Festival participants. Photo: Valeria Mekh
On October 20, the International Festival of the Russian Geographical Society «Ancient Heritage of Russia: The Link between Times and Peoples» ended in Anapa. The program, which started in September 2025, became part of «The Golden Ring of the Bosporan Kingdom» tourist project and introduced residents of Russia and foreign countries to the centuries-old heritage of the Northern Black Sea region and the Azov region.
Over the course of the year, the festival brought together international scientific and practical conferences, commemorative events, theatrical productions, and performances by creative groups.
At foreign venues, a documentary film about the Russian tourist route «The Golden Ring of the Bosporan Kingdom» and the book of the same name were presented; both were translated into Greek and English. The exhibition «Ancient Heritage of Russia: The Link between Times and Peoples» was held in Greece and Cyprus. Since February 2026, it has been working at the Krasnaya Polyana Resort, where more than 830,000 people have already seen it.
About 200 Kuban artists performed at Russian and international venues of the festival. Its final event took place at the archaeological museum «Gorgippia». Guests from various regions of the Krasnodar Territory gathered in Anapa, as well as members of the Council of Regions of the RGS from almost 20 regions of the country.
The celebration marked the beginning of a series of events dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Krasnodar Regional Branch of the RGS. The participants were greeted by the branch’s Chairman, Ivan Chaika, the author and head of the international festival; Sergei Korlykhanov, First Deputy Executive Director of the RGS; Konstantin Kesov, Chairman of the Regional National-Cultural Autonomy of Greeks of the Krasnodar Territory; and Elena Nekrasova, Head of the Anapa Branch of the RGS.
«The festival events gave hundreds of thousands of people the opportunity to take a journey through time and space: to learn more about the history of the Bosporan Kingdom and to understand how closely intertwined the cultures of different peoples are, ” said Ivan Chaika.
Sergei Korlykhanov emphasized that the festival became an example of preserving traditions in a multinational country.
Valery Sotnik, a senior researcher at the museum, appeared before the guests in the guise of the viceroy of the Bosporan king Gorgippus. He gave a tour of the exhibition and told the story of how the most valuable finds were discovered. The musical studio «Metamorphoses» and the theater-studio «Obraz» presented productions about ancient Greek gods and heroes.
The festival participants took a walk through the excavation site of ancient Gorgippia. On the streets of the recreated city, winemakers and bakers offered their wares, coiners and potters were at work, and Greek music was playing. Together with the artists of the exemplary artistic group — the Pontic dance ensemble «Gorgippia» — the guests learned national dances.
The closing ceremony brought together nearly 500 people: scientists, historians, local historians, artists, students, schoolchildren, and teachers.
The festival was held as part of the «We Are the RGS» project, dedicated to the 180th anniversary of the country’s oldest public organization.
«The Golden Ring of the Bosporan Kingdom» project, implemented by the Russian Geographical Society, brings together 14 cities in southern Russia. It has entered the top 100 creative practices for revitalizing cultural heritage. Today, the route includes about 40 museums and more than 100 research and tourism organizations.
As part of the project, a popular science film titled «Journey through 'The Golden Ring of the Bosporan Kingdom’» was created, along with a book of the same name by Ivan Chaika and Khristofor Konstantinidi, as well as Russia’s first wine travel guide, «Wine Roads of the Bosporan Kingdom.» Thanks to the cooperation between the RGS and the Anapa administration, art objects bearing the names of the cities of the Bosporan Kingdom have appeared in the city.
In April 2019, at a meeting of the RGS Board of Trustees, Russian President Vladimir Putin mentioned «The Golden Ring of the Bosporan Kingdom» among the important tourism projects capable of showcasing the country’s diversity to the world. Millions of tourists visit the route’s sites every year.