Description : Chufut-Kale (Tatar pronunciation: ; Russian and Ukrainian: Чуфут-Кале - Chufut-Kale; Crimean Tatar: Çufut Qale; Karaim: Кала - קלעה - Kala) is a medieval city-fortress in the Crimean Mountains that now lies in ruins. It is a national monument of Crimean Karaites culture just 3 km (1.9 mi) east of Bakhchisaray. Its name is Crimean Tatar and Turkish for "Jewish Fortress" (çufut/çıfıt - Jew, qale/kale - fortress), while Crimean Karaites refer to it simply as "Fortress", considering the place as historical center for the Crimean Karaite community. In the Middle Ages the fortress was known as Qırq Yer (Place of Forty) and as Karaites to which sect the greater part of its inhabitants belong, Sela' ha-Yehudim (Hebrew for 'Rock of the Jews'). Researchers are not unanimous as to the time of the town's appearance. The town was probably a fortified settlement in the 5th or 6th century on the periphery of the Byzantine Empire. Others are of the opinion that the fortified settlement appeared in the 10th-11th centuries. During the early period of the town's history, it was mainly populated by Alans, the most powerful of a late Sarmatian tribes of Iranian descent. They began penetrating the Crimea from the 2nd century AD. Settling down in the mountainous Crimea, the Alans adopted Christianity. In written sources the cave town is mentioned in the 13th century under the name of Kyrk-Or (Forty Fortifications). This name lasted until the mid-17th century. In 1299 the Tatar horde of Emir Nogai raided the Crimean peninsula. Kyrk-Or was then garrisoned by Byzantine soldiers. The stout fortress resisted direct storming by the Tatars, who then contrived to weaken the defenders by playing loud music for three days and nights. On the fourth morning, the defenders were too exhausted to repel a fresh attack, and the fortress succumbed to a general massacre. Having thus seized the town, the Tatars quartered their garrison in it. At the turn of the 15th century, Tatars settled Karaite craftsmen in front of the eastern line of fortifications and built a second defensive wall to protect their settlement, and thus a new part of the town appeared. In the 15th century the first Crimean Khan, Hadji-Girei, realizing the fortress’ advantages, turned the old section of the town into his fortified residence. After the defeat of the Golden Horde, the Crimean Khanate became considerably stronger. The significance of Kyrk-Or as a stronghold declined, and the Crimean Khan, Menglis-Girei, moved his capital to Bakhchisarai. The old town remained a citadel of Bakhchisarai and a place of incarceration for aristocratic prisoners. In the mid-17th century Tatars left Kyrk-Or. Only Karaites and several Krymchak families remained living there due to anti-Jewish restrictions on stays in other towns of the Crimean Khanate. Tatars considered Karaites to be Jews, hence the town gradually acquired the name of Chufut-Kale, which in Turkic meant "Jewish fortress" with negative and scornful meaning. After the Crimea's conquest and its inclusion into the Russian empire, the fortress inhabitants were permitted to live anywhere in the Crimea. From that time on, Chufut-Kale was deserted. By the mid-19th century the town ceased to exist.
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