Vorontsov Palace in Alupka is one of the most visited Yalta palaces and the only one that I visited, and even then by chance. It's not that I didn't want to see it, but I really didn't want to do it in the summer, it's too crowded at this time.
The palace was built in the English style, and the building contains elements of various eras, from the early forms to the 16th century. The farther from the western gate, the later the style of construction. English style is combined with neo-Moorish style. For example, the Gothic chimneys resemble the minarets of a mosque. The palace was built from 1828 to 1848 as the summer residence of the Governor-General of the Novorossiysk Territory, Count Vorontsov. It is interesting that the Vorontsov Palace is one of the first buildings in Russia, where sewerage and water supply were built for the comfort of living.
The main facade of the Vorontsov Palace
The palace was owned by three generations of the Vorontsov family. Since 1921, a museum has functioned in the palace complex. After the Great Patriotic War, for about 10 years, the territory of the Vorontsov Palace was a secret object and there was a dacha for the party leadership. Now it is a museum again.
The Vorontsov Palace is located on the territory of the Alupka Park, which was created by the famous botanist and gardener Karl Antonovich Kebakh for 25 years. He designed the clearings, placed the trees according to their size. It was a matter of principle, because according to Karl's plan, the trees were not supposed to block the gorgeous view of the top of Mount Ai-Petri.
The park is spread over an area of \u200b\u200b40 hectares. It is territorially divided into the Upper and Lower parks. The park is designed in such a way that it complements the local nature. More than two hundred species of plants grow here, which were brought from the regions of Northern and South America, Mediterranean. The cost of setting up the park is twice as high as building the palace itself. Up to 36,000 rubles were spent on the maintenance of the park in 1910 - a huge amount at that time.
Vorontsovsky Park Map
The attraction of the park is the piles of stones made of solidified magma, thrown out by the volcano back in time immemorial, which were named "Big Chaos" and "Small Chaos". These chaos were meticulously inscribed in the park's layout, a dozen paths were laid through the piles of stones, forming an almost maze, benches were set up, viewing platforms were arranged. Individual blocks are entwined with ivy and wild grapes. Sometimes it is very difficult to believe that you are in a park, and not abandoned.
A large number of fountains have been built in the park. Most of them were built according to V. Gunt's designs.
In general, Crimea has a long tradition of respectful attitude to water. The construction of the fountain, both in the Muslim Crimea and in the Russian one, was considered a worthy and even godly deed. Where at least some trickle flowed, they put a fountain, decorated with a saying from the Koran or the emblem of the engineering department, sometimes they knocked out the date. Along the old roads, in the old Crimean settlements, many of these ancient fountains have survived, many are still functioning.
Three ponds were also artificially created on the territory of the park: Verkhniy, Zerkalny and Swan. Maples, ash and dogwood grow around the ponds.
To decorate the bottom of Swan Lake, Count Vorontsov ordered 20 bags of semi-precious stones, which were delivered by ship. In sunny weather, they created an indescribable play of light.
The owner drives the ducks out of his domain
A couple more interesting facts about the park, according to the guides. Vorontsov Park literally grew out of blood, for the soil under the trees was abundantly fertilized with the blood of freshly killed animals. A separate gardener was assigned to each tree, who did not sleep, did not eat, but watched over his ward, cared for, and cherished.
The Chilean araucaria owes its name to the Araucanians - Indians living in Chile, for whom the fruits of this tree form the basis of the diet. This specimen is over 130 years old. It develops poorly in our conditions. In its homeland, it grows up to 50 meters in height, has a trunk up to one meter in diameter. There are only 5 such trees in Crimea. The branches of Araucaria are covered with sharp thorns, so neither monkeys nor birds sit on them.
Chilean araucaria
Crimean pine
Pistachio blunt-leaved
Lower park
The fountain "Maria" is based on the famous Bakhchisarai fountain, praised by Pushkin. The fountain is made of white and colored marble and is decorated with shells and rosettes. Water falls in small drops from one bowl to another, forming a quiet, even rhythm of drops - "tears".
Fountain "Maria" (Fountain of Tears)
The famous lion's terrace is located on the sea side.
The southern entrance is decorated with oriental splendor. The Arabic inscription translates as: "And there is no conqueror but Allah."
Coral tree
Fountain of Bakhchisarai
I did not go inside the palace, I really do not like a slender run in a crowd. Maybe some other time I'll visit.
Winter garden of the palace
During the Yalta Conference in February 1945, an English delegation headed by W. Churchill lived in the Vorontsov Palace. An interesting story is connected with it, which happened during a walk in Churchill and Stalin park. Churchill, who really liked the sculpture of the sleeping lion, said that he looked like himself and offered Stalin to buy it out. Stalin refused this offer, but suggested to Churchill that if he answered his question correctly, then Stalin would give a sleeping lion. "Which finger on your hand is the main one?" - that was Stalin's question. Churchill replied: "Of course the index." “Wrong,” Stalin replied and twisted the figure out of his fingers, which is popularly called a fig.
Sleeping lion
Fountain "Sink"
Fountain "Sink"
The southern facade of the Vorontsov Palace and the Lion's Terrace
Entries from this journal by tag "Crimea"
Alushta. Part 2Alushta is a resort town on the southern coast of Crimea, which arose around the Aluston fortress in the 6th century. Thanks to the circulation of air flows among the two ...
If you chose Alupka for vacation in Crimea in 2016, you will definitely see the Vorontsov Palace in photographs, postcards, paintings, signs throughout the city. The most majestic in Crimea, it has become a real decoration of this seaside town and one of the main attractions of the South Coast, which millions of tourists come to see every year. The magnificent architecture of the Vorontsov Palace in Alupka, a magnificent park, stunning views of the slopes of the Crimean Mountains and the Black Sea will not leave anyone indifferent.
Where is located: Alupka, Palace highway, 10.
How to get there: The easiest way to get to Alupka is from Yalta: minibuses No. 102, 115, 107 go here. From Simferopol and Sevastopol, you can get to the Vorontsov Palace from the bus station.
What is the best time of the year to visit: any time of the year in good weather.
The Vorontsov Palace in Alupka was built as the residence of the Governor-General of the Novorossiysk Territory, Count M.S. Vorontsov. I must say that the very choice of the Crimea for the construction of this majestic structure should have flattered our peninsula: in those days, Novorossia included a huge territory from Odessa to the Don.
The palace was built according to the project of the English architect Edward Blore, who “had a hand” in the construction of Buckingham Palace in London and Walter Scott Castle in Scotland. Until now, there are disputes as to whether the architect was personally in Crimea or created his masterpiece, guided exclusively by stories about the surrounding landscapes. The first is more believable, because the Vorontsov Palace in Alupka fits perfectly into the landscape: its sharp turrets seem to repeat the peaks of the Crimean Mountains, and the combination of several architectural styles, including eastern ones, perfectly reflects the fate of Crimea.
The palace was built in 1828-1848 under the guidance of another English architect, William Gunt. In parallel with the building, work was carried out on the creation of the park: Karl Kebakh, a gardener, to whom the Crimea owes the appearance of magnificent gardens and parks of Foros, Gaspra, Oreanda, Massandra, Miskhor, was carried out.
It did not take long for Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov to own the palace: he died in Odessa in 1856. After him, the estate passed to his son, and then to relatives, rich nobles Vorontsov-Dashkov. In 1917, the Vorontsov Palace was nationalized. He was much more fortunate than others cultural sites in Crimea: since 1921 a history and everyday life museum has been established here, since 1956 - an art museum. In 1990 the Vorontsov Palace became the Alupka Palace and Park Museum-Reserve.
An architectural masterpiece
The first thing you pay attention to when you see a photo of the Vorontsov Palace is the unusual color of the stone from which it was built. All other estates of Russian aristocrats in Crimea delight with light, white facades, while the residence of Count Vorontsov looks like a gray block lost in dense greenery. The building was erected from diorite, a grayish-greenish stone of volcanic origin. It was mined here, in Alupka, and each block was processed manually.
Vorontsov Palace greets tourists with Shuvalov Passage. Walking along the cobblestone pavement surrounded by high walls, it seems that now you will find yourself in a real medieval castle. However, one glance at the frivolous turrets is enough to understand that the Vorontsov Palace is not so simple.
Blore combined the neo-Gothic and neo-Moorish styles in the palace project. In England, such a mixture would be called romanticism, but in Russia - eclecticism. The northern facade of the Vorontsov Palace with its strict lines resembles the residences of the English aristocrats. But the southern one, facing the sea, is decorated in oriental style: Experts say Blore was inspired by the Alhambra Palace, the residence of the Arab rulers of Spain in Grenada. The Lions Terrace leads to the park - a staircase decorated with marble figures of lions - analogs of sculptures from the tomb of Pope Clement XII in Rome.
The interior decoration, as it is easy to understand from the photo of the Vorontsov Palace in Crimea, has remained practically unchanged since the 19th century. Each room has its own individual design - for example, Chinese Study, Winter Garden, Blue Living Room, Calico Room. The ceremonial dining room is very original in the Vorontsov Palace in Alupka: it resembles the hall of a medieval palace. The halls are decorated with sculptures and works of famous painters - Italian, French, English and, of course, Russian masters. In total, there are about 150 rooms in the Vorontsov Palace, including auxiliary rooms, but of course, only a part has been opened for visiting.
Vorontsov Palace - movie star
If, when looking at a photo of the Vorontsov Palace, you get the feeling that you are familiar with it, this means that you are a connoisseur of the classics of Soviet cinema. There is hardly another one that would have appeared in so many films! The Vorontsov Palace in Crimea depicted the royal residence in The Ordinary Miracle and Hamlet, The Three Musketeers and Heavenly Swallows. They filmed "Scarlet Sails", "Crazy Day, or The Marriage of Figaro" and "Sappho". There is a high probability of encountering a film crew in the summer of 2015: the halls and landscapes of the palace-museum are constantly used when shooting feature films and documentaries.
Exposition of the Vorontsov Palace in Crimea
In 2016 in the Vorontsov Palace you can visit the following exhibitions:
- "State halls of the main building of the Vorontsov Palace".
- South terraces.
- "Butler's apartment" in the Household building.
- "House of Count Shuvalov".
- "Vorontsovskaya kitchen".
- Interior expositions “Study of Count I.I. Vorontsov-Dashkova "and" The office of the commandant of the State. Dachas ".
- "Paris Archives" (paintings and photographs - donated by the Comstadius family).
- “Gift of Professor V.N. Golubev "(paintings by artists of the XX century).
Vorontsov Palace ticket price
Most of the Vorontsov Palace expositions are open seven days a week. On any day of the week, you can come and enjoy the luxurious park. Please note that one-day excursions, which can be bought in almost any resort town of Crimea, usually do not include visiting the halls, so if you want to enjoy the interior of the Vorontsov Palace, you will have to think about this moment in advance. However, inspection of the exterior of this stunning building and a huge park (its area is more than 40 hectares!) Will leave an unforgettable impression! In general, to visit this attraction, like the Nikitsky Botanical Garden in Crimea, it is worthwhile to allocate at least 3-4 hours, and if you want to listen to an excursion and walk through all the expositions, and then go swimming on the Alupka beach, then plan a trip for the whole day!
The first Tuesday of each month for schoolchildren and students is arranged free excursions... You can take a photo in the Vorontsov Palace by paying extra 30 rubles. By the way, the museum has its own price list for on-site registration and professional shooting, so if you wish, you can arrange a real photoset against the backdrop of the magnificent palace!
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The Alupka Palace, a masterpiece of romanticism architecture, was built for almost 20 years, from 1828 to 1848, by order of the powerful Governor-General of the Novorossiysk Territory, aristocrat and Anglomaniac Count Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov. The count personally chose a place for his Crimean residence on a picturesque stone promontory at the foot of Mount Ai-Petri in the little-known Tatar village of Alupka. The Englishman Edward Blore, the author of the Walter Scott Castle in Scotland, and the court architect of the British crown, managed to organically fit the palace building into the surrounding landscape. In the architecture of the Vorontsov Palace, Blore combined different styles - English, neo-Moorish and Gothic, paying tribute to the secular fashion of the time for the novels of Walter Scott and oriental tales.
History of creation
Initially, the famous Italian architect Francesco Boffo, who had already built a palace in Odessa for the count, was appointed to build the residence. The Englishman Thomas Harrison, an engineer, an adherent of neoclassicism, was supposed to help him. Work began, and by 1828 the foundation, which was filled with lead for earthquake resistance, as well as the first masonry of the portal niche of the central building were ready. But Harrison died in 1829, and two years later, the earl decided to suspend the construction of the palace, apparently abandoning the idea of \u200b\u200bbuilding a neoclassical residence.
Vorontsov turns to the Englishman Edward Blore, a brilliant historian of architecture, graphic artist and fashionable architect in his homeland. Most likely, the Earl of Pembroke recommended him to Vorontsov. New drawings had to wait almost a year. But Mikhail Semenovich liked the result, and in December 1832 the construction of the buildings began. Blore brilliantly solved the problem in a historical perspective: the architecture of the palace demonstrates the development of medieval European and Moorish architecture, from the forms of the early Middle Ages to the 16th century. The palace building is deployed in such a way that it repeats the outlines of the visible mountains. It is surprising that the architect himself, who so accurately entered the building into the surrounding nature, never visited the Crimea, but used only numerous landscape sketches and relief drawings that were sent to him in England.
The resulting castle could well serve as an illustration for historical novels: five buildings, fortified by defensive towers, different in shape and height, are interconnected by a multitude of open and closed passages, stairs and courtyards.
The construction was carried out from local greenish-gray stone - diabase, which is not inferior in strength to basalt, which was taken from natural placers in Alupka. When processing it, considerable efforts were required, since the complex decoration of the exterior of the house could ruin one wrong blow with a chisel. Therefore, for the most complex masonry work, they invited Russian stone cutters who built white-stone churches in Central Russia.
The main decorative decoration of the Vorontsov Palace - the motif of a shallow lancet keeled arch - is repeatedly repeated in the cast-iron balustrade of the balconies, and in the carved stone lattice that encloses the roof, and in the decoration of the portal of the southern entrance, made in the Moorish style of the Alhambra palace.
In the design of the southern entrance facing the sea, a Tudor flower pattern and a lotus motif are intertwined, which ends with an Arabic inscription repeated six times over the frieze: "And there is no winner but Allah", just as it is written in the Granada Alhambra.
In front of the façade is the Lion's Terrace and the monumental staircase of white Carrara marble by the Italian sculptor Giovanni Bonanni. On both sides of the steps there are three pairs of lions: the left one below is asleep, the right one below is awakening, above is a pair of awake ones, and the third pair is roaring.
The rear facade of the palace and its western part, a variation on the theme of Tudor England of the 16th - early 17th centuries, resemble the austere castles of English aristocrats.
By the way, this palace was one of the first in Russia to be equipped with a hot water supply system and sewerage system.
The construction costs of the palace complex amounted to about 9 million rubles in silver - an astronomical amount for those times. But Count Vorontsov could afford it, because after his marriage in 1819 to Elizaveta Ksaveryevna Branitskaya, he doubled his fortune and became the richest landowner of the Russian Empire. Elizaveta Ksaveryevna, the one with whom, according to one version, Alexander Pushkin fell in love with the Odessa exile, personally supervised the creation of the building's interiors, took care of the decoration of the park and often paid for the work.
Inhabitants of the palace
Mikhail Semenovich did not manage to live for a long time in the Alupka Palace. Another appointment followed - this time to the Caucasus. But at the end of the 1840s, his daughter, Countess Sofya Mikhailovna, settled in Alupka with her children. Then, after the death of Prince Vorontsov (he received the princely title in 1845), the palace, by right of enthronement, passed to his only son, Semyon Mikhailovich. In 1882, his widow, Maria Vasilievna Vorontsova, went abroad and removed many valuables from the palace. She had no children, the palace turned out to be abandoned, and by the end of the 19th century, the building, park and economy fell into complete decay.
In 1904, new owners appeared at the castle - relatives along the line of the Vorontsov-Dashkovs. The wife of the governor of the tsar in the Caucasus, Countess Elizaveta Andreevna Vorontsova-Dashkova, nee Countess Shuvalova, energetically set to work. She leased land for sanatoriums and boarding houses and built more than 120 summer cottages on the estate.
After the revolution and the establishment of Soviet power in Crimea, the lands of the Vorontsov-Dashkovs were nationalized. And on February 22, 1921, a telegram from Lenin arrived in Crimea: "Take decisive measures to effectively protect art treasures, paintings, porcelain, bronze, marble, etc., located in Yalta palaces and private buildings, now assigned to the sanatorium of the People's Commissariat of Health ..."
At the beginning of the 20s on South Bank Crimea, in a number of the largest noble estates, museums were created, among them the Alupka Museum. The collection of the museum was seriously damaged during the Great Patriotic War: a lot was taken out by the invaders, including 537 paintings and drawings. Only a small part of the paintings were found after the war and returned to the palace.
In February 1945, during the Crimean (Yalta) Conference, the Alupka Palace became the seat of the British delegation. Meetings of the heads of the allied powers - Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt - took place in the ceremonial dining room of the palace.
Later, the palace became the state dacha of the NKVD. In 1952, a sanatorium was located there, and only in 1956, by decision of the Soviet government, the Crimean State Museum was opened here visual arts... Since 1990, the palace has been a part of the Alupka Palace and Park Museum-Reserve. Its collection today includes works of painting, sculpture and applied art, as well as documents, old drawings and lithographs introducing the history of the palace's construction.
English park
The English park of the palace is the work of the German gardener-botanist Karl Kebach, whom Vorontsov invited to Crimea in 1824, when there was no project of the palace itself. He eagerly set about creating a park, taking into account the relief, climate and local flora, combining, however, everything with the latest achievements of gardening art. About 200 species of trees and bushes were brought here from all over the world. Parcels with seeds and seedlings came from America, Italy, the Caucasus, Karelia, China and Japan. It was said that more than two thousand varieties of roses bloomed here at the same time. The German gardener became so famous in the Crimea that landowners began to invite him to create or improve their parks and gardens along the entire coast.
Karl Kebach clearly planned the park according to the principle of an amphitheater, retaining in its structure connections with the main palace and other architectural objects. Coastal highway (Yalta - Simeiz) divides the park into Upper and Lower.
The lower park is decorated in the style of Italian Renaissance gardens with fountains, marble sculptures, Byzantine columns, vases and stone benches. The upper one was created on the principle of English landscape parks of the Romantic era - more natural and natural: in it rocky fragments, shady ponds and preserved areas of the Crimean forest are interspersed with picturesque glades, a unique system of lakes, waterfalls, cascades and grottoes. Kebakh created the Upper Park as a place for contemplating the sea and Mount Ai-Petri, towering over the park and the palace, like the ruins of a castle of giants.
A carefully thought-out drainage system and individual care of the plants did their job - many, even very rare and whimsical plants, rooted well. In total, by the end of the 19th century, 250 species of trees and shrubs grew on the territory of the park. The plants of Vorontsov Park were so popular that the seedlings were even sold to other gardens and farmsteads.
The glory of Vorontsov Park as a masterpiece of landscape architecture was strengthened by the artists who worked here on sketches: Isaac Levitan, Vasily Surikov, Aristarkh Lentulov ... Alushta to Foros.
For more than a hundred years, one of the beloved and popular landmarks of Crimea created by man is the amazingly beautiful Vorontsov Palace. In the middle of the 19th century, it was the residence of the famous Russian count, and today it has become a museum, which is visited by tourists not only from Russia and Ukraine, but also from foreign countries. Palace history
In 1828, in the Crimea, in Alupka, near the Ai-Petri mountain, they began to build the residence of Count M.S.Vorontsov, a prominent Russian figure, and also the governor-general of the Novorossiysk Territory. They did not even build a house or a mansion, but a huge palace from the strongest diabase, which was mined nearby. The residence was designed by the English architect Edward Bloor. The Englishman has never been to the Crimea, but before starting to create a project, he studied the relief of the mountainous area from books and drawings.
The construction of the palace took twenty years. It was a truly grandiose construction site, on which soldiers from the sapper battalion and serfs from the Moscow and Vladimir provinces worked. They did all the dirty work, but they were not allowed to cut stones - this was done by hereditary stonecutters who took part in the construction of white-stone Moscow palaces.
Palace architecture
The palace was built gradually, building by building. First, a dining room was built, then a central building and a billiard room was attached to it. After that, the eastern wings, guest and utility buildings, towers of the palace appeared. The construction was completed with the decoration of the Main Courtyard and the construction of the library.
It is not for nothing that the architect studied the local landscape so scrupulously - he managed to arrange the palace as if along the relief of the mountains and make it seem to be one with them. You see him and you understand that he is really in his place.
The architect created the palace in the English style, mixing several eras at once, the latest of which is the 16th century. At the same time, the elements are arranged in chronology - the closer to the gate, the older the style. There is Gothic, there is classicism, there is a wealth of the East: arches, vaults, inscriptions in Arabic. 
Is it worth talking about the richness of the palace interiors? Expensive wood, natural stones and precious metals were used in their design. Each room was decorated in a special way, in the spirit of a particular era or country. For example, here is the Calico Room, the Chinese Study, the Blue Living Room. The dining room is like in a medieval castle - it is decorated with giant panels and rich wood carvings.
The fate of the palace
Until the revolution, the Vorontsovs owned the palace. But when the power in the country changed, the owner of the famous castle also changed - it was nationalized, and in 1921 a museum was opened here.
During the war, they did not manage to take out the most valuable exhibits from here, and they went to the invaders. The Germans transported collections of paintings, old utensils, figurines and other things that the Vorontsovs once owned to Germany. Some paintings were returned after the war, but most of them settled in private collections. 
The decoration of the Vorontsov Palace was appreciated by Winston Churchill himself - during the Yalta Conference, the palace was his residence.
From 1945 to 1955, the palace was a government dacha, and from 1956 to our time it has been a museum-reserve.
What are shown to tourists?
Visitors begin their tour of the palace with a unique park, which was created by the gardener-botanist Karl Kebach back in the days of the Vorontsov Counts. For more than 25 years, on an area of \u200b\u200b360 thousand square meters, he bred and cultivated the rarest flowers and shrubs. The garden is also decorated with stone lions, created specially by the Italian sculptor Giovani Bonnani.
Today, in the halls of the palace, several exhibitions are constantly running, which tell about the palace itself and about the Vorontsov family. There are also works of art that have been preserved and returned. In total, there are 27 thousand exhibits in the palace, and in the library, which Count Vorontsov himself began to collect, more than 10 thousand books!
The material was prepared by Yulia Savoskina.
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