PALACE OF THE KHAN (ДВОРЕЦ ХАНСКИЙ)

At the top of the Tatar hierarchy was the prince, or the king, called khan. The most beautiful palace of these/that can still be visited is that of Bakhtchissaraï. Crimean Tatars converted to Islam in the th century. The Crimean imams then unite with the Turks. It was at that time that the capital was moved from Salkhat (now Staryi Krym) to Bakhtchissaraï, literally «the city of gardens». The construction of the palace continues throughout the th century. The palace has known the splendour of the court of litigants and the destruction of the invaders. The last episode left Bakhtchissaraï in 1783, ahead of the progress of Russian troops, but Catherine II, who destroyed most of the mosques, spared this superb palace, a palace of gardens and fountains, where the coolness of the allées and lobby, which sheltered the whispers of the femmes women, tranche with the silence of the desert mountains surrounding the residence of litigants. It was in this Oriental exoticism that Catherine II decided to stay on his trip to Crimea in 1787. The iron portal is the oldest part of the palace, its construction dates back to 1503 and is the work of an Italian master. The portal leads to the garden of the palace. The whole is a huge freshness and calm… when it is not invaded by tourists. The attraction attraction is the fountain of Tears, carried out by a Persian master at the request of one of the last/, Krym Guraï, who would have become mad after the death of his fiancée. This fountain inspired Pushkin for his poem La Fontaine de Bakhtchissaraï. The harem is well preserved with the part reserved for men and women. For the most part, carpets date from the era of litigants. Finally, a whole part of the palace was transformed into a museum where you can see examples of costumes and interior objects of litigants and their courtyard. By returning to the garden, you can visit the cemeteries of the/and admire the tomb of Dilyara Bikech, the fiancée of Krym Guraï, at the entrance to the cemetery.