Vorontsov Palace in Crimea and its owners. Personal qualities of M.S. Vorontsov. Northern facade of the Vorontsov Palace

In Crimea, there are several places where you must definitely visit, and one of them is Vorontsov Palace in Alupka and the surrounding park. There is a museum with an excellent exposition in the palace itself, and the park is picturesque at any time of the year, since its collection has a lot of evergreens, and the mild climate of the Southern coast of Crimea is conducive to long walks.

Fantastic beauty of man-made and miraculous miracles. Huge space with ancient trees, sea views and walks. And also - amazing story! Those who visited these marvelous places come back here again and again. Meet the palace and park museum-reserve, known as the Vorontsov Palace.

A bit from the history of the Vorontsov Palace in Alupka. Construction of the Crimean residence of the Governor-General Novorossiysk Territory Count M. Vorontsov was started in 1828 and completed twenty years later. The project was created by a team of talented foreigners. Including Edward Blore, the court architect of the English Queen Victoria (according to some reports, the foreigner has not even been to these parts!). His compatriot, architect William Hunt, watched over the Alupka Palace to fit into the surrounding landscape.

More about the palace ensemble

It includes:

main, shuvalovsky, library buildings;
clock and west tower;
winter Garden;
fountains;
palace courtyard;
summer terraces;
marble stairs leading to the sea.

The buildings were not built in a strict geometric grouping, as was customary. Blore arranged them according to the movement of the mountains. As a result, the palace, located at the foot of Mount Ai-Petri, harmoniously blended into the local landscape.

Its Moorish-style south façade is similar to the Alhambra Palace in Grenada. In front of it is the "Lion Terrace" with a magnificent staircase with marble lions.

What else is unusual about the Vorontsov Palace, a landmark of Crimea? Of course, the architecture of other eras. There are so many fabulous things here. Starting tracery suspension bridge from cast iron, front courtyard, bay windows, buttresses, side risalits, onion domes, pinnacles, domes, and ending with chimneys, arches, balustrades, balconies, palace interiors and so on. All this, like the history of the Vorontsov Palace in Crimea, is fabulously beautiful and interesting.

By the way, the similarity with the ancient castle-fortress, achieved with the help of closed spaces, watchtowers, window-loopholes, etc., similarity rear facade and its western part attracts filmmakers to the castles of English aristocrats.

Vorontsov Palace: a museum within a museum

No less beautiful is the Vorontsov Palace inside, where there are about 150 rooms. The museum now occupies several palace buildings - central, canteen, library and guest. Its main exposition is 8 front rooms with their figurative and artistic solutions.

Gothic reigns in the decoration of the lobby, foyer, large dining room, billiard room and library, where ceilings, doors and panels are made of bog oak.

In the introductory section of the museum, not only documents are stored, but also old drawings, lithographs, etc. The front office has exquisite English furnishings, sculptures, portraits of participants in the Patriotic War and the Vorontsov family.

Panels by the Frenchman Hubert Robert are hung in the dining room. The front rooms are lined with furniture made of oak, walnut and mahogany, candelabra, vases, crystal, porcelain, malachite products.

In the Print Room there are paintings by S. Shchedrin, N. Chernetsov, I. Aivazovsky. The living rooms - Malaya and Golubaya deserve attention. Moving from the latest to the most Big hall, a grand dining room, serves as a stunningly beautiful Winter Garden.

The halls and terraces of the facade portals are decorated with stucco, sculptural images of the family and relatives of the count, copies of sculptures of philosophers and ancient gods, paintings by famous Russian artists, their colleagues from Italy, France and England.

The billiard room contains Western European paintings of the 15th-18th centuries. The library impresses not only with its quantity - 25,000 books. books, but also by the fact that they were published in many European languages and on a variety of topics.

Alupka park

A bit of history. One of the largest newfangled parks at that time appeared earlier than the residence of Count Vorontsov itself. Through the efforts of the German gardener Karl Kebach, specially ordered by the count, the luxurious park of the Vorontsov Palace was laid out in 1820. The decision to arrange his residence here, the count, impressed by the new fashion trends that reigned in England, motivated:

warm climate;
a huge number of clean keys;
the neighborhood of the sea;
unparalleled views (on the sea, on the mountain range, etc.).

The creators' fantasy was amazing, the scale is visible in everything: in the abundance of sculptures, fountains and man-made lakes, various vegetation that regularly blossoms and turns green, literally enveloping the palace.

Its facade is decorated with roses, tekoma, wisteria. And then ... Here is the Ukrainian viburnum. Nearby - Chilean araucaria, olives and cypresses with laurels. There are so many exotic and familiar plants around us! How did all this take root on a rocky shore?

Thanks not only to the favorable climate, but also to the human genius! A talented foreigner has preserved local plants, inscribing them into the overall picture. Having brought shrubs and trees from afar, he thought of everything so that the “foreigners” would not need anything. As you can see, he succeeded.

The Vorontsov Palace in Alupka is one of the most visited Yalta palaces and the only one that I visited, and even then by accident. It’s not that I didn’t want to see it, but I really didn’t want to do it in the summer, it’s too crowded at this time.
The palace was built in the English style, and the building contains elements of various eras, from early forms to the 16th century. The farther from west gate, especially the later style of construction. The English style is combined with the neo-Moorish style. For example, Gothic chimneys resemble the minarets of a mosque. The palace was built from 1828 to 1848 as summer residence Governor-General of the Novorossiysk Territory, Count Vorontsov. Interestingly, the Vorontsov Palace is one of the first buildings in Russia, where sewerage and water supply were built for the comfort of living.

The main facade of the Vorontsov Palace

The palace was owned by three generations of the Vorontsov family. Since 1921, a museum has functioned in the palace complex. After the Great patriotic war for about 10 years the territory of the Vorontsov Palace was secret facility and there was a dacha for the party leadership. Now it is a museum again.

The Vorontsov Palace is located on the territory of Alupka Park, which was created by the famous botanist and gardener Karl Antonovich Kebach for 25 years. He designed clearings, placed trees according to their size. It was a matter of principle, because, according to Karl's plan, the trees were not supposed to block gorgeous view to the top of Ai-Petri mountain.

The park is spread over an area of 40 hectares. Geographically divided into Upper and lower parks. The park is designed in such a way that it complements the local nature. More than two hundred species of plants grow here, which were imported from the regions of the North and South America, Mediterranean. The cost of laying out the 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.

Map of Vorontsovsky park

The attraction of the park are piles of stones from solidified magma, ejected by the volcano since time immemorial, called "Big Chaos" and "Small Chaos". These chaoses were carefully inscribed in the layout of the park, a dozen paths were laid through the piles of stones, forming almost a labyrinth, benches were placed, and observation platforms. Separate blocks are entwined with ivy and wild grapes. Sometimes it is very difficult to believe that you are in a park, and not abandoned.

built in the park a large number of fountains. Most of them were built according to the designs of V. Gunt.
In general, in Crimea, there has long been a tradition of respect for water. The construction of a fountain, both in the Muslim Crimea and in Russia, was considered a worthy deed, and even charitable. Where at least some trickle flowed, they put a fountain, decorated it with a saying from the Koran or the emblem of an engineering department, sometimes they beat out the date. Along the old roads, in the old Crimean settlements, a lot of these ancient fountains have been preserved, many are still functioning.

Three ponds are also artificially created on the territory of the park: Upper, Mirror and Lebediny. Around the ponds grow maples, ash and dogwood.

To decorate the bottom swan lake Count Vorontsov ordered 20 bags of semi-precious stones, which were delivered by ship. IN sunny weather they created an indescribable beauty play of light.

The owner chases the ducks out of his property

A couple more interesting facts about the park, according to the guides. Vorontsovsky park grew literally on blood, for the soil under the trees was abundantly fertilized with the blood of freshly slaughtered animals. A separate gardener was assigned to each tree, who did not sleep, did not eat, but watched his ward, cherished and cherished.

The Chilean Araucaria owes its name to the Araucans - Indians living in Chile, for whom the fruits of this tree form the basis of the diet. This copy is over 130 years old. It does not develop well in our conditions. In its homeland, it grows up to 50 meters in height, has a trunk up to one meter in diameter. There are only 5 such trees in Crimea. Araucaria branches are covered with sharp thorns, so neither monkeys nor birds sit on them.

Chilean araucaria

Crimean pine

pistachio

lower park

The fountain "Maria" is made based on the famous Bakhchisarai fountain, sung by Pushkin. The fountain is made of white and colored marble and decorated with shells and rosettes. Water falls in small drops from one bowl to another, forming a quiet, even rhythm of drops - “tears”.

Mary Fountain (Fountain of Tears)

From the sea is the famous lion terrace.

The southern entrance is decorated with oriental splendor. The Arabic inscription translates as: "And there is no winner but Allah."

coral tree

Fountain of Bakhchisarai

I didn’t go inside the palace, I really don’t like a slender run in the crowd. Maybe some other time I'll visit.

Winter Garden of the Palace

During the Yalta Conference in February 1945, the British delegation headed by W. Churchill lived in the Vorontsov Palace. A curious story is connected with him, which happened during a walk in the park of Churchill and Stalin. Churchill, who really liked the sleeping lion sculpture, said that he looked like himself and suggested that Stalin ransom him. Stalin refused this offer, but suggested to Churchill that if he answered his question correctly, then Stalin would present a sleeping lion. "Which finger on the hand is the main one?" - such was Stalin's question. Churchill replied: "Of course, index." “Wrong,” Stalin replied and twisted the figure from his fingers, which is popularly called the figurine.

sleeping lion

Fountain "Sink"

The southern facade of the Vorontsov Palace and the Lion's Terrace

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.

For the construction of the palace and device big park Vorontsov buys land from the population of Alupka. For 10 years (from 1824 to 1833) land plots were purchased from 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 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. The interior and exterior decoration of the main building lasted four more goals after the emperor's visit to the Crimea.

In 1838 was built clock tower and east wings. 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 northern regions and Ukrainian lands, serfs were forcibly driven to the Crimea. Many voluntarily came here in the hope of earning money. By the beginning of the 19th century, 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 nobles. 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. The soldiers of the 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. Museum opens in 1956 fine arts, which became an architectural and artistic palace-museum two years later, operating to this day.

Currently, the museum occupies the central, Shuvalovsky, dining, economic and library buildings. 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".

For more than a hundred years, one of the favorite and popular attractions of the Crimea, created by man, is the Vorontsov Palace, amazing in its beauty. In the middle of the 19th century, it was the residence of the famous Russian count, and today it has become a museum visited by tourists not only from Russia and Ukraine, but also from far abroad countries. History of the palace

In 1828, in the Crimea, in Alupka near Mount Ai-Petri, they began to build the residence of Count M. S. Vorontsov, a prominent Russian figure, and concurrently the Governor-General of the Novorossiysk Territory. They didn’t even build a house or a mansion, but a huge palace from the strongest diabase, which was mined nearby. The project of the residence was developed by the English architect Edward Blore. The Englishman had never been to the Crimea, but before starting the project, he studied the relief of the mountainous terrain from books and drawings.

The construction of the palace took twenty years. It was a truly grandiose construction site, where soldiers from the engineer battalion and serfs from the Moscow and Vladimir provinces worked. They did all the menial work, but they were not allowed to cut stones - this was done by hereditary stonecutters who took part in the construction of white-stone Moscow palaces.

Palace architecture

The palace was built gradually, building by building. First, a dining room was built, then the central building and a billiard room were attached to it. After that, the eastern wings, the guest and utility buildings, the towers of the palace appeared. The construction was completed with the design of the Front Courtyard and the construction of the library.

No wonder the architect studied the local landscape so scrupulously - he managed to arrange the palace, as it were, according to the relief of the mountains and make it seem to be one with them. You see him and you understand that he is really in his place.

The architect created the palace in the English style, mixing several eras at once, the latest of which is the 16th century. At the same time, the elements are arranged in chronological order - the closer to the gate, the older the style. There is Gothic here, there is classicism, there is the wealth of the East: arches, vaults, inscriptions in Arabic.

Is it worth talking about the richness of the interiors of the palace? In their design, expensive wood, natural stones, and precious metals were used. Each room was decorated in a special way, in the spirit of a particular era or country. For example, there is a calico room here, Chinese cabinet, blue living room. Dining room as in medieval castle- it is decorated with giant panels and rich wood carvings.

The fate of the palace

Before the revolution, the Vorontsovs owned the palace. But when the power in the country changed, the owner also changed famous castle- it was nationalized, and in 1921 a museum was opened here.

During the war, they did not have time to take out the most valuable exhibits from here, and the invaders got them. The Germans transported to Germany collections of paintings, antique utensils, figurines and other things that the Vorontsovs once owned. Some paintings were returned after the war, but most of them ended up in private collections.

Winston Churchill himself was able to appreciate the decoration of the Vorontsov Palace - during the Yalta Conference, the palace was his residence.

From 1945 to 1955 the palace was a government dacha, and from 1956 to the present time it has been a museum-reserve.

What is shown to tourists?

Inspection of the palace, visitors begin with unique park, which was created back in the time of the Vorontsovs by the gardener-botanist Karl Kebach. For more than 25 years, on an area of 360 thousand square meters, he planted and grew the rarest flowers and shrubs. The garden is also decorated with stone lions, specially created by the Italian sculptor Giovanni Bonnani.

Today, several expositions are constantly working in the halls of the palace, which tell about the palace itself and the Vorontsov family. It also displays works of art that have been preserved and returned. In total, the palace has 27 thousand exhibits, and in the library, which Count Vorontsov himself began to collect, there are more than 10 thousand books!

The material was prepared by Yulia Savoskina.

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The Vorontsov Palace in Alupka is a palace of stunning beauty, surrounded by a charming park, located at the foot of Mount Ai Petri. There are a huge number of attractions on the southern coast of Crimea, but Alupka is always full of tourist groups. There is something special and attractive about this place. The English castle of Count Vorontsov in the Crimea, surrounded by greenery, does not leave anyone indifferent, and makes you return there again and again.

The palace in Alupka is a former dacha, the summer residence of a prominent political figure of the 19th century, the former governor of Novorossia, Mikhail Vorontsov. Love Russian politician to everything English was understandable - the father of Count Vorontsov was an ambassador Russian Empire in England, so Michael's entire childhood was spent in London. After nationalization, the former residence became a museum.

I went on excursions in the Crimean Vorontsov Palace twice: the first time in April, the second time in August. In every season, the palace and the territory that adjoins it looked amazing. It is best to choose April or September to visit the palace, but during the season it is not overcrowded.

In order to approach the main entrance to the palace, you need to go along the narrow corridor of the palace walls (Shuvalovsky passage). It is quite cool here in summer, as there is almost always shade here. When you come here for the first time, you don't expect to see a real English castle in Crimea. Passing through the narrow, harsh passage, the heart stops in anticipation of something unusual. And very soon curiosity will be rewarded with a vengeance.

After the path through the corridor of powerful walls has been passed, tourists find themselves in a small square in front of the palace. A castle appears in front of your eyes, built in the English style, and by the same architect Edward Blair, who was the author Buckingham Palace in London.

The first thing you notice is the unusual material of the castle walls and walls. Later, according to the guide, we learned that this is a very hard and rare stone of volcanic origin - diabase. The palace was built by more than 6 thousand serfs of Vorontsov, as well as craftsmen-masons specially brought from Moscow and Vladimir regions. To create an unusual surface, each stone was processed by hand! The work must be said to be skillful and very painstaking. Vorontsov built this castle with his own money, for himself, in good conscience.

In the yard we waited for it to form excursion group and, looking up, they saw the teeth of Ai-Petri brightened by the sun's rays - a kind of pointed rocks located at the very top of the mountain. This is one of the best landscapes Crimea!

You can get on an excursion to the Vorontsov Palace freely, they are held daily. Each group is accompanied by a guide, the tour takes place in Russian. It was very interesting to listen to the guide, from her lips we heard a lot of interesting information about the history of the palace.

A few minutes later we crossed the threshold and felt like we were in an old English castle. The palace has many architectural features: on one side (northern) the building resembles an English castle, and on the southern facade - a Moorish mosque. In addition, the castle is so skillfully inscribed in the mountain landscape that it seems that nature itself created and placed it here.

The castle has more than 150 rooms, but about 9 state rooms are open for tours.

This palace belonged to three generations of the Vorontsovs, so the interior elements changed a little, because each owner wanted to bring something of his own, modern.

We first entered the main dining room. Special attention I was attracted by a small bowl, which somewhat resembled a miniature fountain. As it turned out, this bowl served to cool drinks.

Each room of the Vorontsov Palace has its own unique style and color. It was very pleasant to be in the blue room, I liked it the most. Here the walls are blue, they have stucco flowers and golden furniture.

The dining room, decorated in the English style, is very interesting.

In the office

After visiting several other rooms, we went out into the winter garden, where we saw a variety of species tropical plants and fine figurines.

Winter Garden

From the winter garden leads to a terrace overlooking the sea. When we arrived there, we saw beautiful sunset the sun, which looked very romantic against the background of the sea horizon.

View of the sea from the terrace of the Alupka Palace

On the way to the sea there is a staircase, on both sides of which there are sculptures of lions made of Carrara marble by an Italian master. There are also features here. At the very top of the terrace, there are awake lions, at the very bottom of the terrace there are figures of sleeping lions.

Lions, terrace of the Palace in Alupka

Sleeping lions, Alupka

Surrounds the Vorontsov Palace magnificent park with many unusual plants from the subtropics and beyond. Walk through it in summer time year, when everything blooms and pleases the eye - a pleasure.

Alupka Park is divided into two parts: Upper and Lower. The upper part of the park is more "wild", while the lower part is a well-groomed classic park in the English style.

In the park you can see a copy of the Bakhchisaray fountain.

Copy of the Bakhchisaray fountain

Numerous waterfalls, lakes, quinoa, trees of unusual shape are hiding in the "wild" part of the park.

Alupka Park also has its own attractions, such as "Big" and "Small Chaos". - a huge pile of diabase stones.

Big Chaos

Swan lake in Alupka park.

I recommend after the tour to take a walk in this garden, relax in the shade from the summer heat and, of course, do a lot beautiful photos. This park is also called Alupka Park, where you can see about 200 species of various plants: exotic plants, various shrubs, acclimatized plants from other continents.

View from Vorontsovsky Park

Vorontsovsky park

The landscape of the park is presented in the form of an amphitheater, at the bottom of which there is an exhibition park pavilion "Tea House". We did not manage to visit it, because it was closed for restoration.

Prices for visiting the Palace

The cost of an adult ticket is 70 hryvnias (8.75 dollars), for children - 35 hryvnias (4.38 dollars), photography - 10 hryvnias (1.25 dollars).

How to get to the Vorontsov Palace

You can visit the Vorontsov Palace by getting to Alupka at the following address: st. Palace Highway, 10. By car, you can get here along the South Coast Highway, this route runs along the sea through the entire South coast Crimea. If you go along this highway to the Vorontsov Palace from the side of Sevastopol, then there will be a right turn to Alupka, and if from the side of Yalta, then to the left.

From Yalta from the bus station can be reached by the following bus routes: 27, 26, 107, 42.

Passing buses go from Sevastopol: "Sevastopol - Miskhor", "Sevastopol - Yalta".

From Simforopol: buses "Simferopol - Simeiz", "Simferopol - Kastropol".

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