Tauric Chersonesos is one of the prominent Ancient Greek centres on the north coast of the Black Sea. Founded by the Herakleians, with a small group of the Delians, Chersonesos was the only Dorian city in the region. This fact is reflected in many events and phenomena of its history and culture; it concerns especially its religion, related to all aspects of the private and public lives of the population.
Founded on a peninsula (‘chersonesos’ in Greek) settled by the local tribes of Tauri (‘Tauric’ was the name both of the city, and of the peninsula for many centuries), it came through many challenges and trials in its history. A significant role in these events was played by the neighbouring ‘barbarians’ – Tauri and Scythians.
Depending on their different historic developments, each polis obtained its own peculiar ideological situation which influenced not only public religious life, but also the religious outlook of each separate family or individual. The worship of the gods within the pantheon of the polis was a determinant for the community’s consolidation, while the beliefs surrounding these deities were significant for the reasoning of real events of civil life.
The comprehensive study of the peculiarities of the cults of the gods of the Chersonesan polis based on the sources available (written, epigraphic, images of gods and their symbols on coins, in sculpture, as well as archaeological remains of cultic structures) is revealing the religious life of this Ancient Greek centre at various stages in its development.