Chufut-Kale, the cave town

Chufut-Kale is situated one kilometer from Uspenski monastry. A picturesque windy path leads there from the monastry to a vast green meadow. Have a rest there, drink water from a spring nearby and look around. On the background of sky at the very edge of the rock there are buildings, guarding walls, tower and man-made caves seen clearly. This is the Middle Age town of Chufut-Kale.

The question of its appearance is still discussed. Some researchers think that Chufut-Kale, like other cave towns of Crimea, was built by Byzantium in IV century in order to protect Khersones from nomad raids; other mention later dates of X –XI centuries connecting appearance of this town with development of feudalism in Crimea. Arab historian and geographer of the first half of the XIV century, Abulfedi, illustrates that a people of alan lived in Chufut-Kale before Crimea was captured by tatars. Alans was late-sarmatian tribe of Persian origin. Alans, which were relative by culture and language to Scythians and were ancestors of comtemporary Ossetins, got to Crimea in the third century BC from Don river and Caspian stepps. After settling at the mountainouw parf of the peninsular they accepted Christianity. Their business was cattle-breeding, agriculture and handycraft.
By the end of the XIII century the area of Chufut-Kale was 29 hectares, 9 of which were occupied by houses, household premises and public buildings. Other part was utilized for gardens and pastures. There was no need to build guarding walls from the sourthern, western and northern sides: the plateau here goes abruptly down. A mighty fortress wall closed the town from the eastern side.
But still in the XIII century the town was conquered; in 1299 Tatar Bey Yashlavski occupied Chufut-Kale after a besiege. It seems that at the end of XIV – beginning of XV centuries tatars settled Karaites here, who should restore ruined and build new constructions. The town area doubled. Tatars called it Kirk-Or (forty fortifications). Quite soon Kirk-Or became a good fortress. It played an important part during the period of Crimean Khans struggle against the Golden Horde for their independence. As far as Crimean Khanate became stronger, importance of Kirk-Or gradually weakens and in the middle of the XVII century tatars left it and leaved Karaites in the town. Since then the town on the platto was called Chufut-Kale (Judaic fortress). After Crimea was joined with Russia, Karaites moved to Evpatoria, Bakhchisaray, Yalta and other Crimean places.
Southern or Small Gates built in XIV century from oak woods on the place of the old ones. In XVI century gates were covered by sheets of forge iron. A stone wall with loopholes dated XIV century, is to the right; right after the gates there is a narrow, cut in rock corridor with four-tier caves aimed at it. It was rather hard to overcome resistance of the town defenders.
lets turn left to one of the streets called Middle Street. Here like with other streets, there are remainders of dwelling and household buildings made of stone. In XV – XVII centuries Chufut-Kale counted more than 400 houses with population of about 5 thousand. At the end of Middle Street near to ruins of Moslem mosque, there is standing a mausoleum of the XV century. Octahedral form of the building is taken over from Asia Minor architecture. A tomb with inscription is set up inside the mausoleum, which says that this is the tomb of Junik-Hanim, dauter of Khan Toktamish. Under the stone floor of the mausoleum there was a funeral vault. Several legends and stories are connedted with the name of Junik-Khanim.
Behind the mausoleum the platto goes abruptly down and a grandiose sight opens to the Ashlama-Dere valley, tops of the Main Ridge of Crimean mountains: Roman-Kosh, Kemal-Egerek, Chatyrdag. The middle guarding wall near to the mausoleum is five meters thick and the earliest one in the system of the fortress fortification. It is made of large rectangular blocks on lime mortar. Wide gates in the wall and a tower to the south remained safe. One more tower was before the wall at the northern side. Here is a system of fortress ditches: the length of the longest on is 65.5, and width – 4,5 meters, depth - up to 2 meters.
From a small ditch we descend by stone steps into a vast upper and lower man-made caves, being a jail. There are a lot of verbal and written stories about frightful executions of Crimean Khans prisoners: heads cut, boiled water poured, and bodies thrown to Ashlama-Dere valley. But none of these assumptions was not confirmed by archeological researches. Scientists think that these caves appeared in XVII century and were used in household purposes.
To get to the eastern guarding wall you should cross the new, or Karaite, town. The wall is made at the end of XIV – beginning of XV century, its length is 128 meters. There are large gates in the wall; half-ruined southern and two northern towers with battlements are still standing as well as defensive embrosure pleated nowadays. Behind the eastern wall there is a water-collecting pond made in the rock for cattle watering.
On the upper part of Iosfatovaya valley among dense bushes there is a big Karaite cemetary: vast epitaphs are carved on its tombs.
When you approach the middle guarding wall again, you will notice ruins of Crimean Khans mint to the northen side. In 1958 close to the wall protecting the territory of the mint a stone gutter with ceramic pipes of pre-tatar waterpipe was discovered. One more gutter to the left of the main street of the town leads to the drainage well. There were lots of such wells in the town. Rain and snow water from these wells was used by inhabitants mainly for household purposes. Drinking water, as it seems, was provided by the water-pipe. When it ceased acting, Chufut-Kale inhabitants were forced to take drinking water from sources outside the town.
There are two buildings at the sourthern steep – Karaite praying houses (kenases) built in XIV century and at the ent of XVIII century. The ancient temple is surrounded by an open terrace with stone low columns and arcs in between. There are benches with niches below at the walls. Believers gathered on this terrace in waiting for the service; elected foremans executed judgement here over persons who broke moral laws of the community.
Internal structure of both kenases is similar. Every temple is devided into three sections. In the first one, separated by a partition, prayed those who could not stand because of their old age and those in mourning. In the next premise of the second floor, which was closed by wooden grates from the altar side, women prayed. The main section was for men. The floor of the kanase was covered with carpets and people prayed on their knees.
Not far from the kenases there was the Karaite printing-house made in 1731 (this was the first Crimean printing-house). It published books in Hebrew and Karaite languages. The last book was printed in 1805 and the printing-house was moved to Evpatoria. The mint stopped acting earlier, after Crimea was added to Russia.
The town was always short of drinking water; there were no land plots suitable for planting. For these reasons the town gradually became deserted and by the middle of XIX stopped its existence.