[gothic-l] Neil Acherson's Crimea

[Svein Nestor]

Organization:   	Stereotyping Cursor Inc.
To:             	gothic-l at egroups.com
From:           	sig <sigmund at algonet.se>
Date sent:      	Fri, 27 Oct 2000 00:29:31 +0100
Send reply to:  	gothic-l at egroups.com
Subject:        	Re: [gothic-l] Neil Acherson's Crimea


Hails Seigmund

I read Russian and am very interested in information about the 
sources that you refer to. Would it be possible for you to send a 
list of them to me?

Golja thuk

Swains Nestors

(Svein Nestor)



> Hails!
> 
> I promised to follow up on the Crimean Goths with some Zusammenfassung of what Neal Ascherson has to say in his book
> Black Sea. But what do you know.. While doing some search on Crimean material I found the very chapter I'm referring
> to published on the net by Washington Post!! =>
> 
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/books/chap1/blacksea.htm
> 
> Reqired reading!
> 
> This is what I have been able to gather from various sources in Russia, Ukraine and elsewhere:
> 
> The story of the Crimean Goths is intimately tied to those so-called cave towns on some flat tops high up the
> Krimskije Gory mountain range which is defining the south-east sea border of Crimea. The best known are Chufut-Kale,
> Mangup-Kale, Eski-Kermen with a similar history. They were all artificially created for defence purposes back in VIII
> — IX centuries
> 
> Although the evidence is by no means conclusive, Mangup was reportedly first founded in the 3rd century AD by  Alans
> and Goths. Justinian I however fortressed Mangup during the 6th century as one in a series of strongholds designed to
> protect the coastal cities.  It has been described as "a Greek principality ruled by gothic princes". The city was
> later captured by the Khazars but in 787 AD, Prince-Metropolitan "John the Goth" led a rebellion against the Khazars,
> thus founding the principality of Feodoros, which lasted until 1475. To-days coastal city of Feodosia is an other
> reminder of the principality of Theodosia with roots from the 5th century. (Why do slavs have this lexically
> irritating tendency to equal th with f?).
> The Ottomans came in 1475 and laid siege to Mangup for six months and ended the principality once and for all.  The
> jewish fundamentalist Karaims (not at all related to the converted Khazar jews!), originating from Babylon moved in
> and stayed on for a while, and even they left in 1792. Now the basilica and citadel stand above all for the few
> tourist visitors.  One can still see remnants of Byzantine architectural styles.
> 
> Chufut-Kale, a city with a similar history, is located also on a plateau, 550m above the sea level. It was reportedly
> built under the guidance of Byzantium by Goths and Alans. Little is known of Chufut-Kale's earlier history. The first
> written documents go back to the late 13th century. At that time the fortress got the name Kirk-Er and was the centre
> of the Crimean Alans according to official Ukrainean history books. But in the mid-14th century under the rule of
> Golden Hord Janibek-Klan, the Tatars seized Chufut-Kale and turned it into a Beiluk (Tatar regional centre). After
> the foundation of the Crimean Khanate, Cufut-Kale became it's first capital. A mosque and a madrasah were built here
> and the walls were fortified. New suburbs (the posad) for Jewish and Armenian communities were built to develop the
> town's economy. In the early 1650 century the capital of the Crimea was moved to Bachchisarai.  Only Karaites and
> Armenians stayed here. The remaining population were Karaites in the mid-17th century and the town was renamed
> Chufut-Kale (Jewish Fortess).
> 
> This is not to conclude that the remaining Crimean Goths were mountain dwellers in their majority. They probably
> formed minor communities wherever they felt secure but eventually merged with the other peoples all over Crimea.
> 
> 
> Izwara,
> 
> Seigmund
> 
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> 
> 
> 
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