Description of the cottage Stamboli in Feodosia (Crimea)

The Crimean peninsula is famous for its ancient history, starting from the ancient Greek colonies, as well as numerous architectural monuments of a later time. One of them is Stamboli cottage in Feodosia.

A beautiful palace from an Eastern fairy tale, which is the hallmark of the city of Feodosia, is known as the Stamboli cottage. Who was this man with such an unusual surname?

Joseph Veniaminovich Stamboli (Karaite by nationality) was one of the three sons of the Crimean tobacco manufacturer. After the death of his father, he became the head of a prosperous, profitable enterprise. At the beginning of the twentieth century, he planned to build a summer house on the seashore as a gift to his wife in honor of the tenth wedding anniversary.

The building was designed and supervised by the then-famous Petersburg architect Oscar Wegener. The customer repeatedly intervened in the process, made changes in the style, elements of external and internal decoration. Construction was carried out from 1909 to 1914 and cost a substantial amount - more than one million rubles.

However, the family did not very long enjoy the new home. The revolutionary upheavals and the ensuing Civil War forced the entrepreneur to give up everything and leave Russia. Stamboli with his wife and two daughters moved to Turkey, and then to France, where he also engaged in trade.

The mansion, at first, was completely plundered, and then changed many "owners". Shortly after the revolution, they even wanted to demolish the house.

First, in 1920, it housed the local branch of the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission, then there was a sanatorium. During the Great Patriotic War, when the Crimea was occupied by the Nazis, the villa was adapted for a German hospital.

After the war, there was a pioneer camp, and in 1952 a sanatorium was organized again. Since 1984, the building housed a drug treatment center.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, difficult times began in the life of the architectural monument. In the period of the 90s the history of the mansion was very sad - it received more damage than for the revolution and all the wars. A bank, a hotel, and an elite restaurant under the corresponding sign - “Dacha Stamboli” alternately worked here.

Only in 2013, caring people made the decision to create a museum, but the cottage at that time was, one might say, in a rather miserable condition.

The situation changed after the Republic of Crimea became part of the Russian Federation. The government transferred 150 million rubles for major repairs and large-scale restoration. Many interior details had to be restored using archival data and old (pre-revolutionary time) photographs.

The architectural style of the cottages of Stamboli can be described as modern with Moorish and oriental elements. Similarities are also observed with the mausoleum of the Indian Maharaja and partly with the mosque and minarets. All this, together with rich decor, makes the building look like a magical palace from Arabian tales.

Its total area is just over 1,500 square meters.

The complex consists of two floors and includes a tower of four tiers, minarets, domes, covered terraces, columns. Inside the house is decorated with openwork lattices, stucco molding, gilding, wood and stone carving, mosaic. Arches have a lancet shape. An expensive parquet with a pattern of precious wood is laid on the floor, the doors are massive, wooden, covered with carvings. Large windows offer magnificent views of the sea and the promenade. Around the cottage there is a park where ancient trees have been preserved.

The internal layout consists of a large number of rooms for a wide variety of purposes. Here was the owner’s office, several living rooms, halls, bedrooms, nurseries, a winter garden with a fountain, a dining room and numerous utility rooms.

The interior makes a strong impression due to the mixture of styles, with the eastern being predominant.

Since 2013, the building has housed the Black Sea Center for Underwater Research and the Museum of Underwater Archeology. The exhibits present interesting artifacts found during the examination of the bottom of the Black Sea in the coastal waters around the Crimean peninsula and belonging to various historical eras and countries.

Here are ancient Greek amphoras, shards from ceramic dishes, anchors, coins, ship hull details, weapons, jewelry, jewelry, ship's magazines and some other documents.

Underwater archeology as a science first appeared about a hundred years ago in the Crimea, in Fedosia. After a difficult period of decline in the nineties and the beginning of the two thousandth years, work was resumed, and now young scientists are successfully continuing the work of their predecessors.

Recently, the Center was awarded a grant from the Russian Geographical Society. Thanks to this, it is planned to increase the survey area. And also there was an opportunity to engage volunteers. Projects have been developed for new underwater archaeological expeditions, including the study of sunken cities from ancient times, as well as dead ships.

Employees of the Center tracked down the descendants of the Stamboli dynasty in France and maintain contact with them.

In 2016, a full-scale reconstruction began in the museum and the surrounding area. The ceilings were removed and updated, emergency sections were removed, some elements of the decorative decoration were restored. The adjacent park also works. But by the summer season of 2019, the complex plans to start again receiving visitors.

The beautiful cottage-palace is a pearl, the main attraction of the city of Feodosia. Numerous tourists coming to the Crimea, with admiration, inspect this architectural masterpiece.

Address - 47a Aivazovsky Avenue. It is almost in the very center of the city.

You can walk from the bus station (two kilometers): south, first along the street. Fedko, then turn onto st. Ulyanov and go to the intersection with Aivazovsky Ave., where again turn south. In the same direction go minibuses No. 2 and 2A, regularly, with an interval of ten minutes. You need to exit at the stop "Listovnichnaya Street". From it to the architectural landmark is about three minutes walk.

The railway station is also not far from it to the country house on foot takes about twenty minutes, you need to go along Aivazovsky Avenue. You can get on the bus: from the stop "Book" to the cinema "Ukraine". The path from it to the monument will take no more than four minutes.

Usually people come to Crimea from April to September. However, in order to visit the museum, any time of the year is suitable.

Stamboli cottage in the city of Feodosia is not only a masterpiece of architectural craftsmanship, a celebration of the mixing of styles, luxurious interiors and a rich history, but now there is also a collection of artifacts raised by submariners from the bottom of the sea, as well as interesting discoveries by archaeologists that help in a new way to see and evaluate the historical events of our country (both in the distant past, and in relatively recent times).

You can see the Stamboli Palace closer in the next video.