Melek-Chesmensky Mound

The Melek-Chesmensky Kurgan is a 4th-century BC Bosporan burial mound in Kerch, named after the nearby Melek-Chesme river. Standing 12 m high with a 63 m diameter, it contains a 3.7 m square burial chamber with a stepped pyramidal vault and western dromos entrance. Considered the most technically and artistically perfect among Bosporan stepped crypts, it was excavated in 1857-1858, revealing the looted tomb of a child believed to be a Bosporan prince. Opened to the public in 1871, it was fully reconstructed in 1994.