Chufut-Kale ( ; Russian and Ukrainian: Чуфут-Кале - Chufut-Kale; Karaim: Кала - קלעה - Kala) is a medieval city-fortress in the Crimean Mountains that now lies in ruins. It is a national monument of Crimean Karaites culture just east of Bakhchisaray. Its name is Crimean Tatar and Turkish for "Jewish Fortress" (çufut/çıfıt - Jew, qale/kale - fortress), while Crimean Karaites refer to it simply as "Fortress", considering the place as historical center for the Crimean Karaite community. In the Middle Ages the fortress was known as Qırq Yer (Place of Forty) and as Karaites to which sect the greater part of its inhabitants belong, Sela' ha-Yehudim (Hebrew for 'Rock of the Jews'). Name versions Чуфут-Кале (Russian transliteration: Chufut Kale) is mentioned in the Soviet scientific literature, as well as in the works of Karaite authors in the Russian language from the second half of the 19th century to the post-Soviet epoch, including Seraya Shapshal's publications; Juft Qale [Джуфт Кале] is used by modern Crimean Karaite leaders, arguing that this is the original name of the town (in translation from Turkic - Double fortress), that over time it evolved into "a wrong but more easily pronounced name: Chufut-Kale [Чуфут Кале] or Chuft-Kale [Чуфт Кале]"; Qırq Yer, Qırq Or, Kyrk-Or, Gevher Kermen Çufut-Qale, Çıfut-Qalesi, Orda-i muazzam Kirkyir were the Crimean Tatar names during the Crimean Khanate; Kala (Karaim: , кала, kala - fortress); Sela Yuhudim ( - «Rock of the Jews" (in the Karaite pronunciation) was used in Crimean Karaite literature until the second half of 19th century; Sela ha-Karaim (Hebrew: - "Rock of the Karaites ") used by Crimean Karaites from the second half of 19th century; History Researchers are not unanimous as to the time of the town's appearance. The town was probably a fortified settlement in the 5th or 6th century on the periphery of the Byzantine Empire. Others are of the opinion that the fortified settlement appeared in the 10th-11th centuries. During the early period of the town's history, it was mainly populated by Alans, the most powerful of a late Sarmatian tribes of Iranian descent. They began penetrating the Crimea from the 2nd century AD. Settling down in the mountainous Crimea, the Alans adopted Christianity. In written sources the cave town is mentioned in the 13th century under the name of Kyrk-Or (Forty Fortifications). This name lasted until the mid-17th century. In 1299 the Tatar horde of