The Çürüksu River runs along the northern walled enclosure of the Khan’s Palace (Han Saray) in the town of Bakhchisaray (lit., ‘Garden Palace’), the administrative capital of the Crimean Khanate from 1532 to 1783. A small bridge across the river leads to the arched gateway, the Darphane Kapi (Mint Gate), emblazoned with a pair of facing snake-dragons, the coat of arms of the Giray (Tatar) dynasty, through which one enters the Palace Square, the first of three palatial courtyards.

Located on the Palace Square to the east of the Darphane Kapi, the Büyük Han Cami (lit., Big Khan Mosque), one of the first buildings of the Khan's palace, was built by the founder of Bakhchisaray, Sahib I Giray (1501–1551), between 1532 and 1551. Its adjoining royal lodge, with separate entrance, is covered with blue and white Iznik tiles from the Tekfur Saray workshop in Istanbul. Behind the mosque lies the burial ground of the dynasty of the Giray (lit., ‘noble’) Khans.

The other buildings of the palace served as the official residence of the Giray family. Its pavilions, famous fountains, audience hall, harem, guesthouses, baths, towers, and walled gardens were built under the direction of Ottoman, Persian, and Italian artists. Though strongly influenced by Ottoman palace design, the complex is a unique example of Crimean Tatar architecture. The palace buildings also contain the Kiçik Han Cami (lit., Small Khan Mosque), the construction of which likewise dates to the 16th century, and which was designed for members of the Khan's family and important dignitaries. Its mihrab is surmounted by a stained-glass window featuring the seal of Solomon in the form of a hexagram.

As descendants of Genghis Khan, the Crimean khans held a privileged position which afforded the Crimea an autonomous position within the Ottoman empire, enabling them also to mint their own coinage. The special position allowed the Giray dynasty to continue with the construction of the palace complex for about 250 years. This came to a sudden halt with the final tsarist Russian annexation of the Black Sea peninsula in 1783. Four years later, Catherine the Great came to stay at the palace on 14 May 1787. Because she deemed her sojourn to be “romantic,” the palace and mosque were, unlike most other Crimean Tatar buildings in Bakhchisaray, preserved.

In 1944, Joseph Stalin deported the Crimean Tatar community to Central Asia because of their alleged collaboration with Nazi Germany. In the late 1980s, they were allowed to return from exile. Following Crimea’s “return to Russia” during the March 2014 “referendum,” “restoration works” of the mosque and palace were initiated in 2017, works which the Crimean Tatar community regards as part of a systematic campaign to obliterate the Crimean Tatar religious and cultural heritage. In May 2018, the International Center for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) reported “violations of the restoration rules and principles during the work on the Khan Palace in Bakhchisaray,” “forceful removal of researcher-scientists, who carried out restoration work for decades, from restoration activities,” and “gross neglect of the authentic technology of the work that was typical for the period of XVI-XVIII centuries in the Crimean Khanate.” The photographs featured on this page were taken in 2013, only months before the Russian annexation, and show parts of the palace that were not accessible to the public.