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The Imperiia Project: a spatial history of the Russian Empire

Return from the Fountain

Crimean Tatar women walk with jugs of water toward a house in the distance. A pregnant woman in the foreground wears a head covering; the younger women wear skullcaps (tiubeteikas) - all but the bareheaded women with a jug balanced on her right shoulder. All are barefoot but adorned with belts and embroidered garments. A second group of women remains at the fountain, deep in conversation.

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Contents of this path:
1. Château Vorontsov
2. Russian military convoy
3. Tatar family traveling (near Yalta) A Crimean Tatar family travels on horseback and on foot near Yalta. Women in burkas carry infants in their laps. According to Demidov, the Tatars were free to pursue their favorite economic activities, including the farming "at which they excel." Demidov praised their mastery of irrigation, orchardry and gardening and pointed out that "during the summer season, the influx of wealthy people who come to inhabit the southern coast of Crimea offers Tatar farmers a profitable outlet for their products..." Demidov described the Tatars as "well-housed, well-dressed, and, in a word, well-provided with all they could need for their way of life." (30) Demidov's view of Tatar life should be read against the many sources that offer a dramatically different perspective.
4. Tatars leaving the mosque
5. Main road in Bahcesaray View of main street in Bahcesaray (Bakhchisaray). Crimean Tatars in ox-driven wagons ride down the street while others walk or sit on the side. Demidov notes that the street is "lined with shops selling things Tatar have produced for two centuries," including pottery, cutlery, slippers, purses, and belts, and with the ubiquitous mountains of watermelons - that fruit serving as almost the sole source of nourishment for many people. According to Demidov, the Tatars "work in moderation and shop with dignity." (36)
6. Butcher and other Tatar merchants
7. Tatar peasant homes in Derekoy Tatar peasant homes were often built into the sides of hills. Here a man and a small boy stand on a terrace looking into the distance. Demidov trains his Orientalizing gaze on the interior and exterior of the "typical" Tatar home, describing the scent of aromatic herbs, the comforts of the divan, and the significance of the terrace, where the family would spend countless hours grinding flour, drying everything from fruit to laundry, and passing news through the open air. "The terrace is, in a word, the observatory - the watch tower of the family." From here one listens to the call of the ombashchi. This elevated ground is the Tatar's public - and at times even a political - space. (42)
8. View of the Old Bazaar and of Mount Mithridates
12. Family, domestic interior
13. Village of Alushta
14. Return from the Fountain