The first public presentation of the Tiahyn Fortress virtual museum and 3D model was held on October 17, 2024, at the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania in Ukraine. Inga Stanytė-Toločkienė, the Ambassador of the Republic of Lithuania to Ukraine, noted:
“It is symbolic that today’s presentation is taking place at the Embassy – on the territory of Lithuania. Thanks to modern technologies, we will be able to virtually touch the rich common Ukrainian and Lithuanian history, customs, and traditions that should be passed from generation to generation. Tiahyn Fortress is an important archaeological site that united three cultures – Ukrainian, Lithuanian, and Crimean Tatar.”
Among the presentation participants were: Svitlana Biliaieva, Doct. of hist. sc., head of the South Medieval Expedition of the Institute of Archeology of NAS Ukraine; Borys Cherkas, Doct. of hist. sc., the Armed Forces of Ukraine serviceman; Vsevolod Ivakin, Cand. of hist. sc., Head of the Kyiv Archaeology Department, Institute of Archeology of NAS Ukraine, full member of the Ukrainian National Committee of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), head of the Archaeology Section – “On the Significance of Research on Lithuanian Monuments in Ukraine”.
Organizers were congratulated on the event by representatives of the Office of the President of Ukraine, the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications, the Institute of Archaeology of NAS Ukraine, the USAID/ENGAGE program, which financially supported the virtual museum project, as well as the Honorary Consul of Lithuania in the Kherson Region Viktor Popov and the Head of the Lithuanian Community of Ukraine Dalia Makarova.
The words of Refat Chubarov, the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People head, sounded powerful and profound:
“Tiahyn Fortress saw the Grand Duchy of Lithuania’s historical development, the Crimean Khanate state which existed for 342 years formation, and Ukrainian Cossack’s emergence. This is the concentration of our diverse history in one place, history strong for the European space. It speaks not just about our past. It speaks of the fact that we must be together in the future. I cannot help but talk about the times we are going through. I bow low to the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine – thanks to these courageous, selfless people, we can hold such events. But this happened again. Unlike our people, some people wander in the darkness. They are looking for their spiritual bonds on our lands, and they come here with war. The more we learn about our own bonds, the less enemies will be able to look for their non-existent traces over our lands.”
Natalia Bimbirayte, “Ukraine-Lithuania Cultural Center” Chairman of the Board, and director of the “IRC “Legal Space” NGO, presented the virtual museum and shared the story of its creation – the dream that was born during the Tiahyn excavations. It was a dream to see the Tiahyn Fortress as it could have been during the 14th–15th centuries. And the dream came true: in 2024, despite living in conditions of full-scale war and the impossibility of continuing archaeological excavations, the virtual museum and 3D model of the Tiahyn Fortress were created.
It is important to note that the 3D model creation became another step in a long and consistent history of research. The research is based on the first drawings of Tiahyn made by F. Fabricius and based on the excavations and research results by Viktor Hoshkevych (1914); drawings by Cand. of hist. sc., archaeologist Mykhailo Iievliev, based on the research results by Southern Medieval Expedition Institute of Archaeology of the NAS of Ukraine and published in two Institute of Archaeology of NAS of Ukraine monographs dedicated to Tiahyn (2018, 2021); drawings and research by architects Yelyzaveta Yevseieva, Tetiana Yevseieva. All knowledge and research outcomes were collected, all analogs were carefully analyzed. We can be proud of the result, and it is also important that this heritage will be available to Ukraine and the world now. Natalia Bimbirayte also thanked everyone who joined the expeditions and research in different years and supported them with volunteering, donations, and creative actions. The Embassy Hall would not be able to accommodate everyone who is already called “the people of Tiahyn” (and this is not an address, not a place of residence). The people of Tiahyn are everyone who feels, looks for, and discovers the true history of the Ukrainian South. So we congratulate all of us, and – to be continued!
