2-969-751 - /Heritage Images

Tchoufout-Kaleh - from a sketch by Willibald Richter, 1856. '...a small town in the neighbourhood of Bagtcheserai [Bakhchysarai], which has been inhabited for centuries by a colony of Jews. It is perched on an isolated rock, with houses overlooking the precipice. A road cut in the rock...is the only communication to this singular little place, which is surrounded by a strong wall entered by gates, which are closed every evening...The ancient name was Kirkor, which was the capital of the Khans...From the earliest times this spot must have been a residence of men, for there is a crypt town built at the entrance of the gorge, in the strata of the chalk, with the isolated hill of Tchoufout-Kaleh behind it, which served as a place of refuge...This subterranean town is cut under the fortress...There are...as many as fifty of these grottoes, and a path with steps is cut in the rocks...up to the fortress'. From "Illustrated London News", 1856.