The role of medieval Tavrica in the of culture's dialogue of Rus and Byzantium

The aim of this article is the analysis of the role of medieval Tavrica in the of culture's dialogue of Rus and Byzantium. This problem has not been fully covered in the research literature yet. The author refers to the works of researchers such as A. Glushak, E. Duluman, 0. Dombrovsky, V. Zubar, T. Fadeeva, A. Yakobson, and others. The source base consists of archaeological research and hagiographic literature. The methodology of the study is comparative religious analysis. The main research methods used in the article are comparative-historical, analysis, synthesis, generalization, individualization and historical narrative. The following tasks are envisaged in order to achieve the goal of article. Firstly, the results of interaction between the Byzantine and Tavrica cultures are analyzed at the first stage of their mutual relations. As a result of performed study we infer, that in the 4th-7th centuries, Tavrica was in the sphere of Byzantian influence, which led to the spread of Christianity on the peninsula. However, despite the foundation of the Cherson diocese, the influence of Christianity in Tavrica was very small. The bulk of peninsula's population remained pagan, and this paganism was not only ancient Greek, but also "barbarian" (scythian-sarmatian). The pagan element in this dialogue clearly prevails. The Christianity of Tavrica of 4th-7th centuries was represented by the "duality" of Chersonesus, which was preserved until the 13th century. The ascetic monastic Christianity (or hesychasm) did not spread at this stage of the history of the peninsula. Moreover, the results of interaction between Byzantium and Tavrica cultures are analyzed at the second stage of their mutual relations. The research gives all the reasons to claim that the situation on the peninsula changed significantly in the 8th century, when Tavrica turned into a stronghold of icon-worshipers. In the second stage of the relations between Byzantium and Tavrica, in the 8th-12th centuries, Tavrica was destined to play the role of a "cultural bridge" between Byzantium and Rus. Cultural interaction was carried out in two main directions. On the one hand, the "cave monasteries" of Tavrica became a link between Byzantine and Old Russian (Kiev-Pechersk) mo-nasticism in spreading the ideas of hesychasm. And, on the other hand, the Christianity of Chersonesus, which was a synthesis of paganism, Arianism and Cyril and Methodius tradition, played a decisive role in the development of Christianity in Russia.

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