Stary Krym [key] [Rus. and Ukr.,=Old Crimea], city, E Crimea. From 1954 part of Ukraine (then the Ukrainian SSR), it passed to Russian control in 2014 after the occupation and annexation of Crimea. Known as Surkhat or Solkhat from the 13th to the 15th cent., it was the residence of the vice regents of the khans of the Golden Horde. It was a major caravan center on the route to the ancient Russian duchies, the Volga region, and Central Asia. The original capital (called Krym) of the Crimean khans in the 14th to 15th cent., it declined when the capital was transferred to Bakchisaray. Mosques (14th cent.), the ruins of a caravanserai (14th cent.), and ruins of an old fortress (15th cent.) remain.
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