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Ivan Stempkovsky

City governor of Kerch in the first third of the 19th century; under his leadership a school, a new pier, and the Holy Trinity Cathedral were built; by his will (written two years before his death) the Stempkovsky Chapel was erected on Mithridat Hill in 1830. He dreamed that the Great Mithridat Stairs would unite the modern city and the ancient city, but he died in 1832 — a year before the laying of the first stone.

Overview

Ivan Stempkovsky was the city governor of Kerch who, according to historians (per an article by Rosa Krymska), accomplished many important things for the city. He dreamed that the Great Mithridat Stairs would unite the modern city and the ancient city, but he died in 1832, a year before the laying of the first stone. Two years before his own death he wrote a will, under which in 1830 a chapel was built on Mithridat Hill — a symbol of the townspeople's gratitude and one of the most recognizable architectural landmarks of Kerch at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries (often featured on postcards and greeting cards).

Key Details / Subtopics

  • Stempkovsky Chapel (1830): erected at the highest point of the city (Mithridat Hill) at the request / by the will of the city governor; for a long time it was a favorite view of photographers and publishers. In 1944 the chapel was removed in connection with the opening of the Obelisk of Glory on Mithridat.
  • Accomplishments during his tenure: a school; a new pier; the Holy Trinity Cathedral (1832); the Great Mithridat Stairs (founded in 1833, after Stempkovsky's death) — his dream of uniting the modern and the ancient city.
  • Connection with the Mithridat Stairs: sources attribute the stairs to the works of Stempkovsky as the initiating city governor; the stairs project in the wiki is also linked to the architect Alessandro Digbi (see the contradictions section on the page Destroyed Churches of Kerch).
  • Destroyed Churches of Kerch (source) — an article by Rosa Krymska ("Krymska svitlytsia", 2018, No. 47); the only source about Stempkovsky.
  • Kerch — the oldest city in Ukraine, where Stempkovsky served as city governor.
  • Destroyed Churches of Kerch — the lost sacred architecture of Kerch: the Stempkovsky Chapel, the Holy Trinity Cathedral, Mithridat.
  • Alessandro Digbi (Oleksandr Digbi) — the architect to whom the project of the Mithridat Stairs is attributed.
  • Italians in Crimea — context for the architectural development of Kerch (Digbi, the Mithridat Stairs).
  • Colleen McCullough — in "The Masters of Rome" she artistically depicted Mithridates Eupator and Panticapaeum; Mithridat Hill and the stairs are named in honor of this king.