The Crimean Khans moved their capital to Bakhchysarai in the first half of the 16th century. The article says Ottoman, Persian and Italian architects designed the complex and its minarets, and names none of them. The infobox gives 1532 and Ottoman architecture, but the date belongs to the Big Khan Mosque, built that year by Sahib I Giray.
The walled enclosure holds a mosque, a harem, a cemetery, living quarters and gardens. Some buildings are later additions, and some originals did not survive past the 18th century. The Big Khan Mosque has a three-aisle prayer hall and two octagonal minarets 92 feet (28 m) high. The marble Fountain of Tears was commissioned by Qırım Giray after the death of a young woman of his harem named Maria.
A 2017 restoration replaced the oak beams with concrete and, the article reports, lost original tiles, murals and stained glass. In December 2022 Russian forces replaced a damaged roof and windows.
Comments