Ancient Chersonese
The Heraclean Peninsula is home to the ancient city of Tauric Chersonese and its chora – the surrounding agricultural hinterland. This landscape is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Spanning 10,000 hectares, this area preserves remarkably intact evidence of ancient Greek city planning and agricultural practices over more than 2,000 years.Protected Cultural Landscape
An ancient grid of land divisions, marked here in white, is still visible across the peninsula. Yellow highlights show the protected sites, while light-grey zones around them indicate buffer areas with UNESCO protection status. These sites provide a great insight into over 2,000 years of continuous habitation.Crisis in Heritage Protection
Since 2014, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee’s oversight of Chersonese has dropped below 10%. The lack of international heritage protection leaves the site vulnerable to various threats under Russian occupation. View UNESCO monitoring history →Areas Under Threat
Russia’s occupation of Crimea has led to severe violations, including unauthorized construction, rushed excavations, and illegal artifact removal. These activities – highlighted in red – constitute crimes against Ukrainian and world cultural heritage.Bulldozing History
Construction within the UNESCO buffer zone is actively destroying the ancient necropolis, destroying its archaeological layers and authenticity. This unauthorized development directly damages cultural strata, with heavy construction equipment and foundation work destroying the historic burial ground.Manipulating History
Despite UNESCO World Heritage rules requiring the preservation of authenticity, the site is being transformed into “New Chersonesos” – a military-backed development promoted as a “Russian Mecca.” This construction within the protected buffer zone is deliberately reshaping the ancient landscape. It uses a distorted historical narrative about Orthodox Christianity to bolster Russia’s territorial claims.Cultural Theft
Cultural treasures are being systematically looted from the protected buffer zone. Nearly 85,000 square meters of cultural layers were destroyed, 4 million artifacts were taken, and 1,500 archaeological complexes were disabled and removed.Digital Heritage Protection
With official monitoring nearly absent, it has become urgent to independently document these heritage violations. By analyzing satellite imagery and other remote-sensing data, we will continue tracking changes to this site and recording violations to ensure that Russian destruction and manipulation of this historic site remain under watch.
