Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in the city of Kerch. Temple of St.
Church of John the Baptist in Kerch It is considered the oldest Orthodox church on the entire Crimean peninsula. The church was created in the image and likeness of the temples of Byzantium. Such “striped” buildings of white stone with layers of flat brick were erected to make them stronger and more reliable, capable of withstanding any earthquake.
Sasha Mitrakhovich 07.02.2018 09:10
Who built Church of John the Baptist in Kerch- unknown, the temple dates back to the 9th-11th centuries. There is a version that the Church of John the Baptist was built on the site of an ancient basilica. Most likely, it burned down when the Khazars were expelled from these places, since researchers found traces of burning on the ancient masonry. It seems that the builders of the Church of the Baptist took the surviving columns from that first basilica.
The antiquity of the temple is confirmed primarily by ancient amphorae from the 8th century found in its masonry. These amphorae were used as voice boxes. In architecture, hollow vessels were often used, placing their necks outward. This made it possible to relieve pressure on the building's supporting structures and improve acoustics.
The Genoese came to this land towards the end of the 13th century, when the city began to actively develop trade relations with the outside world. Under them the city became large shopping center. It seems that it was then, under the Genoese, that the Baptist Church again became Christian.
And at the end of the 15th century, the Turks firmly settled in Kerch; the Greek community was very small under the Turks, so it was difficult to maintain and repair Church of John the Baptist there was no one and nothing. It is not surprising that it began to deteriorate.
Fortunately, no alterations to which the temple underwent during its existence could completely destroy its frescoes. Even the specific Muslim plaster mixed with wool did not “kill” them. Fragments of the paintings have survived to this day. Experts believe that at one time the students himself worked on them.
At the turn of the 18th-19th centuries, when Kerch became part of Russia, the Church of John the Baptist was handed over to the Greeks, who at about the same time began to actively settle on the southern borders of the empire.
In the early 1820s, according to the plan for the reconstruction of Kerch, the Church of John the Baptist was to become its dominant feature. It is not surprising that the Kerch temple in the name of John the Baptist became the richest in Crimea.
After the revolution, most of the church buildings, the chapel over the crypt of the entrepreneur K.I. Mesaksudi, as well as the monumental tombstones of the cemetery were demolished. Nevertheless, services in the church continued until 1937, when the temple was finally closed, and the building itself was transferred to a branch of the Central Anti-Religious Museum of the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.
No matter how paradoxical it may sound, but, as a rule, the transfer of churches to such museums was perhaps the only chance to preserve an architectural monument. Money immediately came from the republican budget for painting and plastering the walls, updating the roof, gutters and unveiling the frescoes discovered by the restorers of the Tretyakov Gallery.
But the war began. First, looters walked through the temple, then, during the occupation of Kerch, services resumed in the church. By the end of the war, it was included in the historical and cultural reserve.
In 1963, the temple finally received the official status of an architectural monument of republican significance... and a fish market under its walls.
Over the decades in the 20th century, the unique ancient Church of St. John the Baptist fell into disrepair. Finally, in the 1970s, a decision was made to restore it.
In the 1990s, the Church of John the Baptist was transferred to the Church, and sacred prayers began to sound within the ancient walls again.
Sasha Mitrakhovich 07.02.2018 09:18
The Church of John the Baptist is considered one of the oldest Orthodox churches not only in Crimea, but throughout Eastern Europe. And thus it represents a link between the “mother” architecture of Byzantium and the architectural schools that emerged after the 10th century in Orthodox powers such as Kievan Rus or Georgia.
From an architectural point of view, the church, as they say, is a textbook example of a four-pillar, three-apse cross-domed church, where the only dome is carried by cruciform vaults supported by pillars, which, in turn, transfer the load to the columns. As a result of the alterations of the 19th century, when the church was “overgrown” with two vestibules and a bell tower, the appearance of the temple seemed to “blur”, became complex, more horizontally oriented and, as it were, “pressed to the ground.”
But the original Byzantine church is emphatically vertical. The diversity of apses and lowered corner parts of the quadrangle is brought to a common denominator thanks to the highly elevated nave and transept, forming an equilateral cross.
The vertical impulse is emphasized by flat pilasters and textured perspective arches that highlight window and door openings. The elegant light drum with a hemispherical dome crowning the structure also corresponds to the general design.
Sasha Mitrakhovich 07.02.2018 10:13
The Baptist Church of Kerch stands among a number of special buildings that organically combine both basilical and cross-domed architectural systems.
There is an assumption that the temple could have been built on the site of an older religious building; elements of capitals characteristic of the 5th century and traces of burning dating back to the 9th century are cited as proof.
The church was expanded in the 19th century and now consists of two parts: the ancient temple and a larger extension.
The remains of ancient frescoes, uncovered during the restoration of the 19th century, have been preserved. And the restorers of the twentieth century brought the ownerless temple back to life. To avoid destruction of the vaults and the drum, it was necessary to strengthen its structure with a metal frame; it is clearly visible in the interior of the church.
Sasha Mitrakhovich 07.02.2018 10:25
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The most ancient stone temple in Russia and Eastern Europe. Unique Kerch cathedral St. John the Baptist is the only architectural monument that has survived from the heyday of the Tmutarakan principality (X-XI centuries).
The Church of John the Baptist is one of the oldest monuments of early medieval architecture: it seems to combine two architectural systems - basilica and cross-domed Byzantine layout, like the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople or its copy in the neo-Byzantine style like the Naval St. Nicholas Cathedral in Kronstadt. The temple is an outstanding work of architecture, the only Byzantine church to have miraculously survived. It is believed that the Church of John the Baptist was built in the 6th-9th centuries; this is confirmed by the Greek inscription on one of the columns supporting the vault of the temple: “Here lies the servant of God, the son of George. The mummy reposed in the month 3 (days) 10 hours (in summer) from Adam 6260 (from R. X. 752).” Amphoras from the 8th-9th centuries were discovered in the masonry of the temple; they were used as voice boxes.
The temple is mentioned in the inscription of the so-called “Tmutarakan Stone”, which is kept in the Hermitage: “In the summer of 1576, Prince Benindicta 6 of Gleb measured the sea from Tmutarakan to Karchev with 10,000 and 4,000 fathoms.” In those distant times, the temple stood at the very shore of the sea.
According to legend, the Apostle Andrew the First-Called himself blessed the construction of the temple on the banks of Kerch, the then Bosporus, in 65 AD. in honor of his first teacher John the Baptist. It was at this time that the Apostle Andrew, according to the notes of monk Epiphanius, arrived for the first time to preach in this area. This was confirmed by the revered shrine - a stone with the imprint of the foot of the First-Called Apostle, which was located near the temple until the revolutionary time of 1917. During the revolutionary years, the stone disappeared and its further fate is unknown.
Among the ancient objects found in the cathedral, worthy of attention are a wooden bowl dating back to the 6th century, with barely visible images of the Savior, the Mother of God, St. John the Baptist and the Crucifixion, two silver bowls - one from the 16th-17th centuries, and the other from the end of the 18th century.
The Cathedral of John the Baptist consists of two parts: the ancient Church of John the Baptist itself and an extension built in the 19th century. In 1834, the narthex with the western wall was dismantled and a three-nave vestibule was added in the pseudo-Byzantine style. In 1845, another two-tier bell tower was added to the church, and later a northern porch, illuminated in honor of St. Nicholas, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia. During the reconstruction of the temple in the 30s of the 19th century, frescoes depicting two saints were discovered under the dome of the ancient temple.
In the 60s of the last century there was a market around the temple - they sold fish. With broken windows and bushes on the walls and roof, it was a sad sight in those years. After restoration, the lapidary collection of the museum was opened in the temple. Only in the 90s the ancient temple was returned to the church, and today services are held there. The cathedral is under UNESCO protection.
Many pilgrims come here from all over the world. This is a wonderful place where a modern person can find solace and escape from the bustle of a noisy city. Here we come into contact with eternity, forget about time and, finally, remember the true meaning of life.
Panoramic tour of the cathedral
Saint John the Baptist
CLERGY OF THE CATHEDRAL
SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST:
Rector of the Cathedral: Cathedral cleric:
Archimandrite Roman (Ovsienko) Clergy: 
[b]The Church of John the Baptist in Kerch is an outstanding monument of early Byzantine religious architecture of the late 9th - early 10th centuries. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v58/atavin/IMGP6169.jpg
The temple is a complex architectural complex, which was finally formed only at the end of the 19th century. The original Byzantine building, which now occupies the eastern part of the church, was a four-pillar, three-apse cross-domed church. On the lower cubic mass there was a cruciform top, which stood out well from above thanks to the lowered corner parts. Inside, the cross was broken by free-standing columns, as a result of which the church organically combines two architectural systems: basilica and cross-domed. Similar temples were built starting from the 9th century. V eastern regions Byzantine Empire. Now it is impossible to answer the question of who built the temple: Bosporan masters or visiting architects. We can say that the construction of such a temple was hardly possible for local craftsmen*. Its construction was undoubtedly controlled by the imperial administration and the Patriarchate of Constantinople.
Even with a quick inspection of the building, the original type of masonry of the external walls catches the eye. Small, well-processed limestone blocks alternate with layers of thin baked bricks and plinths.
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This unusual technique gives the walls some pomp and elegance. This type of masonry was well known to Byzantine architects and was repeatedly used in the construction of large public buildings in Kherson, Thessaloniki and Constantinople. The internal arches of the branches of the cross, the upper part of the dome drum and the finials of narrow windows were also laid with bricks. The church is crowned by a single hemispherical dome, forming the center of the cross. It is installed on a round light-carrying drum, which gave the church a slender outline. The facades were decorated with perspective arches and pilasters.
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The composition of the temple was dominated by the vertical. The disproportion between the transverse and vertical dimensions of the church was noted back in 1867 by engineer Rydzevsky, who carefully examined the temple. Thanks to this feature, it was an architectural dominant in urban development.
The interior of the temple was formed by girth arches and sails resting on four cross-section pillars. These, in turn, were supported by four elegant marble columns. topped with carved capitals. The columns, like the capitals, were made of grayish marble with blue veins. This type of marble was mined on the island of Proconnes in the Aegean Sea until the end of the 8th century**. There were also workshops where various architectural details were made. Subsequently, the finished products were sent to all parts of the Byzantine Empire and decorated the temples of Constantinople, Ravenna, Athens, Venice and many other cities.
The capitals of the Kerch church belong to one of the earliest types of Byzantine-Corinthian capitals and date back to the end of the 5th - beginning of the 6th centuries.
Back at the end of the 19th century. researcher of medieval Taurica A.L. Berthier-Delagarde drew attention to the prefabricated nature of the capitals and columns, which did not even match in diameter. In addition, it was clearly noticeable that the thin, graceful columns and no less fancy capitals did not fit into the strict, somewhat ponderous decoration of the interior. On this basis N.P. Kondakov suggested that on the site of the Church of John the Baptist there used to be a more ancient temple, which, judging by the columns, had a basilica shape. According to researchers, the columns and capitals, made long before the construction of the church, were taken from the ancient basilica. Similar cases are known in Kherson, when cross-domed churches built in the 9th century were decorated with marble details from dilapidated Christian churches of Justinian’s time.
To improve the acoustic properties, small amphorae were built into the sails of the church. Several of them were discovered covered with a layer of late plaster during restoration work.
According to ancient custom, burials took place around the church for several centuries. During the excavations, dozens of graves were discovered, arranged in the form of stone boxes. Some of them served as family tombs. Such burials usually contained the remains of several people. Judging by the few modest grave goods, most of the graves dated back to the 12th–15th centuries, although the earliest can be dated back to the time of the construction of the temple
Thanks to its excellent preservation, the church has long attracted the attention of travelers and scientists. The first mention of it dates back to 1334, when it was visited by the Arab traveler Ibn Batuta. In 1634, the church was described in detail by the Dominican monk Emiddio Dortelli d'Ascoli. He brought to us a very interesting, but implausible legend, according to which the church was found in the sea. The traveler was convinced of this by the numerous imprints of seashells on the limestone-shell rock blocks, from of which the walls and vaults of the temple are composed. In 1666, in his “Book of Travels,” Evliya Celebi, describing the “beautiful Kerch castle,” also mentioned the “church of the infidels,” which, in his opinion, was built during the rule of the Genoese.
After joining Russia in 1783, a favorable environment was created in Crimea for the study of its antiquities. By the end of the 19th century. In science, two points of view have emerged regarding the time of construction of the temple. Most scholars dated it to the first half to mid-8th century. In this case, the inscription found on the northern column of the temple was used as an argument. Translated by V.V. Latyshev, the inscription written in Greek looked like this: “Here lies the servant of God Kyriak, son of George, grandson of Vindir. Died on the month of June 3, indict 10, in the summer of Adam 6265.” Thus it turns out that Cyriacus died in 757.
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Other researchers believed that the column, which was taken from an older temple, ended up in the Church of John the Baptist already with an inscription. Consequently, the temple belonged to a late time. Based on architectural features they dated it to the 10th and 12th centuries.
This complex issue was finally resolved only after in the 60s. XX century, archaeological excavations were carried out inside and around the temple under the leadership of T.I. Makarova. Using the newly obtained data, scientists were able to reconstruct the overall history of the temple.
The place where the Church of John the Baptist is located was settled by people relatively late, in the first centuries of our era. Before this, judging by the thick layer of sterile sea sand, without any admixture of ceramics, there was a coastal strip somewhere nearby. At the beginning of the 6th century, after the center of the Bosporus moved from the top of Mount Mithridates to its foot, a large temple was built here - basilica During the reign of Emperor Justinian I, the construction of similar temples began throughout the empire. The Bosporus was no exception. During excavations inside the northern chapel of the church, below its foundations, fragments of ancient monumental masonry, composed of well-processed limestone squares, were discovered. In the eastern part of the temple, the remains of an ancient apse were discovered, the curvature of which did not coincide with the diameter of the apse of the Church of John the Baptist. These finds confirmed the hypothesis of the existence on this site of an ancient temple. In addition, during the excavations it was collected large number split slabs and architectural details made from Prokonesian marble, the favorite material of architects of the Justinian era.
20 meters north of the church, the remains of a monumental building were discovered, which apparently had a social and religious character. This was evidenced by the finds of a grave built in the floor of the building, remains of frescoes, window glass and a fragment of a large marble ritual vessel-luteria. During the excavations, parts of architectural details made from Prokonesian marble were repeatedly encountered. In addition, a well and a large water tank were discovered inside the room, which served as a clue to the purpose of this building. According to archaeologists, there was a baptistery - a special building for the baptism of converts. And the reservoir and the marble lutherium served as fonts, respectively. Such baptismal places were usually located near basilicas and together with them formed a single architectural and religious complex. Such complexes are known in Kherson and other major religious centers of Byzantium.
The further history of the basilica can be reconstructed using the sparse archaeological material discovered in the backfill of a robbed grave inside the baptistery. Judging by the finds of small pieces of amphorae, red lacquer and glass, the grave was robbed between the mid-6th and mid-7th centuries. It was precisely during this period of time that the Turkic pogrom of 576 occurred, when the Bosporus, judging by the above-mentioned building inscription of the duka of Kherson Evpaterius, was thoroughly destroyed. It is with his restoration activities that one can associate the reconstruction of the baptistery, during which the robbed grave was filled up and new marble floors were laid on top of it. But, unfortunately, archaeologists have not yet been able to find out whether the basilica itself was damaged.
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At the end of the 7th century. The Bosporus again becomes an arena of struggle, but now between Byzantium and the Khazar Khaganate, which tried to claim its rights to imperial possessions in Crimea. As a result of these events, the baptismal shrine was destroyed. Khazar buildings were built on its ruins. However, the basilica appears to have been undamaged. This is indirectly indicated by the “inscription of Cyriacus”, dated 757. The Khazars, known for their religious tolerance, could preserve the Christian temple, although the territory of the complex itself was significantly reduced. Visited the Bosporus at the end of the 8th century. The Byzantine monk Epiphanius saw in the city a large temple in the name of the Holy Apostles. It is likely that by “large temple” Epiphanius meant the vast interior spaces of the basilica.
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The death of the temple is probably connected with the events of the late 9th century, when the Khazars were expelled from the Bosporus. But the only thing that can confirm this assumption is a small layer of burning, discovered in the layers of this time during excavations inside the temple. It cannot be ruled out that before the construction of the new church, the old, dilapidated basilica was simply demolished.
At the end of the 9th - beginning of the 10th centuries. residential areas and the Church of John the Baptist are being built on the ruins of the Khazar era. This course of events is perfectly illustrated by data from archaeological excavations of the ancient western wall of the temple. Here the remains of a destroyed and then leveled estate of the 8th century were discovered. As excavations have shown, the neighborhoods were built with the temple in mind. This is indicated by the boarding of the medieval street leading to the north entrance of the church. The construction of the new temple was undoubtedly associated with the strengthening of the power of Byzantium and the Patriarchate of Constantinople in Crimea.
Over the next four centuries, the fate of the temple remains virtually unknown. We can only talk about a few small repairs. In the XIV century. The temple was completely reconstructed. The original faceted apses disappeared under a massive, rough lining of uncut stones. The interior walls were covered with a layer of plaster and frescoes.
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During the restoration, from the eastern part of the church, under the later layers, the faces of saints were discovered. The color range of the paintings was very limited. The folds of the saints' clothes and their faces were painted dark red. The halo above the head is outlined in brown and white paint. According to researchers, the frescoes could be attributed to the circle of works by masters of the school of Theophanes the Greek.
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Later, during certain periods of Turkish rule, the church may have changed its confessional affiliation and turned into a mosque. Perhaps that is why the apses were dismantled, and the frescoes, which were barbarously scraped off the walls and covered with a new layer of plaster, have not survived to this day. It is interesting to note that the new layer of plaster was mixed with wool. Such solutions were very often used by Muslim architects. Now it’s hard to say exactly when the frescoes were destroyed, but in 1666 Evliya Celebi still saw them.
As a result of the construction of the Turkish fortress, the church found itself in the middle of an earthen rampart. To get into it, you had to go down several steps. The small Greek community could not maintain the temple in good condition, and it gradually deteriorated and collapsed.
After Kerch became part of the Russian Empire in 1774, the church was handed over to the Archipelago Greeks who settled at the end of the 18th century. on the southern borders of the empire.
The state took care of the preservation and restoration of the few Greek churches.
Throughout the 19th century. The church was repeatedly repaired and completed. In 1801, a small chapel was added to the west. At the same time, apparently, ancient tombstones, which were discovered during excavation work, were built into its southern wall***.
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At least, already in 1818 they were already seen by the adjutant of Alexander I A.I. Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky. These ancient tombstones can still be seen on the wall of the temple.
In the 20s of the XIX century. According to the master plan of the Odessa architect Francois Chall, Kerch, like many southern Russian cities, acquired regular development. In 1827, on the site of the dismantled Turkish fortress, a beautiful octagonal square was laid out, the main decoration of which became the Church of John the Baptist. In 1832–1834 The western porch is lengthened again. Continuing the perspective of the temple, it was also divided by columns into three naves. A low bell tower was attached to the vestibule on the western side. A few years later, in 1842, according to the design of the architect Alexander Digby, a new, two-tier bell tower was built.
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Moreover, the architect tried to give it forms as close as possible to the architecture of Byzantine churches. Its facades were decorated with numerous pediments, niches and cornices. In 1894–1896 on the northern side of the temple, on the site of the portal built in the first quarter of the 19th century, a chapel was built.
Until its closure by the Bolsheviks in the 1920s, the church remained the cultural and religious center of the Greek community. It maintained Greek and Russian parochial schools. Every year, with a huge crowd of people, a temple festival was celebrated. Outside the temple, under a glass case, was kept a stone with an imprint of the likeness of a human foot. According to legend, it was left by the Apostle Andrew the First-Called or John the Baptist. During the holidays, the foot was carefully removed from the case, filled with water, and those who were thirsty could scoop it up with their hands to heal their illness.
The altar of the temple was decorated with a beautiful carved iconostasis of the 18th century. It was made of walnut and covered with gold in 1857. In the central apse there was a throne in the name of the patron saint of the church, John the Baptist, in the western apse there was an altar, and in the right - another throne in the name of St. Catherine. Sacred relics were kept at the church: a Greek handwritten Gospel of the 11th century, a handwritten “Apostle” of the 12th century, icons of the Mother of God and John the Baptist, an icon of Barbara the Great Martyr (1703), three ancient copper candlesticks and a chandelier. All these relics were lost during the Great Patriotic War.
Currently, the Church of John the Baptist is a temple of the Russian Orthodox Church. This is a unique monument of medieval architecture, which is the oldest operating Orthodox church in Eastern Europe.
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Literature:
Makarova T.I. Bosporus-Korchev according to archaeological data // Byzantine Taurica. Kyiv, 1991.
Makarova T.I. Bosporus-Korchev // Crimea, North-Eastern Black Sea region and Transcaucasia in the Middle Ages. IV–XIII centuries. Archeology. M., 2003.
Makarova T.I. Archaeological excavations in Kerch near the Church of John the Baptist // Materials on archeology, history and ethnography of Tavria. Vol. VI. Simferopol, 1998.
Podosinov A.V. Kerch – a Greek, Khazar, Russian city // Eastern Europe in antiquity and the Middle Ages. Political structure of the ancient Russian state. M., 1996.
Ivanenko P.I., Ivanina O.A. Kerch: history of the name. Kerch, 1996.
Ponomarev L.Yu. Medieval Kerch. Kerch, 1999.
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* The temple is an example of the Constantinople architectural school of this period.
** The Prokonesian quarries of the Blessed Virgin Mary ceased to function in the first quarter of the 7th century.
Elements of the temple are most likely local spolia, incl. local Church of the Holy Apostles. As a rule, we tried to use local spolia.
***The period of the Bosporan kingdom.
Video:
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It is believed that the temple was built in the 8th-9th centuries, the estimated time of construction of the temple. This is confirmed by the Greek inscription on one of the columns supporting the vault of the temple: “Here lies the servant of God, the son of George. The mummy reposed in the month 3 (days) hours 10 (in summer) from Adam 6260 (from R. X. 752).”
This is a cross-domed, three-apse temple with a hemispherical dome on a high drum. The walls are made of white limestone blocks with red brick veining. This makes it an unusual and unforgettable creation of the old masters. The temple was consecrated in honor of St. John the Baptist and Baptist of Christ. 
Ancient Greek tombstone. 
During the existence of the Crimean Khanate (XV-XVIII centuries), many Christian churches were converted into mosques; this fate did not escape the Church of John the Baptist. With the annexation of Crimea into the Russian Empire, the church again became an Orthodox church. In documents of that time it is called the “Greek Church” without dedication to a saint. 
At the beginning of the 19th century, the current name of the temple appeared: the Church of the Beheading of John the Baptist." 
There is a version that the temple was built on the site of an even more ancient religious building. Thus, some scientists believe that the capitals of the church belong to the early type of Byzantine and Corinthian capitals, and their age dates back to the late 5th - early 6th centuries, so there is an assumption that the columns and capitals of the temple were made long before the construction of the church and were taken from the ancient basilica, perhaps located on the same site. 
Proof of this is the traces of burning found in the area of the temple, dating back to the 9th century, when the Khazars were expelled from the Bosporus - researchers put forward the point of view that the basilica simply burned down, and in its place the temple of John the Baptist was built. 
Today the church consists of an ancient part and a 19th-century building. In the church courtyard there is a stone slab with a recess that resembles a human footprint. According to local legends, this footprint belongs to John the Baptist or Andrew the First-Called. 
By the time Crimea was annexed by Russia, the church was in disrepair. Its foundation subsided greatly, so a staircase of eight steps was built to enter the temple. A three-nave porch in pseudo-Byzantine style was added to the temple in 1834 on the western side. 
In 1845, the complex was replenished with a two-tier bell tower and a northern porch, built according to the design of the architect Alexander Digby. During these same years, construction workers engaged in reconstruction discovered an image of two saints under the dome of the fresco. According to Igor Grabar, the frescoes could have been painted by students of Theophanes the Greek. 
Since the 30s of the 20th century, the Church of John the Baptist was closed “due to the lack of a parish.” For a long time the temple was abandoned. A fish market was built on the territory adjacent to the temple. Only in 1957 did they pay attention to the temple and began to study it.
Perhaps there was a market here. 
In 1963, the church was given the status of an architectural monument of republican significance. 
Beginning in the 70s, the Church of St. John the Baptist began to be restored. Work on its restoration was carried out in 1974-1978. 
After restoration, the lapidary collection of the museum was opened in the Church of John the Baptist. In June 1990, the church was transferred to the Kerch Orthodox Religious Society. Currently, it operates as an Orthodox church where services are held. 
After short excursion In the history gleaned from the Internet, a more complete picture of the history of this pearl can be read there, let’s go inside and just silently, without comment, examine it from the inside. 
Address: Kerch, st. Dmitrova, 2.
An amazingly beautiful temple located in the central part Kerch, invariably captivates the eye with its original appearance. This is an ancient Christian church, dedicated John the Baptist. So ancient that history has not preserved even reminders of its first builders to this day. This is the oldest operating Orthodox church not only on the Crimean Peninsula, but throughout Eastern Europe.
History of the creation of the Church of John the Baptist
There are different versions about the time of construction of the shrine. Most often it is dated to the 8th century, since inside the temple there is a column with an inscription in Greek. It follows from it that a man who died in 752 rests here. In addition, golosniks (special vessels that are used in construction to increase strength and improve acoustics) dating back to the 8th century were discovered in the church walls. But there are also adherents of the point of view, according to which the temple was built in the 9th or 11th centuries.
The ancient church is steeped in legends, one of which says that John the Baptist himself was involved in its founding. According to another legend, the construction of a sacred monastery in this place was blessed by the Apostle Andrew the First-Called. In the temple, a stone slab was preserved as a special relic, with a depression similar to a human footprint. They said that this was the trace of John the Baptist himself. During celebrations in honor of the temple holiday, the imprint was taken out of a special case and filled with water, which could then be drawn by all those who were suffering in order to be healed of illnesses.With the help of archaeological research, only one thing has been established reliably - the structure that has come down to us was erected on the site of an older basilica, from which parts of the foundation have been preserved.Church of John the Baptist built in the traditions of Byzantine architecture. In architectural terms, it is a four-pillar cross-domed building, similar to other religious buildings that once existed in the Asian regions under the rule of Byzantium. The unique masonry gives a special flavor and beauty to the building. The facades are made of limestone blocks interspersed with rows of flat red bricks (plinths). This is also a characteristic feature of the works of Byzantine architects, who in this way not only created a unique appearance, but also strengthened the stability of the building in case of seismic disasters.A single hemispherical dome is mounted on a tall light drum. Inside, the structure is supported by four columns of dark gray marble, which are decorated with elegant capitals in the Corinthian style. It is assumed that these columns were taken from an older temple.
Over the long history of its existence, the temple has seen a lot and changed its owners more than once. So, in the XIII - XV centuries, when the Black and Sea of Azov were under the rule of the Genoese, the church in honor of St. John the Baptist enjoyed great fame. This is probably why the city itself that stood here was called the port of St. John and the strait between the seas was also called. During the period of the Crimean Khanate (XV - XVIII centuries) this church was completely turned into a mosque. The temple acquired its true purpose - serving the Orthodox faith - in 1774, after Kerch, being part of Crimea, went to Russian Empire. Then the temple was transferred to the Greek community, and for some time it was called Greek.
Throughout XIX century St. John the Baptist Church has undergone several alterations. In the early years, a modest-sized chapel was built on the western side. In 1832 - 1834, a three-nave aisle was built, for which it was necessary to dismantle the narthex and the western wall. This significantly increased the internal volume of the premises. The craftsmen completed the extension in a pseudo-Byzantine manner, and it harmoniously fit into the appearance of the ancient shrine. In 1845, a porch appeared on the north side and a low belfry in two tiers.
Hard times came for the stronghold of Christianity in the post-revolutionary period. Sharing the fate of most Orthodox shrines, it was closed (due to “lack of parish”) and abandoned for many years. Many church relics were then irretrievably lost, but the Gospel written in Greek, created in the 11th century, and the Apostle, dating from the 12th - 13th centuries, were once kept here. There were many ancient icons, the most ancient of which were images of the Savior, the Mother of God, and the temple icon of St. John the Baptist.
Church of John the Baptist in our time
The magnificent building, which managed to survive through the centuries, despite many trials, was noticed in the 1960s, when the temple was given the official status of an architectural monument of republican significance. True, by that time it was a rather pitiful sight with broken windows, collapsing walls and a collapsing dome. 
The building remained in this deplorable state for about ten years, until restoration work finally began in 1974. Then the dome was strengthened with a metal frame, the walls were restored using stones and bricks close to the original, and the paintings inside were partially recreated. At their own peril and risk, without receiving official permission, the craftsmen even placed an Orthodox cross on the dome of the temple, although, of course, no services were held there. After restoration, the building was given over to the lapidarium of the Kerch Historical Museum.
The revival of the temple as a religious shrine took place in the 1990s, when it was returned to the Orthodox community. Today it is both historical monument architecture, and a functioning temple, where both tourists who want to come into contact with antiquity and believers who feel a special grace in these prayed-up holy walls flock.
