Nymphaeum [Німфей; Nimfei]. (Map: Greek colonies on northern Black Sea coast.) An ancient Greek city in the Crimea (see Ancient states on the northern Black Sea coast), 17 km south of present-day Kerch. Nymphaeum was founded in the 6th century BC at the site of a Scythian settlement. It exported wheat to Greece and manufactured pottery. In the 5th century BC it was briefly a colony of Athens and then belonged to the Bosporan Kingdom. In the 3rd century AD it was destroyed by the Goths. Excavations carried out at the site since 1939 have uncovered the remains of fortifications, public and private buildings, pottery workshops, and a temple of Demeter.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 3 (1993).]


Encyclopedia of Ukraine