Dormition Monastery, Crimea
Today
we headed out to see the Crimea of the Tatars. The Tatars originate
from seven clans of the Golden Horde, who left after Ghengis Khan
died and set up summer pastures in the Crimea. Eventually they came
to settle permanently in the Crimea. The northern tribes are of
Mongol origin, while the southern tribes included components of
northern Iranian, Greek, Goth and Germanic peoples. The Tatars are
Sunni Muslim peoples, with a very distinct culture from the Russian
and Ukrainian majority of the Crimea. There is lots of tension
between the Tatars, with resentment from being a minority in their
own land, cut out from most of the territory by privatisation. Some
Tatars maintain that the Crimea should be ceded back to Turkey, as
the original treaty between Russia and the Ottoman Empire in 1783
(when Russia forced the Ottoman Empire to cede the Crimea) included a
proviso that if the Crimea was ever given to a third party ownership
would default back to the Ottomans. The Tatars maintain that by
Khrushchev gifting the Crimea to the Ukraine, this provision was
invoked and they should be allowed to join Turkey.
Chufut-Kale, Crimea
They
hold demonstrations on this issue, and land rights, every May 19th
(the anniversary of their deportation).
We
started by visiting the cave town of Chufut-Kale. This was a well
protected town on a stone plateau in the Crimean mountains which had
never been taken until the Tatars came along. Legend has it that when
the Tatars reached the town they banged kitchenware together for
three days straight until the town surrendered from lack of sleep.
Chufut-Kale, Crimea
The town then became a Tatar stronghold, although they later moved
the centre from Chufut-Kale to Bakhchysarai. Chufut-Kale means
“Jewish Fortress” as the predominant population came to be
Karaites (a Jewish sect that only believes in the writings of the
Torah and not the subsequent interpretations). The Karaites are only
500 in number in the Crimea, and 2500 in the world. In Israel they
consider themselves to be the true Jews, however in the Crimea they
were culturally and linguistically Tatar, and successfully petitioned
not to be called Jews under the Khanate (for taxation purposes,
although it later helped them greatly during the Nazi occupation).
They have two synagogues in Chufut-Kale, one built in the 14th
century and one in the 18th
century.
Chufut-Kale, Crimea
The city is now empty (since the last well failed), but the
Karaites from Crimea, Lithuania and Israel still return for special
services several times a year. The town also has an old gaol, built
into the edges of the plateau, which was built in 1299 by the Tatars
as a prison (but when the Tatars moved to Bakhchysarai in 1475 it was
converted to a storage room).
Hiking
back from Chufut-Kale we saw the Dormition Monastery, founded in the
8th
century by Christian icon worshippers fleeing persecution from other
Christians who had banned icon worship in 754. We then visited the
Khan’s Palace in Bakhchysarai, one of the few pre-Russian buildings
surviving in the Crimea.
Tatar instruments, the Khan’s Palace in Bakhchysarai
The palace was built in 1531 as the capital
of the Crimean Tatars under the Ottoman Empire (using Jewish and
Armenian builders), however most of the current form was developed in
1787 for the stay of Catherine the Great, and was built to mimic to
Topkai Palace in Istanbul (of which it is an inferior and shabby
mirror). The Khan was said to be a direct descendent of Ghengis Khan,
but actually had relatively little power, with four powerful lords
below him and the Ottoman Empire above him. His meeting room, the
“Divan Chamber” (Persian for “Council”) included a closed in
balcony with wooden grating, so that he could listen in to meetings
he wasn’t at (or could get unknown advisors to listen in). We also
visited the Summer House, the small palace mosque (16th
century) with the Golden Fountain built for ablutions (built in 1733)
and the Fountain of Tears. The Fountain of Tears was built in 1764
for the Khan Giray, for a mausoleum for his favourite concubine
Diliara Bikech (stabbed by his wife), and later moved in 1784 to the
Palace.
Foros Church, Crimea
The fountain drips his tears of sorrow, and was written about
by Puskin in his poem “The Bakhchisaray Fountain”. The harem was
built with walls 10m high and 3m thick. Originally the rooms only had
windows high above eye level (“so only Allah could see their
faces”) but extra windows were put in below at eye level for
Catherine the Great.
On
the way back from Bakhchisaray to Yalta we stopped in at Foros
Church, which looks spectacular from a distance, jutting out on a
stone ledge from the forest, overlooking the Black Sea coast. The
Church was built in 1892 to commemorate the survival of the family of
Emperor Alexander III from a train crash in 1888. They were saved by
Alexander’s amazing strength (he straightened horse shoes for fun)
in keeping the carriage from collapsing while they escaped.
On
our last evening in Yalta we had a group dinner on the beach.
