Bakhchisaray Palace
| The Khan's Palace in Bakhchisaray | |
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Native name Crimean Tatar: Han Saray |
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Bakhchisaray Palace
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| Location | Bakhchysarai, Crimea |
| Coordinates | 44°44′55.22″N 33°52′55.06″E / 44.7486722°N 33.8819611°ECoordinates: 44°44′55.22″N 33°52′55.06″E / 44.7486722°N 33.8819611°E |
| Built | 1532 |
| Architectural style(s) | Ottoman architecture |
| Website | http://www.hansaray.org.ua/ |
| Type | cultural |
| Criteria | i, iii, v, vi |
| Designated | 2003 |
The Khan's Palace or Hansaray is located in the town of Bakhchysarai, Crimea. 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. It is one of the best known Muslim palaces found in Europe, alongside Topkapı Palace, Dolmabahçe Palace, Yıldız Palace, Aynalıkavak Palace, Edirne Palace, Çırağan Palace in Turkey and the Alhambra in Spain.
The city of Bakhchisaray and the palace were commissioned by the Crimean Khan dynasty, who moved their capital here from Salaçıq in the first half of the 16th century. The palace's complex design and minarets were constructed in the 16th century by Ottoman, Persian and Italian architects. Later damages required partial reconstruction, but the structure still has 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.
One courtyard contains a small fountain whose sad story so moved the Russian writer Alexander Pushkin when he visited it that he wrote a long narrative poem titled "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 battle-hardened harshness, 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.
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Wikipedia