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What is the Vorontsov palace made of in the Crimea? Vorontsov park and palace in Alupka. Blue living room and boudoir

Vorontsov Palace is located in Alupka (Crimea) at the foot of Mount Ai-Petri.

Built from diabase that was mined nearby. Currently, the palace houses a museum. At the Vorontsov Palace there is a park - a monument of gardening art. December 1824 to April 1851 Vorontsovsky park in Alupka was created by a talented German gardener-botanist, the main gardener of the southern coast of Crimea - Karl Antonovich Kebakh.

Palace architecture

The Vorontsov Palace was built according to new (in comparison with classicism) architectural and construction principles. An important architectural feature was the location of the palace in accordance with the relief of the mountains, due to which the palace blended very organically into the surrounding landscape and acquired its original artistic and expressive image.

The palace was built in the spirit of English architecture, and the building contains elements of different eras, from the early forms to the 16th century. The arrangement of the elements comes from the western gate - the further from the gate, the later style of construction.

The English style is organically combined with the neo-Moorish style. For example, Gothic chimneys resemble the minarets of a mosque. The southern entrance is decorated with oriental splendor. A horseshoe-shaped arch, a two-tiered vault, plaster carving in a niche where the Tudor flower pattern and the lotus motif are intertwined, end with the Arabic inscription repeated six times over the frieze: "And there is no winner but Allah."

Construction history

The palace was built from 1828 to 1848 as a summer residence of the prominent statesman of Russia, the Governor-General of the Novorossiysk Territory, Count M.S.Vorontsov.

The palace was designed by the English architect Edward Blore. The architect did not come to Alupka, but he was well aware of the terrain. In addition, the foundations and the first masonry of the deep portal niche of the central building were already ready (the palace began to be built according to another project - architects Francesco Boffo and Thomas Harrison).

In the construction of the palace, the labor of quitrent serfs from the Vladimir and Moscow provinces was mainly used. Hereditary stonecutters and stonecutters, who had experience in building and embossed decoration of white-stone cathedrals, were involved in the construction. All work was done by hand with primitive tools.

The construction of the palace began with the dining building (1830-1834). The central building was built in 1831-1837. In 1841-1842 a billiard room was added to the dining room. In 1838-1844, the guest building, the eastern wings, all the towers of the palace, the pentagon of the utility buildings were built, the Main Courtyard was being designed. The last library building was built (1842 - 1846).

The largest amount of excavation work was carried out from 1840 to 1848 with the help of soldiers of the engineer battalion, who built the park's terraces in front of the southern facade of the palace.

In the summer of 1848, sculptural figures of lions, made in the workshop of the Italian sculptor Giovani Bonnani, were installed on the central staircase leading to the main entrance. The Lion Terrace completed the construction and decoration of the palace and park ensemble.

History of the palace after construction

Before the October Revolution, the Vorontsov Palace belonged to three generations of the Vorontsov family.

After the coming of Soviet power, the Vorontsov Palace was nationalized.

In the middle of 1921, the Vorontsov Palace opened as a museum.

In 1941, the Great Patriotic War began. They did not manage to evacuate the museum exhibits from Alupka, as well as from many other Crimean museums. Twice the museum was threatened with destruction, and both times it was rescued by the museum's senior researcher S.G. Shchekoldin. The invaders took out a lot artistic values, of which 537 paintings and drawings, and only a small part of the paintings were found after the war and returned to the palace. This is described in detail in a book written on the basis of Shchekoldin's memoirs "What the lions are silent about."

From 4 to 11 February 1945, during the Yalta Conference, the Vorontsov Palace became the seat of the British delegation headed by Winston Churchill.

From 1945 to 1955, it was used as a state dacha.

In 1956, by decision of the government, the museum began to function in the palace again.

Since 1990 - the Alupka Palace and Park Museum-Reserve.

The interiors of the palace

The ceremonial interiors of the palace have almost completely retained their original decoration. Each of the rooms is individual, it has only its inherent flavor, reflected in the names: Chinese cabinet, Calico room, Winter Garden, Blue living room. The decoration of the Main Dining Room resembles the decoration of the knights' halls in medieval castles. It is decorated with rich wood carvings and four monumental panels by the famous French artist Hubert Robert (1733-1808).

Alupka park

A masterpiece of landscape gardening art - Alupkinsky Park. Its creator, gardener-botanist Karl Antonovich Kebach (1799-1851), has been planning and planting plants in the park for more than a quarter of a century. The park, being a park-monument of national importance, is included in the exposition part of the museum territory, which in total is 361,913 m².

Museum expositions

Currently, there are several permanent exhibitions in the Alupka Museum. Nine state rooms acquaint with the life of the first owners of the palace and the character of the palace interiors of the 30-40s of the XIX century. The stationary exhibition "Vorontsov Family Gallery" is located in the former guest building. In separate halls the “Gift of Professor V.N. Golubev "(Russian and Soviet avant-garde), painting by Ya. A. Basov" Poetry of the landscape ", art exhibitions" Ukrainian painting "," Inhaling the aroma of roses "(flowers in painting). In the park pavilion "Tea House" there are exhibitions "Maps of the Crimean Peninsula", "Vorontsovs and Russian admirals", "Sea battles" of the 18th-19th centuries. "

In 2007, a new museum exposition "The House of Count A. P. Shuvalov" was opened in the Shuvalov wing. It is based on previously not exhibited items of decoration and personal belongings of the Vorontsovs, Shuvalovs, Vorontsovs-Dashkovs. The interiors of the house feature works of art reflecting the stylistic features of the living quarters of the palaces of the mid-18th century.

The collection of the Alupka Palace and Park Museum-Reserve comprises almost 27 thousand exhibits of the main fund, and the memorial library of M. S. Vorontsov has more than 10 thousand books.

One of the museum's paintings - "Portrait of Prince Grigory Potemkin" by Levitsky, was presented to him by Baron Falz-Fein.

Vorontsov Palace in cinema

The territory of the palace and the adjacent park is often used for filming films. Among the most famous works:

  1. 1961 - Scarlet Sails
  2. 1964 - An Ordinary Miracle
  3. 1964 - Hamlet
  4. 1972 - "Stoves-benches"
  5. 1976 - Heavenly Swallows
  6. 1986 - The Journey of Pan Blots
  7. 2003 - "Crazy Day, or The Marriage of Figaro"
  8. 2008 - Sappho
  9. 2009 - “Hamlet. XXI Century"
  10. 2014 - "Belovodye. The Secret of the Lost Country"
  11. 2015 - “Belovodye. The source of knowledge "

Vorontsov palaces in other cities

  • Vorontsov Palace in Odessa
  • Vorontsov Palace in St. Petersburg
  • Vorontsov Palace in Tiflis
  • Vorontsov Palace in Simferopol

The most beautiful Vorontsov Palace in Crimea is located in the city of Alupka. The palace overlooks the Black Sea, surrounded by a delightful park. The architectural style, sculptural compositions, luxury, the place where the building was built are striking.

Uniqueness of architecture

Castle built for 20 years (1828 - 1848) by order of the powerful Governor-General of the Novorossiysk Territory, Anglomaniac Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov. The count personally chose a place for his summer residence on a picturesque rocky promontory at the foot of Mount Ai-Petri in the little-known village of Alupka.

Building materials

60 thousand serfs, soldiers of a sapper battalion were attracted for the construction according to the project of the English architect Edward Blore. The construction was carried out from the local diabase stone mined nearby.

The greenish-gray stone of volcanic origin is not inferior in strength to granite, however, it is capricious in processing. Stone-cutters who built churches in Central Russia worked here as well. The work was done by hand with primitive tools.

New architectural trends

The Vorontsov Palace was built according to new architectural principles. Located in accordance with the relief, it organically blended into the southern landscape, repeating the outlines of the visible mountains. Paying tribute to the secular fashion of that time, the architect combined the buildings in architecture English, Neo-Moorish and Gothic styles.

In an inconspicuous Tatar village, a castle appeared in the spirit of English architecture of five buildings with defensive towers, unequal in shape and height. Open and closed passages, staircases and courtyards united the buildings with each other, recalling the construction of the English aristocrats of the Middle Ages.

Unique solutions

The Vorontsov castle made of dark chiseled stone with arches, crenellated walls, openwork transitions, delicate carved patterns amazes with a mixture of styles. The main facade of the central building has been created in the style of a muslim mosque... The spiers and turrets are reminiscent of the eastern minarets. At the main entrance there are austere monumental towers with loopholes, battlements, and narrow loophole windows create the image of a medieval castle.

The southern facade is made with Moorish splendor: with pointed arches, oriental ornaments, balconies and openwork gratings, wall carvings. The decorative decoration of the Vorontsov Palace is a gently sloping pointed arch. The decoration is repeated in the cast-iron balconies, in the carved stone lattice of the roof, in the decoration of the entrance, above which the phrase is repeated six times in the frieze: "And there is no winner but Allah!"

On the north side, the building is crowned with neat turrets and large windows. There are marble fountains in front of the facade. Have Front staircase- Lion's Terrace. Six lions "sit" on either side of the monumental staircase from white marble... One is "asleep", the other is "awakening", the rest are "awake" and "growl".

Vorontsov Palace, equipped plumbing with hot water and sewerage, cost the column 9 million rubles in silver - a tremendous sum for those times.

Inhabitants of the luxurious palace

The first owner of the palace was His Serene Highness Prince Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov, a descendant of an ancient aristocratic family, godson of Catherine the Great, a hero-order-bearer, a participant in the Patriotic War of 1812, an honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. He retired with the rank of Field Marshal.

Soon after settling in, the count had to leave his new home. Having received an appointment to the Caucasus, Vorontsov left his daughter's residence. Since then, the palace has changed owners. After the death of the count, a son, a widow, lived here. In 1880, the family nest of the Vorontsovs was empty until the new relatives energetically set about restoring the inheritance.

After the revolution, the estate was nationalized. Later, the Vorontsov Palace became the state dacha of the NKVD, and in 1956 it opened here. Crimean state museum ... Since 1990, the palace has been part of the Alupka Palace and Park Museum-Reserve. The collection of the museum includes works of painting, sculpture, applied art, old drawings and lithographs.

Interiors of premises

The palace has 150 rooms decorated in English style with oriental motives. Each room is personalized. The style of the halls' decoration was influenced by the fashion of the era and the taste of the owners, the interest in exotic things.

Design concept

Initially, the halls were dominated by bright colors, lush curtains on the windows and doors. Kashmiri and Turkish shawls, Indian carpets and animal skins created an atmosphere of oriental luxury.

Gradually the character of the interiors changed. The interior decoration of the Vorontsov Palace is luxurious, but this luxury is cozy, "homely", without the ceremonial "palace". Furniture made of walnut, oak, mahogany was made especially for the palace by Russian craftsmen. The fireplaces in each room are unique and made from original materials.

Castle overview

Lobby- a spacious ceremonial room with embossed oak ceilings, austere furniture and two gray-green fireplaces. On the walls there are portraits of the Vorontsovs. Catherine the Great and members of the royal family. On the floor there are Persian carpets with a portrait of the Persian Shah Fath Ali.

- the room is light, the interior is restrained, meets the strict tastes of the owner. The walls are covered with paper wallpaper, which was considered a luxury item, because the master made the drawing by hand. The furnishings of European masters are both prim and solemn at the same time.

On the wall is a portrait of the owner with field marshal epaulets against the background of the Caucasus. The events of the Patriotic War of 1812 are reminiscent of the portraits of the count's associates, military generals - Uvarov, Naryshkin. Bronze mantel clock with the image of Minin and Pozharsky.

Calico reception got its name because the walls are covered with warm fabrics brought from Paris. The crystal chandelier on the ceiling, made by Russian craftsmen, looks graceful. On the walls there are landscapes of Russian and foreign artists.

The colored glass table is the work of an Italian master. The reception area is decorated with a parquet made of expensive wood, which was made to order for the Chintz reception room.

IN Blue living room Vorontsov Palace on the azure walls and ceiling is a thin snow-white stucco ornament in the form of petals and leaves. Chandeliers of exquisite shapes, the pattern of earthenware vases add solemnity to the interior. The white grand piano, the pride of the hostess Elizaveta Ksaveryevna Vorontsova, an outstanding pianist, attracts attention.

In the Blue Living Room they played music, arranged a home theater. In this living room, Mikhail Schepkin came out to the audience for the last time in 1863, young Fyodor Chaliapin sang to the accompaniment of Sergei Rachmaninoff.

IN Boudoir Elizabeth Ksaveryevna the walls are covered with Chinese mats with floral patterns, the furniture decorated with patterns in the oriental style was created by the hands of Russian craftsmen. Parquet flooring with a modest pattern and carved mirror frames create a cozy atmosphere.

Chinese Cabinet... Here China is present symbolically, there are no genuine items from the Middle Kingdom. On the table is a linen tablecloth embroidered by Elizaveta Ksaveryevna Vorontsova. A corner cabinet resembling a tortoise shell is a gift from Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. The walls of the office are finished with the finest rice straw, the decor elements are embroidered with beads and silk by the hands of serf women.

An area of ​​150 square meters with 8-meter ceilings. The room is comfortably lit by candelabra and candlelit chandeliers. The carved oak ceiling follows the pattern of the wall panels and window frames. A glass door leads to the palace terrace. Furniture to match the grandiose hall.

In the center is a table made of a single piece of mahogany with massive pedestals and legs in the form of lion paws. There are two dozen chairs around, the upholstery for which was woven in Lyon by order of Vorontsova. The polished sideboard is filled with cups, jugs and jugs.

On the sides of the hall there are large fireplaces, and between them is a fountain lined with tiles depicting fantastic animals. Above the fountain there is a carved wooden balcony where a quartet of musicians played. In the piers above the sideboards and fireplaces, picturesque panels complement the landscape that opens from the windows.

- a specially built room for books in a separate building of the Vorontsov Palace for storing 27 thousand volumes of encyclopedic books collected over decades. The main part of the interior is four-meter carved shelving, lined with folios up to the ceiling. Here are works on military affairs and navigation, natural science and agriculture in French, German, English.

The count read fluently in several languages, was fond of collecting, collected ancient manuscripts, drawings, geographical maps. Editions of Diderot, Voltaire, political literature of the period of the Great French Revolution are kept together with the stucco coats of arms of the Vorontsovs. The interiors of the Vorontsov Palace library are complemented by a massive desk, comfortable armchairs, two huge globes on carved three-legged stands.

IN Winter garden a rare refined interior made of exotic vegetation and works of art. A curly ficus plant is planted along the walls, pots of flowers are placed, a white marble fountain is arranged. Along the walls are marble busts of Catherine the Great, the Vorontsov couple, and the English premiere of William Pitt. Heat-loving plants and flowers create an exotic flavor.

The creator of the park is botanist August Kebach. The German gardener created the park taking into account the relief, climate and local flora. 270 species of trees and shrubs were brought from all over the world. At the same time, 2 thousand varieties of roses were blooming in the garden. Kebakh planned the park so that the coastal highway divided it into two parts - the Upper and Lower Gardens.

Lower park- with fountains, marble sculptures, columns, vases and stone benches. The upper garden of the Vorontsov Palace is more natural: it contains rocky debris (piles of stones of frozen magma, thrown out by a volcano and called "Great Chaos" and "Small Chaos"), picturesque meadows, cascades of waterfalls, shady ponds, artificial lakes and grottoes. At the bottom of the Swan Lake adorning the park, 20 bags of semi-precious stones are poured to create a play of light in sunny weather.

In the park with an area of ​​40 hectares, grape vines, olives, fruit trees, cypresses have taken root. A series of new varieties of roses specially bred for Alupka entered the world catalog. The popular rose "Countess Elizaveta Vorontsova". Planted outdoors, California magnolias have been transformed into trees that bloom in the open air, which is considered a sensation. Vorontsov planted magnolias personally and was regularly interested in how pets grow.

Alexander I stayed in the hospitable palace and strolled through the garden. Here, a former Napoleonic marshal of Mormon planted a tulip tree and several plane trees. Empress Alexandra Feodorovna planted plane trees, laurels, and a cork oak. The Prince of Wales and his wife planted Wellingtonia, giant trees in the park, near the shore.

The park is decorated with the Aivazovsky rock, from which the artist painted the night view of the palace during the illumination. The glory of the Vorontsov Park was strengthened by the artists Isaak Levitan, Vasily Surikov, Aristarkh Lentulov, who worked here.

  • From 4 to 11 February 1945, during the Yalta Conference, the Vorontsov Palace became the seat of the British delegation headed by Winston Churchill.
  • Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov generously thanked the serf builders of the palace, allowing them to redeem themselves from captivity.
  • After the war of 1812, Vorontsov was with the occupation forces in France. When the soldiers and officers left France, Vorontsov found out which of the subordinates owed the local population. The commander paid off all the debts personally from his savings, selling for this one of the estates.
  • There were 100 servants in the palace of Count Vorontsov, each living in a separate room.

Alupka- a resort town as part of Big Yalta, located at the foot of Mount Ai-Petri, 17 km south-west of the city of Yalta in Crimea.

Vorontsov Palace and its park complex - "Zest" Alupka landscape and

the main attraction of the seaside town.

Holidays on the Black Sea in Alupka attracts tourists with a mild climate without sharp seasonal fluctuations, healing sea and pine air, in which you can breathe easily and freely, as well as a picturesque view of the surroundings of a Russian seaside town on South Bank Crimea.

A particularly mesmerizing view opens up to Alupka from the sea: in the center of the panorama, on a hill, there is a magnificent Alupka Palace (Vorontsovsky); The buildings of coastal sanatoriums stretch along the sea in a chain and are buried in the greenery of parks, and above them the battlements of the majestic Ai-Petri mountain dominate.

Ai-Petrinsky mountain range - one of the highest in Crimea. Like a shield, he closes Alupka from the northern cold winds, and the greatest number sunny days a year (in comparison with the Black Sea resorts of the Caucasus) make this town on the Black Sea coast an excellent resort - the second after Yalta on South coast Crimea.

Vorontsov Palace in Alupka.

Vorontsov Palace(Alupka) is the former summer Crimean residence Governor-General of the Novorossiysk Territory Count Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov.

Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov

Portrait of Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov by Lawrence, 1823.

Count, since 1845 - prince Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov(May 18 or 19, 1782 - November 6 or 7, 1856) - Russian statesman from the Vorontsov family, Field Marshal General (1856), Adjutant General (1815), hero of the 1812 war. In 1815-1818 he was the commander of the Russian occupation corps in France. In 1823-1854 he was the Novorossiysk and Bessarabian Governor-General; in this position he contributed a lot to the economic development of the region, the construction of Odessa and other cities.

The customer and the first owner of the Alupka Palace. In 1844-1854 he was the governor in the Caucasus.

HISTORY OF THE VORONTSOV PALACE

The estate was conceived as the summer residence of the Governor-General Mikhail Vorontsov, who had many estates in different regions of the country and was considered the richest landowner in Russia. In 1824, the possessions of the Revelioti family, who owned most of the southern coast of Taurida, were acquired. Vorontsov invites the German botanist Karl Kebach, who took up the first plantings, from which the Vorontsov Park appeared.

In 1824, they begin to erect and Vorontsov Palace... The architects were Thomas Harrison (Vorontsov spent all his childhood and youth in England, so he decided to trust an experienced British architect) and Francesco Boffo (he created Vorontsov's palace in Odessa). The palace was conceived in the neoclassical style. Four years later, the foundation was laid, but Harrison died suddenly in 1829.

Mikhail Vorontsov himself in 1831 decides to suspend construction and decides to change the style of the palace. He went to England to Edward Blore and he only based on the presented drawings of the area created his own project based on English Gothic. Blore himself never appeared in Alupka - Vorontsov Palace in Crimea It was erected by his student William Gunt, who was recommended by the architect himself.

Gunt made a number of changes to the project. Thus, Alupka's Vorontsov Palace is designed in the Tudor style, which was so popular in England in the 16th century. But given that Turkish influence was still felt in Crimea, the southern gate, as opposed to the northern one, was made in the eastern Indo-Moorish style. The composition was complemented by marble lions by the sculptor Giovanni Bonnani. The palace was under construction until 1848. The park was finished 3 years later. The palace has 150 rooms, divided between 5 buildings.

The peculiarity of the architecture of the palace is clearly visible from the sea side - it is in harmony with the Ai-Petri massif. This is not surprising, since the walls were supposed to be an extension of the mountains hanging over it.

For the manufacture of the palace, a local stone was used - diabase (a greenish-gray stone of volcanic origin), which was located in abundance in the district. It was blown up with dynamite and turned into blocks. In the park, you can still see many fragments of rocks from diabase.

Foreign masters who worked in the garden and serfs of Count Vorontsov took part in the work. Particularly successful was the sculptor Roman Furtunov, who was the only serf who received a salary equal to that of foreign masters.

After the death of Count Mikhail, the Vorontsov Palace of Crimea was inherited by children. First along the male line, then along the female. During the years of Soviet power, it was nationalized. It housed the dacha of the NKVD, and since 1952 a sanatorium. At this time, part of the furnishings of the palace was lost, in particular, the billiard table was lost, which after the collapse of the USSR was replaced by another one found in warehouses in Yalta.

The Alupka Palace and Park Museum-Reserve fits perfectly into the amazing landscape with a mountain range, evergreen vegetation and several narrow streets of the town, rising uphill from sea ​​coast.

It is built from diabase- a material that is twice as strong as granite and is mined on the Crimean peninsula. The gray-green color of the stone creates a single architectural composition of the Vorontsov Palace with nature.

The palace was designed by an English architect Edward Blore. Construction was carried out from 1828 to 1848. The decoration lasted until 1852. The architecture of the palace is unique. It consists in a combination of different styles:

  • The North Facade is late English Gothic;
  • The Western Facade is a European medieval castle, a fortress from the 8th-12th centuries;
  • South - elements of India and the East. Huge dome of the South facade with Arabic inscriptions, open towards the Black Sea, has a romantic look. The "Lion's Terrace" with gradually alert "kings" of animals adorns the magnificent staircase leading to the entrance to the castle from the side of the park. Three pairs of lions in Carrara white marble were made in the workshop of the Florentine sculptor Bonnani, but the most famous (lower) is the "Sleeping Lion"

Shuvalovsky passage.

The palace ensemble consists of 5 buildings, open and closed courtyards, terraces. The Vorontsov Palace looks both austere and graceful, stable and romantic.

The western part of the palace (the so-called Shuvalovsky passage) appears to tourists in the form of a stone-paved street medieval town with old fortress walls with powerful towers and narrow windows-loopholes. The daughter of Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov, having married, became Countess Shuvalova, and her apartments were located in the right building.

North facade

In front of the palace there are two parterres with marble fountains in the center of each. In a shady pergola of blooming wisteria he took refuge

Fountain "Selsibil" - a copy of the "Fountain of Tears" from the Khan's palaces in Bakhchisarai, praised by Pushkin.

Nearby, at the left wing of the palace - white marble fountain "Source of Cupid".

The southern facade of the palace.

The southern facade is famous for a high portal with a deep niche, on the frieze of which the saying is inscribed in Arabic script

"There is no conqueror but Allah."

Marble lion on the south terrace.

PALACE INTERIORS

The main exhibition includes 10 rooms. The rooms on the upper floor are closed so as not to overload the weakened ceilings. The excursion begins through a side entrance leading to the corridor that led to the count's office. Initially, the rooms on the ground floor served as a bedroom for the Vorontsov couple. The main rooms opened in the exposition "ceremonial halls of the main building":

1. Front office;

2. Dining room with a balcony for musicians;

3. Greenhouse, including a collection of rare plants from distant countries;

4. Billiard room;

5. Calico room;

6. Chinese Cabinet;

7. Lobby;

8. Blue living room, the walls of which are decorated with stucco roses. Also on display here is a grand piano that is not original in Vorontsov's interior.

Each of the 150 rooms included in palace ensemble, is peculiar: "Chintz Room", "Blue Living Room", "Front Dining Room", "Winter Garden", "Chinese Study", "Billiard Room", "Vestibule". The luxury and love of the owners for their home is visible everywhere.

The special pride of the Alupka Palace is luxury fireplaces in the Gothic style, made of marbled limestone and polished diabase stone.

"Front lobby

The front lobby is located in the center of the palace. Two small vestibules are symmetrically adjacent to it from the south and north, and offices and lounges are located from the west and east. The northern vestibule, like the northern facade of the palace, is made in the English style. In contrast to the Englishness, the southern vestibule is decorated with carpets depicting the Persian Shah Fath Ali.

"Front Office"

The office looks rather restrained, in English, but the abundance of wood in the room gives warmth and coziness to the interior. The wallpaper was specially ordered in England.

The central place on the western wall of the office is occupied by the portrait of Count Vorontsov by Louise Desseme.

Massive wooden doors are complemented by oak paneling on the walls and a stucco wood-like ceiling. Against the wall is an antique ebony bookcase in Boulle style, bought by the owner of the palace. The cabinet is decorated with a tortoise shell and intricate carved bronze inlay.

A round table, English chairs and armchairs with Gothic carvings are snugly nestled next to a bookcase. This arrangement of furniture gives the office an atmosphere conducive not only to business conversations, but friendly meetings.

Another reminder of Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov's Anglomania is a bay window-shaped window. This element, often found in English architecture, visually enlarges the space of the study and gives more light. A table covered with a green cloth and two armchairs were placed in the bay window. Sitting in an armchair, you can admire the upper park, and in clear weather and the peaks of Ai-Petri.

"The calico room"

From the study we find ourselves in the Calico room. It is called chintz because the walls of the room are really covered with chintz.

On the walls there is an original fabric, the only flaw of which is the faded color. Originally, the chintz was a crimson shade with small splashes of blue, which was combined with a fireplace made of pink Ural marble and a basket-shaped chandelier. The pinkish-blue reflections of the pendants on the chandelier echoed the color of the chintz on the walls.

Through the Calico room we pass into Chinese study of the hostess of the house Elizaveta Ksaveryevna Vorontsova, whose portrait by George Doe can be seen on the right wall from the entrance.

Portrait of Elizabeth Ksaveryevna Vorontsova, by George Doe.

"Chinese Cabinet"

The room is decorated in the then fashionable oriental style, but without any specific ties to China, India or the countries of the East in general. Oak panels, tall lancet windows and doors leading to the south terrace, to the sea, are unexpectedly but successfully combined with silk and beaded rice mats on the walls and wood carvings in the interior.

The ceiling in the room is not wooden, as it might seem, but stucco. Russian peasant Roman Furtunov skillfully made the ceiling from plaster, imitating woodcarving.

In the corner between the windows is a valuable piece of furniture, a small corner cabinet.

It is made in the shape of a tortoise shell in the Boulle style, decorated with bronze, but it is especially valuable that it is a gift from Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, wife of Nicholas I, as a token of gratitude for the hospitality shown to the owners of the house in Alupka.

And some lyrical digressions. From school, many know that Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin was carried away by the wife of the Novorossiysk governor-general. It is believed that it was Elizaveta Vorontsova that Pushkin dedicated the poems "Burnt letter", "Rainy day went out ...", "Desire for glory", "Talisman", "Keep me, my talisman ...".

It was rumored that it was Pushkin who was the father of one of the daughters of Elizabeth Ksaveryevna. However, researchers of the poet's biography have reason to assume that Pushkin was only a cover for the novel of Elizaveta Ksaveryevna with her relative and friend of Pushkin, Alexander Raevsky. In any case, we can say thanks to Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov, who "contributed" to the change of the poet's southern link to a link to Mikhailovskoye. Because it was there that Alexander Sergeevich wrote not only the novel "Eugene Onegin", but also his other poetic works, which became the pride of Russian literature. And by the way, the same researchers claim that Vorontsov himself had an illegitimate daughter with his wife's best friend Olga Stanislavovna Naryshkina. Portraits of Olga Stanislavovna and her daughter were always kept among Vorontsov's personal belongings and even stood on the desktop of the front office.

"Front dining room"

The “Parade Dining Room” is the most majestic hall of the Vorontsov Palace.

The dining room area is about 150 square meters, the ceiling height is 8 m. Under the Vorontsovs, it was lit by dozens of candelabra and chandeliers. A huge table, made up of four shifted parts with polished mahogany countertops, rises atop beast-pawed pedestals and takes up much of the room. A massive sideboard was installed near the window on the same lion's legs as the tables, and under the sideboard there was an Egyptian-style bathtub for cooling the wine, which was filled with crushed ice.

In the center of the northern wall of the front dining room, between the fireplaces, there is a fountain, the niche of which is decorated with a majolica panel depicting fantastic birds and dragons. Above the fountain there is a carved wooden balcony for musicians.

"Kitchen"

"Blue living room"

The living room is divided into southern and northern parts by retractable wooden curtains, which are almost invisible when folded. In the southern part there was an "auditorium", where a set of furniture was located, transported to Alupka at the end of the 19th century from the Odessa Palace. The interior is complemented by a carved fireplace made of white Carrara marble and huge vases - craters painted in blue tones.

For musical evenings and theatrical performances, a grand piano is installed in the northern part of the Blue Living Room. In 1863, one of the founders of the Russian realistic theater Mikhail Semenovich Shchepkin performed here. In 1898, Fyodor Chaliapin sang at the Vorontsov Palace to the accompaniment of Sergei Rachmaninoff.

"Billiard room"

There is a lot of wood here: panels, ceiling, parquet floor.

Sofas and chairs are upholstered in expensive olive satin satin. There are many paintings on the walls. The canvases of the painters of Holland, Flanders, Italy of the 16-18 centuries were especially appreciated then.

From the Blue Drawing Room the guests of the Vorontsovs went out to the Winter Garden. In the 19th century, almost every European palace had its own winter garden, which was used for reading and relaxation.

"Winter Garden"

Near the glazed wall, consisting of huge French windows, there is a row of marble busts, including sculptural portraits of representatives of the Vorontsov family - Semyon Romanovich Vorontsov, Mikhail Semenovich himself and his wife Elizaveta Ksarevna. Next to them is a marble bust of Catherine II by Johann Esterreich. They say that for the excessive realism of her image in stone, the aging empress not only did not pay for the work, but also expelled the sculptor from Russia within 24 hours.

The winter garden serves as a transition from the central building to the dining room. Initially, it was a loggia, which was later glazed, constructing a large lantern on top for better illumination. The walls of the winter garden are surrounded by ficus repens. The fountain and marble sculptures are surrounded by araucaria, cycad, date palms and monstera.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/u7-r7cK5dUE

"Vorontsovsky Park"

The work on the creation of the park, begun even a little earlier than the construction of the palace, in 1820, was entrusted to the chief gardener of the southern coast of Crimea Karl Antonovich Kebakh. When laying the park, the abundance of mountain springs was taken into account, which were used to create artificial lakes, numerous cascades and small waterfalls. In this part of the park, the murmur of water is incessantly heard.

Most of the paths in the Upper Park lead to lakes and the Great Chaos - a huge stone blockage of natural origin.

The largest of the park's lakes is Swan Lake. The gardener deliberately gave it an irregular shape in order to create the illusion of its natural rather than artificial origin. Under the Vorontsovs, the bottom of the lake was strewn with semiprecious "Koktebel pebbles" - jasper, carnelian, chalcedony, which were found in abundance in Koktebel.

Near Swan Lake - Trout Pond and even further - Mirror. On the Mirror Pond, the water seems motionless, which is why the trees and the sky are reflected on its surface like in a mirror.

To the east of the lakes, in the landscape part of the park, there are four picturesque glades - Platanovaya, Solnechnaya, Kontrastnaya, where Himalayan cedar and yew berry rise in the middle of the lawn, and Kashtanovaya.

Above the ponds, along a path through the Hall of grottoes, between skillfully placed fragments of rocks, the path leads to the Great and Lesser Chaos. Millions of years ago, frozen magma as a result of earthquakes and landslides turned into a scattering of huge debris. The creators of the park left the boulders intact, only removed small fragments and planted the top with pine trees. This is how the famous "Alupka chaos" turned out.

Alupka- a resort town as part of Big Yalta, located at the foot of Mount Ai-Petri, 17 km south-west of the city of Yalta in Crimea.

Vorontsov Palace and its park complex - "Zest" Alupka landscape and the main attraction of the seaside town.

Holidays on the Black Sea in Alupka attracts tourists with a mild climate without sharp seasonal fluctuations, healing sea and pine air, in which one can breathe easily and freely, as well as a picturesque view of the environs of a Russian seaside town on the southern coast of Crimea.

A particularly mesmerizing view opens up to Alupka from the sea: in the center of the panorama, on a hill, there is a magnificent Alupka Palace (Vorontsovsky); The buildings of coastal sanatoriums stretch along the sea in a chain and are buried in the greenery of parks, and above them the battlements of the majestic Ai-Petri mountain dominate.

Ai-Petrinsky mountain range is one of the highest in Crimea. Like a shield, it closes Alupka from the northern cold winds, and the largest number of sunny days per year (in comparison with the Black Sea resorts of the Caucasus) make this town on the Black Sea coast an excellent resort - the second after Yalta on the southern coast of Crimea.

History of Alupka.

The history of Alupka begins in the 6th-5th century BC, when the first Taurian settlement was founded on these blessed lands. Archaeologists have found the remains of fortifications and a large burial ground on Mount Krestovaya. In the X century, Alupka belonged to the Khazars, in the XIV century it passed into the possession of the Genoese, who built a port and defensive structures here, and later became a Tatar village. After the annexation of Crimea to Russia, these lands saw new owners: aristocrats and royal nobles. In the 20s of the XIX century, Alupka became the estate of the Governor-General of the Novorossiysk Territory - Count Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov, who decided to build a palace here. Until the 80s of the XIX century, Alupka was still a small village. The local population was mainly engaged in gardening and viticulture.

At the end of the 19th century, Alupka began to develop rapidly as a resort due to the fact that the Russian "luminaries of medicine" recognize the healing properties of the local climate for the treatment of broncho-pulmonary diseases and the healing of the whole organism. Dachas of aristocrats, shops, boarding houses, hotels, post office and telegraph office appeared in Alupka, and roads were also built. In 1902, back in tsarist Russia in Alupka, the first sanatorium for children began to operate on voluntary donations.

During the years of Soviet power, sanatoriums were being built at a rapid pace in Alupka, of which there were already more than twenty by 1940.

Alupka received the status of a city in 1938.

Is a narrow strip of large and small pebbles, 4 km long along the coastline. There are 6 beaches and 23 beaches in sanatoriums in total. The main beach is a free city beach, which is located under Vorontsov Park. The Cote d'Azur beach, which is located at the bus station, can be reached by car (there is a paid parking lot).

The mild climate, dry air of Alupka with the scent of pine, the Black Sea - the best place for the treatment of lung diseases. Here is the first children's sanatorium in Europe for the treatment of bone tuberculosis (founded by Professor A.A. Bobrov). In 1982 in Alupka a wine tasting room for 240 seats "Massandra" was opened.

Vorontsov Palace in Alupka.

Vorontsov Palace(Alupka) is the former summer Crimean residence Governor-General of the Novorossiysk Territory Count Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov... Today is Alupka Palace and Park Museum-Reserve... It fits perfectly into the amazing landscape with a mountain range, evergreen vegetation and several narrow streets of the town that rise uphill from the sea coast. It is built of diabase, a material that is twice as strong as granite and is mined on the Crimean peninsula. The gray-green color of the stone creates a single architectural composition of the Vorontsov Palace with nature.

Photos of the Vorontsov Palace.

The palace was designed by the English architect Edouard Blore. Construction was carried out from 1828 to 1848. The decoration lasted until 1852. The architecture of the palace is unique. It consists in a combination of different styles:

  • The North Facade is late English Gothic;
  • The Western Facade is a European medieval castle, a fortress from the 8th-12th centuries;
  • South - elements of India and the East. Huge dome of the South facade with Arabic inscriptions, open towards the Black Sea, has a romantic look. The "Lion's Terrace" with gradually alert "kings" of animals adorns the magnificent staircase leading to the entrance to the castle from the side of the park. Three pairs of lions in Carrara white marble were made in the workshop of the Florentine sculptor Bonnani, but the most famous (lower) is the "Sleeping Lion".

The palace ensemble consists of 5 buildings, open and closed courtyards, terraces. Vorontsov Palace looks both austere and graceful, stable and romantic. The western part of the palace (the so-called Shuvalovsky passage) appears to tourists in the form of a stone-paved street of a medieval city with old fortress walls with powerful towers and narrow loopholes. The southern facade is famous for a high portal with a deep niche, on the frieze of which the saying "There is no winner but Allah" is inscribed in Arabic script.

Eastern and Western architecture is united by carved stone decorations of the palace, battlements and Gothic chimneys, as well as domes directed upward in the form of mosque minarets and thin turrets on the sides. All this splendor is complemented by the natural pattern of Mount Ai-Petri.

Each of the 150 rooms that make up the palace ensemble is unique: the Calico Room, the Blue Living Room, the Front Dining Room, the Winter Garden, the Chinese Study, the Billiard Room, and the Vestibule. The luxury and love of the owners for their home is visible everywhere. The special pride of the Alupka Palace is its luxurious Gothic style fireplaces made of marbled limestone and polished diabase stone.
"Front dining room"- the most majestic hall of the Vorontsov Palace. Its interior is made in the style knightly castles... Tourists are impressed by: a decorative marble fountain with a balcony overlooking it for musicians; walls decorated with wood carvings; candelabra made of Ural malachite. High ceilings, bog oak doors, austere furniture and oak panels add solemnity to the hall.
"Blue living room"- this is a bright, elegant hall with a stucco openwork pattern of leaves and flowers, covering the blue bliss of the walls and ceiling. It has Turkish furnishings and luxurious fabrics.
"Winter Garden"- a combination of marble sculpture with rare evergreens. Copies of antique sculptures and portraits of the Vorontsov family, made in marble, make up the main interior of the Winter Garden.

Winter garden in the Vorontsov Palace Photo.

5 terraces of the Vorontsov Palace park- these are stylized five stages of medieval gardens with flower beds and clipped plants. The Upper Terrace has many marble vases, fountains, benches among the rose gardens, while the Lower Terrace is distinguished by an abundance of wall fountains.

In 1921 the Vorontsov Palace became a museum. Since 1990 it has been the Alupka Palace and Park Museum-Reserve. There are guided tours, exhibitions, including the "Vorontsov Family Gallery". In 2007, a new exposition “House of Count A.P. Shuvalov ".

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If you have chosen Alupka for a vacation in Crimea in 2020, 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 Crimean mountains and the Black Sea will not leave anyone indifferent.

Where is located: Alupka, Palace highway, 10.

What is the most convenient way to get there: The easiest way to come 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 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 Buckingham Palace in London and Walter Scott Castle in Scotland. There is still debate as to whether the architect was personally in the Crimea or created his masterpiece, guided solely by stories about the surrounding landscapes. The first one 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 the eastern ones, perfectly reflects the fate of the 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 was responsible for them, a gardener to whom the Crimea owes the appearance of magnificent gardens and parks for Foros, Gaspra, Oreanda, Massandra, Miskhor.

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 noblemen Vorontsov-Dashkov. In 1917, the Vorontsov Palace was nationalized. He was much more fortunate than other cultural sites in the Crimea: since 1921 a historical and household museum has been set up 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 erected. 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 the present 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 an oriental style: experts say that 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 portrayed the royal residence in The Ordinary Miracle and Hamlet, The Three Musketeers and Heavenly Swallows. Here 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 2020: the halls and landscapes of the palace-museum are constantly used when shooting feature films and documentaries.

Exhibitions of the Vorontsov Palace in Crimea

In 2020, in the Vorontsov Palace, you can visit the following exhibitions:

  • "The ceremonial 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).
  • “The gift of Professor V.N. Golubev "(paintings by artists of the XX century).


Vorontsov Palace ticket price

Most of the exhibitions at the Vorontsov Palace 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 decoration 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 Nikitsky botanical garden in Crimea, it is worth allocating at least 3-4 hours, and if you want to listen to the 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 photography, so if you wish, you can arrange a real photoset against the backdrop of the magnificent palace!