Cave Churches of the South-West Crimea in 13th – 14th Centuries as a Reflection of Political, Cultural, and Religious Agenda of the Region

Abstract

The paper considers the history of Mountainous South-West Crimea in the 13th–14th centuries. It addresses cave churches as the historical source, which is able to clarify the political, religious, and cultural situation in Taurida in the 13th–14th centuries. The author concludes that at least 4 cave churches date back to the 13th century, 3 of which were decorated with the fresco and. A total of 3 cave monuments were built in the 14th century, which contained paintings. A number of monuments can presumably be included in these groups. The temples created earlier also functioned during this period. The noted features indicate the presence among the inhabitants of the Mountainous South-Western Crimea (in different settlements) of a certain number of wealthy and literate (the inscriptions on frescoes had to be applied and read) Christian population, who had the opportunity to pay the costs of creating and painting temples. In addition, this can indicate the rather long periods of ‘calm’ in the region.

Keywords

• crimea
• taurica
• the golden horde
• mangup
• eski-kermen
• cave church