Bakhchysarai ( crh, Bağçasaray, italic=yes; russian: Бахчисара́й; ua, Бахчисара́й; tr, Bahçesaray) is a town in

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

, a territory recognized by a majority of countries as part of

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

and annexed by

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

as the Republic of Crimea. It is the

administrative center An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or ...

of the Bakhchysarai Raion (

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

), as well as the former capital of the Crimean Khanate. Its main landmark is

Hansaray The Khan's Palace ( tr, Han Sarayı) or Hansaray is located in the town of Bakhchysarai, Crimea. It was built in the 16th century and became home to a succession of Crimean Khans. The walled enclosure contains a mosque, a harem, a cemetery, liv ...

, the only extant palace of the Crimean Khans, currently open to tourists as a museum. Population:

Geography

Bakhchysarai lies in a narrow valley of the river, about 30 Kilometers south-west of

Simferopol Simferopol () is the second-largest city in the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula. The city, along with the rest of Crimea, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, and is considered the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. However, ...

History

The earliest known artifacts of human provenance found in the valley date from the

Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymous ...

period. Settlements have existed in the valley since

Late Antiquity Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English ha ...

. The founding of Bakhchysarai was preceded by the Qırq Yer fortress (modern

Çufut Qale __NOTOC__ Chufut-Kale ( crh, Çufut Qale, italic=yes ; Russian language, Russian and Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: Чуфут-Кале - ''Chufut-Kale''; Karaim language, Karaim: Кала - קלעה - ''Kala'') is a medieval city-fortress in the C ...

), Salaçıq, and Eski Yurt — these have become incorporated into the urban area of modern Bakhchysarai. Bakhchysarai first appears in historical documents in 1502. In 1532 Sahib I Giray, the

Khan of Crimea This is a list of khans of the Crimean Khanate, a state which existed in present-day southern Ukraine from 1441 until 1783. Crimean Tatars, although not a part of the Ukrainian ethnos, are deeply interconnected, having ruled a large part of ...

from 1532 to 1551, established his residence there. From that time it served as the capital of the Crimean Khanate and the center of political and cultural life of the Crimean Tatar people. In 1736 the town was burned during the Russo-Turkish War (1735–1739). Following the annexation of the Crimean Khanate by the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

in 1783, Bakhchysarai became an ordinary town, having lost administrative significance. However, it remained the cultural center of the Crimean Tatars for several decades afterward, fostered by Ismail Gaspirali (1851-1914) who founded the local newspaper ''Tercüman'' in 1883. During the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

of 1853–56, Bakhchysarai essentially became a hospital town as wounded Russian soldiers from the battlefield were brought in to be treated. The Battle of the Alma, one of the earliest battles of the war, took place not far from the city in 1854. But although the city was close to the front line, the Turks and their European allies never took it, as the port city of

Sevastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...

was their primary wartime objective. With the collapse of the Russian Empire in 1917 and the unification of several socialist republics that had been part of the Russian Empire, Bakhchysarai became part of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

(established 30 December 1922) in 1922. The ''

Sürgün Sürgün or verb form sürmek (to displace) was a practice within the Ottoman Empire that entailed the movement of a large group of people from one region to another, often a form of forced migration imposed by state policy or international author ...

'', the deportation of the Crimean Tatars by the Soviets during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, took place on 18 May 1944 in Bakhchysarai. The expulsion was prompted by accusations that the Tatars had collaborated with the Axis occupiers (1941-1944). Although deportation of some Tatars in Crimea had begun as early as 1860, during the era of the Russian Empire, the Sürgün delivered the final blow, as the city was rendered empty of Crimean Tatars. They were not to return to the city until 1989, when Soviet policies relaxed. Bakhchysarai became a part of newly independent

in 1991. However, it became a ''de facto'' part of the

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

when

Russian Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (, ), commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military forces of Russia. In terms of active-duty personnel, they are the world's fifth-largest military force, with at least two m ...

invaded and annexed the city and the whole of Crimea in 2014.

Name and associations

Spellings of the town's name in different languages include: * original Crimean Tatar: Bağçasaray *

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

: Bahçesaray * Russian: Бахчисарай - Bakhchisaray *

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

: Бахчисарай - Bakhchysarai The name comes from

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

''bāghche-sarāy'', which means ''the Garden Palace''. In Crimean Tatar, ''bağça'' means "garden" and '' saray'' means "palace". Russian-speakers associate the town with the Romantic connotations of

Alexander Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...

's poem ''

The Fountain of Bakhchysarai ''The Fountain of Bakhchisaray'' (russian: «Бахчисарайский фонтан», ''Bakhchisaraiskiy fontan'') is a poem by Alexander Pushkin, written during the years 1821 to 1823. Pushkin began writing ''The Fountain of Bakhchisa ...

'' (1822). Adam Mickiewicz devoted some of the finest poems in his Polish-language ''

Crimean Sonnets The Crimean Sonnets (''Sonety krymskie'') are a series of 18 Polish sonnets by Adam Mickiewicz, constituting an artistic telling of a journey through the Crimea. They were published in 1826, together with a cycle of love poems called "The Odess ...

'' (1825) to the landmarks of Bakhchysarai ( pl , Bakczysaraj). An

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...

3242 Bakhchisaraj 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

, discovered by

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

astronomer

Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh (russian: Никола́й Степа́нович Черны́х) (6 October 1931 – 25 May 2004Казакова, Р.К. Памяти Николая Степановича Черных'. Труды Государст ...

in 1979, takes its name after the town.Dictionary of Minor Planet Names - p.269

Attractions

Famous attractions within or near Bakhchysarai are: * Eski Yurt * Chufut-Kale * Khan's Palace * Orta Juma Jami * Tahtali-Jami Mosque *

Uspensky Cave Monastery , native_name_lang = , logo = , logo_size = , logo_caption = , image = Uspensky Cave Monastery 2.jpg , image_size = , image_caption = Uspensky Cave Monastery , map_type ...

Zincirli Madrasa Zincirli Madrasa ( uk, Зинджирли-медресе; ''Медресе Ланцюгів'', crh, Zıncırlı medrese) is a madrasa, built of stone by Meñli I Giray in 1500 near Bakhchisarai, Crimea. History Zincirli Madrasa was established ...

There is a network of well marked hiking trails around the town. All the main attractions are connected with red-marked trail. Since 2011 thanks to the support of the Czech Government and USAID the Tourist information centre has been working.

Demographics

In 1930 the population of the city was 10,450. The ethnic groups represented were 7,420 Crimean Tatars, 1,850

Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 ''Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...

, 315

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

, 205

Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...

, 185

Ukrainians Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian. The majority ...

, 50

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

, 30

Armenians Armenians ( hy, հայեր, ''hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diaspora ...

, 30

Bulgarians Bulgarians ( bg, българи, Bǎlgari, ) are a nation and South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and the rest of Southeast Europe. Etymology Bulgarians derive their ethnonym from the Bulgars. Their name is not completely understo ...

, and 365 others.

Gallery

File:Bakhchisarai 1.jpg, File:Bakhchisarai 2.jpg, File:Bakhchisaray 3.jpg, File:Bakhchisaray 4.jpg, File:Bakhchisaray 5.jpg, File:Bakhchisaray 6.jpg, File:Bakhchisaray 8.jpg, File:Bakhchisaray 7.jpg,

Education

* College of Construction, Architecture and Design (Branch), Crimean Federal University

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

Bakhchysarai is twinned with: *

Bursa ( grc-gre, Προῦσα, Proûsa, Latin: Prusa, ota, بورسه, Arabic:بورصة) is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the ...

, Turkey

References

External links

Official site of the Palace

The murder of the Jews of Bakhchysarai
during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, at

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...

website. {{Authority control Bakhchysarai Raion Cities in Crimea Crimean Khanate Crimean Tatars Islam in Crimea Former capitals of Crimea Holocaust locations in Ukraine