Eski-Kermen, Bakhchysarai district
An early medieval cave town on a plateau with hundreds of caves and the Church of the Three Horsemen.
The fortified hillfort of about 10 hectares lies some 25 kilometres from Bakhchysarai; the name translates from Tatar as “old fortress” (Encyclopedia of Modern Ukraine). The encyclopedia dates its founding to the 5th or early 6th century, Krym.Realii probably to the 6th century. The plateau has more than 300 man-made caves (encyclopedia; Krym.Realii says about 400), and the best-known monument is the cave Church of the Three Horsemen with remains of frescoes. The town existed until 1299, when the troops of Emir Nogai burned it (encyclopedia); the area was declared a reserve in 1938. In 2024 the russian-controlled “Institute of Archaeology of Crimea” fully excavated a Christian church on the plateau (Suspilne); since 2014 the russian ministry of culture has issued more than 2,500 “open letters” for excavations in Crimea.
Impossible to reach while the occupation lasts.