Chufut-Kale cave town and fortress

Chufut-Kale appeared as a fortified settlement in the 8th-10th centuries on a high plateau with precipitous slopes of 3.5km to the east from Bakhchisarai. In 1299 it was beseiged and then seized by khan Nogai's troops. After that the town got the name of Kyrk-Er (Forty Fortifications). When Bakhchisarai was founded, the Tartars moved to the capital and only Karaites remained here, that is why the town was renamed Chufut-Kale (Jewish town, or Jewish fortress). Jewish inscriptions date back to 1203, and the region was probably the last refuge of the Crimean Khazars. It occupied a territory of 18 hectares and consisted of Old and New towns, which were divided by a wall and were protected by walls with towers and moats. Numerous domestic bildings and household structures had undeground subsidary premises, and stood along longitudinal streets and transversal lanes.