Crimean Sites of the Tatars
The Crimea is a peninsula of towering peaks, balmy seas and a colourful population. The Russian Tsars and Soviet elite spent summers here, in its Cold War heyday when it was a workers’ paradise, and with its Mediterranean-style climate it’s still the perfect holiday retreat.
It became a semi-autonomous region of Ukraine when the country became independent after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, but it remained culturally Russian – it was invaded by Russia in 2014 which now claims it as its own.
Crimea has been conquered and controlled many times throughout its history and occupied by a cast of thousands -from Byzantine Greeks, Genoese, Mongols and Tatars, to Cimmerians, Persians, Goths, Huns, Bulgars, Khazars, Kipchaks, Golden Horde Tatars and Ottoman Turks.
TATAR CRIMEA
Bakhchysaray
Steeped in Crimean Tatar culture and history –Bakhchysarai means ‘garden palace’ – a name conferred on the town when it was capital of the powerful Crimean Khanate between the 15th and 18th centuries. Later it suffered major destruction under Russian and then Soviet rule. Although a little worn around the edges, it’s home to the Khans’original palace, the Ukraine’s “cutest” Orthodox Church and an amazing 6th-century Byzantine cave city. And, the region’s original Tatar inhabitants are returning to their former homelands.
Khan’s Palace
Built in the 16th century and designed by Persian, Ottoman and Italian architects – the Khan’s Palace is a major landmark of Crimean history. For 250 years (till 1783) the and was the centre of the political, spiritual and cultural life of the state of the Crimean Tatars. This amazing Islamic structure comprises the Divan Hall (parliament), a mosque (now re-opened for believers), summerhouse, lavish fountains, harem, living rooms, the Khan’s cemetery, and a mausoleum where Dilara Bikez was laid to rest (see below).
A Fountain of Tears:This Fountain was commissioned for the last of the Crimean Khana: Giri. This renowned cynic fell head over heels in love with a beautiful Polish girl (allegedly Dilara Bikez) , added to his harem as a war prize. His love was unrequited and his Polish love interest wasted away, unable to cope with harem life. Giri was totally inconsolable so his courtiers commissioned a Persian master craftsmen to build him a fountain, hoping this would help contain his grief. When Russian writer Alexander Pushkin visited the fountain in 1823 he was deeply moved and wrote the poem Bakhchysaray Fountain. He also began a tradition still followed today with freshly cut palace flowers: two roses are placed atop the fountain: red for love and yellow for chagrin.
Tatar Artisans
In the aftermath of 1944’s mass deportation, Crimea Tatar handicrafts were on the verge of distinction. Then in the 1990s Uzbekistan – born Ayshe Osmanova, decided to resettle in her ancestral homeland and help revive Tatar culture in Bakhchysaray.
A self-taught artisan (she studied old manuals from the Khans’ Palace and taught herself embroidery), applied for grants, recruited veteran silversmiths, and set up Marama – an organisation which teaches traditional craft courses to local women. Today the Usta Workshop provides much-needed income to local craftspeople and sells embroidered shawls and tablecloths, wovenrugs and hangings, ceramics, fine silver jewellery and Matroshyky nesting dolls painted with Tatar characters. You can also visit the artists at work in their studios.
