SIMFEROPOI, called formerly Akhmetsetch, a town of European Russia, capital of the government of Taurida, on the Salghir, 192 miles S.E. of Odessa, and 40 N.E. of Sebastopol. It consists of an old or Tartar town, and a new portion, which has been built by the Russians. The
former is irregularly and wretchedly built, while the latter contains wide straight streets, and a spacious square. The Greek cathedral here is one of the finest churches in Russia. Among the other places of worship are a Roman Catholic, an Armenian, and a Lutheran church, several mosques, and a synagogue. The town contains also several schools, a botanic garden, a large bazaar, an hospital, law-courts, and public offices. Simferopol is the chief centre of all the trade of the Crimea, and is inhabited by Russians, Tartars, Greeks, Armenians, and Germans. Pop. 26,481.