Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
5
Villa Bakhitgul
B3
Eating
6
Aliye
A1
7
Musafir
A1
Information
Mountain Rescue Service
(see 4)
Sights
Bakhchysaray's sights are strung on the town's main axis, vul Lenina, like pieces of mut-
ton on
shashlyk
skewers served in local restaurants. The Khans' Palace is 3km away
from the bus and train stations. Continuing along the road for another 2.5km, you'll get
to the parking lot before the ascent to Uspensky Monastery begins. Walk another kilo-
metre from the monastery and you'll reach Iosofatova Valley at the foot of Chufut-Kale.
Khans' Palace
PALACE
OFFLINE MAP
(
www.hansaray.org.ua
;
vul Lenina 129; adult/child & student 60/30uah; 9am-5.30pm)
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 re-
portedly based on the building being 'romantic', and it is sweet. While it lacks the im-
posing grandeur of Islamic structures in, say, Istanbul, this is a major landmark of
Crimean culture and history. Erected in the 16th century under the direction of Persian,
Ottoman and Italian architects, it was rebuilt a few times, but the structure still resembles
the original.
Passing through the back of the finely carved, Venetian Renaissance
Demir Qapi
Portal
(also called Portal Alevizo after its Italian designer, who also authored parts of
Moscow's Kremlin), you enter the west wing and the dimly lit
Divan Hall
. This was the
seat of government, where the khan and his nobles discussed laws and wars.
Through the hall lies the inner courtyard, containing two fountains. With its white
marble ornately inscribed with gold leaf, the
Golden Fountain
(1733) is probably the
