In this capital work, the authors show the civilizational and semantic significance of Crimea for Russian history: both as one of the three centers of European statehood along with Hellas and Rome, and as the oldest center of Russian statehood, along with Novgorod and Kyiv, and as a fundamental sociocultural model of the integration of ethnic groups and religions for the millennial Russian state, and as evidence of the sovereignty and strength of the new Russia. Crimea has always been and remains a special geopolitical region, albeit equidistant geographically, for example, from America or China, but exerting - and exerting in antiquity! - a huge influence on the fate of many countries in Europe and Asia. How did this balance of power develop? Why did the ancient land of Tauris begin to play such a great importance in the policies of the great powers - from the Roman Empire and Kievan Rus to the USA and new Russia?