Staryi Krym

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Staryi Krym
Старий Крим
Старый Крым
Eski Qırım
Coat of arms of Staryi Krym
Coat of arms
Staryi Krym (Crimea)
Staryi Krym
Staryi Krym
Location of Staryi Krym within the Crimea, Ukraine
Coordinates: 45°1′45″N 35°5′19″E / 45.02917, 35.08861
Country Flag of Ukraine Ukraine
Territory Crimea
Region Kirovske raion
Area
 - Total 9.97 km² (3.8 sq mi)
Elevation 300 m (984 ft)
Population (2001)
 - Total 9,960
 - Density 1,000/km² (2,590/sq mi)
Time zone EET (UTC+2)
 - Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)
Postal code 97345
Area code(s) +380-6555
Former name Solkhat ('till XIV cent.)

Staryi Krym (Ukrainian: Старий Крим, Russian: Старый Крым, Crimean Tatar: Eski Qırım) is a small historical town in the Eastern Crimea, approximately 25 km (15 mi.) west of Theodosia. Population of Staryi Krym in 2001 was 9,960 people.

The town has a long history. It was founded probably in the first half of the thirteenth century when Crimea was taken by Batu Khan. The Mongols fortified the city and since then it became a capital of the Crimean Yurt (Crimean province of the Golden Horde) and a home for the Emir of Crimea. During this period the city had two names at the same time: Turkic-speaking inhabitants of the Crimean Yurt named it Qırım (Crimean Tatar: qırım - my hill), while Italian traders usually called it Solcati (Italian: solcata - furrow, ditch). Solkhat is a turkified form of the Italian name. The Turkic name of the city - Qırım was eventually given to the whole peninsula.

In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the city of Qırım was a large, prosperous city referred to by the Arabic contemporaries as the second Baghdad. From that period remain the ruins of a mosque and madrassa, built in 1314 by Uzbeg Khan. After moving the capital of the Crimean Khanate to Bakhchisaray the city declined into relative obscurity.

Since the annexation of Crimea by Catherine II of Russia in 1783, the town is known by the Russian name Staryi Krym (literally "Old Crimea" - Russian translation of the original Crimean Tatar name Eski Qırım). It was the city where the famous Russian writer Alexander Grin lived and died, and now has a museum dedicated to him.

The city is home to an important cardiac sanatorium, formerly run by notable heart surgeon Nikolai Amosov.

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