Eski Kermen Cave Town

Eski Kermen (Eski Kermen, Eski Kermen, Eski Kermen) is a medieval fortress town in the southwestern part of the Crimean peninsula, 14 km south of the city of Bakhchisaray and 5 km northwest of the ruins of the medieval city of Mangup Kale. The name is translated from Crimean Tatar as “old fortress”.

The territory of the city occupied an area of 8.5 hectares, having a length of 1040 m and 170 m in width. Built on a table-shaped mountain plateau, bounded by cliffs up to 30 m high. It is one of the most visited cave towns in Crimea, after Chufut-Kale. It is included in the Bakhchisarai Historical and Cultural Reserve. Routes to Eski-Kermen go from the villages of Kholmovka, Zalesnoye, Ternovka, Red Mac, which can be reached by bus from Bakhchisarai. The city was founded at the end of the VI century AD as a Byzantine fortification and existed until the end of the XIV century. The history of the city before the X century is little known, since the city was a minor fortification. Although at the moment, some researchers are inclined to believe that perhaps the fortress of Doros was located here, and not on the Leaky Cape of Mangup-Kala. This is reflected in the name of the city by the Crimean Tatars: “Old Fortress”. Indirect confirmation of this hypothesis is the presence of a siege well of the VI century, with a staircase of six marches and eighty steps, with a twenty-meter corridor; this was not the case in other known fortifications of the Byzantines during the construction of a defensive line against nomadic raids in the Middle Range of the Crimea.

From the X century begins the gradual growth of the city and the growth of its value, with the greatest flowering occurring in the XII and XIII centuries, when the number of inhabitants exceeded 2000 people. At that time, there is already a full-fledged medieval city, the plateau is built up with rectangular quarters, separated by sufficiently wide streets along which the wagon is able to pass, the ruling bishop of the district was on the territory of the city, as evidenced by the remains of the pulpit in the temple at the central gate. Rebuilt and expanded Basilica presumably built in the period from the end of the IV century to the beginning of the VIII century, in the central part of the plateau. In 1299, the city was destroyed by the troops of the Mongols under the leadership of the Golden Horde beklarbek Nogai and could not fully restore its former importance. In 1399, the Mongol army under the leadership of the Golden Horde Temnik Edigei destroyed the fortifications and finally ravaged the city, which was not restored. Only a small settlement remains in the vicinity: Cherkes-Kermen (Kreptkoye village) located between the northern tip of Eski-Kermen and Kyz-Kule. It existed from the period of late antiquity until the early 70s. twentieth century.