Barutchiserai (Turkish, palace of gardens), a Tartar town of the Crimea, now included in the Russian government of Taurida, in lat. 44° 47' N., lon. 33° 54' E., 23 m. N. E. of Se-bastopol, in a long deep valley on the banks of the Tchuruk Su; pop. in 1867, 11,448, of whom 1,500 were Caraite Jews, Greeks, and Armenians, and the rest Tartars. The khan serai, or palace of the ancient khans of the Crimea, consists of a range of spacious buildings one story high, richly adorned with arabesques and inscriptions, a splendid mosque, beautiful marble fountains, and luxuriant gardens. The manufactures consist of morocco leather, saddlery and other leather articles, heeza (a spirit distilled from millet), silks, common cutlery, gold and silver plate, pottery, and arms. About four miles distant are the renowned seat of the Caraites, Tchufut Kale, or Jews' Castle, and a deserted monastery containing 70 cells hewn out of the solid rock. Bakhtchiserai first became the residence of the khans about 1475. In the 16th century their dominion extended not only over the Crimea, but over all the outlying territory from the Danube to the Caucasus. Gradually, however, Russia undermined their authority, until in 1783 it became extinct.

During the riege of Bebastopol (1855) Bakh-tohiserai was the headquarters of the Russian army.