SIMFEROPOL, October 8. /TASS/. A large part of an ancient real estate compound of the rise of the Kingdom of Bosporus (4th-3rd centuries B.C.) has been discovered near Kerch, the Republic of Crimea, during the construction of a railway approach to the Crimean Bridge, the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Archaeology said on Tuesday.

The Russian Ministry of Transport said earlier it had been decided to postpone the launch of freight railway traffic via the Crimean Bridge to June 2020 to preserve the archaeological monument unearthed in the course of construction works.

"We would have never learnt about this unique site but for the railway approach to the Crimean Bridge. Now the site is being extensively studied. A larger part of the compound has been uncovered and we can see its layout and architectural styles. We can see a comprehensive picture," Sergei Buravlev of the Institute of Archaeology, commented.

Archaeologists believe the compound could have been used over a time span of one and a half centuries and had been rebuilt at least twice either because of natural factors or after a change of ownership. "It is not ruled out that the originally the vast villa was divided into two adjacent real estate compounds," said Semyon Yermolin, also of the Institute of Archaeology.

According to earlier reports, an ancient Greek settlement was discovered near Kerch in the autumn of 2018. The settlement, according to preliminary data, began in the 4th-3rd centuries B.C., a period when the Bosporan Kingdom was flourishing. It was decided to move the track 150 meters south to preserve the estate.

The 19-kilometer Crimean Bridge, the longest one in Russia, links the Taman Peninsula in Russia’s mainland Krasnodar Territory and the Kerch Peninsula in Crimea. The bridge’s motorway section was inaugurated in May 2018, with President Vladimir Putin taking part in the opening ceremony. Truck traffic was launched in the autumn of 2018. The railway section was originally planned to be opened in late 2019.