Bakhchisaray

Bakhchysarai (Crimean Tatar: Bağçasaray; Ukrainian: Бахчисарай; Russian: Бахчисарай; Turkish: Bahçesaray) is an urban-type settlement in central Crimea, located in southern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Bakhchysarai Raion (district), as well as the former capital of the Crimean Khanate. Its main landmark is Hansaray, the only extant palace of the Crimean Khans, currently opened to tourists as a museum. Located in a narrow valley of the Çürük Suv river which is known as an old local center of civilization (the first artifacts of human presence in the valley date up to the Mesolithic). The settlements which existed in the valley before Bakhchisaray was founded - Qırq Yer fortress (modern Çufut Qale), Salaçıq, and Eski...