| North-East Area is a large flatland inclining to the north-west and south-west from the Main Street that crosses the whole ancient city. Transverse street 6 limits the area from the west. North and east limit of the area is a precipitous coast (the break of Sarmatian limestone is 7 to 9 m high). The south end of the area is a tract of seaside fortress wall (tower XXII, curtain wall 26) and a natural rocky terrace.
In the area, there is the so-called Kruze Basilica, excavations of which started as early as 1827. Immediately before the Crimean War, count A.S. Uvarov unearthed the remains of a large basilica with outstanding mosaic floors.
The excavations of the Odessa Society for History and Antiquities in 1870s and 1880s discovered more churches (Eastern Basilica, Six-Pillared Church, Underground Church in the Main Street). Later on, archaeologists made several supplementary excavations of the monuments discovered before, and at the same time continued to unearth new sites: residential quarters, churches and port fortification constructions, both in the Pre-Revolution Period (K.K. Kostsyushko-Valyuzhinich and R.Kh. Leper) and in Soviet Period (I.A. Antonova, O.I. Dombrovskiy, S.G. Ryzhov, M.I. Zolotaryov, and others). At present, the team headed by S.V. Ushakov performs excavations near the Kruze Basilica.
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