Staryi Krym

Staryi Krym is a small historical town in the Eastern Crimea, approximately 25 km (15 mi.) west of Theodosia. The population of Staryi Krym in 2001 was 9,960 people. The town has a long history. It was probably founded in the first half of the thirteenth century when Crimea was taken by Batu Khan. The Mongols fortified the city and thereafter it became a capital of the Crimean Yurt (Crimean province of the Golden Horde) and a home for the Emir of Crimea. During that 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.

Another theory given on the etymology of the town's name is that it was a corruption of the name of an Armenian monastic complex in Staryi Krym, built in 1338 and known in Armenian as "Surb Khach," Armenian: Սուրբ Խաչ or Holy Cross. The Turkic name of the city - Qırım was eventually given to the whole peninsula.