Vorontsov Palace in Crimea: features, history and location

If we talk about the architectural monuments of Crimea, the first to come to mind is the famous Vorontsov Palace in Alupka. Even those who have never been there, only when viewing a photo can note that the beauty of this building in the context of an equally impressive park, towering above the Black Sea, does not need to be evaluated. I just want to see it with my own eyes!

Vorontsov Palace, without a doubt, refers to outstanding examples of the architecture of romanticism. The Crimean residence of Count Vorontsov (by whose surname we know the building today) was built for about two decades. In 1848, the palace finally saw the light of day.

Who is this Count Vorontsov? Information about him is eloquent: Governor-General, aristocrat, Angloman, count. He personally determined the place where his palace will be. A man, of course, possessing a taste and analytical mind, decided that it would be better to find a stone cape near Mount Ai-Petri. Moreover, today the city of Alupka is widely known, and at that time it was an ordinary Tatar village.

To carry out the work, the count decided to invite by no means a local architect, the British Edward Blor (known for the construction of Walter Scott Castle in Scotland) was awarded the honor to build residences. He was a court architect of the English monarchs. Therefore, Blor built the future pearl of the Crimea in a stylistic plexus, where the English style was clearly guessed.

The Governor-General did not immediately come to the decision to invite Blor.Francesco Boffo, an eminent Italian master, was to become the author of the residence. And such a choice was quite logical - it was he who built the Count's palace in Odessa. And Boffo's assistants chose the British Thomas Harrison, an admirer of neoclassicism, a very talented engineer. But in 1828 construction began, and a year later Harrison died. They stopped working for a while, and the idea of ​​neoclassicism, apparently, seemed to Vorontsov not so interesting.

And so the count decides to turn to Blor, a very fashionable graphic artist in his circles, an architectural historian. The eminent British was in no hurry with the presentation of the drawings, Vorontsov had to wait about a year. And here is the result: the count likes Blor’s ideas, in 1832 construction continues. The Governor-General did not regret that he trusted the Englishman: the architect managed to create a masterpiece in which there is nothing accidental.

The image of the palace demonstrates how medieval European and Moorish architecture developed. The building is expanded so that the features of the mountains visible because of it are guessed.

One of the hallmarks of the palace (and it has a lot of them) is majestic lions. Three pairs of lions are sitting, as if guarding a monumental staircase of valuable white marble. The design of the palace, in which Tudor England is guessed, friezes with an inscription in Arabic, a keeled lancet arch, which can be seen both in the grating by the roof and in the cast-iron balustrade, also deserves attention. The palace really fascinated with every step taken along its square.

Finally, it is interesting that it was made extremely modern in the sense that it was the first palace in Russia with plumbing, hot water and sewage. And this is the middle of the XIX century! Of course, the reader will have a question - what is the budget of this luxury? 9 million rubles in silver, the largest amount at that time. But the count, who married Elizabeth Branickaya, had such opportunities. By the way, the wife of Vorontsov herself followed the progress of the work, carefully watched the decor of the park.

If you can’t wait to go there, need to get to Alupka, this is Crimea. There is a palace, as already mentioned, at the foot of Ai-Petri Mountain.

Alupka - a city located on the southern coast of Crimea, is a seaside climatic resort. Once Alupka belonged to the Ottoman sultans, for some time it was owned by Prince Grigory Potemkin. Count Vorontsov became the owner of the village in 1823. In addition to the palace, the Governor-General built a mosque and a church in his possession.

After the Civil War, 22 health centers operated on this territory. By the way, Gorky, Chaliapin, Bunin, Bryusov, Rachmaninov and others were treated in them. The city of Alupka became in 1938.

On the map you can see that the city is located near Yalta. Indeed, between the two settlements only 17 km. The main attraction of Alupka is the palace itself, as well as the park adjacent to it. And also, if you go to this address, do not be too lazy to visit the museum-apartment of Arkhip Kuindzhi.

Geographically, Alupka is a Yalta city district. There is a town between Yalta and Sevastopol. This means that the excursion program will be extensive and interesting to the tourist. Buses run from Simferopol to Yalta every 20-40 minutes. If you arrived at the Crimean airport, you do not need the Central Bus Station, where the buses come from, but the Simferopol-Airport station.

There is also such an option as a trolleybus Simferopol - Yalta. Incidentally, this option is noteworthy in that it is itself a retro tour.

The airport is located in Simferopol, because if you fly, then the arrival point is this beautiful city. A shuttle service is available directly from the airport. True, do it in advance.

From Yalta, take a minibus to Alupka in about half an hour. The road from Sevastopol will take a little more than an hour.

A palace was built from diabase - natural, actually local stone (by the way, granite twice as strong in strength). It would seem that such massive material was to make the palace heavy, even awkward. But nothing like that!

What to see inside the castle.

• Chinese office. These are the possessions of the count’s wife, E. Vorontsova. It was not a purely study, but also a boudoir, because the ladies' character in the room is very guessed. Windows overlook the southern terraces, the doors send to the veranda. The name of the room is not embedded in every centimeter of it: unless the panels trimmed with rice mats give a reference to the word "Chinese". The Chinese motif is carefully embroidered on them with beads and silk thread: over time, of course, it faded, but the work of Russian embroiderers is visible and admires today. A lot of the cabinet is decorated with wood carvings. The ceiling is decorated with stucco.

Entering here, the visitor's eyes widen - this is not a modest study of a writer or official, this is a place where each carved animal figure or flower is a small work of art.

• Front office. Despite its name, it looks more modest than the Chinese. Just Spartan conditions regarding those expectations that have already arisen in the visitor’s head. But here, too, the fireplace is made of the notorious Ural marble, a large bay window, and wooden panels. The count was a true Angloman, and this cabinet is a vivid confirmation of this. Restraint, not contrary to style - this can be described as a front office. Being in this room, take the trouble to look up: the ceiling is gorgeous, this is a wood-like painting on alabaster.

• Chintz drawing room. The room serves as a connector of two cabinets - Chinese and front. The walls of the room are distinguished by chintz decoration, the style is French Rococo. Chintz was not replaced by an analogue, these are the same walls that were with the owners of the palace. Of course, time made them a little pale, but not so much that it was impossible to appreciate the original beauty.

• Front lobby. And here is a reference to the Count's favorite English style. You go through the front door, you find yourself in a large solemn room, which immediately makes you respect. As visitors to the palace admit, in such walls one involuntarily wants to settle down. In the lower part of the room there is relatively little furniture, as well as two fireplaces with marbled styling. In the upper part - the owners, all Vorontsov, as well as the royal family. Portraits, as befits, are huge, ceremonial. Decor - sconces, candelabra.

• Front dining room. That's where the richness of the atmosphere is literally striking. It seems you find yourself in a medieval knight's castle. The room is dark, although the bay windows do not have that. The main decor is still the same perfect wood carving: ceiling, panels, as well as sideboards, sideboard. The heavyweight mahogany long table with chairs in a row is also impressive.The chandelier made of bright red copper, as well as the curtains, which surprisingly harmonize with the upholstery of the chairs, attracts attention. For musicians, a special balcony is arranged, again, a carved wooden one. This room also has two fireplaces with a very delicate diabase finish.

• Blue living room. Even if all the other rooms did not make you breathe more often and blink less often, the famous blue living room falls in love at first sight. Another name for the room is Syraskir. The walls and ceiling of the room are decorated with ornaments. White stucco molding with floral motifs looks amazing on a delicate background in blue. It covers not only the walls, but also the ceiling. The windows are located at the end of the room, which studies so much space and light that there is a complete feeling of being in the fresh air. An artistic room adjoined this room, to which fame was brought only by a wall mirror in a massive baroque frame, an armchair and candelabra.

• Winter Garden. Originally it was a gallery, and then a fountain gurgled there, copies of ancient sculptures, portraits of the family took their places. The thermophilic plants that are here are unique. Ficus-repens is a real long-liver of the winter garden, which still made its original appearance.

• Turkish room. This is a southern vestibule, a small room with two real Persian rugs. On one of them the Persian shah is skillfully embroidered. Work was done in the stained-glass window technique of an unusual butt seam: today, information about how the woven color fragments of the master were connected was lost.

It is difficult to say who else is able to repeat this beauty without resorting to the possibilities of modernity. This is a unique Russian estate, eclectic, verified in its stylistic persuasiveness to the smallest element.

Unfortunately, the heirs of Count Vorontsov could not, without the insidious intervention of time, preserve the palace in all its splendor. At the end of the 19th century, the magnificent building fell into decay. But the new owners, who appeared at the palace in 1904, also attributable to relatives of Vorontsov, got down to business with an enviable grip. The lands of Countess Vorontsova-Dashkova were surrendered to boarding houses and sanatoriums.

When the Soviets came to power, the estate lands were nationalized. Lenin ordered the protection of artistic values, and soon a museum was opened in the palace. But his collection during the war years suffered a lot, the occupiers managed to take out a lot.

A modern visitor can visit the exposition “Front Halls of the Main Building”, as well as the exposition of the “House of Count A.P. Shuvalov.” Today you can also see Dvoretsky’s apartment, a sculpture of the Southern Terraces, Vorontsov’s kitchen.

In these places, seaside, romantic, always attracting with their historical mystery, some timelessness, ordinary tourists, artists and aspiring artists, students and pensioners come from far away. Of course, if you are prepared for a visit, if you already have an information base, the tour itself will seem more interesting to you, saturated with the smallest details and an immersion in history. Probably, this will entail a desire to visit other glorious places, structures, buildings of the same era.

An overview of the Vorontsov Palace, see the video below.