The of the early christian The chronology of the early christian churches of chersonesus in the crimea remains debatable due to the absence of direct written and epigraphic data, as well as the insufficient clarity of the available archaeological evidence. In recent years, the topographic approach has allowed us to delineate small martyries in the two city cemeteries. They were built around the middle and in the last decades of the 4th century. But no 4th-century church has been identified inside the city walls. At least two basilicas can be dated to the 5th century: the bishop's (so-called 'uvarov's') basilica, and the basilica built on the site of a synagogue. A subterranean memorial construction (the so-called 'cave church') is also dated to the 5th century.
A reliable chronological criterion is available in the marble architectural elements from the proconnesian quarries. However, since a.l. Yakobson (1959), this important source has been virtually overlooked.
The capitals from chersonesus represent virtually all the known early byzantine types. They include composite capitals with fine-toothed acanthus, the so-called 'theodossian'; corinthian capitals with two rows of acanthus leaves, including in the 'mask acanthus' pattern; variations of the corinthian capital, the so-called 'lyre-shaped' (r. Kautsch) and the u-shaped; the two-zone protome capitals with depictions of animals or birds in the upper zones and foliate designs in the lower ones; the ionic impost capital; imposts; and an example of the ionic capital, a type which was already rare during the early byzantine period.
The part of the capitals date to the second half The greater part of the capitals date to the second half of the 5th century and the first half of the 6th. They were intended mainly for the larger basilicas. Church construction was at its peak during the last quarter of the 5th century and the first half of the 6th, especially under zenon (474-491) and justinian i (527-565), both energetic builders.
