Crimean Antiquities Seen through the Eyes of West-European Travelers of the Late 18th – Early 19th centuries
The article examines various aspects of descriptions of the past and archeological sites of Crimea prepared by travelers that visited the peninsula in the first decades after its incorporation into Russia in 1783. It demonstrates that Crimea, which had previously been quite unknown to the European audience, became a popular place for educational trips – largely because of the unique concentration of the cultural heritage on its area. The analysis of the travelers’ notes showed that the foreigners had been attracted by monuments associated with the Ancient Greece and Rome, Scythians, Sarmatians and Tauridians, Crimean Goths and Byzantines, medieval Genovese colonies, the Golden Horde and the Crimean Khanate. The vogue of Crimea was boosted by the fashion for antiquity and fascination of the Europeans with the mysterious and romantic Islamic East. The study unveils that the travelers created an extensive, though rather mixed set of sources, whose authors had different intellectual level and varying interests, found themselves in different life circumstances, pursued various objectives and worked in a range of genres. The study of the travel essays helped to reveal the unknown pages in the history of archeological studies of Crimea, specifically, the history of the search for the ancient Chersonese or discovery of the capital of the late Scythians. The paper shows the importance of the travelers’ sketches for the modern architectural and archeological research and restoration projects. It is detected that the travelers turned individual monuments into tourist attractions, created and communicated stereotypes and legends. It is demonstrated that some foreigners applied to the history and archeology of Crimea to back up their economic and political projects.