Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1895-05-29
PREHISTORIC cRIMEA.
The Early History of the Bleak Peninsula
Yelled In Mystery.

feneu In mystery.
We halt at the evacuated city of an
cient Kherson, remarkable for curious
rock dwellings and tombs still contain
ing the bones of early inhabitants, but
whether of Tartar invader or Greek col
on;st, who shall say? Civilization and
barbarism tread so closely on each other
in the Crimea that historical traces of
the distant past often becomes confused
beyond recognition.
Grim Tartary, known to the ancient
world as Chersonesus Taurica, possessed
a legendary reputation many centuries
before the Christian era, but the early
history of the bleak and barren penin-
sula is yelled in the twilight of dream
land and myth. Greek thought pictured
the Chersonesus as dark realm of mys-
terry and death. and the fancies of the
early poets teemed with vivid imagery
drawn from the inhospitable shores and
savage cliffs washed by the stormy waves
of the treacherous Euxine.
Although the city of Sevastopol was
built on the supposed site of Kherson,
when the Crimea was annexed to Russia
in 1856 recent excavations show that
the ancient town extended far inland.
Sandy tracks seam the plain in every di-
rection around the rocky dwellings Of
the early Turi-baths, ovens and cis-
terms honeycombed the granite founda-
tions, and the museum contains numer-
GUS household utensils Of earthenware
and iron, together with the stone weap-
ons and flint arrowheads Of primitive
times.
Rude carvings of disks and circles
symbolic some forgotten eastern creed,
buried too deeply in the dust OF ages to
be capable of excavation. Archaic sculp-
ture, Greek inscriptions and Roman
brickwork suggest melody of ideas, and
we escape from the bewildering chronol-
ogy of ancient Kherson to the neighbor
ing church of St. Vladimir, distinct
landmark of one memorable epoch in
Crimean history. The ancient sanctuary
now forms the crypt of the brilliant ca
thedral overhead, and the rugged sim
plicity Of the venerable church contrasts
sharply with the elaborate ornament of
the modern temple.
The black stone fount wherein the
apostle of Russia baptized the first Tar
tar converts to Christianity occupies the
center of the shadowy crypt, the spot Oh
which St. Vladimir stood being rallied
off and considered holy ground. Wild
looking peasants, with matted hair and
long boards, are kissing the jeweled
icons in the upper church, with much
preliminary bowling and crossing. The
uncouth aspect of these fervent worship
ers shows that even in the nineteenth
century Russia still hovers on the edge
of barbarism.
Close at hand lies the monastery of
st. George. hewn i'll granite cliff
which towers up perpendicularly from
the Black sea- Long tunnels lead to a
labyrinth of cells and chapels, from
whence flights of rocky steps emerge on
the outside of the precipice, where ar
butus clings to the narrow lodges and
yellow broom trees wave i'll the winds.
These impregnable strongholds were
able to protect themselves from the
fierce tribes of wandering Tartars in the
early days of Russian Christianity, and
the monastery of St. George, rich in leg
ends of attack and defense, colored by
the miracles of local saints, gains addi-
tional interest to English minds as Miss
Nightingale's headquarters during the
Crimean war.
A brown frocked monk, with long
gray curls and flowing beard, conducts
us through the maze of rock tunnels.
His brethren are in choir, and the weird
chanting of the eastern church mingles
with the eternal voice of the sea as it
breaks into foam against tho frowning
cliff. Across the water, blue as molten
lapis lazuli today, thousands of sea gulls
fly in white cloud to their home in the
rocks, described as ''the bird haunted
headlands'' even in the days of Eurip-
ides, who wove into his great drama,
''Iphigenia in Tauris, the wild scenery
of this iron bound coast, with its fierce
traditions of human sacrifice and bar
barrie orgies. Society.