Ukraine - The historical surroundings of Crimean Khans’ capital in Bakhchysarai

Khan Palace: N44 34 55 E33 52 55 Chufut-Kale: N44 44 27 E33 55 55 The Bakhchysarai valley has been inhabited by different nationalities and tribes since the ancient times. The oldest cave sites of the Mousterian epoch (50-40 thousand years ago) were located in the territory of Staroselye-Salachik. There are several monuments of the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age in the valley. A large Taurian settlement dated by the 7th-6th centuries BC and situated in the bottom part of the Maryam-Dere ravine has been the subject of the research. Historically the most dynamic process of the Bakhchysarai valley development is associated with the medieval period. In the 6th century, there appeared a fortress on the Chufut-Kale plateau. It was built by the Byzantine engineers for the Empire’s allies that represented Sarmatian and Germanic (Alani and Goths) tribes. The plateau site that keeps the traces of that period is the Middle defensive wall. Among other ancient period monuments are the guards’ cave rooms, the fragments of architectural details of the Early Christian basilica, huge cemetery of the Early Middle Ages (6th – 9th centuries A.D.) on the Maryam-Dere valley’s north-west slope and the Tik-kuyu well.