Simferopol – the largest city and the center of autonomy – lies on the banks of the river Salgir at the foot of the Crimean Mountains.
In the III. BC. BC is on a small plateau Scythians founded his capital, which the Greeks called Scythian Neapolis, which lasted several centuries. At the beginning of XVI century. this raises the Tatar village of Ak-Mosque (White Mosque), and in 1784 by order of Catherine II established Simferopol, which is the oldest building – the Kebir-Jami (1508) – inherited from the Ak-Mosque.