The work to recreate a reliable historical picture of the development of Christianity on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus will be carried out by archaeologists together with representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church. Large-scale scientific research will become possible thanks to the cooperation of the Sochi and Tuapse dioceses, the Subtropical Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Sochi National Park.
«There are many temples left on the territory of Sochi, which were absorbed by mass development, but they can be restored and turned into attractions. Previously unmarked remains of ancient structures are found in construction trenches and pits,» said Andrei Kizilov, a senior researcher at the Laboratory of Ethnosocial Research of the Federal Research Center of the SSC RAS.
Every year archaeologists find several monuments, for example, fragments of a medieval Orthodox church near the village of Baranovka. While no more than 1% of the historical and cultural heritage is involved as objects of display in Sochi, data on the location of churches and monuments are described in the sources of the XIX-XX centuries. They are in a state of ruins and require painstaking work to be restored. In addition, there are unmentioned monuments on the territory of Sochi, the existence of which was not previously known.
“The discovered temples need to be museumified. This will require investment, but in the future the restored ruins of lost temples may become objects of a separate type of tourism. A striking example of this is a unique archaeological monument of the European level - the ruins of a Christian temple near the village of Veseloe. Bringing the temple into a state of museification would make it excellent. The essence of the term is to bring the monument to a state suitable for preservation and display. What this will give is shown by the financial statements of such objects as the Sudak Fortress, the Gorgippia Museum-Reserve, and the Novgorod Museum-Reserve, "explained Andrei Kizilov.
Expeditionary work in all parishes of the diocese will begin in 2022.
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