The Assumption Monastery in Bakhchisarai is 2.5 kilometers from the Khan`s Palace. It is located in the picturesque Gorge of the Virgin Mary (Maryam-Dere) and is the oldest Orthodox monastery in the Crimea. The churches of the monastery were cut down in caves and natural grottoes of the mountain gorge. In this, the monastery is similar to other cave settlements of the Crimea.
The Assumption Monastery is as famous a landmark of Bakhchisarai as the Khan`s Palace. Parking is 800 meters from the monastery, the rest of the way you will need to walk. If you have time, then from the Assumption Monastery you can walk another 2.5 kilometers to the cave settlement of Chufut-Kale.
In the 4th century, Crimea experienced the invasion of the Goths, who destroyed Greek colonies, including the largest cities of Bosporus in Kerch, as well as Chersonesos in Sevastopol. In the 5th century, Byzantine colonists appeared in Crimea, who began to build cave settlements in soft limestone rocks near Bakhchisarai. In total, the ruins of about 15 cave settlements have been preserved to this day. The most famous of them are: Mangup-Kale, Chufut-Kale, Kachi-Kalon.
Exact data on the time of construction of the Assumption Monastery has not been preserved, but most likely it appeared no later than the 7th century. The foundation of an Orthodox monastery at this time seems quite logical, because many Byzantine cave settlements appeared in these places. The Assumption Monastery was built in the caves of the Gorge of the Virgin Mary, because here, according to legend, an Icon of the Our Lady appeared to a local shepherd.
The Assumption Monastery is often called the Crimean Athos or the Crimean Lavra. For centuries, it really was the main Orthodox monastery in the Crimea. The monastery flourished in the 14th and 15th centuries, when the lands in the vicinity of Bakhchisarai were under the rule of the Byzantine principality of Feodoro.
The capital of the Byzantine principality was the cave settlement of Doros, which is now called Mangup-Kale. The coastal cities at that time were owned by the Genoese. Their capital was the city of Kafa (now Feodosia). The Crimean Khans owned the steppe Crimea.
After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, the principality of Feodoro became the last stronghold of the Byzantines, but in 1475 the Turks invaded the Crimea and seized the possessions of the Byzantines and Genoese. The Assumption Monastery in Bakhchisarai was not looted by the Turks. There is evidence that some Crimean khans even patronized the monastery and helped it in household. The Crimean Khans built their capital Bakhchisarai in 1532, 2 kilometers from the Assumption Monastery.
The main Assumption Church is located at an altitude of 30 meters from the bottom of the gorge at the place where the Icon of the Our Lady appeared to the shepherd. It can be reached by stairs. The cave church of the Evangelist Mark and the bell tower have been preserved nearby. There is also a building of monastic cells here.
At the bottom of the gorge is the Church of Saints Helena and Constantine, and next to it there is a small Gethsemane Garden and a Holy Spring. On the opposite side of the gorge, St. George`s Church and bell tower were built.
