The one whose foot has stepped on the Crimean land, generously endowed with natural riches, is familiar with the nagging feeling of nostalgia that encompasses this unique place when recalling. And no matter how luxurious the Turkish and Egyptian resorts, Crimea deeply penetrates the soul and remains in it forever.
Amazing place
Crimea is famous not only for its warm, but sometimes unpredictable sea, gentle sun, mild climate and incredible natural beauties. Millennial history and many historical monuments belonging to different eras and cultures, makes it a very special place to relax.
On the peninsula, you can not only enjoy measured days on the beach. Numerous excursions will make it possible to diversify your stay in Crimea, giving you the opportunity to touch on bygone moments of history, take a walk around the Khan's palace, climb high into the mountains or, as in a fairy tale, go down to the underground or underwater kingdom.
Massandra
One of the most outstanding sights is the Massandra Park in Yalta, or more precisely, three kilometers from it. Now it is almost impossible to determine where the city ends, and in which place Massandra begins.
Born in ancient times, it stopped for a long time in time, and now its population does not exceed nine thousand people, allowing the rapidly growing Yalta inexorably to approach. However, it was this small village that earned worldwide fame for its excellent wines, concealing the astringent taste of grapes, a hint of bitterness of mountain herbs and the freshness of the sea breeze.
Much less famous is the magnificent estate in Massandra Park. Its classic beauty and difficult history as a magnet attract an increasing number of tourists.
Milestones in History
For thousands of years, the Crimean lands have been a tidbit for the Greeks and Genoese, the rulers of the Ottoman Empire and the Crimean Khanate. After the peninsula was annexed to Russia in 1783, among the tsarist nobles and successful military leaders, there were immediately many who wanted to get beautiful lands.
Strange as it may seem, the first owner of Massandra was the Frenchman - Marshal Nassau-Siegen. Impressed by the beauty of this mountainous area, he dreamed of staying here forever, but fate decreed otherwise. Marshal left for his homeland, and Sofia Pototskaya acquired his Crimean patrimony. The countess made grandiose plans to lay a new city in Massandra and had already come up with a name for it - Sophiepol. But her plans were not destined to be realized.
The next owner of the estate was Olga Naryshkina, daughter of the late Countess Potocka. It was under her that the transformation of the oak-hornbeam forest into the Massandra park that later became famous. The well-known gardener Karl Kebach invited to work laid paved paths in the lower part of the forest, smashed shady alleys, and everywhere arranged flower beds filled with fragrant plants. His successful attempts to combine plants from various climatic zones in a single complex still delight tourists visiting Massandra Park. Nearby grow Crimean juniper, dogwood, yew, Mediterranean pines and cypresses, Asian bamboo.
In 1828, the Crimean lands of Naryshkina passed to the family of Count Vorontsov, who personally continued to improve the park. Upper Massandra was cultivated only slightly, retaining all its inherent natural characteristics.
Present park
Today, Massandra Park is spread over an area of 49.1 hectares, on which more than 250 species of various plants grow. What is impossible to see in the wild, successfully combined in this well-kept reserve. Crimean pines, fluffy oaks, strawberries, junipers amiably side by side with exotic sequoia, dendrons, laurel, bamboo and magnolia.
The white acacia planted by Kebach, to which Count Vorontsov had a special inclination, perfectly stuck in the territory of Massandra Park and for almost 200 years has been one of the most popular plants on the southern coast of Crimea.
Special glades, laid out by a flower carpet, are arranged in such a way that with each of them a magnificent view of the sea opens, and evergreens will be a wonderful frame of this picture.
Vorontsov Castle
Count Vorontsov could not resist the beauty of nature - gray cliffs covered with moss, picturesque piles of stones, a centuries-old pine forest that fills the air with special volatile, all that Crimea is so famous for. Massandra Park seemed to him a great place to live in the hottest months. For the construction of the magnificent palace, the count invited the popular architect of that time, Bouchard.
According to the architect's plan, in the thick shadow of the centuries-old trees of Upper Massandra, against the background of gray cliffs, a romantic Renaissance castle was to appear. Towers had to give special expressiveness to the structure - two round and square, sloping roofs, elegant attics. But due to the sudden death of the architect first, and then of Count Vorontsov himself, the construction process stopped for a long ten years.
Emperor’s palace
Only in 1889, when Massandra Park, together with the unfinished castle, was purchased for Emperor Alexander III, the construction of the palace continued. M.E. Messmacher, the new architect, added sophistication to the building, complementing it with numerous balconies, terraces, galleries, cladding its facades with yellow tiles.
Gilded double-headed eagles, forged lattices, painted vases emphasized the belonging of the palace of the imperial family.
Massandra Park, whose photos give far from a complete picture of its beauty, has also undergone improvement. On the balconies and terraces of the palace, as well as in park alleys, Messmacher established decorative vases, columns, sculptures of sphinxes, ancient gods and chimeras.
An additional wall was erected on the eastern side of the palace to protect it from landslides and mudflows. Decorated with columns, statues and fountains, it organically blended into the palace and park complex.
Interior decoration
What is the first thing that catches the eye of visitors to the palace complex is the small size of all the interior spaces. After all, this residence was designed for the rest of the royal family, and not for magnificent receptions and balls.
The rooms lack the typical luxury of imperial palaces. In Massandra everything is arranged quite simply - wooden wall panels, marble fireplaces, stained-glass windows, stucco molding are the main decoration of the premises. Unfortunately, the royal family did not have to spend a vacation in the Crimean palace. Alexander II died without finishing, and his son Nicholas II did not manage to visit his southern residence.
How to get there
In the high season, hundreds of tourists seek to get to Massandra Park. Getting to him from Yalta is extremely simple. Regular buses to Gurzuf regularly leave from the lower platform of the Yalta bus station. A stop "Turn to the Massandra Palace" will not miss a single driver.
A shuttle bus No. 29 runs from the central market towards Massandra. Having reached the Chernomorets stop, you can walk to the palace in a few minutes. A walk in the shadow of centuries-old alleys will give tourists a lot of positive emotions. A visit to the Massandra Palace will give an idea of the lifestyle of the imperial family and will allow you to at least briefly feel like a Russian aristocrat.