Chersonese () is a name that was given to several different places in ancient times. The word is derived from the
Greek language term for "
peninsula",
chersonēsos, from
chersos ("dry land") +
nēsos (island).
It was applied to a number of peninsulas in the ancient world. These included:
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Chersonesos Taurica, ancient Greek colony in the land of Tauri (today, on the outskirts of Sevastopol, Crimea); the name was also used to refer to the entire Crimean peninsula.
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Thracian Chersonese ancient Greek colony in the land of Thracians (today in Gallipoli); known in Latin as Chersonesus Thracica, the ancient name for the Gallipoli Peninsula.
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Chersonesus Aurea, or Golden Chersonese, the ancient name for the Malay Peninsula, described by Ptolemy circa 150 AD.
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Chersonesus Cimbrica or Cimbrian Chersonese, the ancient name for Jutland.
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Syrian Chersonese, referred to by Plutarch, believed to have been situated in a bend of the Orontes river in the neighbourhood of Antioch.
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In addition, in the 1632 Charter of Maryland, King Charles I of England referred to the Delmarva Peninsula as the "Chersonese."
See also
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Chersonesus (disambiguation)
