Baydar Valley (Elite residence)

Baydar Valley

Admiral Nikolai Mordvinov purchased this estate. It had been owned by Prince Potemkin and then by his heir, Major General Vysotskii. Mordvinov purchased 15,100 desiatinas and expanded the estate to 20,000 desiatinas by winning a lengthy and intensely bitter dispute over the land. The losing party were the Tatar peasants of Baydar, who claimed to own the land on which they lived and worked. (The Crimean Commission ruled against them in 1809.)

Arkhiv Grafov Mordvinovykh, t.3, no.890: “Reshenie [krymskoj komissii] 1809 goda krymskoj komissii o Bajdarskoj doline,” 531-32.