Pages: 353-364

The Imperial Archaeological Commission began excavations in Chersonesos on May 16, 1888. To some extent, these works were initiated by the memorandum of the chairman of the Moscow Archaeological Society, countess P. S. Uvarova, to Alexander III, sent a year before, in which the disastrous state of the ancient monuments of Chersonesos was colourfully described. Undoubtedly, countess hoped that the Moscow Society would be entrusted to improve the situation. However, the initiative was intercepted by the chairman of the Imperial Archaeological Commission A. A. Bobrinsky. He managed not only to get an exclusive right for the Commission to carry out excavations in Chersonesos, but also to find a dignified candidacy of the leader of this research — a resident of Sebastopol K. K. Kostsyushko-Valyuzhinich. Already the first field season was so successful that in the future, until the beginning of World War I, the Archaeological Commission annually conducted research in Chersonesos.

Keywords: Chersonesos Tauric, Moscow Archaeological Society, Imperial Archaeological Commission, P. S. Uvarova, A. A. Bobrinsky, K. K. Kostsyushko-Valyuzhinich

Information about author:

Vladimir Kac (Saratov, Russia). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Saratov State University. Astrakhanskaya St., 83, Saratov, 410012, Russia.
E-mail: [email protected]