Aibabina
E. To the History of the Museum
of Feodosia (the Arrival of the Italian Nobility in Feodosia in
1913 and the Exhibition Dedicated to the History of Genoese Colonies
in the East in Genoa in 1914)/ E.
Aibabina // North and West
Black Sea Area during Antiquity and the Middle Ages: Materials
of 11th session of the Joint Ukrainian Romanian/Romanian-Ukrainian
Commissions for History, Archaeology, Ethnography and Folklore
of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and Romanian Academy
/ Edited by Sergey Bocharov and Victor Cojocaru. - Simferopol:
«Tavriya», 2009. - P. 67-80.—ISBN
978-966-435-276-2
The information of the
organization of “The Exhibition Dedicated to the History of Genoese
Colonies in the East” which took place in Genoa in 1914 is of
great interest for the local history of the Crimea and for studying
historiography of Genoese colonization of the Black Sea Region.
The
history of the exhibition is connected with the facts from the
trip of the Italian nobility to the Crimea, as this trip was
organized exactly to collect the material about Genoese settlements.
Some
information about Cesario Imperiale’s expedition on board “Caffa”
is in “Trudi Liguriyskogo obshchestva otechestvennoy istorii”
(Atti SLSP. V. 46, 10, 1917, G.P. XCV–XV) in the article of
Francesco Poddjia. Earlier Amadeo Vignia had carried out a great
research – the publication of the correspondence between St.
George’s Bank in Genoa (all the Genoese colonies of the Black
Sea Region belonged to it) and the officials of Caffa, Soldaya
and other colonies. The documents include the period from 1453
to 1475, in 2 volumes (7 books) of Akti Liguriyskogo obshchestva
otechestvennoy istorii (Atti della Societa Ligure di storia
patria. vol. VI-VII. Genova, 1868–1871).
In
1913, August 1st the chairman of the Constituent Council of
the exhibition Marquis Cesario Imperiale declared his decision
to organize the exhibition to the shores of the Aegean Sea and
the Black Sea to collect the material for the exhibition. On
the 1st of September the exhibition on the yacht named “Caffa”
appeared in Feodosia. Having visited the Crimea, the expedition
left for Metilena, then visited islands of Chios and Rhodos.
During the trip the expedition collected great many photos,
drawings and drafts of the visited historical places and monuments,
extensive information which is of great need to organize the
historical exhibition.
A
large material to the exhibition was collected in Italian museums,
libraries and archives.
The
exhibition took place in a big hall of a new palace of the Social
Museum of Natural History on Bizagnio Square. On the 24th of
May, 1914, on Sunday, in the presence of the representatives
of the supreme power of Italy the exhibition started its functioning,
the catalogue of the exhibition was made. The closing of the
exhibition took place in 7 months in 1914, December 20th. Among
the materials in the Catalogue there are 50 titles connected
with Caffa, 30 titles are connected with Soldaya . Sudak, 8
with Alupka and Ai-Petri, 7 with Chembalo, 5 with Yalta, 3 with
Bosporo (Kerch), 2 with Ai-Todor and also views of of Gurzuf
(1), Kalamita (1), Livadia. The materials about Moncastro (Akkerman),
Amastra, Trapezund, Bosporus, Constantinople were shown at the
exhibition. There are 122 exhibits in the Catalogue in all.
©
Aibabina
E.
