On July 30 in Sebastopol, Crimea the museum complex “New Chersonese” was officially opened. The venue of this innovative museum complex is at the very heart of Orthodox Russia—the country’s most ancient city, where Equal-to-the-Apostles St. Vladimir was baptized, placing the beginning for a new civilization.
The museum-church complex “New Chersonese” represents an entirely new level of organization for historical, museum, educational, leisure, and cultural spaces not only in Russia but also worldwide. The buildings and structures, with a total area of 140,000 square meters, are located on twenty-four hectares of landscaped territory transformed into a unique garden-park ensemble. As a result, a true Byzantine city has emerged next to ancient Chersonese, impressing visitors with its scale and beauty.
The main centers of “New Chersonese” are three museums: Christianity, Antiquity and Byzantium, and Crimea and Novorossiya.
The Museum of Crimea and Novorossiya—its name speaks for itself—offers a captivating narrative about the life and transformation of a land that, in ancient times, was a place of exile, and in Russia up to the eighteenth century was called the Wild Field. This is the country’s first museum dedicated to the history of Russia’s new regions! The planned area of its exhibitions is 12,000 square meters.
The facade of the Museum of Crimea and Novorossiya is adorned with monumental bas-reliefs depicting scenes from Crimean history from antiquity to modern times. This unique project, is in terms of its content and scope, an innovative experience for the peninsula in creating cultural and educational centers. The multimedia equipment, classic artifacts, immersive rooms that plunge visitors into the events of eras, a 5D cinema, infrastructure, and even the building itself are impressive in their scale. In addition to twenty-five exhibition halls, the museum also includes observation decks, landscaped areas, fountains, and facilities to accommodate visitors with limited mobility.
