Eski Yurt

Pre-Khanate Crimean Tatar settlement with surviving mausolea

Address Eski-Yurt, Bakhchysarai

The "Old Settlement" — the original Crimean Tatar town at the western end of the Bahchisaray valley, predating the Khan's Palace by a century or more. Most of Eski Yurt was abandoned after the khans moved their capital downstream in the early 16th century, but a small cluster of mausolea (the so-called Çoban-Tash and Mengli Geray dürbe) still stand, mostly in poor condition.

For anyone seriously interested in Crimean Tatar architecture, this is a worthwhile pilgrimage — the mausolea are among the earliest surviving Tatar funerary buildings. Otherwise the site is for completists. About 2 km west of the centre and reached on foot or by bus along the main road.

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