Coming to Crimea, it is worth to visit the former capital of the Crimean Khanate - the city of Bakhchisaray, which is located midway from Simferopol to the hero city of Sevastopol.
Thanks to its ancient history and incredibly beautiful nature, every traveler will find that to look from the sights of Bakhchisaray and its surroundings to your taste.
Most of the historic sites are in the Old Town, which is in the valley of the Churuk-Su River. In this part of the city the streets are narrow and crooked, traditional houses of Crimean Tatars stand on them. Here you can get there by route taxi No. 1 and number 2, which go through the railway station and the bus station to Chufut-Kale.
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The Khan's Palace
Famous for the whole world museum in Bakhchisarai Khan Palace immerses in the history of the dawn of the Crimean Khanate under the rulers of the dynasty of Geraev. Here, from the 16th to the beginning of the 18th centuries, the entire political, spiritual and cultural life was concentrated. The palace itself is the only example of the Crimean-Tatar palace architecture and is recognized as a cultural monument of worldwide importance.
In the halls of the palace you can see exhibitions devoted to the life and everyday life of that time, there are exhibitions of weapons and paintings, also there are theatrical performances and concerts. Unfortunately, the richest collection of the palace was not preserved in its integrity. Many were plundered during the fascist occupation and after the deportation of the Crimean Tatars. But, despite this, the modern exposition deserves attention. Since 2012, in the Khan Palace tours are organized in the daytime, evening and even at night.
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In the vicinity of Bakhchisaray there is a cloister cut in a rock and a "cave town" Chufut-Kale .
The Holy Assumption Monastery in Bakhchisaray
It was founded sometime in the late 8th - early 9th centuries by Greek monks. It was here, in the vicinity of the city, that a miraculous icon of the Mother of God appeared to people, so a temple was built in the rock. This is the oldest monastery in the Crimea from the 15th century became the center of Orthodoxy, and existed until 1778 near the capital of the Crimean Khanate. After a long desolation in 1850, the Assumption Monastery was re-opened and gradually grew to 5 churches and many other buildings. In the early 20th century the Bolsheviks again closed it and plundered it. And in 1993 a monastery was opened here, and since then the temple is being restored again.
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Chufut-Kale in Bakhchisaray
If you walk along a picturesque but rather steep road further for the monastery, then you will come to the abandoned medieval fortified city of Chufut-Kale. Arising presumably in the 5-6th century, the city in which the Alans first lived, then the Kypchaks, and from the 14th century the Karaites and Krymchaks, existed until the end of the 19th century, when the last inhabitants left.
Now most of the city is in ruins, but still there are preserved household premises, the mausoleum of the daughter of the Khan of the Golden Horde Tokhtamysh, the ruins of a mosque, a residential estate and two Karaite churches (kinasses), which are now being restored by the Karaite community.
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Among other interesting museums in Bakhchisarai you can note quite new ones:
- Lariches is a private historical museum opened in 2011, which is located on the road to Chufut-Kale. An ancient complex of buildings Devlet-Saray, from which the construction of the city began in the beginning of the 16th century. Here is the tomb of the first Khan Khadzhi-Giray, and next to it there is a spiritual school. The exposition of the museum introduces unique rarities of the times of the Crimean Khanate: ancient maps, lithographs, engravings, manuscripts and valuable books. Here you can also get acquainted with the contemporary works of Crimean artists. Interactive excursions are also interesting.
- park-museum of miniatures is a museum recently opened in Bakhchisarai, which will allow you to get acquainted with the most famous and popular places of the Crimean peninsula in a few hours: temples, palaces, historical and cultural monuments. Also it will be interesting for children to be photographed with the heroes of their favorite cartoons.
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Not far from the city, and even in Bakhchisaray itself, there are many interesting sights that, when coming to Crimea, it is worth to visit: the Gasprinsky Museum, Eski-durbe, the cave city of Kachi-Kalon, the Karaite cemetery and others.
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