Scythian Naples - archaeological reserve. Once in Simferopol - it was in 1827 - a lover of antiquities, a local native, met a cart loaded with stone, descending from the Kermenchik tract, where they took stone for construction needs. By pure chance, this inquisitive person drew attention to two plates: on one the image of a horseman was carved, on the other - an inscription in ancient Greek. The discovery became known to scientists. After carrying out excavations at the site of the quarry, they discovered a fragment of a marble bas-relief depicting an old man and a young man, Greek and Roman coins were found.

One of the inscriptions mentioned the Scythian king Skilur, who lived more than 2 thousand years ago. This name was already known from the descriptions of the ancient Greek geographer and historian Strabo and from the coins of the city of Olbia. Comparing the images on the coins and the bas-relief, scientists were convinced that the king Skilur is depicted on the plate. So the sensational discovery of the capital of the late Scythian state - Scythian Naples, or Neapolis (from the Greek "new city") was made.
The place for the city was chosen very well: the territory is a triangle facing north, from the northeast there is natural protection - steeply plunging Petrovsky rocks, in the west - a deep, hard-to-reach beam, along the cliff line of which there was a defensive wall. As a result of archaeological research, the main gates of the city and the southern defensive wall have been opened in our time. Of particular interest is the Scythian mausoleum and the history of its excavations. On the outer side of the defensive wall, one of the inhabitants chose clay for household needs. An ancient burial was discovered - a row of burial boxes resting one above the other. When they reached the rock, they considered that the excavations were completed. But there was a depression in the rock, covered with a slab. There was the earliest burial, dating back to the 2nd century BC. BC. and, unlike others, not plundered in antiquity. For the man who rested in a stone tomb, a mausoleum was erected. Usually the Scythians buried their relatives in burial mounds or crypts. With its wealth, this burial was reminiscent of the tombs of the great mounds. The well-known anthropologist M.M. Gerasimov reconstructed the appearance of the deceased from the skull. So the tomb of the king Skilur was discovered. The mausoleum is the only monument of its kind in the Scythian settlements. Its location once again confirms the importance of Naples as the economic and cultural center of the late Scythian state, the capital of Lesser Scythia.