2025. no 1. Vadim Maiko

Christians of eastern Taurica as part of the Golden Horde.
Summary of Archaeological Sources

Vadim Maiko
Institute of Archeology of Crimea of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Abstract.The article sets out the main categories of archaeological sources that make it possible to reconstruct the processes that took place in the Christian communities of cities and rural settlements of eastern Taurika during their stay in the Crimean ulus of the Golden Horde. Based on this, the chronological framework for this region of the peninsula can be determined from the third quarter of the 13th to the end of the third quarter of the 14th century, when after the Solkhat wars there is a final delimitation of the spheres of influence of the Genoese Republic and the Crimean Golden Horde ulus. We analyze those changes in the historical topography of Sugdeja and Bosporus, which made it possible to transform the provincial-Byzantine city into a place where Eastern and Christian urban planning traditions were surprisingly combined. Christian churches are considered, most of which, which have survived to this day, were built in the second half of the 13th century. Attention is drawn to the funeral rite and Christian objects of material culture. It is concluded that the interest of the Golden Horde administration in the development of eastern Taurika as an important trading transshipment point contributed to the economic prosperity of these territories and amazing tolerance towards its inhabitants.

Keywords: Crimean ulus, 13th–14th centuries, Christian communities, material and spiritual culture, religious tolerance, economic prosperity.

For citation: Maiko V.V. Christians of eastern Taurica as part of the Golden Horde. Summary of Archaeological Sources. Krymskoe istoricheskoe obozrenie = Crimean Historical Review. 2025, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 97–105. DOI: 10.22378/kio.2025.1.97-105 (In Russian)

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About the author: Vadim V. Maiko – Dr. Sci. (History), Director, Institute of Archeology of Crimea of the Russian Academy of Sciences (2, Academician Vernadsky Avenue, Simferopol 295007, Russian Federation); vadimmaiko1966@mail.ru