The main topic of the thesis is the city of Cherson, which has been under excavation mainly by Russian or Ukrainian researchers for more than 180 years. Due to a difficult political situation, the area was not accessible to other scholars till 1993. Therefore, most of the books or articles were published in Russian and have not been widely spread among western researchers. The first two chapters of the dissertation deal with the sources and the history of research. The main body of the dissertation is divided into three parts: (chapter 3) From the end of the Roman times till the early Middle Ages (5th - mid-7th centuries), (chapter 4) The Dark Ages (mid-7th - mid-9th centuries), (chapter 5) The new era of prosperity (mid-9th - end of the 10th century). The third chapter is devoted to the time when the era of Antiquity was slowly coming to its end and the development proceeded to the Middle Ages, in this case to the early Byzantine period. The fish industry and fish processing will be discussed because these activities which had begun here in the Roman times continued in the Byzantine period, too. Afterwards, the beginnings and spread of Christianity are debated. Furthermore, the beginnings of Christianity in Cherson are described, likewise the building activities, which resulted in transformation...