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Underwater Cities of Crimea

Under the waters of the Black Sea off the coast of Crimea, at depths ranging from 4 to over 10 meters, the remains of ancient human settlements are preserved — ancient and medieval cities that over time ended up at the bottom. The most famous of them, ancient Akra near Cape Takil, is known in popular literature as the "Crimean Atlantis."

Overview

An article by Maksym Duboviaz in the newspaper Krymska Svitlytsia tells of cities hidden under the blue sea: walls and vaults of ancient settlements that, for various reasons (rising/falling sea levels, coastal erosion), ended up underwater. According to the author's estimate, there are two or three such submerged places in Crimea, at least two of which have become known. Their underwater ruins — from defensive walls to the remains of urban buildings and an ancient well — have long been dubbed the "Crimean Atlantis" and are proposed to be transformed into underwater tourism sites.

Key Details / Subtopics

  • Akra (ancient city): founded in the 6th century BC in the Cimmerian Bosporus, in a location crucial for navigation; its area, according to various estimates, ranges from 2–4 to no more than 6 hectares. Strabo in his Geography indicated that this was where the Bosporus bordered the Pontus; the settlement disappeared around the 4th century. Today, it is a deserted coast near Cape Takil, where the direction of a defensive wall can be traced at a depth of about 4 meters; about 30 meters of its remains have been found on the seabed (hewn limestone blocks and the foundation of a large defense tower on a wooden footing). On shore — the remains of a smaller defense tower; 4th-century BC structures remain underwater, 3rd–2nd-century BC artifacts are scattered by the surf, and on the shore are structures built by Panticapaeans after the Birth of Christ.
  • Exploration of Akra: regular surveys in the late 1920s, mid-20th century, and during the last 20 years of the 20th century; numerous coins from the entire period of minting of the Bosporan Kingdom were found. A portion of scholars still does not consider it proven that this is Akra itself, rather than neighboring Nymphaeum or Kytai.
  • "Crimean Atlantis": the name given to the underwater ruins of Akra (not only defensive walls, but also the remains of urban architecture and an ancient well); a proposal was put forward to organize underwater excursions — as a rare romantic attraction of the Kerch Peninsula.
  • Underwater Port of Soldaia (Sudak): researchers find something similar, though on a smaller scale, in the waters of the medieval trading port of Genoese Soldaia — modern Sudak.
  • Possible Prehistoric Remains near Yevpatoria: 2 miles off the coast of Yevpatoria at a depth of over 10 meters, cave complexes were discovered (found by divers about 5 years prior to publication). It is hypothesized that these are the remains of an antediluvian civilization that existed before the Mediterranean Sea waters broke through the Sea of Marmara and the Bosporus into the basin of the future Black Sea (when a freshwater lake of smaller area lay there). Stone circles (resembling the remains of hearths), passageway arches, candle shelves, and stone sockets for securing ropes resemble the interiors of cave cities on mainland Crimea — although scholars are by definition skeptical about the natural origin of these formations.

Contradictions and Open Questions

  • Identification of Akra: not all researchers consider it proven that the underwater ruins found near Cape Takil are Akra itself, rather than neighboring Nymphaeum or Kytai (clarifying the name does not diminish the romance of the discovery).
  • Origin of Caves near Yevpatoria: an open question remains whether the underwater cave complexes are natural formations or the remains of a prehistoric (antediluvian) civilization — science requires proof, while the legend of Atlantis may turn out to be more than just a legend.