While traveling around Crimea you will definitely feel its “oriental charm” and find numerous evidences and landmarks of Muslim religion and culture. They were brought to the Peninsula by warriors of Golden Horde and Ottoman Empire, as well as the very name of Crimea, pronounced as ‘Krym’.

The caves town Chufut-Kale in the Bakhchisarai suburb is one of such spots. In XV c. Chufut-Kale was the initial capital of the Crimean Khanate. A strange octonary  building stands right in the middle of the town. This is a mausoleum of the brave Nenekedzham-khanym, the daughter of Tokhtamysh-Khan from Chinghis-khan family. All Muslim world was touched by her pilgrimage to Mecca. Nenekedzham-khanym had played an important role in the making of Crimean Khanate and its separation from the Golden Horde. Generally, women in the Crimean Khanate had a higher status than those of other Muslim countries. Some of them were involved in country’s political life and even corresponded with some European queens.

Later on the Crimean Khanate capital was transferred to Bakhchisarai which can be translated as ‘Palace of Gardens’. A gem of the Muslim history of Crimea is The Khan’s Palace where powerful khans have lived and ruled for over three centuries. It is a world-known museum now visited by many thousands of tourists annually. This is an important landmark of Muslim East in South Europe. The Palace was built by Italian, Turkish, Iranian, and Russian masters who reflected their vision of Eden in the Palace design with lots of trees, flowers and fountains. 

Every year thousands of people come to Bakhchisarai to see the magical and enchanting “Fountain of Tears”. A legend says that a cruel and ferocious Krym-Girey Khan being already an old man had fallen in love with a girl from his harem, but she died. The Khan’s grief was perpetuated in a stone fountain that has been crying day and night since then…

Old Crimea is well known to Europeans owing to Alexander Dumas’s “The Queen’s Necklace” as a former capital of the Golden Horde Governor. It was the end-point of the caravan route from Choresm. From here eastern goods were delivered to the Black Sea and Mediterranean Coasts.

The Khan Uzbek’s mosque (XIV c.) has preserved its initial view till to-date and strikes by its huge dimensions. Next to it one can see ruins of the “lead” Kurshum-Jami mosque (XIV c.) known for its original construction where lead was used in junctions between the building stones. In construction of another mosque – Musk-Jami – musk was used for the same purpose.

Settlements of the Crimean Tatars retuning to their motherland add to the oriental charm of the area. Travelers will be welcomed by numerous cafes with traditional Tatar cuisine allowing to get a closer look at oriental customs.