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Mount Mithridates is located in Crimea, in the town of Kerch, it is named in honor of Mithridates VI Eupator, the king of Pontus, whose name means "a gift of Mithra". The king was a protector of Greek cities on the Black Sea and a protector of Greek culture and also a formidable enemy of Roman Empire. Mithridates moved to collect a new army to the Crimea in 66 BC after his defeat to Pompey in Pontus, but local army and nobles in Panticapaeum rebelled in favor of his son. Trying to avoid capture, the king took poison, but the poison had no effect because of the immunity that he achieved in childhood. Then Mithridates asked his Gaulish bodyguard and friend Bituitus to kill him. The ancient town of Panticapaeum was founded in VII-VI centuries BC within the borders of modern-day Kerch its acropolis was built on the mountain. In the depths of the mountain there is a giant underground necropolis, a system of crypts of the AD III-V. Parts of the Necropolis are still unexplored, by some estimates it has more than 3500 chambers,. On August 8, 1944 the Obelisk of Glory opened on the summit of a Mount, that was dedicated to Soviet soldiers killed in battles for the liberation of Crimea. The height of the Mount Mithridates is 91.4 m. To climb up the stairs of big Mithridates staircase to reach a summit of the mountain, one must go up 423 steps. The staircase was created by Italian architect Alexander Digby in 1833-1840 years. With its observation decks, decorated with statues of griffins and stone vases, the staircase is a wonderful decoration of the mountain. The staircase was destroyed twice: during the Crimean war and WWII.
{oziogallery 4959}