Belyaus settlement in Crimea

The ruins of the ancient Belyaus settlement are located on the beach of the Spit Belyaus. It was founded by Greek colonists in the 5th century BC and has great archaeological value, the same as the ruins of ancient Chersonesos Tauric in Sevastopol or Bosporus in Kerch. The foundations of ancient Greek manors made of large hewn stones have been preserved here. 

Spit Belyaus in recent years has become a popular place for beach holidays in the Crimea, thanks to the magnificent sandy beach. It is even called the "Crimean Maldives", but there is no mass tourism in these places, since the nature of the western Crimea is an arid steppe.  

In the 6th century BC, the climate in these places was completely different. Big river flowed here, the weather was more comfortable, and the land was more fertile. This attracted Greek settlers, who founded several colonies in the Crimea. Bosporus in Kerch and Chersonesos in Sevastopol were the largest colonies of the Crimea, but there were also smaller settlements Kerkenitida was located on the western coast of Crimea in the Gulf of Kalamita. Now in its place is located the city of Yevpatoria, one of the most famous balneological resorts in Russia. The main occupation of the inhabitants of Kerkenitida was farming and grain export to Greece. Over time, the scale of Kerkenitida`s land expanded and reached the large Hypakiris River. 

Today, only the mouth of the Hypacris River remains at its confluence with the Black Sea. Over the years, it transformed into Lake Donuzlav. Looking at this lake, you can imagine how large the river flowed in the western part of the Crimean Peninsula. After the change of climate and the geological relief of the Crimea, the Hypocris River dried up. The wind blew up a large sand spit Belyaus, turning the mouth of the river into a closed lake Donuzlav. The passage in the Belyaus Spit from the sea to the lake for ships was made only in Soviet times, when it was decided to create a naval base here. 

In the 6th-5th century BC, the Hypacris River was still full-flowing, and the colonists from Kerkenitida decided to establish the Belyaus settlement, on the other side of the river. These fortresses were needed by the Greeks for shelter in case of attacks by nomadic tribes of Scythians and Sarmatians. There were several such fortresses to the west of Kerkenitida, but the Belyaus settlement was the largest of them.  

Excavations on the territory of the Belyaus settlement have been conducted since 1962 under the leadership of O.Dashevskaya from the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Over the course of a thousand years, the Greeks built two square mansions here, fortified with powerful walls. In the center of one of them was a square (10x10m) four-storey tower made of large hewn blocks. Inside the fortress there were residential and outbuildings.  

Since the 2nd century BC, frequent Scythian attacks began to occur on the Belyaus settlement. The inhabitants of Kerkenitida initially erected additional fortress walls for protection, but later they had to leave the Belyaus settlement, and it came under the rule of the Scythians. Information about the excavations of the Belyaus Settlement can be viewed in the Local History Museum of Yevpatoria, although it is more interesting to come directly to the site.