International congress of byzantine studies belgrade, 22 27 august 2016

Aleksandar Fotić
University of Belgrade, Faculty of Philosophy, Belgrade, Serbia; 
[e-mail]
Hilandar’s Monks from Kalamaria Metochion in the Service of
 Vigla 
(17
th
C.)
Between numerous Byzantine institutions that Ottoman Empire adopted was the institution of 
vigla
. It was known only from the 
kanunname
for Rodos – Kos issued in the first half of 16
th
century. 
Village residents were obliged to watch and warn the state authorities of possible suspected vessels. 
Two 17
th
century documents from the Archive of Hilandar Monastery prove that even monks were 
obliged to fulfil this compulsory duty and serve as 
viglaci
s. Although it was not mentioned in the 
documents, we can assume that they were exempted from certain taxes.
Nikita Khrapunov
V. I. Vernadsky Crimean Federal University, Simferopol, Russian Federation; 
[e-mail]
Through Travellers’ Eyes: The Discovery, Interpretation, 
and Sacralization of Byzantine Crimea, 1783-1827
Among unexpected consequences of Russian expansion in the Black Sea area in the late 
eighteenth century was the discovery of the archaeological sites in the Crimea by European 
intellectuals. They found out that this relatively small peninsula possessed extraordinary Byzantine 
heritage, embodied in fragmentary narratives and numerous archaeological monuments, including 
the Empire’s largest outpost in the northern Black Sea area, Cherson (antique Chersonese). 1783–
1827 became the years of linking written tradition and yet unstudied monuments of material 
culture, when Byzantine past of the Crimea was gradually comprehended in terms of science, 
religion, and political ideology. Particular contribution to these reflections was made by travellers, 
who introduced the Crimean history and archaeology to the public thought and produced several 
stereotypes, which survived in scholarly and public discourses to these days. Besides, it is a good 
example of how Byzantine heritage was studied and used for current political needs.
There are a few dozen travelogues from the period discussing Byzantine monuments in the Crimea, 
which mistakes are more demonstrative for pursuing lines of thought than correct interpretations. 
Among the riddles were “cave monasteries” carved high in the cliffs and abandoned in the age of Ottoman 
domination. Travellers combined the Enlightenment ideas on natural history, local tradition, and their 
own observations to suggest that these sites appeared in the year dot, when the Crimea laid on the sea 
bottom, with summits of its mountains forming an archipelago above the waves. Other authors ascribed 
these sites to runaway Byzantine monks and connected them with Orthodox abbeys in continental 
Russia, where also were artificial caves. Gilbert Romme supposed that this technology was borrowed by 
retinue of Prince Vladimir of Rus’, who came to the Crimea in ca. 989 to be baptised there. 

---

248
Armchair historians suggested several locations for Byzantine Cherson, in various places in 
the Crimea and outside. Practical travellers collected evidences that the city existed in the south-
western tip of the peninsula. Understood as a symbolic inclusion of Russia into Civilization, this 
baptism supplied the Crimea with especial importance for the modern Russian Empire. Crimean 
region got a coat-of-arm in “Byzantine style.” But for decades, the idea of sanctity of Cherson did 
not take roots in public thought. Yet in 1822, Robert Lyall wondered why the Russian did not 
venerate the place whence their faith came. On the contrary, Edward Clarke used the destruction of 
archaeological monuments as an argument for the “barbarian” nature of the Russians.
Naïve attempts of cultural heritage interpretation gave birth to the Russian archaeology in its modern 
sense. Ironically, archaeological investigations also supplied the church with material monuments to be 
sanctified. 1827 excavations uncovered three Byzantine churches on the site of Cherson, thus raising 
public interest to Christian antiquities of the Crimea. In 1846, Metropolitan Makarii’s History of the 
Russian Church proclaimed Cherson the true centre of ancient Russian history, and in 1850, a modern 
monastery was established in the site of Cherson to commemorate Prince Vladimir’s baptism.
This research has been financially supported by the Russian Foundation for Humanities, 
project no. 15-01-00104.