Old Simferopol

Old Simferopol, known locally as the Old Town (Crimean Tatar: Eski şeer, Ukrainian: Старе місто), is an area of the city of Simferopol which until the end of the 18th century served as the centre of the city of Aqmescit. The old town consists of narrow, short streets constructed in a traditional Turkic style. In the 19th century it was also referred to by travellers as the "Asian town" because of the contrast with Simferopol's other regular, European-style neighbourhoods. Today, some of the neighbouring 19th-century, single-storey, European-style buildings are also considered to be part of the old town. The area is bounded by Lenin, Sevastopol's'ka, Krylov, and Chervonoarmiis'ka streets. The population of the old town is approximately 50,000.

The Old Town is unique in Simferopol for its preserved historic architecture and layout. In the 1950s-1970s, many film studios in the Soviet Union used Old Simferopol as a set for films set in historical provincial towns. Today the Old Town suffers from a number of a development problems and remains a point of contention for the Russian-controlled city administration.