The Temple of the “Three Horsemen” (Eski-Kermen, South-West Crimea): On Issues of Chronology and Interpretation of Paintings

Introduction. The Church of the “Three Horsemen” is located on the southeast edge of Eski-Kermen hill fort (Southwest Crimea). Its name comes from the fresco with the images of three saints riding on the horses. Methods. Historians of the end of the 18th – beginning of the 20th centuries rarely mentioned this site. Modern scholars have discussed two issues: 1) whether the church with fresco was the original one or it was preceded by an earlier (early medieval) cave religious building; 2) the image depicts only St. George, presented in three scenes; St. Demetrius, St. Theodore, and St. George; or this image amplified with figures of local historical persons. Analysis. Nikolay Repnikov proved the chronological identity of fresco and the church. As regards the differences in the quality of handling walls, the author concludes that this is the result of the preparation of the rock base on plaster application and later paintings. The inscription under the picture of saints confirms this statement. All the translation variants confirm the simultaneity of paintings and cutting. Therefore, the fresco and the church were definitely created at the same time, probably in the second part of the 13th century. The analysis of paintings on the fresco shows that we have an image of St. Demetrius, St. Theodore (Stratelates or Tiron), and St. George. The images of these three saints, in contrast to “triple St. George” are common on the other sites of Crimea. Results. All the attempts to “find” in the Three Horsemen martyrium the “earlier church” are baseless. The church was carved and painted in the second part of the 13th century. The fresco depicts St. Demetrius, St. Theodore (Stratelates or Tiron), and St. George. Authors’ contribution. Yuriy Mogarichev prepared sections on historiography and features of the considered monument. Alena Ergina investigated art history aspects.