks Acre among the Bosporus cities. In addition, Acre was mentioned by Claudius Ptolemy, Stephen of Byzantium and Aelius Gordian.
By the beginning of the 20th century, almost all ancient cities were localized on modern maps, but there were minor problems with Acra - they could not find its remains. The etymology of the name of this city initially confused the researchers, since the main and most common meaning assumed that Acre would be located on an elevated place, because literally the word "Acre" is translated as a hill or fortification. It is from here that the name "acropolis" - the upper city comes from.
Academician P.S. Pallas was the first to give "registration" to Acre at the end of the 18th century, placing it on Cape Takil in the southeastern part of the Kerch Peninsula. Paul Dubrux, one of the pioneers of Russian archeology, in early XIX century, he placed Akra a little south of Taquil, on the hillfort he discovered. Until 1918, almost all researchers were convinced that there was Acre, but a sensational find was made. Local fishermen found an iconic table with an inscription that mentioned the Chinese community. It became clear that another Bosporan city, Kitay, was located here.
For the next 60 years, Akru was located on Taquila itself. When excavations were carried out here in 1975 and an ancient Greek sanctuary was found, it seemed that the city had finally been found. But many researchers had doubts about the fidelity of the localization of Acre. The location of two neighboring Greek cities, between which Acre was located - Nymphaeum and Kitaeus - was well established. Greek periphery (ancient sailing directions) told us the distance between cities, and the distance from Kithei to Cape Taquil was half that to Acre.
After the winter storms of 1981, a Kerch schoolchild began to find ancient coins on the banks of the sandy spill separating the salty Yanyshskoe Lake from the Kerch Strait south of the village of Naberezhnoe, Leninsky District, Crimea. The lucky schoolboy has collected a fairly indicative collection of antique coins from different periods. This confirmed that here scientists are dealing not with a simple blurred treasure, but with some kind of flooded settlement. The coins were transferred to the Kerch Museum, and in the summer of 1982, V. Kholodkov, an employee of the Kerch Museum, carried out the first excavations, both on the embankment and on the hill south of the lake, during which powerful cultural layers of the ancient era were discovered. It became clear that archaeologists were faced not with an ordinary settlement, but with a small urban center. A sensation has occurred in science - an ancient city under water has been discovered. Acre was finally found ...
The underwater research of the Bosporus expedition detachment of the Leningrad Academy of Sciences of the USSR, led by K. Shilik, begun soon after the first discoveries, established that the ancient city, which lay at a depth of 4.5 m, had a rectangular shape in plan, with an area of at least 4 hectares. To the east of it, more seaward and to a depth of 7.5 m, there was a harbor. In the course of underwater exploration 1983-1985. defensive walls, two towers and a well were discovered. One of the walls was well preserved for 110 m. From the floor side, a tower with dimensions of 7 x 7 m was adjacent to the wall. Another defensive wall was examined 150 m to the north. A well covered with stones was found 170 m from the coast at a depth of 3 m. Seven branded amphorae of Pontic Heraclea IV century were found in its filling. BC, fragments of black-glazed dishes, a fragment of a lead anchor rod, wooden parts processed on a lathe.
Archaeological research in Acre continued in 1994-1997. the same schoolboy who discovered the collection of coins 15 years ago. He graduated from university and became an archaeologist. Excavations on the shore were combined with underwater exploration of the flooded part of the city. On land, the buildings of the Roman period were studied - three large households. But for the next 15 years, the city of Acra was again unjustly forgotten.
Only in 2011, underwater archaeologists from the Kiev Department of Underwater Heritage and the St. Petersburg Hermitage again turned their attention to this unique archaeological site.
The modern period of development of underwater archaeological research in the Northern Black Sea region was marked by the resumption of large-scale work in Phanagoria, Olbia and Chersonesos. Total reconnaissance is being carried out in the water area South Shore Crimea, the medieval shipwreck in the Novosvetskaya Bay is being comprehensively studied, a sensational find was made near the Serpent Island: a merchant ship of the IV century. BC. loaded with amphorae from Peparet. In light of these events, antique Acre also could not remain out of sight of archaeologists.
Diving has recently become a very popular and widely accessible sport and recreation. This led to the involvement in the ranks of the expedition not only of scientific workers, but also of members of the military-historical diving club "Andreevsky Flag". Collaboration between professional archaeologists and professional divers and volunteer divers from different countries allowed to get significant results in just two seasons.
For the first time in Acre, not just visual reconnaissance was carried out, but real underwater excavations with professional diving equipment. For two years of research, a section of the city's defensive wall and city buildings of the 4th century was excavated. BC. The preserved height of the fortifications reached 1.6 m.
The opening of the house in the first half of the 4th century was a kind of sensation. BC. So far, only one of its premises has been studied, with an area of 25 sq. A broken Heraclean amphora was found on the floor. The masonry of the walls has been preserved in 3 rows, with a total height of up to 0.6 m. Such preservation of architectural remains under water is unique. Neither in Olbia, nor in Chersonesos, nor in other places where we conduct our underwater archaeological research, this is not observed - all layers are eroded, the masonry is destroyed. But not in Acre.
We were able to sketch and plan the main elements of urban development, such as: defensive walls (and, apparently, the so-called northern defensive wall dates from Roman times), stone pavements, premises of city houses. For excavations of the ancient city, hydroejectors are used for shallow depths; special plastic tablets are used for underwater drawings and records. Each member of the expedition has the necessary diving skills and basic knowledge of archeology.
It has already become a tradition of the expedition to invite underwater archaeologists from Poland, friends with whom I was lucky enough to meet in the Gdansk Maritime Museum at the UNESCO courses on advanced training of an underwater archaeologist, to its membership. A number of Hermitage researchers, professional archaeologists, have specially taken diving courses to participate in our underwater expedition. And this year we were glad to honor divers from Lithuania and Vietnam in our ranks. For a number of years now, a diver from Russia, an underwater photographer, volunteer Ernst Antonov from the Krasnodar Territory has been cooperating with us.
Any real underwater archaeological expedition is very different from simple dives, when if the site is not interesting, it is changed. In 2012, we spent 1.5 months on Acre, some discoveries were accompanied by routine household issues, periodic storms. And in general, digging under water is a very delicate and painstaking business. Therefore, I am very grateful to all our participants for their work, since the expedition is not only the joy of new discoveries, but, first of all, the team of like-minded people themselves. We were lucky both with discoveries and with the team.
Acre existed for almost 1000 years, from the end of the 6th century. BC. before the beginning of the IV century. AD The gradual flooding of the city's territory began already with the beginning of a new era, both as a result of changes in the general level of the World Ocean, and because of local geological processes of land subsidence. From the time of antiquity to the present day, the sea level has risen by 4 meters. Two years of research is, of course, a short time for summing up the results of the study of Acre. But a start has been made: there is enthusiasm, desire too. The city under water has just begun to reveal its secrets to us.
Text: Expedition leader - acting Head of the Department of Antique Archeology, Department of Underwater Archeology, Research Institute Nat. Academy of Leading Personnel of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine Viktor Vakhoneev.
Photo: Master Diver SSI, PADI AOWD / DEEP / WRECK / NITROX, CMAS ** and just good man Ernst Antonov.
Rice. from the book "What is Archeology", Amalrik AS, Mongayt AL, Publishing House "Education", 1966.
Found antique city Acre has already been called the "Crimean Atlantis". But, unlike Atlantis, ancient Acre is in an intact state and scientists have to make a lot of discoveries.
Not far from Kerch, at the foot of Cape Takil, in the very southern point Of the Kerch Strait, a group of underwater archaeologists of an international expedition is exploring the ancient city of Acra, which was swallowed up by the waters of the Kerch Strait several thousand years ago.
The ancient city of Acra is a small ancient Greek port city in the Crimea, which existed in the composition, from the end of the 6th century BC. e. to IV century AD e. Was located Acre on 3.5 hectares in the eastern part Crimean peninsula and was surrounded by a six-meter wall.
This defense saved the city from enemy raids and storms. Due to geological changes coastline The Black Sea and the formation of the Kerch Strait, a part of the ancient settlement and a 30-meter section of the defensive wall of the ancient city of Akra turned out to be under the water advancing on the city.
The ancient name of the city of Acra was preserved in the name of the land measure - Acre(eng. acre; fr. acre, lat. ager and acra, celtic. acre- field ) - land measure used in a number of countries with the English system of measures. one acre equal to 0.4 hectares; 1 acre = 1/640 sq. miles. one acre... = 4046.86 m2 ≈ 0.004 km2
In the depths of the sea, researchers have a view of the defensive walls of the ancient city of Acre. All archaeological layers of the ancient city have been preserved under water in an undisturbed, undisturbed state.
Over the past two years, a large number of beautifully preserved architectural structures have been found. The head of the archaeological expedition, Viktor Vakhoneev, considers the ancient city of Akru a real treasure for underwater archaeologists who call the ancient Greek city of Akru "Crimean Atlantis".
Underwater archaeologists are exploring the residential quarters of the ancient city. The layout of streets of ancient Acre and antique residential buildings, houses in which people once lived are well preserved. Found furniture, utensils, a female comb, similar items on land are not preserved at all, but in the sea they survived and were found in their original form. The defensive walls of the city were discovered on the investigated territory, 3-4 rows of masonry with a height of more than 1 m 60 cm were preserved under the water. Archaeologists have mapped most of the masonry.
Leading researcher of the State Hermitage, Sergei Solovyov, participating in the underwater expedition, notes that a large number of fragments of antique ceramic dishes, clay amphorae for transporting wine, oil, fish, grain and other products have been found on the territory of the city of Acre.
The inhabitants of the city of Acra were engaged in trade, fishing and shipping. The researchers of Acre determined that it was not a very large trading city of the Bosporus kingdom, covering an area of 4 hectares. The presence of defensive walls around the city suggests that Acra was ready for defense and knew how to defend herself against the raids of nomads.
The Black Sea Underwater Research Center is now preparing routes for underwater excursions around the ancient city of Acra for tourists, fans of underwater adventures, and divers. Creation of an underwater archaeological park "Crimean Atlantis" in antique Acre
takes place with the support of the public and the Council of Ministers of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
Head of the Department of Underwater Archeology of the Black Sea Underwater Research Center Viktor Vakhoneev is confident that underwater excursions around the ancient Greek city of Acra will be very popular among tourists. This object is most suitable for underwater excursions, as it is located at a shallow sea depth, no more than 4 meters. An archaeological expedition is currently working in the underwater Acre off the coast of Kerch.
In parallel with the work of archaeologists, tourists-divers are offered an excursion route called "Participant of an underwater archaeological excursion." Tourists, lovers of underwater adventures, are offered to take an unforgettable underwater trip through the ancient Acre, and watch the work of underwater archaeologists.
In these places, a lot of fish and crabs are still found. Those who know how to catch crayfish can easily cope with catching sea crab. For lovers of spearfishing, an amazing underwater world The Black Sea.
Viktor Vakhoneev believes that it will be interesting for tourists to dive themselves and, together with archaeologists, take part in research work under water.
The head of the department of underwater archeology of the Black Sea Center for Underwater Research says that antique Acre this year was registered as historical monument and is protected by the state. The Ministry of Resorts and Tourism of Crimea is interested in creating the first underwater archaeological park in Ukraine on the basis of an archaeological expedition.
The Black Sea keeps in itself more than one secret, how many mysteries are hidden under its waves. The world saw one of these amazing finds only in 1982. Lovers of history, antiquities and finds, welcome to the ancient Greek port city of Akra (end of the 6th century BC) or as it was also called "Crimean Atlantis" (because of the similarity with the mythical city).
Why visit this place
The city is completely hidden under water, and you can get into it only through immersion. The flooding occurred due to a rise in the level of the world's oceans and the movement of lithospheric plates. Scientists assume that the flooding occurred gradually, as evidenced by the stone ridge, which protected the townspeople from the onset of water, but, alas, the sea won. The ancient authors mentioned Acra more than once in their creations. So Strabo in his Geography described Acre as a small village lying in the area of the Panticapians opposite Corocondam at the entrance to the strait.
In the 80s, research work, during which the building remains of the city and an antique well were discovered. Locals who have visited Acre claim that the city has a rectangular shape. They were also able to find masonry and a considerable number of household items - more than 100 coins of the Bosporus kingdom, almost a dozen amphorae (IV century BC), Greek ceramics, lead anchor parts, and so on. Unlike Alexandria (Egypt), which disappeared from the face of the Earth due to natural disasters, Acre continues to exist even further. Archaeologists continue to study the site to this day.
Some facts from the history of the sunken city
Thanks to a thorough study of the sunken city, archaeologists have discovered a well, the ruins of several towers, and partially destroyed protective walls. At a distance of more than 500 meters from the embankment, a stone ridge is built diagonally to the coast. Maybe, locals tried to escape from the onset of water, but, unfortunately, they did not succeed. I had to leave their homes. The water swallowed everything up.
Not so long ago, the Russian Geographical Society decided to hold a competition among archaeologists to conduct an expedition to study and survey the city of Akra.
The members of the expedition will study the underwater, as well as the coastal part of the sunken city. No major dredging works have been carried out on the territory of Acre, so the city is well preserved.
Feel like a pioneer
Such an ancient find is not limited to excursions, they are conducted by the Atlantis diving club, which is open daily from 9.00 to 19.00 hours. The cost starts from 2000 rubles and more. Pre-instructor conducts training before diving into the sea. You need to have a wetsuit and special equipment with you. Unfortunately, there are age restrictions (children under 8 years old). Those who have diseases, the contraindications of which are diving, will also not be able to appreciate the beauty of the excursion.
The place is not devoid of tourist attractions - it's fishing, beach vacation, visiting baths, brewery and other things. Shop "House of Crimean Masters" is famous for paintings by local artists and souvenirs for every taste.
How to get to the underwater city of Acra
The town is located in the western part of the Kerch Peninsula. Most of its territory was hidden under water between the Yanysh estuary and the Black Sea coast in the east, 10 km south of the city of Kerch near the village. Embankment.
Acre city Acre, or Acre - in ancient times, a city in Sicily, the ruins of which are in the mountains near the source of Anapo, above the present Palazolo Acreide (west of Syracuse).
Encyclopedic Dictionary of F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron. - S.-Pb .: Brockhaus-Efron. 1890-1907 .
See what "Acra, city" is in other dictionaries:
- (St. Jean d'Acre) see Akka ...
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- (Akka, in ancient times Akko), at one time Ptolemais, a small city in northwestern Israel, located on a small promontory on the northern side of the Haifa Bay, 16 km northeast of Haifa. The city stands on a narrow coastal plain west of the Lower ... Geographical encyclopedia
At one time, Ptolemais, a small city in northwestern Israel, is located on a small promontory on the northern side of the Gulf of Akra, 16 kilometers northeast of Haifa. The city sits on a narrow coastal plain west of the Lower Galilee. Acre is the only one ... Collier's Encyclopedia
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- (Hebrew עיר דוד Ir David) the oldest populated area Jerusalem on the site of the ancient city of the Jebusite period (who called it Jebus), as well as the period of the First and Second Jerusalem Temples. Already in the Bronze Age it was surrounded by walls ... ... Wikipedia
Acre (in Chald. Hakra, from the Greek άκρα, high, fortified place) is a special name for one quarter of ancient Jerusalem, the so-called Lower City (Shuk gatakhton), which surrounded the upper city (own. Zion) in a semicircle from the north. This is the same ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary of F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron
This term has other meanings, see Akra (disambiguation). The city of Akra is an Arab. عقرة ... Wikipedia
This term has other meanings, see Akra (disambiguation). The ancient city of Acra Country Ancient Greece ... Wikipedia
This term has other meanings, see Akra (disambiguation). Akra (Aram. Hakra, from other Greek. Άκρα, "high, fortified place") is the name of one of the quarters of ancient Jerusalem, the so-called "Lower City" (Shuk ha takhton), ... ... Wikipedia
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CRIMEAN ATLANTIS
The Black Sea continues to keep a lot of secrets and mysteries. However, some of them are being revealed literally before our eyes. This is exactly what happened with Acra - the real "Crimean Atlantis". The ancient city, one and a half thousand years ago, absorbed by the waters of the Black Sea, was discovered quite recently and today it is a unique archaeological monument and tourist attraction. East coast Crimea.
The ancient Greek city of Acre flourished for almost eight centuries, from the end of the 6th century BC. until the beginning of the 4th century A.D. The period for history is considerable. And although the port town itself was not large, during its life hundreds of generations developed culture, active trade with other colonies and states was conducted. Archaeologists read all these details of the life of the ancient city from the artifacts found in the cultural layer. Today, a permanent international research expedition is working here, and meanwhile, scientists thirty years ago did not know the exact location of Acre and could not imagine that not ancient maps or documents, but an accidental find of a Soviet schoolchild, would help to find it.
In the "Periplus of Pontus Euxinsky", that is, in the sailing guide of the Black Sea, compiled more than two thousand years ago, many cities on the shores of the Cimmerian Bosporus are named: Panticapaeum, Mirmekiy, Nympheus, Kitay and Acre. Strabo, a Greek geographer of the 2nd century A.D., argued that the latter is located just at the entrance to the Kerch Strait opposite Korokondama, a Bosporan city on Taman Peninsula... Acre was also mentioned by Claudius Ptolemy, the great scientist who laid the foundations of cartography, and Pliny the Elder. By the beginning of the 20th century, almost all ancient cities were drawn on modern maps but they couldn't find Akra. The very name of the city initially confused researchers, since the main and most common meaning of the word assumed that the settlement should have been on a hill, because from the Greek "Acre" is translated as a hill. The second meaning of the word is “fortification”, which also did little to help scientists in their search for the lost ancient city. By the way, over the past 2000 years, the water level in the Black Sea has risen by four meters. The sea slowly found land, and the inhabitants of Acre really began to build their houses on " the big earth"- further from the coast, on the heights.
For almost two hundred years they could not find Akru. It was "placed" on almost all high capes at the entrance to the Kerch Strait. But these places did not match the descriptions of the distances between the Bosporan cities, which the Greek periphery preserved for us. The ancient city was found by chance by a simple schoolboy from Kerch. Lesha Kulikov on the bank of the sandy spill separating the salty Yanysh Lake from the Kerch Strait, found many coins of the Bosporan Kingdom of various dates. This became the key to unraveling the mystery of Acre's location. In 1982, professional excavations were carried out, which revealed to mankind the city hidden for many hundreds of years under water. Underwater archaeologists at a depth of four and a half meters discovered an ancient settlement in the form of a trapezoid with an area of at least 4 hectares. The harbor was located to the east of the city at a depth of seven meters. Defensive walls, two towers and a well with seven branded amphoras of Heracpea of Pontic, fragments of black-glazed dishes, fragments of a lead anchor rod, and wooden details of a small table turned on a lathe were found.
In life, things often happen that decide fate. The find of the Kerch schoolboy Alexei Kulikov not only opened the ancient flooded city to the world, but also determined the future life of the young man. He graduated from university and became an archaeologist. And in the mid-1990s, a young scientist explored a small terrestrial part of Acre. Excavations on the shore were combined with underwater reconnaissance of the flooded areas of the city. On land, the building was studied already in Roman times - three large households. But for the next fifteen years, the city was again unfairly forgotten, telling its stories only to the dolphins. Since 2011, research has resumed, with both professional scientists and amateur divers engaged in this. And literally in three years more research has been done at Acre than in the previous thirty years. Underwater research in the Black Sea is difficult, especially in the strait, the water is often cloudy and visibility is poor. Sometimes you have to work almost by touch. The expedition works at the site from May to early July. While the water has not yet had time to warm up and the overgrown algae have not covered the seabed with a terry green carpet.
According to scientists, Acra is the only well-preserved ancient settlement in the entire Black Sea region. And some other antique coastal policies were flooded, for example, most of Olbia (present-day Nikolaevskaya oblast). But there are many things that have been ground by storms. But Acre was lucky - its location and the geological processes of land sinking and sea level rise occurred in such a way that they were able to protect the city from destruction. From the materials collected by scientists over the years of research, a certain picture can be drawn. Acre was quite a typical ancient Greek city-state with culture and way of life, as in all other ancient settlements of the Black Sea region. The main occupation of its inhabitants was agriculture. Scientists have found a wooden comb in good condition at the bottom. On the one hand, there are large teeth, on the other, smaller ones. The first were intended for combing hair, and the second - to get rid of annoying insects - lice, since hygiene in those days was at a primitive level. One of the most amazing finds of Acre can be called a defensive tower, which has no analogues on other ancient monuments. The tower was decorated with rusticated blocks not only from the outside, but even from the inside. Most impressively, this massive structure of about fifty square meters stood on a wooden platform made of huge oak beams. And surprisingly, the tree has survived so well under water that if these beams were pulled ashore, then today they could be used in construction.
During the excavation of the bottom, archaeologists find a very large number of objects: coins from various alloys, arrowheads, lead products, wooden plates, kitchen utensils and parts of amphorae. At the bottom, researchers often came across wooden pixids-boxes and other interesting products of ancient masters. That which on earth during this period usually decays into dust, here in underwater city, is almost in its original form. The preservation of structures is also striking: defensive walls up to two meters high, elements of block buildings, houses and pavements. It is clear that archaeologists have no problems with artifacts. But they are in something else. V Kerch Strait active urbanization began - new large ports are being built, capable of transforming the entire hydrological system of the adjacent water area. The currents will change, and Acre, so carefully preserved by the sea for almost two and a half millennia, can simply be washed away. That is why it is necessary to investigate it as soon as possible in order to tell the world the true story of "Crimean Atlantis".
Crimea with its ancient settlements is a kind of little Hellas. A little worn out, but still a living story, etched in every stone of its ruined walls. And it is not at all necessary to invent a time machine and fly it to Ancient Greece to feel like a contemporary of Pythagoras or Aristotle. It is enough just to go to the excavations, and you are no longer in the 21st century, but, having passed through an unimaginable thickness of time, somewhere there, in the 5th-4th centuries BC, at the very source of the foundation of ancient Acre. It is not difficult to imagine how Greek aristocrats and ordinary townspeople once walked along these now flooded streets. And now, two and a half thousand years later, curious and brave travelers with a rich imagination will have the opportunity to dive under the water and see the ancient Acre with their own eyes. "Crimean Atlantis" is a real miracle, which is hard to believe, but its reality refutes all the ridiculous talk of skeptics that miracles do not happen. The underwater ancient city is already ready to tell its stories not only to onlooker fish or dolphins, but also to Crimean tourists.
Based on the article by O. Burachenok, V. Vakhoneev “Acra - an ancient city at the bottom of the Black Sea », magazine« Treasure peninsula » ( №1, 2014).
