Religion played a significant role in the lives of the ancient Greeks. It was only natural that they introduced the cults of their gods to the Northern Black Sea region. Over the course of a millennium, the spiritual culture of the ancient population in this area experienced various changes, both similar to general Greek trends and specific to local characteristics. Nevertheless, religion continued to be a major link between the cities of the Northern Black Sea and the rest of the ancient world.

According to the archaeologist Valentina Krapivina, alongside social religious practices, ancient Greeks in the Northern Black Sea also widely practiced domestic worship of gods. In ancient times, veneration of various deities usually took place at home. Home sanctuaries were the most common locations for worship.

Traces of home sanctuaries have been found during excavations of rural settlements in the Northern Black Sea region. In many dwellings, there were terracotta figurines, mostly those of fertility deities, as well as vessels dedicated to them, altars, and various votive artifacts. These were especially common in archaic times when there were few temples and altars, and people worshiped deities at home. This was done in special niches or corners, and less frequently in separate rooms.

During excavations of ancient cities and settlements in the Northern Black Sea region, researchers have repeatedly drawn attention to rooms that differed from others by the presence of various altars or cult objects, especially figurines and fragments of crockery with dedicatory inscriptions. These rooms were usually classified as home or family sanctuaries, and in rare cases as places of organized worship.

Several home sanctuaries were discovered at the Panskoye 1 settlement in the Northwestern Crimea. The displayed artifact was discovered in 1969 and studied by the Tarkhankut expedition led by Alexander Shcheglov. One of the buildings featured a sanctuary dedicated to the goddess Demeter.

The researchers found a chest-length image of Demeter, the goddess of fertility and agriculture, wearing a tower crown, with her wavy hair tucked under a headdress. A straight nose, a pointed chin, a wide neck, and a majestic look — all this suggests that this ceramic statue depicts not a young girl but a middle-aged woman.