Bakhchisaray [key] [Turk.,=garden palace], city, Crimea. From 1954 part of Ukraine (then the Ukrainian SSR), the city passed to Russian control in 2014 after the occupation and annexation of Crimea. From the early 15th cent. until 1783 it was the capital of the khanate of Crimea, or Little Tatary. The palace of the khans, celebrated by Pushkin and Mickiewicz for its beauty, notably for its white marble fountains, was built in the 16th cent. and is now a museum. In the city are many mosques and the tombs of the khans. Nearby are the ruins of Chufut-Kale.
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