A NEW DATA FOR THE STUDIES IN THE LATE MEDIAEVAL MONUMENTS OF THE CRIMEA: THE DRAWINGS BY ENGLISH TRAVELLERS FROM THE LATE 18TH AND ЕARLY 19TH CENTURIES

Abstract

This article analyses drawings of archaeological monuments in the Crimea dated to the age of the Golden Horde and the Crimean Khanate drawn from nature by order from English traveller Richard Worsley (1796), and by his ‘colleagues’ William Hastie (1798), Reginald Heber (1806) and Robert William Hay (1807). These pictures represent sites of sacral and civil architecture, some of which did not survive and some suff ered from man-made and natural factors. This substantiates the signifi cance of travel drawings from modern architectural and archaeological researches. This paper uncovers the illustrative materials’ potential for applied aspects of the Crimean studies, for example historical topography of Caff a (Feodosia) or the question of Moslem cemetery in the town of Chufut-Kale. Hastie’s materials, produced by the governorate architect, testifi es that the government of Paul I worked on the project of restoration of Moslem architecture in the Crimea, thus disproving popular argument that Russian authorities regarded negatively the Moslem cultural heritage. It has been shown that the travellers’ drawings formed the image of the Crimea in the mind of their readers and shaped individual monuments and sites as touristic attractions.