Old Crimea. The city of Old Crimea. Sights of the Old Crimea

Old Crimea is a city in the eastern region of the Crimean peninsula, located on the Churuk-Su river. It was founded in the XIII century, after the entire steppe Crimea became part of the Golden Horde.

Initially, the city was called Kyrym, and then, according to the will of the Genoese, Italian settlers, it was called Solkhat. Later it was divided into two parts: the Christian, in which the Italians lived, and the Muslim, where the emir's residence was. So there was a double name of the city of Kyrym-Solkhat.

History

Thanks to the Italian merchants who were actively trading on the peninsula, Kyr-Solkhat soon turned into a thriving city and became the center of trade on the famous Silk Road connecting Asia and Europe. When the Crimean Khanate appeared , it was renamed Eski-Kyrym, which means "Old Kyrym", hence the present name of the Old Crimea.

Geography

The city is located next to the mountain of Agarmysh, which is the easternmost part of the Crimean mountain massif, a range of gentle Crimean mountains. Since 1975, it is officially declared a natural monument. To the east, the mountain ridge falls and goes to the plain. From this place towards the sea extends a chain of small ridges, located fan, interspersed with valleys. This massif represents the Feodosia lowlands, the highest ridges are Biyuk-Yanyshar, Tepe-Oba and Uzun-Syrt.

Location:

On the eve of entering the Russian Empire, the Old Crimea, whose map provides an opportunity to see this, has become a junction of several paths. The road Simferopol-Theodosia passed through the center of the city, along Ekaterininskaya Street. From the eastern city outskirts, the St. George valley, the road to the colony of Zurichtal, the German patrimony, and along the foot of Mount Agarmysh there was a road to Karasubazar, a major trading city. Another road started from Bakatashskaya Street and was sent to the Bulgarian town of Koktebel and the villages of Bakatash, Armatluk, Barakol and Imaret. And, finally, the last, the fifth, connected the Old Crimea with the Armenian monastery.

Architecture

In the 19 century the city began to be built up by Russian houses, respectable one-story mansions. Buildings were built from Ak-Monay shell, which was abundantly mined in the quarries. When it became known about the forthcoming journey across the Crimea of the Russian Empress Catherine II, a palace and a fountain were built in the historic part of the Old Crimea to receive it with honor. There they built an Orthodox cathedral.

The city of Old Crimea consists of several districts with ethnographic features. Its center dates back to ancient times, the period before the invasion of the Tatars is the medieval church, from which at the present time there are only ruins. From the Middle Ages there are mosques, fountains and a caravanserai. All the buildings are now ruins.

The entire north-eastern zone is occupied by the Tatar part of the city. The main street - Mechetnaya - consists of small two-room houses from adobe with clay floor. There is no ceiling in such buildings, on top there is a gable roof tile. On the south-eastern side of the Old Crimea there are Greeks, whose houses are more solid, built of stone, mostly two-story. And between the Greek and Tatar neighborhoods there are houses of the Armenian population, among which there is one half-ruined medieval church.

Population

The most modern was the western part of the Old Crimea, where the country houses predominated. Neat houses, built in a classical architectural style, were considered a decoration of the city. It is characteristic that many Russian artists, poets, writers gave their dachas for use to the needy. For example, giving poet K. Umanskaya became a boarding school for tuberculosis patients. Many wealthy residents of Moscow and St. Petersburg moved to the Old Crimea, built houses and lived, actively engaged in charity.

Russian dacha houses were concentrated on the Bulgarian street. Their architecture was diverse. There was everything: from pseudo-Moorish style and provincial classicism to modernity. As a continuation of the quarters of Russian holiday homes were built cottages sanatorium, which was intended for people who need treatment for internal diseases. To the west of the Russian suburban neighborhoods there is a whole colony of Bulgarian settlers, which was called Bulgaria. There were houses in the Bulgarian national style, a church and a school. Five fountains constantly operated in the settlement, from which the inhabitants took water for household needs.

The Bulgarian settlement

The Bulgarian colony lived its life quite apart, people tried everything necessary to provide for themselves. At each house was built a cattle shed, a cellar and a small barn. However, people did not avoid contact with other citizens. At the Bulgarian fair, arranged in a small square near the church, on Sundays the whole Old Crimea gathered. Trade was brisk, new acquaintances were made, business ties were established. Was not an exception and the personal life of citizens - a mixed marriage happened quite often.

Sights of the Old Crimea

The city has many attractions, the main of which are the buildings of the XIII-XIV centuries, when the former Kyrym was the focus of the Crimean Yurt, the state of the Crimean Tatars. Until now, the mosque of Khan Uzbek. A little aside there is another mosque of Sultan Baybars, which is the most ancient cult building on the Crimean peninsula. To the east of the city center was once located a mint and a large caravanserai, once housed a hundred camels. There are also the ruins of the Kurshum-Jami Mosque.

In the south-west direction, five kilometers from the city of Old Crimea, photo of which is represented on the page, there is an Armenian monastery. It is called Surb Khach, which means "Holy Cross". The monastery is active, belongs to the Apostolic Armenian Church. There are also ruins of another Armenian monastery - Surb Stefanos.

One of the main attractions of the Old Crimea is Catherine's Mile, which is an exhibit of the city's literary museum. It is a stone column with a square base and an octagonal top, designed for a road-landscape reference point. In addition to this exhibit, there are four more posts with similar names, all of them are in the Crimea.

Not far from the city of Old Crimea, in the south, is the source of St. Panteleimon the Great Martyr. It is built into the chapel, which was restored in 2001 instead of burnt in the fire in 1949.

"The Road of Green"

The most visited sight of the Old Crimea is the "Green Road". The writer Alexander Greene often went along this route on foot to Koktebel, where at that time his close friend Maximilian Voloshin lived . On this road Voloshin himself often went, and also on it one could meet the sisters of the Tsvetaeva, Sergei Efron, Zabolotskaya Maria, Voloshin's wife, who loved to walk alone.

Old Crimea, the rest in which was considered the best pastime, quickly became one of the most attractive cities of the Crimean peninsula, celebrities, writers, actors, artists began to gather in it.