Sights in Bakhchysaray
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Chufut-Kale
For many visitors, Chufut-Kale will prove to be Bakhchysaray's highlight. Rising 200m, this long and bluff plateau houses a honeycomb of caves and structures where people took refuge for centuries. It's wonderful to explore, especially (but gingerly) the burial chambers and casemates with large open 'windows' in the vertiginous northern cliff. These are truly breathtaking, as is the view into the valley below.
Although the joint entrance to the Uspensky Monastery and Chufut-Kale looks a bit touristy, the 1.5km walk to the cave city ensures it's not too overrun with people.
First appearing in historical records as Kyrk-Or (Forty Fortifications), the city was settled sometim…
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Uspensky Monastery
Stop for a moment and say 'aah!' at possibly the cutest little church in a country absolutely jam-packed with them. Part of the small Uspensky Monastery, the Gold-Domed Church has been built into the limestone rock of the surrounding hill, probably by Byzantine monks in the 8th or 9th century. Whitewashed monks' cells, a 'healing' fountain and tiled mosaics cling to the hillside too. Of course, the Soviets closed the place down, but it's been operating again since 1993.
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Khans’ Palace
When she was busy ordering the mass destruction of Bakhchysaray’s mosques in the 18th and early 19th centuries, Catherine the Great spared the Khans’ Palace. Her decision was reportedly based on the building being ‘romantic’, and it is sweet. While it lacks the imposing grandeur of Islamic structures in, say, Istanbul, this is a major landmark of Crimean culture and history.
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