The Black Sea around the Crimea(Crimée,Krym,Kirim,Krim,Qirim), aka Pontus Axinus (The Inhospitable Sea), Pontus Euxinus(the Hospitable Sea)
"… of all the seas this one is the most remarkable", - this is what an ancient historian Herodotus wrote about the Black Sea.The first documentary data about the Black Sea came to us from the ancient Greeks. They started to create their colonies on the Black Sea shores from the VI century BC.
Since that time the sea had names Scythian Sea, Pontus Axinus (inhospitable sea), Pontus Euxinus (hospitable sea) - the Greeks might have changed their opinions after settling down near it. It also had names Surozh Sea (after an ancient name of Sudak). The Genoese called it Russian Sea because I provided the shortest way for Russian merchants to Byzantium.
The name "Black" was given to the sea later. One of the explanations is that the sea waters are darker compared with the water of the Mediterranean Sea.
Another very interesting is that such unfriendly name (Pontus Axinus - inhospitable sea) was caused by the cruel piracy on the Black Sea during Scythians and Tauri times.
The peculiarity of the Black Sea is its sulphurated Hydrogen Stratum at the depth of 150-200 m, which makes 87% of its volume lifeless.
There are about 170 species of fish in the sea. White sturgeon, Black Sea anchovy, herrings, grey mullets, tunas, horse mackerels, flat fish, Black Sea shark and of course dolphins, which attract a great attention of all the sea inhabitants.
Swimming in the sea at night in August, it is possible to see an interesting phenomenon - phosphorescence of the sea, which has a biological origin.
Sevastopol 24-Dec-2003 SunSet 285x380 ~ 14 kB |
Sevastopol 21-Sep-2003 The Black Sea 285x380 ~ 30 kB |
Sevastopol 21-Sep-2003 The Black Sea 285x380 ~ 25 kB |
Sevastopol 21-Sep-2003 The Black Sea 285x380 ~ 10 kB |
Sevastopol 20-Sep-2003 The Black Sea 285x380 ~ 11 kB |
Sevastopol 09-Aug-2003 The Black Sea 285x380 ~ 6 kB |
Sevastopol 31-Jul-2005 the Black Sea 380x285 ~ 13 kB |
Sevastopol 20-Jul-2005 the Black Sea sunset 380x285 ~ 9 kB |
Sevastopol 11-Jul-2005 the Black Sea 380x285 ~ 8 kB |
Sevastopol 23-Dec-2003 The Black Sea 380x285 ~ 23 kB |
Sevastopol 23-Dec-2003 The Black Sea 380x285 ~ 23 kB |
Sevastopol 23-Dec-2003 The Black Sea 380x285 ~ 33 kB |
Sevastopol 22-Dec-2003 The Black Sea 380x285 ~ 12 kB |
Sevastopol 22-Dec-2003 The Black Sea 380x285 ~ 13 kB |
Sevastopol 19-Oct-2003 The Black Sea 380x285 ~ 27 kB |
Sevastopol 19-Oct-2003 The Black Sea 380x285 ~ 11 kB |
Sevastopol 12-Oct-2003 The Black Sea 380x285 ~ 7 kB |
Sevastopol 12-Oct-2003 Pontus Euxinus (the Hospitable Sea) 380x285 ~ 7 kB |
Sevastopol 21-Sep-2003 Pontus Axinus (The Inhospitable Sea) 380x285 ~ 15 kB |
Sevastopol 21-Sep-2003 The Black Sea 380x285 ~ 17 kB |
Sevastopol 21-Sep-2003 The Black Sea 380x285 ~ 9 kB |
Sevastopol 20-Sep-2003 The Black Sea 380x285 ~ 13 kB |
Sevastopol 20-Sep-2003 Pontus Euxinus (the Hospitable Sea) 380x285 ~ 19 kB |
Sevastopol 17-Sep-2003 The Black Sea 380x285 ~ 9 kB |
Sevastopol 06-Sep-2003 The Black Sea 380x285 ~ 9 kB |
Sevastopol 06-Sep-2003 The Black Sea 380x285 ~ 18 kB |
Sevastopol 09-Aug-2003 The Black Sea 380x285 ~ 5 kB |
Sevastopol 08-Aug-2003 The Black Sea 380x285 ~ 10 kB |
Sevastopol 08-Aug-2003 The Black Sea 380x285 ~ 23 kB |
Sevastopol 08-Aug-2003 The Black Sea 380x285 ~ 11 kB |
Sevastopol 08-Aug-2003 The Black Sea 380x285 ~ 8 kB |
Sevastopol 23-Jun-2002 The Black Sea 380x285 ~ 21 kB |
Sevastopol 12-Oct-2001 Pontus Axinus (The Inhospitable Sea) 380x285 ~ 9 kB |
Sevastopol 12-Oct-2001 Pontus Axinus (The Inhospitable Sea) 380x285 ~ 19 kB |
Sevastopol 12-Oct-2001 The Black Sea 380x285 ~ 17 kB |
Sevastopol 12-Oct-2001 The Black Sea 380x285 ~ 17 kB |
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More Crimea, Ukraine: | Ai-Petri Mountain || Vorontsov's Castle and Garden in Alupka || Bakhchisaray(Bakhchisarai), The Palace of Gardens || Balaclava(Balaklava) || Chersonesus (Khersoness, Kherson, Chersoness) || Evpatoria(Eupatoria) || Laspi Bay, Batiliman bay || Livadia Palace and Garden || Massandra Palace near Yalta || Nikitsky Botanical Gardens || Simferopol, capital the Crimea || Yalta |
Some other places: |Gomel, Belarus |Minsk, Belarus |Kiev, Ukraine |Poltava, Ukraine |Odessa(Odesa), Ukraine |