In 1823, Count Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov, a hero of the Patriotic War of 1812, became the Governor-General of the Novorossiysk Territory, which at that time included Crimea. The development of Crimea owes much to this strong-willed and energetic person. Under his leadership, a highway is being built on south coast Crimea, the agrarian and especially the wine industry is rapidly developing, the number of industrial enterprises is growing rapidly. History begins in 1828 Black Sea Shipping Company... In the same years, the count was actively buying land from the local Tatar population and dreamed of creating his own palace.
The construction of the palace lasted for 20 years.
After the death of Thomas Harisson in 1829 in 1831, Count Vorontsov unexpectedly ordered to stop the construction of the palace and radically change the style of the neoclassical style of the palace. The Count invites one of the most talented architects of that time - Edward Blore. According to the architect's idea, the palace is being built in the English Gothic style. In the same year, the construction of the main building begins. Diabase served as the building material for the walls - rock volcanic origin, which is several times stronger than granite. Deposits of this stone are found in abundance nearby. Diabase is very difficult to process, but this does not stop Count Vorontsov, because he was the richest man in the country and under his leadership more than 60,000 serfs worked. Even a sapper battalion took part in the excavation work, whose soldiers worked on the construction of terraces on the south side of the facade. 
Interesting fact: Architect Blore never visited the construction site. He got all the idea of the terrain from numerous drawings and engravings.
In 1948, the construction of the palace came to an end. Vorontsov Palace consists of five buildings, decorated with towers, which are connected by various passages, stairs and courtyards. The architect managed to organically fit the buildings stretched from west to east into the mountainous landscape of the area. Outwardly, the palace is very much like the ancestral feudal castle in England.
The interiors of the palace
The interiors of the Vorontsov Palace are in no way inferior to the Livadia Palace in the luxury of their decoration. The decoration of the rooms is almost completely preserved. Each room, and there are about 150 of them in total, is made in a personal style. The materials used in the decoration are reflected in the names of the rooms. The Chinese cabinet is decorated with the finest rice straws, the decor elements are embroidered with beads and silk. The decoration of the Calico Room is skillfully made from this very fabric. The brightest room in the Vorontsov Palace is the Blue Living Room, the highlight of which is the stucco ornament in the form of petals and leaves. There are about three thousand of them in total, and each of them is not like the other. The fireplaces of the palace are a separate masterpiece of architectural art. They are unique in every room and made of different materials.
Alupka park
Vorontsov Palace is located on the territory of Alupka Park, which is a pearl of landscape design. This masterpiece was created by the Chief Gardener of the South Coast of Crimea Karl Antonovich Kebakh for 25 years. The park is spread over an area of 40 hectares. More than two hundred species of plants grow here, which were brought from the regions of Northern and South America, Mediterranean. Geographically it is divided into the Upper and Lower parks. The park is designed in such a way that it complements the local nature. Three reservoirs have been artificially created on the territory of the park.
Interesting fact: To decorate the bottom of Swan Lake, Count Vorontsov ordered 20 bags of semi-precious stones, which were delivered by ship. V sunny weather they created an indescribable play of light.
The attraction of the park is the piles of stones made of solidified magma, thrown out by the volcano back in time immemorial, which received the names "Big Chaos" and "Small Chaos". Also, a large number of fountains have been built in the park. 
glade in the park
Interesting facts about the Vorontsov Palace
The palace was owned by three generations of the Vorontsov family. The cost of setting up a park is twice as high as the construction of the palace itself. Up to 36,000 rubles were spent on the maintenance of the park in 1910, a huge amount at that time. Vorontsov Palace is one of the first buildings in Russia, where sewerage and water supply were built for the comfort of living. A museum has been operating in the palace complex since 1921. Only 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. 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's park. The fact is that the staircase on the side of the facade, which faces the sea, is decorated with sculptures of guarding lions. 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 a figure out of his fingers, which is popularly called a fig. 
The resort peninsula is famous not only for its natural resources, throughout coastline housed the most beautiful estates of the imperial elite. On the southern coast of Crimea, immersed in the greenery of evergreen trees is not just a palace, but a real medieval castle.
The building was erected from volcanic rock, the color of which is green-gray, it is called "diabase". The construction can be called unique and unprecedented, because the workers, using the most primitive tools of labor, have carved a real masterpiece of architecture from the strongest rock. This masterpiece is the Vorontsov Palace. Alupka for the implementation of the plan was not chosen by Count Vorontsov by chance. She was in the possession of as many as three generations of one dynasty.
The palace made Alupka famous. The town is so small that it simply would not be noticeable among other urban-type settlements that Big Yalta... And a grand estate makes locality desirable and recognizable in terms of tourism.
The architect managed to build a composition that organically blended into the landscape of mountains and a riot of subtropical greenery south coast... With its spiers, the palace, as if repeating the forms of beautiful mountain Crimea - Ai-Petri. The end of the grandiose construction fell in 1848.
While in Alupka, be sure to visit the palace of the same name. All expositions of the museum are imbued with the refined taste and luxury of those times. The castle stands, like an impregnable bastion, strong, reliable, high with narrow windows "loopholes".
A bold claim can be made, suggesting that the Vorontsov ensemble had a tremendous impact on romantic architecture in the next century. Neighboring Yalta began to quickly replenish with all kinds of palaces, which to this day amaze travelers.
Nationalization and occupation
After the bloody revolution, already in 1920, all the "remnants of the empire" were nationalized. Now the family estate has become the property of the people. This did not last long. During the hostilities, the German occupiers caused almost irreparable damage to the museum complex, taking invaluable art objects from the peninsula. And in those days, such items were everything, from cutlery to painting and pieces of furniture.
What a blessing that the Nazis did not manage to raze the palace to the ground, but such a plan had a place to be. Apparently, the estate is guarded by the lucky star of the Vorontsovs, and to this day museum complex flourishes. A large number of researchers, curators and restorers are doing painstaking work, at the moment, time seems to have frozen in the exhibition halls, the exhibits are kept in perfect condition.
And in the museum "funds", hidden from the curious eyes of the tourist crowd, there is a globe of Mikhail Semyonovich. This globe is not simple, on it Alaska is Russian!
Amazing rooms
There is a certain azure room in the palace, it is called the Blue Living Room. A room of unprecedented beauty, it seems that such premises simply cannot exist on earth. White flowers are hand-sculpted on the celestial walls. It is noteworthy that not a single pattern is repeated throughout the sufficiently voluminous volume of the room. The alliance is harmoniously complemented by a snow-white grand piano and a luxurious white headset with gilded inserts.
Video: The Palace from a bird's eye view
The count had a Chinese-style study, a very interesting object on the tour. So you will not immediately understand whether the owner subscribed to the masters from China or whether our craftsmen worked in the style of the land of the rising sun.
Yes, there are many other interesting things in the palace: the “chintz room”, wonderful paintings, fireplaces and luxury, a lot of luxury. And how many films were filmed in the local royal chambers!
And in the room of the large dining room, the ceilings are made of wood, there is still an unusual smell of wood, it probably smelled like that in those days when the eminent owners still lived in their palace.
Magnificent sculptures
The sculptures made by the Italian master D. Bonanni and his apprentices from Carrara marble can be called almost a wonder of the world. The approach to the palace from the sea is protected by the kings of animals - huge snow-white lions. The "sleeping" lion especially admires, words cannot convey how beautiful he is, how nobility, strength, wisdom are embodied in him and how vulnerable he seems when he sleeps.
It is not by chance that this lion is depicted on guidebooks, calendars, postcards, emblems, websites, coats of arms, and so on; it is the hallmark of Crimea along with the Swallow's Nest castle.
There are other sculptures on the "Southern Terraces" of the palace, all of them, like a magnet, attract tourists. These ideal stone statues beckon, it is simply impossible to pass by and not capture them in a photo. Someone now and then tries to saddle one of the lions, but strict caretakers immediately stop these impulses.
Winter Garden
The wonders of skilled craftsmen of the past centuries never cease to amaze; one of the exhibition halls is the winter garden. This very garden, like a dessert, the guides leave at the very end of the "lecture". A special microclimate reigns here, water splashes from a miniature fountain, in summer you can hide from the scorching heat.
Although the residence was conceived as a summer residence, paying tribute to fashion, the earl ordered to organize a "green corner" in the manner of those that were smashed in the castles of England. There are a lot of greenery, palm trees, but in all this emerald foliage, snow-white, as if antique statues, draw attention to themselves.
The most thunderous ovation was received by the sculpture "girl". The statue was made of Carrara marble by the sculptor Corbellini. It is unlikely that you have met something like this before. The work is so delicate that even the pores on the skin are visible on the girl! And when you look into her eyes, it seems that she is alive, never before had the sculptors of that time carved out the pupils. And what lace the little girl has on her dress! This is marble, it doesn't fit in my head, as the master also showed the lines on the clothes and even a slight wrinkle of the fabric!
Alhambra - a tribute to the Turkish khan
If from the north side the palace looks like a castle, then the south side, the one that faces Turkey, is made in the oriental style. The portal of the south entrance is like a Moorish palace - the Alhambra. Count Mikhail Vorontsov ordered to write a secret message to Muslims in the form of an inscription repeated six times "There is no winner but Allah."
Excursion prices
The ticket price in the Alupka palace is quite acceptable. A visit to the ceremonial halls for an adult will cost 300 rubles, a student 150, and a child only 70 rubles.
Photographing, like video, is performed on a paid basis, if you want to make a reportage, welcome to the cashier for payment.
Shuvalov wing
Additionally, you can visit a very distinctive wing, where the Shuvalov couple lived. There are many personal belongings and decorations of eminent residents left here. Slightly even surprising are the relatively modest premises.
The most touching room can be called the private office of Sofia Mikhailovna, the daughter of the count. By all sorts of little things, it becomes clear that she was a true secular lady who takes care of herself. It is very interesting to look into the countess's boudoir. Sophia loved Alupka very much, was infinitely attached to her.
And in the portrait room there is a series of paintings with members of the Vorontsov dynasty depicted on them. Gloss, chic uniforms, brilliance of orders, dignity in the look, this is a characteristic feature that can be seen in all portraits.
Vorontsovsky park
If the palace excursions do not tempt you at all, then you should not deny yourself the pleasure and visit the local park. Here the mighty trees remember the walks of the count's family. Mighty plane trees protected from the sun with their spreading branches and broad leaves. To this day, trees hide hot tourists from the hot southern sun.
If you would like to learn about the history of creation, difficulties and victories when laying out the park, then you can go for a walk with an organized group. Guided tours cost only 100 rubles, for children and university students - 70 rubles.
If you don't want to walk in the park, you can drive through it in an electric car. This service began to be provided relatively recently, but is in demand. There are no other vehicles on the territory, so the park can be classified as “eco-parks”.
By the way, the territory of green spaces, simply, unthinkable in its size, cannot be bypassed in a day.
The best photo shoots are here!
For an agreed fee, you can negotiate the most romantic outdoor wedding ceremony. Unite the bonds of family in one of beautiful places in Crimea - the dream of many.
And what masterpiece photo sessions are obtained here! Definitely the best in Alupka, but in Alupka, in the whole Crimea! Places saturated with the spirit of exceptional taste and elegance are what makes the pictures special.
Be sure to come to the Crimea in the Vorontsov Palace, it must certainly be on the list of attractions planned for inspection.
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, an 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 Walter Scott's 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 in 1829, Harrison died, and two years later, the earl decided to suspend the construction of the palace, apparently abandoning the idea of building 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. It took almost a year to wait for the new drawings. 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 building of the palace 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 many 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 pointed keeled arch - is repeatedly repeated in the cast-iron balustrade of balconies, and in the carved stone lattice that encloses the roof, and in the decorative 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 end 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 a monumental staircase in 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 sleeping, 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 in 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 in the late 1840s, his daughter, Countess Sofya Mikhailovna, settled in Alupka with her children. Then, after the death of Prince Vorontsov (he received the title of prince 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 was 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 drastic action to effectively guard artistic values, paintings, porcelain, bronze, marble, etc., located in the Yalta palaces and private buildings, now assigned to the sanatorium of the People's Commissariat of Health ... "
In the early 20-ies on the southern coast of 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 the decision of the Soviet government, the Crimean state museum visual arts... Since 1990, the palace has been 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. The 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 above 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, 250 species of trees and shrubs grew on the territory of the park by the end of the 19th century. Plants Vorontsovsky Park were so popular that the seedlings were even sold to other gardens and estates.
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.
M.S. Vorontsov in Alupka is one of the most famous sights of the Crimean peninsula. It is at the foot mountain range Ai-Petri. The beautiful park surrounding it, like the palace itself, has been a museum since 1956.
Photos of the Vorontsov Palace:
Palace architecture
The style in which the building was built is a combination of English and Neo-Moorish trends, they not only perfectly combine with each other, but also perfectly take into account the surrounding terrain. The author of the project, the English architect Edward Blore, managed to organically combine elements of the English style from the ancient period to the 16th century, which is observed in its western part. Eastern elements are presented at the South Entrance, where the horseshoe-shaped arch and two-tiered vault are richly carved. There is even an Arabic text, it says: "and there is no winner but Allah." The chimneys in this part resemble minaret towers.
History reference
The Vorontsov Palace was built for 20 years, in 1828 - 48. for Count M.S. Vorontsov, who was at that time the governor of the Novorossiysk Territory. The construction was started by architects F. Boro and T. Harrison. The English architect E. Blore replaced them after the sudden death of Harisson. He never came, only studied the area well, on the basis of which he created his masterpiece. The construction was supervised by W. Gunt, his student.
Interesting:
The palace was built by the serfs of the Moscow and Vladimir provinces. Only manual labor and primitive tools were used when performing the most complex relief finishing.
The first was in 1830 - 34. a canteen building was erected, construction was completed in 1840 - 46. library corpus. At the same time in 1840 - 48. large-scale work was carried out on the arrangement of the park. Even sapper soldiers were involved in the construction of the terraces at the southern façade.
The park from 1824 to 1851 was created by the German K.A. Kebakh, who was the main gardener of the entire South Coast. The area of the park is 40 hectares. More than 200 plant species are represented here.
Interesting:
At the bottom of the Swan Lake, which adorns the park, 20 bags of semi-precious stones were poured to create an extraordinary play of light in sunny weather.The final point in the creation of a magnificent landscape gardening ensemble was the installation of marble lions, created by Italian craftsmen, on the central staircase at the main entrance.
A little about the customer and the first owner
Count Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov is best known to us from a not very flattering side. And this, thanks to the caustic epigrams of A.S. Pushkin, who was under his supervision during his southern exile. And really, how can you relate to the one whose wife you are in love with without reciprocity. So our great poet was recouping Elizabeth Ksaveryevna's husband with all his ardor. Every schoolchild is familiar with Pushkin's characteristics of the general:
Half-my lord, half-merchant,
Half-sage, half-ignorant,
Half a scoundrel, but there is hope
That will be complete at last.
In reality, M.S. Vorontsov is smart, worthy of respect a man and a real hero. His figure is not accidentally presented at the monument to the 1000th anniversary of Russia. He was born into a famous family; Catherine II became his godmother. The young man received his education (brilliant!) In London, where his father served as a messenger.
Starting military service at the age of 21, he participated in many battles. Here are just a few of them:
- - 1804 - the storming of the Ganja fortress in the Caucasus;
- - 1809 - the storming of the Bazardzhik fortress in the Balkans;
- - 1812 - Borodino (wound with a bayonet in hand-to-hand combat);
- - 1813 - Battle of Leipzig;
- - 1814 - the capture of Paris.
M.S. Vorontsov led the occupation troops in Paris, and when they left France, he collected information about the debts of officers and soldiers to the local population and compensated everything from his personal funds (almost 1,500,000 of those rubles) by selling one of his estates for this.
He did a lot for the economic development of Bessarabia, Odessa, Crimea, Novorossiysk Oblast, and all of southern Russia.
The military service of M.S. Vorontsov continued in the Caucasus in 1844. For his successes he received the title of prince, then, His Serene Highness, the title of Field Marshal, the post of Caucasian governor.
Personal qualities of M.S. Vorontsov.
He was a bibliophile and a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He had a unique library, which his father and his own aunt E.R. Dashkova.
His awards for military and government merit make up a huge list, among them
- George Cross of three degrees (for personal courage);
- - 2 golden swords (for bravery),
- - Order of St. Vladimir;
- - Alexander Nevsky;
- - Andrew the First-Called and many more Russian and foreign orders and awards.
He was loved by the soldiers, for whom he abolished physical punishment, he was easy to handle and accessible with them, the officers loved and respected him. After his death, a sad saying was born among the military: "It is high up to God, far from the king, and Vorontsov died."
There are several monuments to the general, created with money that were collected by people grateful to him. He died in 1856 and was buried in Odessa. With military honors in 2005, his ashes and ashes were transferred to the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral.
In general, the great poet was wrong.
Governor General's Palace
Today, the South Coast of Crimea is a luxurious and popular resort place, and in the early years of the 19th century. he was just gaining fame. Russian landowners mastered fertile places, and M.S. Vorontsov is one of the richest people of his time. His choice fell on the small Tatar village of Alupka.
What attracted the Novorossiysk Governor-General? Certainly the same thing that is highly valued modern tourists:
- - healing climate;
- - gorgeous landscapes;
- - warm sea;
- - nearby springs.
The architects paid tribute to the love of M.S. Vorontsov to everything English, but at the same time they also emphasized the recent Turkish influence that remained in the Crimea. All this is taken into account in the harmonious mixture of English and Oriental styles, and participation in the formation of the image of the palace of the Ai-Petri mountain range is not forgotten.
Interesting:
To increase seismic stability, lead is poured into the foundation slabs.
Continuation of a story
After the death of the owner, the palace passed to his nephews, Pavel Andreevich Shuvalov, then Mikhail Andreevich. The last owner became the granddaughter of M.S. Vorontsova Elizaveta Andreevna Vorontsova-Dashkova.
During the Soviet period, the estate was nationalized. At first, the dacha of the NKVD was located here, and in 1921 a museum began to work in the palace.
During the Great Patriotic War, the exhibits did not have time to evacuate; rarities worth 4,980,000 rubles were exported to Germany (in terms of 1945)
Interesting:
The museum was twice saved from destruction by S.G. Schekoldin, an employee of the museum, appointed by the Germans as its director. He prevented an explosion from the dynamite planted by the NKVD. He also managed to save the building from aerial bombs. He also provided a list of the kidnapped. BUT! He was sentenced "for cooperation with the invaders" for 10 years. Rehabilitated only in 1991.In February 1945, during the Yalta Conference, a British delegation headed by W. Churchill lived in the palace. Until 1955, there was a state dacha here.
Since 1956 it has been a museum, and since 1990 it has been a museum-reserve, including a park and a palace.
The interiors of the palace
The building has 150 rooms located in 5 buildings. It also combines elements of the English style and oriental motives.
The rooms are symmetrical, their doors are opposite each other. Each room has a fireplace, portraits of famous people and landscapes on the walls. The sculptures in the greenhouse are images of the family members of the first owner.
In 1914, electricity appeared in the palace.
Currently, 10 rooms on the ground floor are available to visitors. In them, practically, the original interior has been preserved. These are the ceremonial premises, where the owners received guests, and the greenhouse. Among the pieces of furniture there are original ones. The rest are matched with such skill that they do not violate the overall picture.
Interesting:
The parquet floor of the palace is authentic - it is almost 200 years old.
Video review of the palace:
Information for tourists
In addition to the main exposition, the following exhibitions are offered to the attention of visitors:
- - butler's apartment;
- - the Vorontsovs' kitchen;
- - Shuvalov's house;
- - park sculpture
- and a number of others.
Important:
You can buy tickets for each exhibition separately, but it is more profitable to buy a single ticket for 650 rubles. Children under 16 years old can visit the palace for free. Students, pensioners and citizens aged 16-18 for 325 rubles.
You can ride an electric car in the park. The cost of such an excursion is 800 rubles for the whole group (from 4 to 20 people). Excursion services are also provided in the museum.
The main exhibition is open seven days a week from 8:00 to 20:00. The rest of the exhibitions are closed on Monday and Wednesday.
Detailed and most up-to-date information on the palace website: http://worontsovpalace.org (official website)
How to get to the Vorontsov Palace
Buses from the central bus station go here from Yalta. Go to the stop "Alupkinsky Palace". Further along the park on foot. By minibus you can get to the local bus station and, following the signs, walk 850 m. You can go by boat on the sea - this is an additional pleasure and experience. Then uphill from the beach. Address: Alupka, Palace highway, 18.
Vorontsov Palace on the map of Crimea
GPS Coordinates: N 44.419861, E 34.055972 Latitude / Longitude
On the shores of the Black Sea there is a magnificent architectural monument of the 19th century - the Vorontsov Palace. Its construction lasted 20 years and was completed in 1848 under the leadership of the eminent British court architect Edward Blore. The masterpiece of the era of romanticism was conceived as the residence of Count Mikhail Vorontsov, Governor-General of the Novorossiysk Territory.
The place for the construction of the palace was chosen by the count himself - on beautiful cape near Mount Ai-Petri in Crimea. The author skillfully combined the English and neo-Moorish styles with the Gothic and brilliantly entered the building into the existing landscape. Blore had never been there before, but according to sketches he "turned" the building so that its outline coincides with the outline of the mountains.
Diabase, a greenish-gray stone, was used in the construction of the building. It was mined in local areas. The drawings in the design of the building were very complex, the stone could crack during processing, so the best craftsmen who built churches in Central Russia were called in to carry out the masonry work.
So in the unremarkable and little-known Tatar village of Alupka until this moment, a castle of five buildings with numerous passages, stairs and courtyards appeared. Have front staircase the Lion Terrace is located. Six lions "sit" on either side of the magnificent staircase from white marble- one is "asleep", the other is "awakening", the rest are "awake" and "growl".
The Vorontsov Palace became the first in Russia to have a hot water supply system and a sewerage system built.
The construction of the palace complex took a huge amount at that time - about 9 million silver rubles. But she was on the shoulder of Count Vorontsov - the richest landowner of the Russian Empire.
History of creation
The history of the Vorontsov Palace is closely related to the events in the country. Soon after settling in, the count had to leave his new home in connection with his appointment to the Caucasus. The palace changed its owners - in different years the daughter of the Count Sofya Mikhailovna, the son of Semyon Mikhailovich, and the widow Maria Vasilievna lived in it. In the 1880s, the building was abandoned and abandoned.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Vorontsovs' relatives, the Dashkovs, set up sanatoriums and boarding houses there. After the revolution, the lands were nationalized. In the 1920s, as in some other large noble estates on the southern coast of Crimea, a museum was created there, which was named Alupkinsky. The collection of the museum was badly damaged during the Great Patriotic War... The Nazis took out more than 500 works of painting and graphics; later they managed to return not much.
After the war, the palace housed the state dacha of the NKVD. And finally, in 1956, the Crimean State Museum of Fine Arts was opened, which later became part of the Alupka Palace and Park Museum-Reserve. Today it houses a collection of paintings, sculptures and applied art, old documents telling about the construction of the palace.
Exhibitions and expositions
Exhibitions and expositions are located in many rooms of the Vorontsov Palace - in the halls, the Shuvalov wing, the Guest building, the Business building, the conference hall.
Thus, guests can see the expositions "The Main Halls of the Main Building", "The House of Count A.P. Shuvalov ”,“ Butler's Apartment ”,“ Sculpture of the Southern Terraces ”,“ Vorontsov's Kitchen ”, exhibitions“ Under the Plane Tree ”,“ Porcelain Pantry ”and others.
Reasonable prices are available for all categories of visitors. The cost of a ticket for adults is from 50 to 300 rubles, for students, pensioners and children from 16 to 18 years old - from 25 to 150 rubles. "Single ticket" costs 650 and 325 rubles, respectively.
For example, the exposition "The Main Halls of the Main Building of the Vorontsov Palace" works in the museum on a permanent basis. These premises have remained practically unchanged since ancient times. Decoration, furniture, even portraits on the walls have retained their initial appearance in a traditional English manner. During the tour, guests will see the ceremonial rooms of the main building, the Chinese study, the lobby, the Blue living room, Winter Garden, Front dining room, billiard room.
The exhibition "Vorontsov's kitchen" is located in the kitchen building of the Economic Yard. In this part of the palace, the servants not only worked, but also lived. Three rooms of this building are open to visitors, in which you can get acquainted with the interior of the palace kitchen. The first hall is spacious, located on an area of 60 square meters and two floors high. In the center there is a cast-iron slab adorned with cast ornamentation. Antique dishes, sink, samovars, cookbooks, pantry interior create a vivid unforgettable impression.
The exhibition "Reserved Taurida" is open in the conference hall of the palace. It will run until March 31, 2018. Visitors will be able to see 60 works of art from the museum's funds, their authors are domestic and foreign artists. The paintings depict the unreal beauty of the Crimean nature and palaces, parks, city streets, archeological monuments. The works were created in the first half of the 19th century, in late XIX- the beginning of the XX century, during the Soviet era. All of them represent the heritage of the Crimean people, which is preserved for future generations.
