Crimea - Ukraine - page 336

First appearing in historical records as Kyrk-Or (Forty Fortifications), the city was
settled sometime between the 6th and 12th centuries by Christianised descendants of
Sarmatian tribes. The last powerful ruler of the Golden Horde, Tokhtamysh, sheltered
here after defeat in the 1390s, and the first Crimean khanate was established at Chufut-
Kale in the 15th century, before moving to nearby Bakhchysaray. After the Tatars left,
Turkic-Jewish Karaites occupied the city until the mid-19th century, which won the
mountain its current name of 'Jewish Fortress '.
Following the track from Uspensky Monastery, the best idea is to keep bearing right.
The main entrance is not under the flat tin roof to the left of the Chufut-Kale sign, but
further up the hill to the right. At this, the 14th-century main South Gate , you'll usually
be hit for a 12uah entrance fee.
Soon after the gate, you enter a Swiss-cheese composition of carved-out rooms and
steps. Behind this a stone path heads along the top of the plateau, past two locked kenas-
sas (Karaite temple) in a walled courtyard to the right. There is a Karaite cultural
centre and cafe (mains 30uah) in the adjacent former house of the city's last resident,
Karaite leader Avraam Firkovich.
To the left of the first intersection stands the red-tile roofed Muslim mausoleum
(1437) of Dzhanike-Khanym, daughter of Tokhtamysh; to the right is an archway. Head
left behind the mausoleum towards the cliff edge and enjoy the view into the valley be-
low. To the right (east), a grassy track leads to two burial chambers in the northern side
of the cliff.
From here it's hard to get lost; there are more caves until you reach the locked East
Gate , where the road loops back on itself towards the main gate.
Iosofatova Valley CEMETERY
The forested Iosofatova Valley beneath the Chufut-Kale plateau hides a breathtaking and
spooky sight. Thousands of moss-covered gravestones covered in Hebrew script stand,
lie upturned or lean at precarious angles in the shade of ancient oak trees. For over a mil-
lennium the Karaites brought their dead to the sacred grove, which they called Balta Tuy-
mez, meaning Axe-Don't-Touch in ancient Turkic. The scene is straight out of Michael
Jackson's 'Thriller' and at sunset it's hard to escape the chilly sensation of being watched
by thousands of empty eye sockets.
Devlet-Saray HISTORIC SITE
(vul Basenko 57; admission 20uah; 10am-4.30pm) The site where Crimean Tatar khans ori-
ginally settled in Bakhchysaray now consists of a modest museum, ruins of a public bath,
a mausoleum where 18 members of the khan dynasty were buried, and the main highlight