Assumption Cave Monastery in Bakhchisarai

Assumption Cave Monastery in Bakhchisarai is a unique monument of orthodoxy.

Bakhchisaray is a city where different people, different nationalities and, accordingly, the monuments of different cultures coexist. Not far from the Khan's palace, in the Maryam-Dere tract (Mary Gorge – in translation from the Tatar) there is a Christian shrine – the Assumption Cave Monastery or Holy Dormition Monastery.

Besides the monastery, there is the cemetery of soldiers, killed during the Crimean War ().

There are two versions of the shrine origin. According to the first version the Monastery rose in XV century. In 1475, after Turkish usurpation, the shrine was transported from the caves near the fortress Kyrk-Or (Chufu-Calais), to the Maryam-Dere tract. The second version states that the monastery was founded by the Byzantine monks in VIII century. The monastery survived the Turkish invasion and in 1475 it became the residence of the Metropolitan. In 1778, the majority of Christian population left the Crimea.

The Marijampole (a small Greek village at the foot of the Monastery) residents moved to the eastern Ukraine. There they founded a city, which eventually got the name of Mariupol. Many icons from the Monastery were transported there.

The monks’ community restored in 1850 with the formation of the Assumption Cave Skete. At the beginning of the XX century there were five churches in the monastery. Communal housing, deanery, houses for pilgrims were built, fountains were made, and an orchard was planted. Besides, the Monastery had a courtyard in Simferopol. During the Crimean War () the monastery was the hospital where the wounded were treated. In 1921, the Assumption Monastery, as well as hundreds of others was closed. During the Second World War there was a hospital. All monastery buildings are arranged in three tiers. Gate, hotel, refectory, two fountains are in the bottom. In the medium tier there is a deanery with a fountain, Irkutsk St. Innocent temple and three cave-cells. A bell tower, 3 churches, 13 cave cells are situated in the upper tier.

Assumption Cave Monastery was revived in 1993. Four of the five monastic churches, communal housing, deanery, the main staircase and a bell tower were rebuilt.