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Chufut-Kale (Cave City-Fortress)

Chufut-Kale is one of the oldest and least studied cave cities of Crimea, located in the Bakhchysarai District. The city-fortress existed from approximately the 5th century until its decline in the early 20th century, preserving traces of Taurians, Alans, Crimean khans, and the Karaite community.

Overview

Chufut-Kale belongs to the cave cities of Crimea — among the oldest and least studied monuments of the peninsula, primarily concentrated in the Bakhchysarai District. The most famous among the cave cities, alongside Chufut-Kale, are Mangup-Kale, Tepe-Kermen, and Eski-Kermen. It is believed that Chufut-Kale arose around the 5th century; its population was initially composed of Taurian tribes, and for a period the city was also inhabited by Alans.

The first written mention of the settlement dates to 1298–1299, when the fortress was named Qırq Yer / Kyrk-Or (Forty Castles). Like other settlements of Taurida, it was destroyed by Emir Nogai during internal strife in the Golden Horde. Chufut-Kale was likely described by Friar William of Rubruck, who traveled through Crimea in 1253 and mentioned forty castles between Chersonesus and Sudak.

Following the establishment of the Crimean Khanate, state founder Haci I Giray moved the capital from Staryi Krym to Qırq Yer (Kyrk-Or). From the 1430s to the 1500s, Qırq Yer served as the first capital of the Crimean Khanate. The name of the Qırq Yer fortress gave rise to the "Kyrkor" coat of arms of the Princes Hlynsky in Polish armorials, whose heraldic symbol was the Tarak-Tamga on a red field.

In the early 16th century, the Khan's residence was relocated first to Salachik (Starosillya) and later to Bakhchysarai. Qırq Yer remained a powerful fortress capable of sheltering the Khan during times of internal strife. Tatars finally left the city in the late 16th to early 17th century, while the Armenian community departed in the mid-17th century, leaving only the Karaites.

Key Details / Subtopics

  • Origin of Names: Qırq Yer / Kyrk-Or (Forty Castles) — oldest written name (1298–1299); later Kale (from 1608), Chufut-Kale, as well as Cevher-Kermen ("Fortress of Jewels") and the Karaite Juft-Kale ("Double Fortress").
  • Khan Capital and Heraldic Heritage: from the 1430s to the 1500s, Qırq Yer was the capital of Haci I Giray and the early Crimean khans; from 1454 a mint operated there, minting the Tarak-Tamga. The name Qırq Yer entered Polish armorials as the name of the Princes Hlynsky coat of arms ("Kyrkor").
  • Karaites and Kenesas: after the departure of the Tatar and Armenian communities, only Karaites remained in the city, considering Chufut-Kale their ancestral homeland; two kenesas (14th–15th and 18th centuries) remain preserved.
  • Printing House of 1731: the first printing house in Crimea, publishing religious books in Hebrew and Karaim.
  • Water Supply and Rock-Cut Architecture: a stone trough with ancient aqueduct pipes fed utility water into a well; dwellings were carved into the rock two to three stories deep.

Contradictions and Open Questions

  • Origin of First Inhabitants: historians still debate who first began building rock-cut dwellings — Scythians, Cimmerians, Taurians, or Alans; there is no definitive answer.
  • Etymology of the Name "Chufut": there are two main versions — "Chufut" as "Jewish" (Turkic) meaning "Jewish Fortress," and the Karaite "Juft-Kale" ("Double Fortress").