Simferopol

Simferopol, the capital of the Crimean Republic with the population of 400,000 inhabitants.

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The city is relatively young, founded in 1784 after the Crimea was annexed to the Russian Empire. The Greek name was given to signify the purpose of the newer city (the name Simferopol is translated as "the city of benefit") to connect all the scatted settlements under a centralized power.

Over 2,000 years ago, the late Scythian civilization built their "Neapolis" as a fortress and a trading post. The ruins still stand in eastern Simferopol. The Scythian Neapolis is excavation site of what used to be the capital of late Scythian civilization (the surrounding wall, dozens of half-excavated tombs and large palace ruins.

The Tatars then built a mosque, of which the 16th-century Ak-Mechet, or "White Mosque" still remains. One of the oldest buildings in the city, the Kebir Dzhami Mosque, built in 1502, outlived both Catherine the Great and the Soviet Union.

Church in Simferopol

Mosque in Simferopol

During the Crimean War (1854-1855) Simferopol was used as a base for the wounded.

The Church of Tree Saints is a beautiful white church with black cupolas built in 1871. During the Soviet times the church was used as the city archives but now it belongs to the Moscow Patriarchate.

The Ethnographic Museum is quite interesting. The permanent exhibit presents 13 of the ethnic groups that have lived in the Crimea and each display was designed and donated by the locals.

But the symbol of the Crimean capital is the Railway station - it's considered to be one of the most interesting (not only from the architectural point of view) buildings in Simferopol.

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