Panticapaeum, Mount Mithridates, Kerch
Capital of the Bosporan Kingdom, founded by settlers from Miletus; its acropolis stood on Mount Mithridates.
The ancient Greek city was founded by settlers from Miletus; sources date it differently — from about 615 BC (Krym.Realii) to the first quarter of the 6th century BC (Encyclopedia of Modern Ukraine). From the mid-5th century BC Panticapaeum was the centre of the Bosporan Kingdom and the residence of the Archaeanactids, and the city grew from about 30 to 100 hectares (encyclopedia). Between 510 and 485 BC a large temple of Apollo was built on Mount Mithridates (Krym.Realii, 2021). After 2014 an expedition of the Pushkin Museum in Moscow excavated here every year; in October 2025 the SBU put its leader on the wanted list: according to the investigation, the excavations destroyed the authenticity of the archaeological complexes of Panticapaeum and Nymphaeum (Suspilne, 12.10.2025).
Impossible to reach while the occupation lasts.