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Introducing Bakhchysaray
Bakhchysaray has always been a good barometer of Crimean Tatar history. Its mellifluous name – back-chee-sa-rye, meaning ‘garden palace’ – was conferred when the town was the capital of the powerful Crimean Khanate between the 15th and 18th centuries. Later it suffered significant destruction under Russian and then Soviet rule.
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Today the tables are turning again, with Bakhchysaray and its returned Crimean Tatar inhabitants in the midst of a minor comeback. Sure, the place is still a little dusty and down-at-heel, but it does boast the khans’ original palace, the country’s cutest Orthodox church and a thoroughly entrancing 6th-century ‘cave city’. And around them the green shoots of a tourist industry – hotels, restaurants and souvenir shops – and a friendly community are starting to bud.
Last updated: Sep 30, 2008
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