Bakhchisarai (Crimean cat. Bağçasaray, Bagchasaray) is a city in
Crimea. The administrative center of the Bakhchisarai region, which
is part of the Republic of Crimea according to the
administrative-territorial structure of Russia since 2014 (in the
Autonomous Republic of Crimea according to the
administrative-territorial division of Ukraine). Together with the
town of Nauchny, it forms the urban settlement of Bakhchisarai
(until 2014 - the Bakhchisarai City Council).
The former
capital of the Crimean Khanate and the Crimean People's Republic.
The name is translated from Crimean Tatar as “garden-palace” (bağça
/ bagcha - garden, saray / barn - palace).
By plane
The nearest airport is in Simferopol.
By train
You can get to Bakhchisarai by train from
Simferopol (about 40
minutes), from Sevastopol (about 1 hour).
Railway station,
st. Rakitsky, 1. ☎ +7 (36554) 4-26-37.
By bus
Buses run to
Sevastopol (travel time about 1 hour, every 30-60 minutes),
Simferopol (travel time about 30 minutes to the Western bus station
and 50 minutes to the railway station, traffic interval - every
20-30 minutes).
Regular fixed-route taxis and buses run from
the city to the sea coast (the villages of Uglovoe, Peschanoe,
Vilino, Beregovoe, Lyubimovka) and to other settlements of the
Bakhchisaray district, including the village of Sokolinoe.
Bus station number 1, st. Rakitskogo, 2 (on the square in front of
the railway station). ☎ +7 (36554) 4-28-25. It serves as a starting
point for buses to nearby villages.
Bus station number 2, st.
Simferopolskaya, 45 (at the entrance to the city from Simferopol,
about 2 km from the center). ☎ +7 (36554) 4-29-72. 05:10 - 20:30.
Serves all passing buses, incl. long-distance routes to the cities
of Russia and Ukraine. The station building has a left-luggage
office, a waiting room, an ATM. E-tickets can be purchased on the
carrier's website gosbus.ru.
By car
Bakhchisaray is
located on the highway Simferopol (25 km) - Sevastopol (about 30
km).
In Bakhchisarai, a picturesque road to
Yalta through
Ai-Petri also begins, along which only private vehicles can drive,
there is no scheduled service on this road.
Public transport is represented by minibuses and taxis. The most useful for tourists will be routes No. 1 and No. 2, passing Staroselye - Old City - Railway Station - New City.
Khan Palace , st. Rechnaya, 133 (from the railway station by
minibuses No. 1, 2 to the stop "Khan's Palace"). ☎ +7 (36554) 4-76-40.
🕑 Thu–Mon 9:00–17:00, ticket office closes half an hour earlier. Ticket
to the main exhibition of the museum 300 rubles, students 150 rubles,
the price includes an excursion. From April to October, you can purchase
a complex ticket for 500 rubles, which allows you to visit the main and
all additional museum exhibitions in one day. Former residence of the
Crimean khans. The only sample of the Crimean Tatar palace architecture
in the world. The fountain of tears in the Khan's palace is glorified in
Pushkin's romantic poem The Fountain of Bakhchisarai. As practice has
shown, the palace can be closed earlier than the time specified in the
schedule, without prior notice or even an announcement at the entrance.
In addition to the main exhibition, there are also several additional
ones. A ticket for each additional exhibition costs 100 rubles, students
50 rubles, excursion services in a group of more than 15 people are paid
additionally - 50 rubles / person.
Main courtyard with three
fountains of the 16th-19th centuries (open-air museum).
Art Museum.
Treasures of the Southwestern Crimea. (Only open during high season).
Baths "Sary-Gyuzel". (Only open during high season).
Khan's Lodge,
"Manuscript Koran, Tafsirs and Hadiths in the Collection of the
Museum-Reserve", Khan's Cemetery. (Only open during high season).
Falcon Tower, "Weapons in the Museum-Reserve Collection". (Only open
during high season).
Biyuk Khan-Jami Mosque. It was built in 1532 by
Sahib I Gerai, the creator of the Khan's Palace.
Tahtali-Jami Mosque.
Built in 1707 by the daughter of Khan Selim I Geray Bek Khan
Sultankhani.
Mosque "Molla Mustafa Jami". 18th century mosque
"Sphinxes" of the Churuk-Su river. Wikidata element A small river, the
Churuk-Su, flows through the entire city. Since 1964, the valley of the
Churuk-Su River has been declared a natural monument of local
significance "Natural sphinxes of the valley of the Churuk-Su River."
Where by sphinxes are meant stone formations up to twenty meters high,
which are the result of limestone weathering. The most easily accessible
cluster of "sphinxes" can be seen right above the old city.
Until 1954, Staroselye was listed as a separate village, now it is
the eastern outskirts of the city.
How to get there: from the railway
station by fixed-route taxis No. 1, 2 to the final stop Staroselye 4
Historical and architectural complex "Salachik", st. Basenko, 57
years old 9:00-17:00, ticket office closes one hour earlier. Entrance to
the territory 100 rubles.
Durbe Hadji-Gerai. Mausoleum over the
graves of the first Crimean Khan Hadji-Gerai and his son Mengli-Gerai.
Buildings of 1501
Hamam excavations. Remains of a 15th-century
hammam, which consisted of ten rooms divided into male and female
sections. The well, part of the yard and the beginning of urban
development are also visible. From the baths, only the foundation
remained, and in order to truly feel the atmosphere of the hammam from
the time of the Crimean Khanate, it is worth going to Evpatoria, where
the baths have been preserved in almost their original form.
Memorial
of Ismail Gasprinsky.
Museum. Visiting is possible only by prior
request.
Zinjirly madrasah, st. Basenko 56. A visit is possible only
by prior request at least one day before the visit, on working days
Mon-Fri. Entrance ticket 100 rubles, excursion additional 100 rubles.
Religious educational institution built in 1500. For more than four
centuries, until the Soviet era, the madrasah was the largest and most
important center of Muslim spiritual education in the Crimea. The
building was built almost from scratch in 2009 with the money of the
Turkish government, the rooms inside were restored, but they are empty.
There are no guided tours inside.
Holy Dormition Cave Monastery,
Mariampolskoye Gorge (about 800 m up the road from the final stop of
fixed-route taxis). ☎ +7 (36554) 4-74-74. The monastery was founded by
Byzantine icon worshipers no later than the 8th century. In the XIII-XIV
centuries, it ceased its activity for some time, then in the XIV century
it was revived. From the 15th to the 18th centuries The Assumption
Monastery was the main stronghold of the religious life of the Orthodox
population of Crimea. It was completely destroyed in the 1920s. It has
been revived since 1993. Monks and novices conduct free tours in the
monastery. Those who wish can go up to the Church of the Assumption of
the Most Holy Theotokos (XV century) and venerate the miraculous icon -
the main shrine of the monastery (the kerchiefs and skirts necessary for
women are at the entrance to the temple). There are restrictions on
photography in the monastery. A spring water source is available on the
square, which is popular with the people of Bakhchisaray.
Entertainment park "Crimea in miniature" (Bakhchisarai park of
miniatures) Wikidata element, Lenina street, 4. ☎ +7 (978) 0000745.
from 09:00 to 23:00 (May-September); from 09:00 to 20:00
(October-April). Adult from 13 years old: 500 rubles. Children from 3 to
13 years old: 300 rubles. The park contains all the key objects of the
peninsula.
House-Museum of Ismail Gasprinsky, st. I. Gasprinsky, 47a.
☎ +7 (36554) 47774. Tue-Fri 9:00 - 18:00, Mon 12:00 - 20:00 visiting and
organizing excursions upon prior request. Free admission, excursion - 50
rubles per person. Dedicated to the Crimean Tatar public figure and
educator Ismail Gasprinsky, who lived in the late nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries. It is located in a mansion, which previously housed
the editorial office of the newspaper "Terdzhiman - Translator", which
was founded and edited by Gasprinsky. The exposition of the museum is
not the most interesting, it presents books, documents, awards, family
photographs and memorial items of Gasprinsky.
There are several branches of the RNCB, Genbank and ChBRR banks
(almost all branches are equipped with ATMs). In addition, there are
several stand-alone ATMs.
✦ Bank "RNKB". ☎ 8 800 100-90-85.
There are 2 bank branches in the city.
st. Lenina, 42.
st. Frunze,
34.
"Genbank", st. Frunze, 26 B. ☎ 8 800 333-55-45.
Almost all cafes in the city, with rare exceptions, specialize in
Crimean Tatar cuisine. The standard menu looks like this: first courses
(shurpa, lagman, ufak-ash), second courses (sarma, manti, pilaf,
kebabs), chebureks/yantyks and a set of more familiar salads, for
dessert - several varieties of baklava. In many Crimean Tatar
establishments, alcohol is not sold.
Cheap
1 Restaurant
"Fireplace Hall", st. Schmidt, 43 (on the territory of the tourist base
"Prival"). ☎ 35 +7 (36554) 472 35. 8:00 - 23:00, but sometimes, if there
are no guests, they close at 18:00. First courses 120 rubles, second
courses 100-200 rubles. The interior is a mixture of the styles of a
gourmet restaurant and a bar from the nineties, but in general, if not
to find fault, then not bad. This is one of the cheapest establishments
in the city, moreover, this does not affect the quality of food in any
way, and it turns out to be better than most other establishments. A
large menu, mainly Russian-Ukrainian cuisine with the addition of
several Crimean Tatar dishes. Of the minuses - to get there, you need to
walk about 800 meters along an unlit street uphill from the Khan's
Palace.
2 Cafe "Crimean pasties", st. Lenina, 104. An institution
that has existed since the days of the USSR. Moreover, it seems that
time has stopped in it - it looks the same as it did 20 years ago, and
good pasties are still cooked here.
Average cost
3 Cafe
"Guzel" (Large building in the national style opposite the stop
Staroselye). Nice interior in oriental style. However, visitors often
complain about both the food and the service.
4 Cafe "Devlet-Saray",
st. Basenko, 49. The first is 250 rubles, the second is 200-350 rubles.
The chic interior of the eastern caransaray. And the staff comes across
problematic and with food as you're lucky - sometimes they bring the old
weathered, sometimes they cook fresh - and then it's pretty tasty. In
general, how lucky.
Expensive
5 Le Kafe Pushkin, st. Lenina,
106a. ☎ +7 (978) 834 98 64. Main dishes 300-800 rubles, wine 200-300
rubles per glass. Perhaps the best restaurant in the city, in winter a
fireplace is lit here, in summer a summer terrace is open. From food
they offer dishes of the Crimean Tatar, European and Japanese cuisines.
The quality of the Japanese is unknown, but the European and Crimean
Tatar ones are quite up to par. Especially delicious yantyki. The cost
is more expensive than the average for Bakhchisaray, but the food is
much better.
Coffee houses
6 Coffee house "Digermen", st.
Lenina, 71. Cakes 50-100 rubles. A small Crimean Tatar family cafe with
the right coffee on the sand and oriental sweets.
Recreation center "Prival", st. Schmidt, 43. ☎ +7 (978) 063-72-44.
Detached cottages 2300 rubles, a room in a block - 450 rubles per
person. The price includes breakfast. Old soviet tour base. Some of the
rooms are renovated, there is even a new outdoor pool. Spa treatments
are invited.
Bahitgul boutique hotel, Krasnoflotskaya st., 20. ☎ +7
(978) 868-11-82. Double from 2600 rubles. Nice hotel with an attempt to
recreate the old Crimean Tatar style. There is a swimming pool.
The Crimean mobile operators "Win Mobile" and "Volna" work. Russian
operators are in national roaming, while Ukrainian ones do not work (for
more details, see Mobile operators in Crimea).
Central Regional
Library. Pushkin, st. Lenina, 102. ☎ 4-74-01. The building was built in
1911. Inside there is an Internet center with 4 computers connected to
the Internet, free of charge.
In the same building is the Tourist
Information Center, according to reviews - extremely useless.
The valley, going east from the Assumption Monastery, was named so by
the Karaites in honor of the valley of burials near Jerusalem.
Chufut-Kale Wikidata item (from Staroselye up the road 800 m to the
Assumption Monastery, and then another 1200 m to Chufut-Kale itself).
9:00–17:00, ticket offices close 1 hour earlier. There are 2 entrances
to the fortress, where you can buy a ticket: the southern gate from the
side of the Assumption Monastery and the eastern gate, where transport
is possible, but these gates are open only in summer. Entrance ticket
adults 200 rubles, students 100 rubles. Excursion service additionally
100 rubles per person. The most famous, close and easily accessible cave
city to Bakhchisaray. The city arose in the 4th-6th centuries as a
fortified settlement on the border of the Byzantine possessions, at that
time the city was inhabited mainly by the Alans. Later, it passes under
the control of the Kipchaks and receives the name Kyrk-Er. From the 14th
century, Karaites began to settle in it, and by the time the Crimean
Khanate was formed, they most likely already made up the majority of the
city's population, this was facilitated by restrictions on their
residence in other cities of the Crimean Khanate. During the time of the
Crimean Khanate, the city became the residence of the first Khan Hadji I
Giray, but already under the next Khan Mengli I Giray, the city lost
this status, and the capital was transferred to the new city of
Salachik. Only Karaites and Krymchaks remain living in the fortress, at
the same time a new name appears near the city - “Chufut-Kale”, which
means “Jewish fortress” in the Crimean Tatra. After the annexation of
Crimea to Russia, the Karaites began to move to other cities of Crimea,
and by the end of the 19th century, only the family of the caretaker
remained to live on Chufut-Kale.
Many architectural monuments
have been preserved in the city, one of the main ones is the middle
defensive wall built in the 10-11th centuries and the other, built much
later by the Karaites in the 14-16th centuries, the eastern defensive
wall. Numerous utility rooms cut in the caves, the ruins of a mosque,
the mausoleum of the daughter of the Golden Horde Khan Tokhtamysh
Dzhanyke-khanym built in 1437 have been preserved. Also well preserved
are two Karaite kenasses of the 14th and 17th centuries and a manor
built in the 18th century, where the famous Karaite scientist A. S.
Firkovich lived, and during the tourist season an exposition dedicated
to the culture of the Karaites is shown.
Underground gallery with
a well (Closed for renovation in 2019-2020), 100 meters short of the
southern entrance to Chufut-Kale. ☎ +7 (3652) 25-63-48. 300 rubles,
children - 150 rubles, the price includes a 30-minute tour, the minimum
group is 3-5 people. The water in the fortress was imported, and during
periods of sieges, water was taken from a secret well, but information
about its exact location in the course of history was lost. It was only
in 1998 that the well was discovered not far from the southern entrance
to the fortress, in the basement of the combat tower, which was probably
part of the first line of defense of Chufut-Kale. A total of 40 people
were engaged in clearing the well from the soil for 3 years. At the same
time, at a depth of 25 meters, a side exit was discovered, gently rising
upwards. Soot inscriptions were found on the walls, made in Karaite
cursive, Latin and Aramaic script. The well was used until the 9th-10th
century, and was subsequently filled up. In addition to the main version
about the use of this hydraulic structure as a well, there is also a
version about its cult purpose.
Muslim cemetery of Gaza-Mansour.
Burials were carried out from the 15th to the 19th century, and now only
scattered gravestones remain here, some of which date back to the 15th
century. The cemetery is also notable for the fact that on its territory
there was a tekie dervish (monastery of Muslim monks) founded in the
15th century, later destroyed to the ground, and now only stone remains
of its walls can be found in its place. During the existence of the
tekie, a well was dug next to it, used for washing visitors before
prayer, later destroyed along with the tekie, but not so long ago it was
cleared and restored.
Karaite cemetery (from the Muslim cemetery
move further along the gorge. A stone arch was built at the beginning of
the cemetery). The Josaphat Valley is a traditional burial place for the
Karaites; they were brought here to be buried from afar, both from
Odessa and Vilnius. The oldest burials here date back to the 13th
century. All that remains to our time is a large number of tombstones of
varying degrees of preservation, randomly scattered around the cemetery.
The inscriptions on the tombstones are in Hebrew.
Settlement of Kyz-Kermen. For free. It is located on the top of a
mountain plateau, surrounded by steep cliffs on all sides except the
northern one. It is of interest more because of the stunning views of
the surrounding nature than because of the remains of the ancient
settlement. Only the remains of a defensive wall that barely comes to
the surface of the earth, several excavated foundations of manor
complexes and a group of four tarapans (pressure presses for grapes
carved in stone, consisting of two recesses connected to each other -
troughs) have survived. A staircase carved into the rock leading to the
foot of the plateau, to a source of drinking water and a large cistern
from the 14th-15th centuries has also been preserved.
The
settlement was protected by a defensive wall that crossed the plateau at
its narrowest point and protected the settlement from attacks from the
only vulnerable point - from the north. It was built in the 8th-9th
centuries on the remains of even earlier fortifications of the 4th-3rd
centuries. In addition to it, seven large estate complexes were
excavated on the plateau. Dwellings at that time were built of rubble
stone, fastened with clay. Presumably, up to a hundred people lived in
the settlement. The settlement reached its heyday in the VIII-IX
centuries, and ceased to exist after the establishment of the Kherson
theme in the Crimea. According to one version, Kyz-Kermen is identified
with the early medieval city of Fully.
You can get to Kyz-Kermen
either along country roads from Bakhchisaray, the road will take about
an hour and a half, or by car / bus to the village of Mashino, and from
there on foot to the crest of the mountain.
Cave town Tepe-Kermen
(7 km southeast of Bakhchisaray, and 2 km northeast of the settlement of
Kyz-Kermen). Formally paid entrance: adults 100 rubles, students 50
rubles, excursion services an additional 100 rubles per person (tickets
are sold at the central box office of the Khan's Palace), but there is
no one to check the availability of tickets. The city existed in the
period from the 6th to the 14th centuries, and reached its greatest
prosperity in the 12th-13th centuries. According to some versions, the
death of Tepe-Kermen is tied to the raid of the Golden Horde Beklyaribek
Nogay in 1299. However, it was not actually a city, they did not live
here permanently, but only hid from the enemy troops.
More than 230
artificial caves have survived to our time, as well as a cave church of
the 12th-9th centuries with carved crosses, graves, and inscriptions in
Greek. It is also still not clear from which source the inhabitants took
water. No wells have been found on the territory of Tepe-Kermen, and all
known springs are located at the very foot of the mountain.
Cave
city Bakla. For free. The northernmost cave city in the Crimea. It is
located on rocks about 300 meters high. On the territory of Bakla, in
some places you can see former streets and alleys, traces of houses,
small chapels, graves carved into the rock, the remains of grape
crushers, numerous round and rather deep utility pits, and many
artificial caves.
How to get there: from the village of Skalisty to
the left to the southeast along a dirt road - through a small forest and
an orchard. Bakla - on the crest of one of the heights of the second
mountain range, where numerous caves are visible in the rocks. You can
also go through the Alminsky (Bodraksky) quarry or, having passed it,
immediately to the left to the east to a country road and further along
a shallow valley. Sheer cliffs rise to the left, to the right, on a
sloping slope, a sparse forest grows.
Kachi-Kalyon Monastery
(above the road Bakhchisarai - Sinapnoe, between the village of
Predushchelnoye and the village of Bashtanovka, Bakhchisaray district).
9:00–17:00, the lower box office closes one hour earlier, the upper box
office closes two hours earlier. Entrance ticket adults 100 rubles,
students 50 rubles, excursion services additionally 100 rubles per
person. Medieval cave monastery. It has 250 artificial caves of
different ages and for various purposes (including economic, industrial,
residential, church and ritual). The heyday of the settlement fell on
the 8th-9th centuries. Not later than the 16th century, an Orthodox
monastery arose here (cave churches, the remains of a cemetery, as well
as the ruins of a stone fence are associated with it), which existed
until 1778. From 1851 to 1921, the hermitage of St. Anastasia operated
here.
Mangup-Kale, 20 km south-west of Bakhchisaray, near the village of
Khodja-Sala and 2 km south-east of the village of Zalesnoye. 9:00–17:00,
lower ticket office closes one hour earlier, upper ticket office - for
two. Entrance ticket adults 100 rubles, students 50 rubles, excursion
services additionally 100 rubles per person. Medieval city-fortress in
the Bakhchisaray region of Crimea. The capital of the Principality of
Theodoro Gothia, then a Turkish fortress. It is located on the top of a
remnant mountain, rising 250 m above the level of the surrounding
valleys, and 583 m above sea level and forming a plateau with an area of
about 90 hectares.
How to get there: From Sevastopol: from the bus
station "5th km" bus number 40, or number 109, to the final stop - the
village of Ternovka. Further beyond the outskirts of the village, higher
along the highway, on the left, turn onto a dirt road. On the road,
about 2 km. to the pond, Mangup-Kale - on the hill on the right. From
Simferopol: from the bus station "Zapadnaya" by minibus to the village
of Zalesnoye. Get off a little further, at a bus stop at the dam of the
reservoir near the village of Khoja-Sala, Mangup-Kale - nearby, behind
the lake. From Bakhchisarai: by bus to the village of Khoja-Sala.
Syuyren fortress (2 km from the village of Kuibyshevo, Bakhchisaray
district and 1 km from the village of Bolshoye Sadovoye). Formally paid
entrance: adults 100 rubles, students 50 rubles, excursion services an
additional 100 rubles per person (tickets are sold at the central box
office of the Khan's Palace), but there is no one to check the
availability of tickets. Founded presumably by the Byzantines in the
VI-XI centuries. Later it was part of the defensive system of the
Principality of Theodoro. The fortress controlled the valley of the
Belbek River and guarded the paths to Mangup from the north and
northeast. Destroyed in 1475 by the Turks. The remains of the fortress
walls and the tower have been preserved. Near the fortress there is a
cave monastery Chelter-Koba.
Eski-Kermen. 9:00–17:00,
the lower box office closes one hour earlier, the upper box office
closes two hours earlier. Entrance ticket adults 100 rubles, students 50
rubles, excursion service 100 rubles per person. A medieval fortified
city in the southwestern part of the Crimean peninsula, 14 km south of
the city of Bakhchisaray and 5 km northwest of the ruins of the medieval
city of Mangup-Kale. The city was founded at the end of the 6th century
AD as a Byzantine fortification and existed until the end of the XIV
century. It is one of the most visited cave cities of Crimea, after
Chufut-Kale.
How to get there: 14 km south of the city of
Bakhchisarai and 5 km northwest of the ruins of the medieval city of
Mangup-Kale; Routes to Eski-Kermen go from the villages of Kholmovka,
Zalesnoye, Ternovka, Krasny Mak, which can be reached by bus from
Bakhchisaray.
Kyz-Kule tower. A square tower with a gate is all
that remains of the fortified castle of Cherkez-Kermen, which later
received the name Kyz-Kule (Maiden's Tower). The fortification was part
of the Theodoro defense system, created in the 15th century, in addition
to Kyz-Kule, it also included the fortresses of Kalamita (on the
outskirts of modern Inkerman), Kermenchik, Sandyk-Kaya and the Chorgun
tower. All of them were located at the key points of the routes of the
alleged enemy of Theodoro - the Genoese and blocked the passages from
one valley to another.
The ruins of the Kermenchik fortress, on
Mount Fortress, half a kilometer from the village of Vysokoye. The
fortification of Kermenchik was erected in the 13th century and existed
until the Turkish conquest in 1475. It measured 150 by 50 meters and was
surrounded by a wall 4 meters high and 1.5 meters wide. The fortress was
located on a strategically important route leading to Mangup, and also
served as a shelter for the local population in case of danger. The
remains of 11 medieval churches were found in the area of the fortress,
from which it is concluded that the population of the fortress was quite
numerous.
Cave monastery Chelter-Marmara. For free.
Shuldan cave
monastery. For free.
Cave monastery Chelter-Koba. For free.
Several settlements have long existed on the territory of present-day
Bakhchisarai. By the time the city was formed in the first half of the
16th century, there were three main ones among them: the fortress city
of Kyrk-Yer on a mountain cape (now known as Chufut-Kale), the village
of Salachik in the gorge at the foot of Kyrk-Yer and the village of
Eski-Yurt at the exit from valleys. Since the times of the Golden Horde,
there have been administrative centers in Salachik and Kyrk-Yer. At the
turn of the 15th and 16th centuries, Khan Mengli I Gerai launched urban
construction in Salachik, planning to turn it into a major metropolitan
center. The village of Salachik retained the status of the capital of
the Crimean Khanate until 1532, when the son of Mengli Gerai, Sahib I
Gerai, founded a new khan's residence two kilometers from Salachik,
calling it Bakhchisaray. Subsequently, the capital city grew around the
new khan's residence.
At the beginning of the 15th century, the
Girey (Geraev) dynasty arose on the Crimean peninsula, which was
strengthened with the help of the Lithuanian-Russian Grand Duke Vitovt
and was at first a vassal of Lithuania. The residence of this dynasty
was the fortress of Kyrk-Er (now Chufut-Kale), and later the Khan's
settlement not far away - Bakhchisaray itself. The first khan of this
dynasty was Haji I Gerai (1420-1466), who, by the way, participated in
the congress of European monarchs in Lutsk in 1429, where plans for a
joint campaign of Christian Europe against the Turks were discussed.
From the end of the 1460s, the Crimean Khanate, which was at first the
protector of the peace of the Russian lands in the South, fell under the
rule of the Ottoman Empire, and since then relations between the
Lithuanian principality and Crimea have changed dramatically [9]. During
the time of the vassal dependence of the Crimean Khanate on the Ottoman
Empire, there was a large slave market in Bakhchisarai, where slave
traders acquired polonyaniki taken during raids on the Russian state and
the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (later - the Commonwealth). In the middle
of the 17th century, Bakhchisaray consisted of 2,000 houses, about a
third of which belonged to the Greeks. In 1736, the city was completely
burned down by the Russian army under the command of Christopher
Munnich. The buildings of the Khan's palace that have survived to this
day were built during the restoration of the city in the 1740s-1750s. In
1794 (11 years after the annexation of Crimea to the Russian Empire) in
Bakhchisaray there were 5 mills, 20 bakeries, 13 leather workshops, 6
forges, tailoring, shoe and weapon workshops, 2 wine rows (Georgian and
Moldavian) in the place where later, a summer cinema "Rodina" was built,
numerous trading houses and shops, 17 caravanserais for visitors.
During the years of the Crimean War, Bakhchisaray was at the center
of military events - not far from the city on the Alma River, on
September 8, 1854, the first battle took place, in which Russian troops
under the command of A. S. Menshikov were defeated. During the defense
of Sevastopol, the city received convoys with provisions, equipment and
the wounded - the Khan's Palace and the Assumption Monastery turned into
hospitals.
During the XIX - early XX centuries, the city was the
center of cultural and social life of the Crimean Tatars. During the
Second World War, Bakhchisaray was one of the important footholds of the
German 17th Army in the first defense of Sevastopol in September 1941 -
July 1942. Until the deportation of the Crimean Tatars on May 18, 1944,
Bakhchisaray was one of the three (along with Karasubazar and Alushta)
cities of Crimea, in which the Crimean Tatar population prevailed.
It is located in the foothills, on the slope of the Inner ridge of the Crimean Mountains, in a forest-steppe area, in the valley of the Kachi tributary - the Churuk-Su River, 30 km south-west of the Crimean capital Simferopol. Due to its architectural diversity and rich historical past, Bakhchisaray was named “the city of five centuries”.
The climate is foothill, semi-arid, warm, with mild winters. The average air temperature in January is +0.8 ° C, in July +21.7 ° C. Precipitation - 500 mm per year.