Vorontsov Palace in Alupka: inner chambers and park. Virtual tour of the Vorontsov Palace

The Vorontsov Palace in Crimea is one of the most beautiful creations of human hands. Everything in it is striking: the elegant architectural style, the beauty of the sculptural compositions, the luxury surrounding literally at every step and, of course, the very place where it was built. With all this, he gained immense popularity and even greater interest among tourists. As a result, it is not surprising that the question of how to get to the Vorontsov Palace from Yalta is one of the most frequently asked in the South Coast.

Where is the ensemble located in the Crimea?

Vorontsov Palace is located on the south coast Crimean peninsula, in , near Yalta. It was built in the southwestern foothills of the Crimean Range, in fact, at the very foot of Mount Ai-Petri.

Palace on the map of Crimea

Open map

The history of the construction of the Alupka Palace

In the city of Alupka, the Vorontsov Palace was built as the residence of the Governor-General of the Novorossiysk Territory, Count Mikhail Vorontsov. Therefore, the construction was approached with special care. From the moment of marking the territory until the very completion of the construction, the governor-general personally supervised everything. Construction works began in 1828 and were carried out according to a joint project of recognized architects - Francesco Boffo and Thomas Harrison. The complex was planned in the spirit of strict classicism - popular style at that time, Vorontsov approved the project without hesitation.

However, after a trip to England, having become acquainted with the local romantic trends in architecture, he completely changed the original drawings. According to the new, final project, the palace acquired the appearance of a medieval castle. A young, talented English architect Edward Blore was involved in the construction, who contributed finishing touches into planning. The count spared no expense for the construction of his offspring; as a result, it cost him an astronomical amount for those times - 9 million rubles. But thanks to this, in 1848 the brilliant Vorontsov Palace in the Crimea became the most luxurious and majestic building.

With the establishment of Soviet power in the Crimea in 1920, this territory was nationalized. Already in 1921, it was converted into a museum, but at the same time, some of the buildings were given over to giving to party workers. With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, museum workers were evacuated from the Alupka Palace, except for the director Shchekoldin, who did not want to leave the expositions, which they did not manage to take out in the confusion. But the Germans did not have time to take them out in 1944 - largely thanks to the same director of the museum.

During the time, the British delegation and Winston Churchill himself were located. Between 1945 and 1955 it was a dacha for the highest officials of the NKVD, and since 1952 a sanatorium has also been located here. Since 1956, it again began to function as a museum, and in 1990 it was turned into the Alupka Museum-Reserve of Palace and Park Art.

The amazing architecture of Vorontsovsky

Many people now know where the Vorontsov Palace is located in Crimea, because since the middle of the last century it has become one of the most visited attractions of the peninsula. It gained such wide popularity due to its amazing architectural style. It is a bizarre mixture of different eras and cultures, it harmoniously intertwined Romanesque, Gothic, classical traditions with elements of the Moorish architecture of southern Spain.

Interior and exposition

The interior decoration of the Vorontsov Palace for the most part looks almost
as well as 100 years ago, in 1914: its interior was changed only slightly. For inspection by tourists, 8 halls are now open, among them:

• Personal office of Count Mikhail Vorontsov;
• Chinese cabinet, fully decorated in oriental style;
• Vestibule with portraits of the Vorontsov family;
• Blue living room with rich stucco in the form of rosebuds;
• Chintz room with original furniture XIX century;
• Dining room, made in the spirit of the Tudor era;
• Greenhouse, represented by all kinds of exotic plants;
• Billiard room.

For a fee, you can visit other buildings that are part of the palace ensemble and are of no less interest to visitors.

picturesque surroundings

In the vicinity there is a luxurious, broken on the slopes of a mountain range, represented by countless types of plants - both local and completely exotic for these places. The park area includes picturesque man-made ponds, beautiful waterfalls, fountains, all this is complemented by amazing sculptures. The alleys lead to the beach, from where an absolutely stunning view of the mansion immersed in greenery with a looming over it opens. By the way, this is a favorite place for tourists, where they invariably take pictures. The Vorontsov Palace is very photogenic!

How to get from Yalta?

The palace was built in 1826-1846 for Count M. S. Vorontsov, one of the largest Russian figures in the first half of the 19th century.

Nowadays, he would be called a top manager. Vorontsov was educated in England, where his father was the Russian ambassador in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. This partly explains that the palace was built in the style of English architecture. In 1823 he was appointed governor-general of the Novorossiysk Territory.

To build a palace and arrange a large park, Vorontsov buys land from the population of Alupka. For 10 years (from 1824 to 1833) were acquired land in 158 persons. Lands were bought for next to nothing, local population was forced out to the mountains, on stony soil.

The project of the Vorontsov Palace in Alupka was made by the English architect Eduard Blor. Initially, the construction of the palace began according to the designs of architects Thomas Harrison and Francesco Boffo. It is to them that the palace owes a portal niche. The Englishman William Gunt supervised the construction.

On the basis of the surviving plans and watercolors (the watercolor is on display), one can judge Blore's original idea and the changes made by Gunt. Blore designed the palace as a light pavilion with more pronounced oriental features than was later realized by Gunt.

Gunt made a number of small changes to the layout interior spaces main building. Instead of an open billiard room, he built a glazed winter garden - a light building surrounded by an open gallery, adjacent to the dining wing from the west, was rebuilt into a more monumental and heavy building. He changed the shape of the western towers, the layout of outbuildings and outbuildings.

From 1828 to 1830, a project of the palace was drawn up, material was prepared. But the real construction began with the laying of the first stones only in March 1830.

The palace was built from diorite - a beautiful greenish-gray stone of volcanic origin. It was taken from a natural placer on the territory of Alupka. And at present, heaps of diorite have been preserved in Alupka park in abundance - the so-called stone "chaos". To obtain building blocks, multi-ton shapeless blocks of diorite were taken, requiring large physical and time costs. Everything was done by hand with tools of that time. Diorite itself is a very strong and hard stone. Now I can’t even believe that the huge straight blocks for the walls are cut out by hand. Complex ornaments and decorations were carved from the same stone, entire domes and battlements were carved on the walls. Carefully polished diorite was used to decorate interior spaces.

Oddly enough, but the construction of the Vorontsov Palace did not begin with the famous northern facade of the central building. The canteen building was built first, and in parallel with it, from 1830 to 1834, the Shuvalov building was built, which was later transformed by Gunt into a billiard hall. Initially, it was intended for guests and Vorontsov's son-in-law Shuvalov.

After the construction of the western wing, work was carried out to the east. The central building, despite all the complexity of the implementation of architectural ideas, was planned to be completed by the arrival of the imperial family in Crimea in 1837. “With extraordinary efforts and expenses,” it was reported at the time, “this house was completed by the arrival of the imperial family. It is better to say that it was prepared: for some things, and especially decorations, both internal and external, were made only temporarily and after that they must be altered or completely destroyed. Internal and exterior finish the main building lasted four more goals after the emperor's visit to the Crimea.

In 1838, the clock tower and eastern wings were built. The winter garden was completed at the same time, but finally flourished with the advent of the lion terrace after 1841. The economic and library buildings were built from 1841 to 1846.

All construction work and interior decoration The palace was not performed by foreigners, but by simple Russian and Ukrainian craftsmen, mainly Vorontsov's serfs. Especially a lot of work here was done by Vladimir masons, who have long been famous for their art of erecting white-stone cathedrals and carving complex ornamental patterns on stone.

From almost all the estates of Vorontsov - from the northern regions and Ukrainian lands, serfs were forcibly driven to the Crimea. Many voluntarily came here in the hope of earning money. To early XIX centuries, the serfs of the northern estates of Vorontsov were transferred to a cash quitrent instead of corvée. In search of work, they traveled on foot from central Russia to the Crimea. But their hopes were in vain. For the work they received an insignificant amount, from which they had to pay dues. There was not enough money for bread. Working to exhaustion, people lived from hand to mouth.

During the construction of the Vorontsov Palace, twice in 1833 and 1837, epidemics broke out, killing thousands of builders.

Due to the lack of archival data, it is difficult to establish the exact number of serfs who built the palace for 18 years, but there is no doubt that several thousand people worked here.

Unfortunately, very few names of the builders have come down to us. It is known that serfs from the Vladimir province worked here: stonemason Dmitry Borovkov, gardener Maxim Ivanov, stonecutter Yermolai Ivanov, who made the Trilby fountain and one of the cascade fountains at the southern entrance to the palace.

After the death of Vorontsov, the palace belonged to his son, then to distant relatives of the Vorontsovs - Vorontsov-Dashkov, rich Russian noblemen. After the events of 1917, the palace became "people's" and was nationalized. In 1921, a historical and household museum was opened here, supplemented with objects of art and everyday life of other palaces and aristocratic estates of the Southern coast of Crimea.

During the Second World War, the resort could lose its main attraction Alupka. soldiers german army wanted to blow up the palace, but did not have time. In the spring of 1945, the British delegation settled in the palace to participate in the Yalta Conference. In 1956, the Museum of Fine Arts was opened, which became an architectural and artistic palace-museum two years later, which operates to this day.

Currently, the museum occupies the central, Shuvalovsky, dining, economic and library buildings of the palace complex. You can visit the following exhibitions and expositions: ceremonial halls and southern terraces, exhibitions “Gift of Professor V.N. Golubev”, “Paris Archive”, “The Cabinet of Count I.I. Vorontsov-Dashkov”, “Office of the commandant of the state dacha”, “Ukrainian painting”, “Count A.P. Shuvalov" "Flowers in Painting" and "Vorontsov's Kitchen".

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

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

the main attraction of the seaside town.

Rest 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 surroundings of a Russian seaside town on the southern coast of Crimea.

A particularly bewitching view of Alupka opens from the sea: in the center of the panorama on a hill flaunts the magnificent Alupka Palace (Vorontsovsky); buildings of coastal sanatoriums are stretched in a chain along the sea and are buried in the greenery of parks, and the teeth of the majestic mountain Ai-Petri dominate over them.

Ai-Petrinsky mountain range- one of the highest in the Crimea. Like a shield, he closes Alupka from the northern cold winds, and largest number sunny days a year (compared to the Black Sea resorts of the Caucasus) make this town on the Black Sea coast a wonderful resort - the second after Yalta on the southern coast of 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, from 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 war of 1812. In 1815-1818 he was the commander of the Russian occupation corps in France. In 1823-1854 - 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.

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

HISTORY OF THE VORONTSOV PALACE

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

In 1824 they begin to build 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 the Vorontsov Palace in Odessa). The palace was conceived in the neoclassical style. Four years later, the groundbreaking was completed, 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 goes to England to Edward Blore, and he only created his own project based on English Gothic based on the presented drawings of the area. Blor himself did not appear in Alupka - Vorontsov Palace in Crimea erected by his student William Gunt, who was recommended by the architect himself.

Gunt made a number of changes to the project. Thus, the Vorontsov Palace in Alupka 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 the Crimea, the southern gate, as opposed to the northern one, was made in the eastern Indo-Moorish style. Complementing the composition are marble lions by sculptor Giovanni Bonnani. The palace was built until 1848. The park was completed 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 - 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. Even today you can see many fragments of diabase rocks in the park.

The work was attended by foreign masters who were engaged in the garden, and the serfs of Count Vorontsov. The sculptor Roman Furtunov was especially successful, who was the only one of the serfs who received an equal salary with foreign masters.

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

It's built from diabase- material, which in its strength exceeds 2 times 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. Finishing lasted until 1852. The architecture of the palace is unique. It consists in a combination of different styles:

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

Shuvalovsky passage.

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

The western part of the palace (the so-called Shuvalovsky passage) appears before tourists in the form of a stone-paved street of a medieval city with old fortress walls with powerful towers and narrow loophole windows. 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 stalls with marble fountains in the center of each. Hidden in a shady pergola of flowering wisteria

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

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

South facade of the palace.

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

"There is no winner but Allah."

Marble lion on the south terrace.

PALACE INTERIORS

The main exposition includes 10 rooms. The rooms of the upper floor are closed so as not to overload the weakened ceilings. The tour begins through the side entrance, leading to the corridor that led to the count's office. Original rooms ground floor served as a bedroom for the Vorontsovs. 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 assembly rare plants from distant countries;

4. Billiard room;

5. Chintz room;

6. Chinese cabinet;

7. Lobby;

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

Each of the 150 rooms included in the palace ensemble is unique: the Print Room, the Blue Drawing Room, the Grand Dining Room, the Winter Garden, the Chinese Study, the Billiard Room, and the Lobby. Everywhere you can see the luxury and love of the owners for their home.

A special pride of the Alupka Palace - luxury fireplaces in gothic style made of marble-like limestone and polished diabase stone.

"Front lobby

The front vestibule is located in the center of the palace. From the south and north, two small vestibules adjoin symmetrically to it, and from the west and east there are offices and lounges. 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 study looks quite restrained, in English, but the abundance of wood in the room gives warmth and comfort to the interior. The wallpaper was specially ordered in England.

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

massive wooden doors complemented by oak paneling on the walls and wood-effect stucco ceiling. Against the wall is an antique ebony bookcase in the Boule style, bought by the owner of the palace himself. The cabinet is decorated with tortoise shell and complex carved bronze inlay.

Near bookcase settled down comfortably round table, English chairs and armchairs with gothic carvings. This arrangement of furniture gives the office an atmosphere conducive not only to business conversations, but also to friendly meetings.

Another reminder of Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov's Anglomania is a window in the form of a bay window. This element, often found in English architecture, visually enlarges the space of the office and gives more light. A table covered with 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, the peaks of Ai-Petri.

"The Chintz Room"

From the office we get into the Chintz room. It is called chintz because the walls of the room are really covered with chintz.

There is original fabric on the walls, the only flaw of which is the faded color. Initially, 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.

We pass through the Chintz Room to Chinese study of the mistress 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 office"

The room is decorated in the then fashionable oriental style, but without any specific references to China, India or the countries of the East in general. Oak panels, high lancet windows and doors leading to the southern terrace, to the sea, unexpectedly but successfully combine with rice mats embroidered with silk and beads on the walls and wooden carved details in the interior.

The ceiling in the room is not wooden, as it may seem, but stucco. Russian peasant Roman Furtunov skillfully made a plaster ceiling, imitating wood carving.

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

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

And a few lyrical digressions. From the school bench, many people know that Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin was carried away by the wife of the Novorossiysk Governor-General. It is believed that it was Elizabeth Vorontsova who Pushkin dedicated the poems "The Burnt Letter", "The Stormy Day Has Extinct...", "The Desire for Glory", "The Talisman", "Keep Me, My Talisman...".

There were rumors 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 believe that Pushkin was only a cover for the novel by Elizabeth Ksaveryevna with her relative and Pushkin's friend Alexander Raevsky. In any case, one can say thanks to Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov, who "contributed" to the change of the poet's southern exile to an exile in 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 Grand Dining Room is the most majestic hall of the Vorontsov Palace.

The area of ​​the dining room is about 150 sq.m., the height of the ceiling is 8 m. Under the Vorontsovs, it was illuminated by dozens of candelabra and chandeliers. An enormous table, composed of four offset pieces with polished mahogany tops, rises on pedestals with animal paws and occupies a large part of the room. By the window there is a massive sideboard on the same lion's paws as the tables, and under the sideboard there is an Egyptian-style tub for cooling wine, which was filled with crushed ice.

In the center of the northern wall of the main 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 - 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", which housed furniture set, 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 crater vases 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 in 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 valued at that time.

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

"Winter Garden"

Near the glazed wall, consisting of huge French windows, there is a row of marble busts, among which are sculptural portraits of representatives of the Vorontsov family - Semyon Romanovich Vorontsov, Mikhail Semenovich himself and his wife Elizaveta Ksarievna. 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 sent the sculptor from Russia within a day.

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

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

"Vorontsovsky Park"

The work on the creation of the park, which began 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 constantly heard.

Most of the paths of the Upper Park lead to the 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 to create the illusion of its natural rather than artificial origin. Under the Vorontsovs, the bottom of the lake was strewn with semi-precious "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 to be still, which is why the trees and the sky are reflected on its surface as in a mirror.

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

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

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 Angloman Count Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov. The count personally chose a place for his Crimean residence on a picturesque stone cape 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, the court architect of the British crown, managed to organically fit the building of the palace 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 that time for the novels of Walter Scott and oriental tales.

History of creation

Initially, the famous Italian architect Francesco Boffo, who had already built the palace in Odessa, was appointed to build the residence. To help him was the Englishman Thomas Harrison, an engineer, an adherent of neoclassicism. Work began, and by 1828 the foundation, which was filled with lead for seismic 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 ​​\u200b\u200bbuilding a neoclassical residence.

Vorontsov turns to the Englishman Edward Blore, a brilliant architectural historian, graphic artist and fashionable architect in his homeland. Most likely, Vorontsov was introduced to him by the Earl of Pembroke. New drawings had to wait almost a year. But Mikhail Semenovich liked the result, and in December 1832 the construction of 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, starting from the forms early medieval and ending with 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 inscribed the building in 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 with defensive towers, different in shape and height, united by many open and closed passages, staircases 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. Considerable efforts were required during its processing, since the decorations of the exterior of the house, complex in pattern, could spoil one wrong blow with a chisel. Therefore, Russian stone-cutters, who built white-stone churches in Central Russia, were invited for the most difficult stone-cutting work.

Main decorative ornament Vorontsov Palace - the motif of a sloping lancet keeled arch - is repeatedly repeated in the cast-iron balustrade of the balconies, and in the stone carved lattice enclosing the roof, and in the decorative decoration of the portal of the southern entrance, made in the Moorish style of the Alhambra Palace.

The design of the southern entrance facing the sea intertwines the drawing of a Tudor flower and the motif of a lotus, which culminate in the Arabic inscription repeated six times across the frieze: "And there is no winner but Allah", just as it is written in the Alhambra of Granada.

In front of the facade is the Lion Terrace and the monumental white Carrara marble staircase by the Italian sculptor Giovanni Bonanni. On both sides of the steps there are three pairs of lions: the bottom left is sleeping, the bottom right 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 XVI - early XVII centuries, resemble the harsh castles of English aristocrats.

By the way, this palace was one of the first in Russia, which was equipped with water supply hot water and sewerage.

The cost of building 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. Russian Empire. Elizaveta Ksaveryevna, the one with whom, according to one version, Alexander Pushkin fell in love in exile in Odessa, personally supervised the creation of the interiors of the building, took care of the decoration of the park and often paid for the work.

palace dwellers

Mikhail Semenovich did not manage to live long in the Alupka Palace. Another appointment followed - this time to the Caucasus. But in Alupka in the late 1840s, his daughter, Countess Sofya Mikhailovna, settled with her children. Then, after the death of Prince Vorontsov (he received the princely title in 1845), the palace, by right of majorate, passed to his only son, Semyon Mikhailovich. In 1882, his widow, Maria Vasilievna Vorontsova, went abroad and took many valuables from the palace. She had no children, the palace was abandoned, and by the end of the 19th century the building, the park and the economy fell into complete disrepair.

In 1904, new owners appeared at the castle - relatives along the line of the Vorontsovs-Dashkovs. The wife of the Viceroy of the Tsar in the Caucasus, Countess Elizaveta Andreevna Vorontsova-Dashkova, born Countess Shuvalova, vigorously set to work. She handed over 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 the Crimea, the lands of the Vorontsov-Dashkovs were nationalized. And on February 22, 1921, a telegram from Lenin arrived in the Crimea: “Take decisive measures for the actual protection of art treasures, paintings, porcelain, bronze, marble, etc., located in the Yalta palaces and private buildings, now assigned to the sanatoriums of the People's Commissariat of Health ...”

In the early 1920s, on the southern coast of Crimea, in a number of the largest noble estates museums were created, among them the Alupka Museum. The museum's collection 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 was found after the war and returned to the palace.

In February 1945, during the Crimean (Yalta) Conference, the Alupka Palace became the residence of the British delegation. Meetings of the heads of the allied powers - Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt - took place in the Grand Dining Room of the palace.

Later, the palace became the state dacha of the NKVD. In 1952, a sanatorium was placed there, and only in 1956, by decision of the Soviet government, the Crimean State Museum was opened here. visual arts. Since 1990, the palace has been 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 construction of the palace.

English park

The English park of the palace is the work of the German gardener-botanist Karl Kebach, whom Vorontsov invited to the Crimea in 1824, when there was no design for the palace itself. He zealously set about creating a park, taking into account the relief, climate and local flora, combining, however, everything with the latest achievements landscape 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 on the principle of an amphitheater, keeping in its structure links with the main palace and other architectural objects. The coastal highway (Yalta - Simeiz) divides the park into Upper and Lower.

The lower park is designed 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 era of romanticism - more natural and natural: in it rocky debris, shady ponds and preserved areas of the Crimean forest are interspersed with picturesque glades, unique system lakes, waterfalls, cascades and grottoes. Kebakh created the Upper Park as a place of contemplation of the sea and Mount Ai-Petri, towering over the park and the palace, like the ruins of a giants' castle.

carefully thought out drainage system and individual plant care did their job - many, even very rare and whimsical plants, took root well. In total, 250 species of trees and shrubs grew in the park by the end of the 19th century. The plants of the Vorontsovsky Park were so popular that the seedlings were even sold outside, to other gardens and estates.

The glory of Vorontsovsky Park as a masterpiece of landscape architecture was strengthened by artists who worked here on sketches: Isaac Levitan, Vasily Surikov, Aristarkh Lentulov ... And the parks, gardens and vineyards that belonged to Count Mikhail Vorontsov and his relatives - Naryshkin and Pototsky, completely changed the face of the coast from Alushta to Foros.

The Vorontsov Palace in Alupka (Crimea) is rightfully considered one of the pearls of the peninsula. An elegant and, at the same time, majestic building is located at the foot of Mount Ai-Petri. It is surrounded by a unique park complex, and from the main staircase opens amazing view to the Black Sea.

The palace complex organically fits into the surrounding landscape due to the fact that its location corresponds to the mountainous terrain. That is why the palace has such an original image. The Vorontsov Palace in Crimea and the park adjacent to it often became a film set. At least 17 films received recognition from the general public.

Ticket prices at the Vorontsov Palace in 2019

Ticket prices are listed on the official website of the complex. They depend on the selected expositions and excursions.

• Separate expositions and exhibitions: adults - from 50 to 350 rubles, students, pensioners and teenagers 16-18 years old - from 25 to 200 rubles.
• Walking tours of the park: adults - 100 rubles, students, pensioners and teenagers 16-18 years old - 70 rubles.
• Excursions in the park on an electric car: 800 rubles. from a group of 4-20 people.
• For preferential and free categories of visitors, as well as for children from 7 to 16 years old: a fee of 70 rubles is charged. for the use of audio guides.
• "Single ticket" (all expositions and exhibitions): adults - 830 rubles, students, pensioners and teenagers 16-18 years old - 450 rubles.

Opening hours of the Vorontsov Palace

You can visit expositions, temporary and permanent exhibitions daily from 09:00 to 17:00. At the same time, the State Halls and the South Terraces are open until 20:00 on Saturdays. There are guided tours of the palace park at 11:00; 13:00 and 15:00, but only if there is a group of 15 to 20 people. There are hiking and electric vehicle options. "Single ticket" can be purchased on any day except Monday and Wednesday.

History of the Vorontsov Palace

The first owner of the palace was His Serene Highness Prince Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov, a descendant of an ancient family known since the 14th century, a hero-order bearer who participated in many military campaigns and retired with the rank of field marshal general, Governor-General of Novorossiysk and Bessarabia, an honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences . After his death in 1856, close relatives of the prince alternately owned the palace. After the revolution, the object was nationalized.

The period of construction of the Vorontsov Palace in the Crimea refers to the period 1828-1848. To hard work quitrent serfs were involved, and the relief decoration was carried out by hereditary masons, and manually. At first, the Dining Building was erected, then the Central Building. Already in the forties of the 19th century, a billiard room, outbuildings, towers, guest and utility buildings, as well as a library appeared. Sappers worked diligently over the ledges of the South Terrace. Thanks to them, the Vorontsov Palace in Alupka acquired a chic front staircase, on the pedestals of which in 1948 lions were erected, made by the Italian master Giovanni Bonnani. This was the final chord in the design of the overall ensemble of the palace complex.

Already in 1921, the Vorontsov Palace in the Crimea, which had not changed its common name, turned into a museum. During the Second World War, the exhibits did not have time to hide, so many of them were taken away by the occupiers. The amounts stolen were enormous. During the Yalta Conference (February 1945), the palace temporarily turned into the residence of W. Churchill and his retinue. Until 1956, a government dacha was located here. Subsequently, a decision was made to reopen the museum, which is still functioning, but in a new status. In the 90s of the last century, the complex began to be called the palace and park museum-reserve.

Architecture

In the appearance of the building, elements of various eras and a successful combination are visible. architectural styles- strict English, with a direction towards neo-Gothic, and lush oriental, neo-Moorish. An interesting fact is that the palace began to be built according to one project (Italian Francesco Boffo and Englishman Thomas Harrison), and ended according to another (the famous British eclectic architect Edward Blore). By the way, the latter, while working on the project, did not visit Alupka, as he was too busy with orders from the royal family in his homeland.

The main material for the construction of the Vorontsov Palace in Alupka is diabase, which is superior in strength to granite stones. The museum-reserve includes five separate buildings, courtyards, a terrace, a front and additional stairs, as well as a park area.

palace inside

The official website of the Vorontsov Palace offers several interesting expositions to visit. The main exposition of the complex is the Ceremonial Halls located in the Main Building of the complex. Their decoration has been preserved almost in its original form. The design and decoration of the Front Office are made in accordance with all the rules of the English style. There are portraits of the first owner, as well as his associates who participated in the battle of Borodino. The Chinese cabinet is able to surprise visitors with elaborately decorated furniture and rice straw mats that occupy most of the wall surface. The vestibule with wooden profiled ceilings, austere furniture and fireplaces decorated with diabase portals is adjacent to the vestibule, which has an embroidered image of the Persian Shah. The blue living room impresses with its sophistication and amazing stucco decoration, once made by a serf craftsman.

AT winter garden you can see a climbing ficus, preserved since 1838, and rare exotic plants. There are interesting sculptures and a fountain here. The main dining room of the Vorontsov Palace in Alupka (Crimea) resembles a knight's castle. It attracts the attention of the original balcony for musicians and a fountain, shaped like a fireplace. The Ceremonial Halls are completed by a billiard room with artistic canvases placed on the walls.

The next exposition includes the one-story Shuvalov wing, which was accessible only to people close to the family of the daughter of M. S. Vorontsov. The cozy house has several rooms, each of which is interesting in its own way. Then you can go to the butler's apartment, located in the Economic Building, and see how the prince's attendants lived, receiving full board, and even a salary. Here you can look into Vorontsov's kitchen. And, finally, another exposition of the "South Terraces" includes the main staircase itself, sculptures of lions, flowering flower beds and cascading fountains.

In addition to the main objects of the Vorontsov Palace in Alupka, temporary and permanent exhibitions are located on its territory. Among them are Russian and Western European porcelain-faias, paintings by artists of different periods, including the second half of the 20th century, sculptures, graphics, etc.

Vorontsov Palace Park

The lower part of the park is characterized by the Italian regular style. Mostly coniferous trees grow around the palace complex - spruces, firs, cedars, pines and cypresses, so the territory always remains green. In spring and summer, magnolias bloom in the park, exotic shrubs and an amazing cercis, whose trunks are densely covered with violet-purple flowers resembling moths in April. The park of the Vorontsov Palace is incredibly beautiful, and walking along it is an incredible pleasure.

Vorontsov Palace - how to get there

There are several options for visiting the palace and park complex in Alupka. Two routes pass through the city - upper and lower, so you can get here from different settlements peninsulas interconnected by the South Coast and Sevastopol highways.

From Yalta

On the route Yalta - Vorontsov Palace, two buses regularly run - No. 132 from the center and No. 102 from the bus station. They stop within walking distance of the attraction - just a 10-minute walk. The stop of fixed-route taxis running between Yalta and Alupka (No. 107 and 115) is located a little further from the complex - a 15-minute walk.

From Sevastopol

You can get to the Vorontsov Palace by direct bus "Sevastopol - Alupka" either to the "Avtostanciya" stop and walk on foot, or to the "Pitomnik" stop with a transfer to the city bus number 1A, running along a circular route. Exit - at the stop "Center".

From Alushta

The path Alushta - Vorontsov Palace consists of two stages. First you need to get on the Crimean trolley bus number 53 to Yalta, and then transfer to a bus or fixed-route taxi(description above).

From Simferopol

From Simferopol, the Yalta trolleybus station, located near the Bus Station, can be reached directly from Simferopol Airport by trolleybus No. 55 or from the railway station by flight No. 52. Another option provides for a transfer connection in Alushta from trolleybus No. 51, coming from the Simferopol railway station , or No. 54, departing from the airport, to trolleybus No. 53, next to Yalta. Then the way to the Vorontsov Palace - how to get there is described above. Faster to Yalta can be reached by intercity transport.

Crimean taxi drivers and private cab drivers know very well where the Vorontsov Palace is located, so they deliver passengers not only from Yalta, but also from Foros, Gurzuf, Alushta and even Simferopol. When traveling by car, you will have to take care of the navigator in advance.

Important information Until October 2017, the Vorontsov Palace could be reached by sea. Alupka pier is currently closed due to its destruction