Bakhchysarai Palace

Bakhchisaray Palace

The Khan's Palace or Hansaray is located in the town of Bakhchisaray, Crimea, Ukraine. It was built in the 16th century and became home to a succession of Crimean Khans. The walled enclosure contains a mosque, a harem, a cemetery, living quarters and gardens. The palace interior has been decorated to appear lived in and reflects the traditional 16th century Crimean Tatar style.

History

The city of Bakhchisaray and the palace were commissioned by the Crimean Khan dynasty, who moved their capital here from neighbouring Salaçıq in the first half of the 16th century. The palace's complex design and minarets were constructed by Russian and Ukrainian slaves in the 16th century under the command of Ottoman, Persian and Italian architects. Later damages required partial reconstruction, but the structure still have a resemblance to its original form. Some buildings currently in the palace were attached later, while some of the original buildings could not stand past the 18th century.^[1]

Bakhchisaray Fountain

One courtyard contains a small fountain whose sad story so moved the Russian writer Alexander Pushkin when he visited it that he wrote a whole poem to it — "The Fountain of Bakhchisaray".

Bakhchisaray Fountain or Fountain of Tears is a real case of life imitating art. The fountain is known as the embodiment of love of one of the last Crimean Khans, Qırım Giray Khan for his young wife, and his grief after her early death. The Khan was said to have fallen in love with this Polish girl in his harem. Despite his unmoved cruelty, he was grievous and wept when she died, astonishing all those who knew him. He commissioned a marble fountain to be made, so that the rock would weep, like him, forever.^[2]

Originally placed by the young woman's tomb in a restful garden, the fountain was transferred to its current location in the Ambassadors' courtyard after Catherine II ordered the annexation of the Crimean territory. Pushkin's verses are credited in part for ensuring the survival of the palace itself to date.