The Imperial Mound in Kerch

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From the height of Mount Mithridates in clear weather you can see two large hills covered with greenery. They hide the legendary burial mounds, burial vaults of the ancient Bosporus rulers - Melek-Chesmensky and Tsarsky. The latter attracts special attention of tourists, because he is a silent witness of the former glory of Panticapaeum, the most titled mound in the eastern part of the Crimean peninsula and, moreover, one of the few is accessible for inspection. The place is mystical and even eerie, but certainly worthy of attention.

Presumably, the Tsar's mound was built in the second half of the 4th century BC. e. This is a fairly large structure, the length of the perimeter is 250 m, and the height is almost 18 m. The mound consists of a long corridor, a funerary room and a mound. Blocks, forming a corridor lined with a wall with steps that both sides frame the entrance to the mound.

Imperial barrow attracts attention of tourists, because it is a silent witness of past glory Panticapaeum, the most titled mound eastern part of the Crimean peninsula.

The earth embankment, to which the mound is blocked from above, consists of three layers: stone, clay and a mixture of fine stone and earth. Such a complex structure of the embankment protected the mound from landslides and erosion caused by rain.

During the archaeological excavations of Tsar's burial mound there were no burial places in it. According to one of the versions, at the time of the excavations the mound was plundered, on the other - for some reason the burial did not take place.

Funeral room

Despite the fact that the construction of the burial place is quite simple, it looks very impressive . The walls of the burial chamber gradually narrowed to the top, eventually forming a dome. It is no coincidence: the ancestors believed that the soul departed in another world, climbing the tapered passage to heaven, cleaned, and in the finale of his journey, quite istonchonnaya becomes able to seep into eternity

The funeral room Royal mound at times acted as a decoration in. Soviet sci-fi films.

The rigor and perfection of the architectural appearance of the Tsar's Mound, of course, is admirable, but even more striking is the fact that when laying limestone blocks no joint solution was used. Entrance to the Royal mound is decorated with stone sculptures of people, carved out of a huge block of stone bowl and a sign saying that history can not be rewritten.

Imperial barrow (Crimea, Kerch, Adzhimushkay)

Useful Information Royal mound is on one of the slopes of a ridge of hills on the outskirts of the village of Adzhimushkai. If you do not know these places and have a bad idea of where exactly it is located, then the probability of passing by is great, so it is worthwhile to prepare in advance for the trip and record the GPS coordinates of the barrow: N45.3745, E36.5258. From the bus station to the Imperial barrow Kerch can be reached by taxi number 4 (the last stop).

Visit mound convenient to combine with a trip to the Museum of history of defense of Adzhimushkay quarry, which is located nearby.

You can view the Imperial barrow alone or in the composition of the excursion group. For those who want to get acquainted with the history of the landmark, there are information stands and a museum where you can get additional information.

Entrance: 60 RUB, for children: 20 RUB, excursion service: 200 RUB. Photography and videography are paid.

Prices are per October 2014

View of the Imperial barrow Kerch

Royal burial mound in Kerch