Holy Dormition cave monastery

Two kilometers from Bakhchisarai, in a rock on the edge of a steep cliff, many centuries ago the Assumption Monastery arose, one of the most ancient in Crimea. There are many legends about the origin of the temple. According to one of them, a shepherd named Mikhail saw on a rock seven fathoms from the ground an icon of the Mother of God and a burning candle in front of her. The inhabitants of the village with great honors carried the icon to the village, but in the morning it again found itself in the same place on the rock. Then people understood that the Mother of God wanted her icon to be right here. And they carved a temple in the rock, and steps to the temple and carried the icon there. The appearance of the holy icon took place on August 15, on the day of the Dormition of the Mother of God, therefore the new church was dedicated to this event. And the gorge was named Maryam-dere - the gorge of St. Mary.
The monastery was founded presumably in the late 8th - early 9th centuries. in the era of feudal relations in the Crimea and iconoclasm in Byzantium. The emperors of the Isaurian dynasty persecuted the clergy and monks, destroyed monasteries, destroyed icons. Monks and admirers of icons fled from Byzantium to the Crimea. Here, on the inaccessible rocks, numerous monasteries arose - Shuldan, Chelter, Kachi-Kalion, the Assumption Monastery. Assumption monastery from the 15th century. became the center of the Christian church in Crimea. In the beginning it was a small skete. During the period of the Crimean Khanate, Russian tsars Fyodor Ivanovich and Boris Godunov patronized the Assumption Monastery. The prisoners who were kept in the Chufut-Kale fortress could attend divine services and meet in church with Russian envoys. The monastery was revered by both Christians and Muslims. The founder of the Geraev dynasty, before the military campaign, asked for help from the Most Holy Theotokos.
Its revival began in 1993. Now it is an active male monastery; services and excursions are held here for tourists who come to admire this man-made miracle.