Count Vorontsov Palace. Vorontsov Palace in Crimea. Vorontsov Palace inside - photo and description

The Alupka Palace, a masterpiece of Romanticism architecture, was built over almost 20 years, from 1828 to 1848, by order of the powerful Governor-General of the Novorossiysk Territory, aristocrat and Anglomaniac Count Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov. The count personally chose the 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 and the court architect of the British crown, managed to organically fit the palace building 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 fairy tales.

History of creation

Initially, the famous Italian architect Francesco Boffo, who had already built a palace for the count in Odessa, was appointed to build the residence. The Englishman Thomas Harrison, an engineer and adherent of neoclassicism, was supposed to help him. Work began, and by 1828 the foundation, which was filled with lead for earthquake resistance, as well as the first masonry of the portal niche of the central building were ready. But Harrison died in 1829, and two years later the count decided to suspend construction of the palace, apparently abandoning the idea of ​​​​building a residence in the neoclassical style.

Vorontsov turns to the Englishman Edward Blore, a brilliant architectural historian, graphic artist and fashionable architect in his homeland. Most likely, Count Pembroke recommended him to Vorontsov. We had to wait almost a year for new drawings. But Mikhail Semenovich liked the result, and in December 1832 the construction of the buildings began. Blore brilliantly solved the problem from a historical perspective: the architecture of the palace demonstrates the development of medieval European and Moorish architecture, ranging from the forms of the early Middle Ages to the 16th century. The palace building 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 fit the building into surrounding nature, never visited 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, interconnected by many open and closed passages, stairs 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. Processing it required considerable effort, since complex designs on the exterior of the house could be ruined by one wrong blow with a chisel. Therefore, Russian stone cutters who built white stone churches in Central Russia were invited to carry out the most complex stone cutting work.

The main decorative decoration of the Vorontsov Palace - the motif of a gently sloping pointed keeled arch - is repeated several times in the cast-iron balustrade of the balconies, and in the carved stone 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.

In the design of the seaward southern entrance, a Tudor flower design and a lotus motif are intertwined, which ends with 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 façade is the Lion's Terrace and a monumental staircase in white Carrara marble 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 façade of the palace and its western part, a variation on the theme of Tudor England of the 16th - early 17th centuries, are reminiscent of the harsh castles of English aristocrats.

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

Construction costs palace complex amounted to about 9 million rubles in silver - an astronomical amount for those times. But Count Vorontsov could afford it, since after his marriage in 1819 to Elizaveta Ksaverevna Branitskaya, he doubled his fortune and became the richest landowner in the Russian Empire. Elizaveta Ksaverevna, the same one with whom, according to one version, Alexander Pushkin fell in love in exile in Odessa, personally supervised the creation of the building’s interiors, took care of the decoration of the park and often paid for the work.

Inhabitants of the palace

Mikhail Semenovich did not manage to live in the Alupka Palace for a long time. Another assignment followed - this time to the Caucasus. But in Alupka at the end of the 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 primacy, 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, park and farm fell into complete disrepair.

In 1904, the castle received new owners - relatives along the Vorontsov-Dashkov line. The wife of the Tsar's deputy in the Caucasus, Countess Elizaveta Andreevna Vorontsova-Dashkova, née Countess Shuvalova, energetically got down to business. She rented out land for sanatoriums and boarding houses and built more than 120 dachas on the estate.

After the revolution and the establishment of Soviet power in Crimea, the lands of the Vorontsov-Dashkovs were nationalized. And on February 22, 1921, Lenin’s telegram arrived in Crimea: “Take decisive measures to truly protect artistic values, paintings, porcelain, bronze, marble, etc., located in Yalta palaces and private buildings, now allocated for sanatoriums of the People's Commissariat of Health...”

At the beginning of the 20s South Coast Crimea, museums were created in a number of the largest noble estates, among them the Alupka Museum. The museum's collection was seriously damaged during the Great Patriotic War: a lot was taken away by the occupiers, including 537 works of painting and graphics. Only a small part of the paintings were 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 State Dining Room of the palace.

Later the palace became the state dacha of the NKVD. In 1952, a sanatorium was located there, and only in 1956, by decision of the Soviet government, the Crimean state museum 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, ancient drawings and lithographs that introduce 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 Crimea in 1824, when there was no design for the palace itself. He eagerly set about creating a park, taking into account the relief, climate and local flora, combining, however, everything with the latest achievements of 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. They said that more than two thousand varieties of roses bloomed here at the same time. The German gardener became so famous in 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, maintaining connections in its structure 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 according to the principle of English landscape parks of the Romanticism era - more natural and natural: in it, rocky debris, shady ponds and preserved areas of the Crimean forest alternate with picturesque meadows, a unique system of lakes, waterfalls, cascades and grottoes. Kebakh created the Upper Park as a place of contemplation of the sea and Mount Ai-Petri, towering above the park and palace, like the ruins of a giants’ castle.

A 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 Vorontsovsky Park were so popular that seedlings were even sold externally to other gardens and estates.

The glory of Vorontsov Park as a masterpiece of landscape architecture was strengthened by the 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 - the Naryshkins and Pototskys, completely changed the appearance of the coast from Alushta to Foros.

A holiday in Crimea can turn into an interesting adventure that will remain in your memory forever. The main thing is to properly plan your visit to the most interesting and exciting attractions. One of them is the noble Vorontsov Palace, which definitely deserves attention. The building is located in picturesque place by the sea and the foot of Ai-Petri. It is surrounded by a magnificent park, which harmoniously complements the amazing view. A visit to the palace will give you truly unforgettable emotions and the opportunity to feel like a guest of an eminent prince.

Vorontsov Palace in Crimea: history

The exquisite Vorontsov Palace combines the rigor of English architecture and the luxury of Indian palaces. The building is in harmony with the local landscape and mountain-sea panorama. It also has interesting story, which dates back to 1828.

Construction of the palace began by order of Count Mikhail Vorontsov, known for his courage and participation in many military events. He personally chose perfect place for his estate and invited an Englishman, Edward Blore, as an architect. The architect supervised the process remotely and never came to the construction site. The process of constructing the palace itself was quite lengthy and took 20 long years - from 1828 to 1848.

The count's estate was built from a very strong stone that must be handled confidently and skillfully - diabase. It was he who magnificently decorated the exterior of the building. The stone was processed by hand by specialist stone cutters who were called from central Russia. The costs of building the palace reached a tidy sum - 9 million silver rubles.

Vorontsov himself did not live in the palace for a very long time, since he had to leave for an appointment in the Caucasus. However, his daughter and her children settled there. Then, after the count's death, the estate was inherited by his son. After the revolution and change of power, the palace and its lands were nationalized. In 1945, Vorontsov's estate became the residence of the British delegation for some time. The heads of allied states – Churchill, Stalin, Roosevelt – met in the State Dining Room.

Later, the palace acted both as a state dacha for the NKVD and as a sanatorium. Only in 1956 did it become a museum. Nowadays, it is very popular among tourists who come even from abroad. Here you can see various works of painting, applied art, and sculpture. Also ancient documents, lithographs, drawings.

What else is interesting about the Vorontsov Palace in Yalta?

The overall impression of the grandeur and sophistication of the palace is complemented by the unique Vorontsov Park, which arouses the same interest of tourists as the estate itself. It allows you to enjoy unique plants that have been carefully selected taking into account the local climate and topography. They were brought to Crimea from different parts of the world; in total, there are about 200 different types of vegetation in the park.

The park was created by a German gardener, Karl Kebach, who happily set to work. He planned the area on the principle of an amphitheater with a clear structure. The park itself had to maintain its connection with the palace and complement the chosen style of architecture. Karl Kebach managed to achieve his goal, because the park fits perfectly into the overall concept.

The park is conventionally divided into lower and upper. Its lower territory is decorated in the style of Renaissance gardens. There are elegant fountains, stone benches, Byzantine columns, beautiful vases, and marble sculptures here. There is also access to the beach.

The upper territory was created in the English romanticism style, which was characterized by naturalness and naturalness. Here you can find shady ponds, a well-thought-out system of lakes, picturesque meadows, sections of the Crimean forest, rocky debris, grottoes, and small waterfalls. This part of the park was conceived as an ideal place for contemplating the mountains and the sea.

The park almost always remains green, as pines, spruces, cypresses, cedars, and firs grow here. In the warm season, delicate magnolias, amazing cercis, and various exotic shrubs bloom here. The territory of the park is captivating with its beauty and elegance; many guests of the peninsula often visit only the park and enjoy the exterior of the palace. Photos of the Vorontsov Palace in Crimea and its original park will be an excellent souvenir that will remind you of an unforgettable vacation.

How to get to the Vorontsov Palace in Yalta?

The exact address where the Vorontsov Palace is located in Crimea: Alupka, Palace Highway 18. You can get there in several ways:

1. Take advantage public transport. If you get from the Yalta bus station, you should take buses No. 107 or No. 115. The stop where you will need to get off is called “Bus Station” and is located in Alupka. Then you need to go to the western gate and through it enter the palace territory. You can also get to the complex from the city center. To do this, you should use minibus No. 132, which will take you to the final stop called “Vorontsov Palace”. Then you need to go to the northern main entrance of the building.
2. Get there by car. This travel option is the most comfortable and fastest. From Yalta you should take the Yalta-Sevastopol highway and move to the Alupka sign. Travel time may take 15-20 minutes.
3. Use taxi services. In Yalta, you can order a taxi directly to your hotel and from there get to the palace. Such a trip will be as comfortable as possible, but its cost is more expensive than other options.
4. Take a ride on a regular boat. The journey starts from the sea station in Yalta, from which a boat departs every 2 hours. Travel time will take about 35 minutes. A ticket costs 100 rubles, the price is quite affordable. You will need to get off the boat in Alupka and go up a little towards Vorontsovsky Park.

The ticket price to visit the Vorontsov Palace in Crimea is 350 rubles for adults and 200 for children. This price includes sightseeing tour. Visiting thematic exhibitions in the palace is paid separately if you want to see them. A tour of the complex's park is also paid separately. There is a souvenir shop in the palace where you can buy small souvenirs.

Where to relax after visiting the sights of Yalta?

The best choice for a perfect holiday will be the unique Villa Elena Hotel & Residences. Here guests can enjoy an atmosphere of luxury that gives incredible home comfort. You can stay in a magnificent historical building, which has its own unusual history since 1912. A modern building is also available, which will delight you with rooms with a refined interior. On the territory of Villa Elena you can visit the restaurant, relax near the pool, and spend time in the spa center.

The Vorontsov Palace stands apart in Alupka - one of the most impressive on the coast. The palace was built over 20 years, from 1830, as summer residence Governor-General of Novorossiya M.S. Vorontsova.

Built according to the design of the English architect Edward Blore (1789-1879), one of the authors of Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey. The Vorontsov Palace amazingly subtly absorbed the features of Eastern and Western styles. On the southern façade of the building there is a horseshoe-shaped arch, a two-tier vault, and a magnificent plaster carving in a niche depicting a lotus.

On the fresco of the niche there is an inscription with a saying from the Koran: “And there is no god but Allah.” Along the walls of the southern façade of the Vorontsov Palace are marble sculptures of lions, made in the workshop of the Italian sculptor V. Bonanni. The northern part of the palace impresses with the severity of the style typical of 16th century England.

Also a monument to landscape gardening art. In 1824-1851, the German gardener Karl Antonovich Kebach worked on its creation. In 1956, by decision of the government, a museum was located in the palace.

Since 1990, it has been the Alupka Palace and Park Museum-Reserve. Alupka Park has a unique system of lakes, roads and waterfalls. The park was built on the principle of an ancient amphitheater, descending from the palace to the tea house on the seashore. The park has two levels - lower and upper.

Vorontsov Palace - address and telephone number

The address of the Vorontsov Palace is Crimea, Alupka, Dvortsovoye Highway, 18.

Phone number of the duty organizer of the Vorontsov Palace (for information about the museum’s operating hours): +7 978 018 56 74.

How to get to the Vorontsov Palace in Alupka?

You can get to the Vorontsov Palace from the Yalta bus station: bus No. 115 (Yalta - Simeiz), bus No. 107 (Yalta - Katsiveli) to the stop "Alupka, bus station"; bus No. 102 (Yalta - Alupka Park) to the final stop.

From the Yalta Clothing Market (city center) you can take bus No. 132 (Yalta - Alupka) to the final stop.

From Sevastopol ( Central Bus Station): by regular bus to the stop “Alupka, Pitomnik”, then by city bus No. 1-A to the stop “Center. Lenin Square”, from here walk down the stairs to the palace.

Vorontsov Palace - history of creation

Alupka is famous for its palace and park ensemble, consisting of five buildings (Main, Library, Dining, Household and Guest with a one-story Shuvalov wing), the Tea House, located by the sea and a park surrounding the entire complex.

This ensemble was created in the 20-40s of the 19th century, during the period of strong influence of romanticism on literature and art.

Romanticism is an entire era in the development of culture. His ideological prerequisites in Russia were the Patriotic War of 1812 and the Decembrist uprising.

Originating in the early 19th century, it gained popularity in the 1820s. At the end of the 30s, romantic trends became dominant. In accordance with this, the attitude towards classicism changes, which for romantics turns into the personification of dogmatism, external form, normativity, excluding free creativity and development. The aesthetic ideal has also changed. For the romantics, beauty was associated not with clarity, simplicity and harmony, as in classicism, but with diversity, contrast, and dynamism.

Talented architects of the Romantic era turned to architectural elements styles of past eras and, subjecting them to creative rethinking, were used in modern construction. They paid special attention to the architecture of the Middle Ages (Gothic, Romanesque, Moorish, Indo-Muslim, etc.).

The distinctive features of romanticism in architecture are picturesqueness and asymmetrical compositions. Architectural romanticism, unlike classicism, did not create large public buildings or majestic city ensembles, but found wide application in estate and park construction.

Since the 20s of the 19th century, buildings created in the romantic style prevailed on the South Coast. Crimean mountains, exotic vegetation, a sea with intricately indented shores and bays, and picturesque rocks provided a bright, expressive backdrop for romantic architecture. Here the connection between the architectural structure and the surrounding nature was especially clearly manifested.

A. Demidov, traveling around Crimea in 1837, noted in his notes: “Alternately you see small house in the Asian style, in which the windows are covered with curtains, the chimneys look like minarets; that's beautiful gothic castle, then a cozy dacha like English “cottages”, completely immersed in a sea of ​​greenery and flowers, then a light wooden building with extensive galleries.”

Unfortunately, under the influence of inexorable time, many estates and buildings of the 1st half of the 19th century disappeared from the face of the Crimean land. But the most valuable, the most interesting monument of that era - the Vorontsov Palace in Alupka, now a palace museum.

It was built with a primary focus on the architectural style of England of the 16th century, combined with the forms of the style of Indo-Muslim architecture of the 16th-17th centuries.

The western façade of the palace is very reminiscent medieval castle-fortress. Here the viewer is greeted by monumental round towers with slit-like embrasure windows. The high, harsh walls are topped with stone crenellations. The walls are supported by powerful buttresses. The impression of the dark Middle Ages is enhanced by Shuvalovsky Proezd. Its broken line with a series of closed perspectives seems to promise the viewer something mysterious somewhere around the bend.

At the top there is an openwork bridge connecting the service buildings with the Main Dining Building. This sky bridge is really very romantic. It, like the entire western part of the palace, can take us into the atmosphere of medieval novels by Walter Scott or other contemporary romantic writers.

Architecture of the utility buildings of the Vorontsov Palace

The household courtyard, which includes extensive services and living quarters for servants, is part of a single palace complex without violating the architectural, artistic and compositional integrity of the ensemble. Construction period 1838-1842.

The service buildings are located on the northern side of the site, parallel to the dining building and the Shuvalovsky (guest) wing. They form a separate closed courtyard in the form of a horizontally elongated irregular polygon.

The closedness and isolation of the courtyard, the general nature of the architecture of the utility buildings will remind us of medieval English castles with towers, narrow windows - loopholes of high external walls.

The decorative design of the facades is based on a clear rhythm of geometrically simple door and window openings. Here the textured treatment of the walls with “torn” stone is used.

The southern part of the economic buildings under the Vorontsovs was divided according to their functional purpose into three parts: central part The building was occupied by carriage sheds with three wide doorways, the right wing was occupied by stables, and in the left wing there was a kitchen with utility rooms and storage rooms.

Various economic services were also located in the northern part of the economic yard. Regarding the lower floor, there is an assumption that in its right wing there could be a dining room for the servants, and in the left, vast room with three large arched openings that were not closed by gates (since the openings do not have quarters for installing gates) could be located a forge serving stable services. On the second floors there were living rooms and apartments for palace servants.

The outer wall of the northern building of the utility yard, facing the park, is reinforced with flat buttresses. The chimneys, stylized as phials, add a special picturesqueness to the silhouette of the walls.

There are two gates leading into the courtyard. At the western entrance there is a round tower. The eastern gate, facing the front yard, is flanked by two rectangular three-tier towers, one of which, the Clock Tower, is topped with a turret with a flagpole. The towers are identical in proportions and shapes, designed in the style of English architecture of the 16th century. Their upper tier is crowned by a high jagged cornice. The gates of the towers connect the front courtyard with the service buildings and at the same time form the architectural frame of the “clean” courtyard from the west.

Northern facade of the Vorontsov Palace

In the northern façade we see a new aspect of architecture, identical no longer to a medieval fortress, but to a country English palace of the 16th century, for which large window openings (bay windows) and tall chimneys are typical, which, in addition to their utilitarian purpose, play a large decorative role. Rising above the palace as a whole slender colonnade with tops in the form of buds of some fantastic flowers (fleurons), they impart a special decorative effect to the entire architectural and decorative appearance of the main building of the palace.

The architect achieves great expressiveness here with the rhythmic alternation of smooth planes of walls and risalits, graceful pinnacle towers and massive crenellations.

Looking at the palace, we admire the masterly skill of the stone cutters, who skillfully executed its structural and decorative details: stone blocks, carved pediments, domes. Here, many architectural details typical of 16th century England (towers, arches, domes) are similar in outline to elements of oriental architecture. This is another feature of romantic architecture, when in the forms of one style another is guessed.

The elements of oriental architecture that take place in the palace reached their strongest development in the architecture of the southern facade of the palace, which we will get acquainted with later.

The presence of two styles in one building was by no means a mechanical connection here. The architect found details close to both the East and Gothic, dispersed them in a certain rhythm throughout the complex and thereby achieved an amazing stylistic unity.

So, in the northern facade we see a majestic and austere palace of the late English Middle Ages.

The author of the palace project was the famous architect Edward Blore (1789-1879), one of the founders of the romantic movement in English architecture. E. Blore is known in England as a draftsman and engraver, and an illustrator of publications on the history of British architecture. In 1816-1823 he participated in the design and decoration of Abbotsford Castle for W. Scott in Scotland. In 1820 - 1850 he carried out restoration work in royal palaces, was a brilliant expert on Tudor style architecture. In total, he built and reconstructed 40 public buildings and estates and the same number of churches and chapels. Blore is one of the founders of the Royal Archaeological Institute.

According to Blore's design, the palace was built by William Gunt, also an English architect. Construction lasted 20 years, from 1828 to 1848. mainly by serf masters. Of great interest is the fact that Vladimir stone-cutters worked here, famous for their art of erecting white-stone Russian churches with artistically executed decorations.

The main building material was local diabase stone, which is stronger than granite. Thanks to the beautiful greenish-gray color of the stone, the palace organically blended into the color scheme of the local landscape. The peak of Mount Ai-Petri, crowning the entire landscape of Alupka and with its outlines resembling the ruins of some ancient fantastic castle, became a wonderful backdrop for it.

From huge shapeless blocks of diabase, which was processed by hand, blocks for walls were carved, and delicate and complex architectural details were cut out. The diabase was carefully polished for finishing the interior.

From one hundred to a thousand people worked here at different times, among them Vorontsov’s serfs. They were used as civilian workers, received a salary, from which they had to pay quitrent. Currently, based on archival documents, it has been possible to establish the names of more than 300 serfs, among whom were modelers, cabinetmakers, wood and stone carvers, painters, and embroiderers.

Among these talented craftsmen, the skill of the sculptor Roman Furtunov from the Moshensky estate in the Kyiv province deserves special attention. Carpenters from the same estate worked in Alupka, many of them worked for up to 10 years, finishing the interiors of the palace and making furniture.

And now, admiring the skill of the serfs and civilian craftsmen who built this palace, we pay tribute to the numerous folk craftsmen, whose talent was manifested in the decoration of the state rooms of the palace, made with great taste and perfection.

The palace was built for Count, and later Prince M.S. Vorontsov (1782-1856), one of the largest Russian landowners of the 1st half of the 19th century. In 1823, he was appointed governor-general of the Novorossiysk region and plenipotentiary governor of the Bessarabia region.

In the first half of the 19th century, the colonization of new lands in Russia intensified. Overpopulation of estates in the central zone forced landowners to look for new lands in order to be able to fully utilize the labor of their serfs. At that time, the lands of New Russia and Crimea were especially valued. They were acquired and developed, since the proximity of the Black Sea to them created favorable conditions for the export and sale of various agricultural products. Therefore, Vorontsov is seeking his appointment to the post of Governor-General of Novorossiya.

Having visited Crimea for the first time in 1822 and seeing what enormous wealth this rich, almost undeveloped region conceals, Vorontsov begins to acquire land here. Massandra, Ai-Danil, Ai-Vasil, Martyan, Gurzuf, Alupka - one after another became the property of Vorontsov. In the 30s he already owned about 2 thousand acres of land. Vorontsov is trying to use his estates as profitably as possible. He creates extensive grape plantations on the South Coast and is one of the first to establish industrial winemaking here. Under him, the first cellars were laid in Massandra. Sheep farming developed in the steppe regions of Crimea, a stud farm developed in Ak-Mechet, and salt was mined in two lakes in this area.

Thanks to the construction of a road connecting Simferopol with Sevastopol and Yalta, agricultural products and wine were exported from Vorontsov’s Crimean estates, which undoubtedly contributed to an increase in the owner’s income. From the Crimean estates, Vorontsov had an income of up to 56 thousand rubles. in year.

Having 400 thousand dessiatines of land in 16 provinces of Russia and about 80 thousand serfs, Vorontsov received huge incomes. Income from quitrents alone, excluding Crimean estates, amounted to up to 800 thousand rubles in banknotes. The owner of such wealth had the opportunity to build luxurious palaces for himself.

The former Vorontsov Palace became a museum in 1921 after the liberation of Crimea from the White Guards. On February 20 of the same year, V.I. Lenin, who paid great attention to cultural construction in the country, sent a telegram to the chairman of the Crimean Revolutionary Committee: “Take decisive measures to protect the artistic values ​​located in the Yalta palaces and private buildings, now allocated to the sanatoriums of the People's Commissariat of Health. All responsibility rests with you."

Following the instructions of the commission for the protection of artistic monuments and other works of art, created by the Revolutionary Committee, all the most artistically interesting works of art from nationalized estates were selected for the creation of the first Soviet museums in Crimea.

The Vorontsov Palace was nationalized, the remaining property was supplemented with collections from other southern coastal palaces, and in 1921 a historical and household museum was opened here.

During the Patriotic War, when Crimea was occupied by the German fascists, works of art could not be evacuated from here, and the palace functioned as a museum. Its director was Stepan Grigorievich Shchekoldin (1904-2002). During the retreat, the Germans wanted to blow up the palace; a large amount of explosives were prepared. However, the explosion could not be carried out; museum workers prevented it. In April 1944, a rapid offensive Soviet troops liberated Crimea.

In February 1945, during the Crimean Conference, the Alupka Palace was provided to the British delegation led by W. Churchill. In the next decade, there was a State Dacha here, referred to in documents as “special object No. 3”.

The palace was reopened to visitors in 1956. Currently it is an architectural and art museum. It is located in the central and dining buildings, where the ceremonial premises of the palace are located. In the premises of the Guest Building and the Shuvalov Wing, various exhibitions from the funds of the museum-reserve are exhibited, including the “Vorontsov Family Gallery”, where portraits of numerous representatives of this famous family are presented.

One of the main features of the Vorontsov Palace is a combination of the styles of English architecture of the 16th century (Tudor style) and eastern, Indo-Muslim 16th century. Moreover, the combination of these styles is executed so skillfully, with such artistic taste, that the result is a new artistic image, harmonious, integral, executed in a romantic style.

Speaking about the romantic architecture of the palace and its exterior, we noted that its main stylistic motif is its orientation towards English architecture of the 16th century. We can note the same thing when characterizing interiors, i.e. interior spaces, the decorative design of which also shows the great influence of the palace interiors of 16th century England.

In the 16th century English palaces the interior was decorated with carved wooden decor. From here in the front office there are oak profiled panels; A large amount of wood was used to decorate the bay window. It was in the 16th century that bay windows appeared in English architecture, protruding beyond the wall, increasing the lighting and area of ​​the room.

Four symmetrically placed oak doors enhance the impression of wood trim; one of the doors is purely decorative. Decoration details typical of 16th century England in all the halls of the palace (to a greater or lesser extent) are intertwined with elements typical of decoration of the 2nd quarter of the 16th century, when imitation became fashionable. Here it is used in the ceiling decoration, where alabaster sculpting and coloring imitate wood.

A characteristic detail of English interiors is fireplaces. In the damp climate of England, a fireplace not only provides warmth, but also acts as a powerful fan. We will see fireplaces in all the main rooms of the palace, and in each of them the decoration has its own characteristics, combining with the general decoration of the hall. Here the fireplace is made of marbled limestone in grayish-brown shades, which goes well with the tone of the wood and wallpaper, which were not preserved and were replaced with new ones. Their coloring and design fully correspond to the old samples.

In the front office there is furniture, mainly English workmanship from the 1st quarter of the 19th century, made of different types of wood. Its rich decoration: metal inlay, lush wood carvings, skillful polishing - enhance the impression of solemnity and splendor of this room.

The furnishings of the room are typical of state rooms of the 30s and 40s of the 16th century. It not only characterizes the era, but also each individual item is of great artistic value. Particularly interesting is the ebony cabinet bookcase, made by French craftsmen in the Boule style (Charles Boule /1642-1732/ worked at the turn of the 17th-18th centuries). He can be called the creator of artistic furniture. Masterfully mastering the technique of typesetting, using applied bronze, ivory, mother-of-pearl, and tortoiseshell to decorate furniture, he achieved great color richness and created his own “Boulle” style.

The set of cabinet furniture: a round table, chairs and walnut armchairs, made by English craftsmen of the 1st quarter of the 19th century, attracts attention with the skill of metal inlay on wood and the ability to show the beauty of wood.

Portraits were often placed in the front rooms, clearly characterizing the era. Peering at the images of people placed in this office, we can say with confidence that they were touched by the breath of the War of 1812. The growing ideas of patriotism in Russian society encouraged artists to look for and find in a person those traits that were associated with the concept of “sense of civic duty.” The military gallery of 1812 in Winter Palace. The English artist George Dow (1781-1829) worked on its creation for a number of years with his assistants Golike and Polyakov. The portraits presented here by participants in the Russian-French campaign Fyodor Petrovich Uvarov (1770-1824), Lev Aleksandrovich Naryshkin (1781-1829), Alexander Khristoforovich Benkendorf are the author's repetitions of the gallery's works. A sharp turn of the head, fiery color in uniforms, a stormy sky in the background - techniques typical of Dow’s work. They give painting a romantic coloring.

The ceremonial portrait of the first owner of the Alupka Palace, Count M.S. Vorontsov (1782-1856), was designed in the same artistic vein.

When in 1821 the Englishman Thomas Lawrence began painting a portrait that would later become famous, Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov was in the aura of his military glory, having shown personal courage and extraordinary abilities as a commander in the battles of Borodino, Krasny, and Kraon. In 1848, at the request of the Vorontsov family, Louise Dessemé made a copy quite worthy of the original. Successfully imitating Lawrence's brush, his pearlescent gray and black tones, the artist managed to preserve the romantic pathos characteristic of the original.

A portrait of Field Marshal M.I. Kutuzov occupies a worthy place in the exhibition. Small bronze sculptures are also presented here: the Duke of Wellington (a copy of the work of Koter, an English sculptor of the first half of the 19th century) and the Prussian commander Field Marshal Blucher by the German sculptor H. Rauch (1777-1857).

The decoration of the Front Office is complemented by a gilded bronze clock standing on the cabinet by the French master Peter-Philippe Thomire (1741-1843). They are decorated with the figures of Minin and Pozharsky - they repeat the composition of the famous monument on Red Square by the sculptor I.P. Martos.

G The living room got its name from the decoration of the walls, covered with chintz fabric. Chintz, a fabric of oriental origin, became widespread in Western Europe and Russia in the mid-19th century and at the same time became such a fashionable material that it was valued at the same level as velvet, silk, and brocade. It was used for decoration in palaces and rich mansions. This chintz is of English workmanship with an elegant decorative pattern. Its color harmonizes well with the lining of the fireplace, made of marble in pinkish shades.

A massive walnut sofa, classically shaped, with side bookcases, lavishly inlaid with bronze. The living room displays works by Russian academic artists.

All Russian artists who graduated from the Academy of Arts with a gold medal were certainly sent to Italy. Among them was S.F. Shchedrin (1791-1830), who devoted his work to depicting Italian nature. He worked a lot on the problem of transmitting sunlight, space, and air in paintings and was one of the first to paint nature from life. S. Shchedrin painted landscapes in the vicinity of Naples, Sorrento, and on the island of Capri. “View of Sorrento” is his favorite tune. The bright rays of the southern sun illuminate the waters of the Gulf of Naples and the picturesque coastal cliffs. The landscape seems to be shrouded in the transparent haze of a hot summer day. In his canvases, the artist was able to directly and poetically convey the charm of real nature and show the beauty of reality.

A prominent place among the masters of Russian landscape belongs to N.G. Chernetsov (1805-1879), who devoted himself to depicting Russian nature. Chernetsov traveled a lot. In 1838, he and his brother traveled along the Volga. “Yurievets Povolsky” is one of the many paintings that appeared as a result of this journey. This small work captures the architecture of the ancient town. In the 1850s, the artist made a pilgrimage to the Holy Places; the canvas “View of Nazareth near Galilee” dates back to this period of his work.

There are two paintings above the fireplace:

1. "The ruins in surroundings of Rome» , Canvas, oil. Artist Sternberg Vasily Ivanovich (1818-1845). Landscape painter and genre painter. In 1835-1838. studied at the Academy of Arts with M.N. Vorobyova. In the summer he lived in Ukraine, depicting scenes of folk life and Ukrainian nature. Close friend T.G. Shevchenko. In 1839 he received the title of artist; in 1840, as a pensioner of the Academy of Arts, he was sent to Italy. Died in Rome.
2. "Bacchante". 1856 Canvas, oil. The painting was originally in the Vorontsov collection. Artist Maikov Nikolai Apollonovich (1794-1873). Historical painter of the academic movement. He was educated in the cadet corps and took part in the Patriotic War of 1812. He became a self-taught painter. Since 1835 - academician.

The very name of the hall indicates eastern influences. This is no coincidence: the room faces the south, where the architecture is oriental in nature.

The room got its name “Chinese Cabinet” from the mats that lined the upper part of the walls. The mats are embroidered with silk and beads; the nature of the embroidery indicates that they were made by Russian craftswomen, apparently serf embroiderers.

Individual decorative details show signs of a wide variety of styles. The ornamentation of embroideries on Chinese mats and wood carvings are made in the style of the Italian Renaissance of the 16th century, the framing of the mirror frames and their mirror decorations are Gothic in nature. Turned columns on the walls, carved garlands with tassels at the bottom are typical of Baroque.

But above all this, an atmosphere of oriental art reigns almost imperceptibly. This is expressed in the general splendor of the entire decorative decoration of the hall, in the intricate patterns of carving and modeling, in the color combination of black, brown and cream, inherent in many works of Chinese applied art.

In the Chinese cabinet, the art and talent of the various craftsmen who worked on the decoration of the palace were sculptors, embroiderers, furniture makers and furniture carvers. These masters high class The high paneled panels made of light oak and delicate carved wood decorations were perfectly executed. The carvings decorating the doors of the wall cabinet are particularly elegant, the ornament of which includes the first letter of the owner of this cabinet, “E” - ELIZABETH.

Among the craftsmen who worked in the palace were talented furniture makers. It had its own furniture workshop, which produced the chairs and armchairs in this room (on the backs there are stylized Vorontsov monograms), tables made of wavy birch (the round living room and the ladies' table - the work table). From the Vorontsov archives it is known that serf carpenters worked in Alupka for many years: Naum Mukhin, Maxim Tislenko, Yakim Lapshin, a colonist from German colony near Odessa Martyn Goltsman.

An unusually shaped small wall cabinet of French workmanship, close to the Boulle style, fits well into the interior of the office. Its decoration uses a tortoise shell, along which there is an ornament of copper and light metal. The cabinet was almost entirely decorative; a small amount of papers or letters could be stored inside it.

Similar in color is the cabinet intended for storing jewelry. It was made in England in the second half of the 18th century using the painted lacquer technique (the lacquer tree grows in China and Japan). The varnish, which protects the wood from damage, can be tinted in different colors. The design is made by applying colored varnish layer by layer and is convex in nature.

A genuine work of decorative and applied art from Italy is a table with views of Roman architectural monuments. This smalt mosaic set was made in the papal workshops of the famous Italian artist Michelangelo Barberi (1787-1867) with the participation of Russian craftsmen. (Smalt is a set of tiny pieces of colored glass on a wax base).

The portrait of Elizaveta Ksaverevna Vorontsova was painted by an unknown artist based on the original by D. Doe. She is depicted in a Venetian dress, according to the fashion of those years. The image of a woman once sung by A.S. Pushkin, extremely attractive. The portrait is dominated by warm olive tones. On the western wall (where the portrait of E.K. Vorontsova) are color engravings by F. Bartalozzi from the originals of the English portrait painter D. Reynolds (1723-1792): on the right is a portrait of Lavinia Spencer (1787), on the left is a portrait of her sister Anna Bingham (1787) .

On the north wall:

• on the left is a portrait of Maria Spencer. Mezzotint by William Dickinson from an original by D. Reynolds (1723-1792)
• in the middle - "Meditation", color engraving from a drawing made by Countess Spencer
• on the right - Duchess Caroline of Marlborough with her daughter Caroline Spencer
• panel of the northern wall - types of English castles
• on the left and right (under the shelves) are views of the old castle in Woodstock, Oxfordshire. In the middle are views of Blenheim Castle (built on the site of the old castle in Woodstock).

During the Crimean (Yalta) conference of the leaders of the three allied powers (February 4-11, 1945), the palace in Alupka was provided to the British delegation led by Churchill. The prime minister's personal apartments were the Front and Chinese offices, connected by the Calico Room. The Chinese Cabinet houses a small exhibition dedicated to the outstanding political figure of the 20th century.

Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (1874-1965) by origin belonged to the famous family of the Dukes of Marlborough, one of the twenty ducal families of England. The founder of the dynasty, John Churchill (1650-1722), a former page of the Duke of York (later King James II), was commander-in-chief of the English army from 1702. Queen Anne elevated him to the dignity of duke, and for the brilliant victory at Blenheim on August 13, 1704, in memory of which a medal was struck, she granted the Duke lands in the royal lands of Woodstock in Oxfordshire. On the site of an old castle from the time of Elizabeth Tudor, designed by John Vanbrough (1664-1726) in 1705-1719. a huge palace was built, externally reminiscent of Versailles. The family estate was named "Blenheim". Winston Churchill was born here on November 30, 1874.

For more than a hundred years, it belonged to the Duke family in London, Marlborough House. Built in 1709-1711. K. Renom (1632-1723) in the Palladian style, the palace was distinguished by the luxury of its interior decoration and the richness of its interiors. In 1817, the heirs sold it to the royal treasury. Over the years, members of the royal family of England and their Russian relatives lived in the palace: Emperors Alexander III and Nicholas II, Empress Maria Feodorovna.

In the mid-18th century, the title and possessions of the Dukes of Marlborough passed through the female line to Charles Spencer, Earl of Sunderland (3rd Duke of Marlborough). His grandson, Count George Pembroke, was married in 1808 by his own sister, Count. M.S. Vorontsova - Ekaterina.

The decoration of the office is complemented by views of medieval castles in England, the romantic interpretation of which is the architecture of the Vorontsov Palace (1820-1840s, architect E. Blore) and engraved portraits of representatives of the Spencer family, executed according to originals by D. Reynolds.

A separate showcase displays documentary photographs (copies) taken during the conference and books dedicated to W. Churchill.

Served as the main entrance to the palace. Of all the interiors, it most closely resembles the state rooms of English palaces of the 16th century, in which a hall-hall was built in the center of the building, from where doors led to all other state and living rooms. The lobby is very similar to an English hall.

Its entrance doors are located on the northern facade, the architecture of which is restrained and austere, typical of English buildings of the 16th century. This rigor and simplicity seems to be further developed in the interior decoration of the lobby. Its proportions are harmonious and majestic. Almost all the architectural treatment is given in wood: the massive oak ceiling is symmetrically divided by profiled decorative squares, imitating the ribs that once played a load-bearing role. Tall oak panels are decorated with stylized Gothic arches.

Gray diabase fireplaces fit perfectly into the austere and somewhat gloomy color scheme of the lobby. The upper part of the fireplaces is made of one single piece in the form of a gentle Tudor arch, on which a Gothic cruciferous flower is expertly carved. The diabase here is polished so finely that it has a mirror shine.

The nature of the paintings in this hall corresponds to its pomp and monumentality. These features are more characteristic of ceremonial portraits, the purpose of which is to glorify and idealize the person being portrayed in every possible way, to emphasize his social superiority and high position in society. Such portraits, as a rule, are large in size; clothes, jewelry, orders, and ribbons are carefully depicted in them. The ceremonial portrait was not intended to reveal the inner world of a person.

The ceremonial coronation portrait of Catherine II was created by one of the best portrait painters of the 18th century, Fyodor Rokotov (1736-1809). In his best portraits, which embodied the image of an enlightened representative of Russian society of his era, Rokotov gives a poetic idea of ​​​​a person, spiritualizes him. But when creating ceremonial portraits, he had to follow certain traditions, which were mentioned above. In the portrait of Catherine, the artist strives to emphasize the power and greatness of the empress, carefully depicting the luxurious royal clothing and furnishings. Catherine’s face is impenetrable.

A striking example of ceremonial portraits can be the works of foreign artists who worked in Russia in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

In the portrait of the English artist Richard Brompton (1734-1783), depicting A.V. Branitskaya, a formal dress made of rustling dense silk, jewelry made of precious stones, an order ribbon indicating that Branitskaya is a court lady of Catherine II, it is no coincidence that a marble bust of the empress is also depicted here. We can note the remarkable technique of execution of the portrait: the texture of various materials is perfectly conveyed, the hands are well drawn, but the face with a slight smile on the lips is somewhat idealized.

A similar description can be given to the portrait of K.P. Branicki, the work of the Austrian artist Johann Baptist Lampi (1751-1830). By depicting Branicki in a pompous pose, in knightly armor, which was no longer worn during the life of the person being portrayed, the artist sought to create a heroic image, to emphasize the antiquity of the family of the Polish magnate.

On the northern wall are portraits of M.S.’s parents. Vorontsov by L. Desseme: Count Semyon Romanovich Vorontsov, Russian envoy to England (copy from the original by R. Evans) and Ekaterina Alekseevna Vorontsova. It is based on a chest-to-chest image made by D. G. Levitsky (the original is in the Russian Museum). The rest of the production setting: a figure sitting in a chair, hanging curtain tails, a beloved Tibetan dog against the backdrop of a beautifully painted satin dress - was invented by Louise Dessemé and is compositionally tied to the portrait of her husband. The portrait impresses with its decorativeness.

Among the ceremonial portraits of the Vestibule is the image of His Serene Highness Prince G.A. Potemkin - Tauride (1739-1791). The portrait entered the museum relatively recently in 1989 - a gift from Baron E.A. Von Falz-Fein.

The figure of Potemkin rises as if on a pedestal against the backdrop of a mountainous Crimean slope and a stormy sky. The ceremonial general's uniform is white with gold embroidery and decorated with order ribbons and the highest awards. The hilt of the saber is visible at the belt. Despite the idealization of the image, his facial features have not lost their individuality; they reveal the direct and proud character, broad mind and fearlessness of the person being portrayed.

The attributes and hand gestures are symbolic in the portrait: a telescope, an open map entitled “Pont Euxine” (the old name of the Black Sea). The pointing finger of the right hand is turned towards Sevastopol - the future stronghold of the Black Sea Fleet, its whitening buildings and bays are visible in the distance.

The palace in the middle was lit with 19 candles, so there are a lot of candelabra and sconces. In the simple interior of the lobby, dark bronze candelabra in the form of majestic female figures in ancient Greek clothes, made by French masters of the early 19th century, look good. Lantern made in pseudo-Gothic style in the second half of the 19th century.

A small vestibule covered with Persian embroidery, representing an embroidered paired portrait of the Persian Shah of the late 18th century, Feth Ali, served as a kind of transition from this harsh, somewhat gloomy room to the bright southern side of the palace. The author of the embroideries is a Persian master from the city of Rasht, Agha Bozorkh. He made them at the beginning of the 19th century using the figured sewing technique. This is a unique piece of applied art of its time. The technique of their execution is a delicate, scrupulous work: connecting individual very small figured pieces of material using chain and stem stitches. The execution of such figured sewing has its own secret, which has now been lost, so that we have before us rare, unique things.

These elegant oriental decorations seem to prepare the viewer for the perception of new architectural forms associated with the east, in which the decoration of the central part of the southern facade is maintained.

It is very different in its decoration from all other rooms. She is bright and elegant. After the gloomy entrance hall, the abundance of light here is striking: most of the living room is south-facing, with light pouring in through huge ceiling-to-floor windows and a bay window on the north side. The light blue walls and ceiling are covered with white stucco decoration in the form of garlands of flowers and leaves. It seems that this vegetation penetrated through numerous windows from the park and intertwined into a kind of gazebo.

The modeling was done by hand without stamping by Vorontsov’s serf craftsmen. The name of the remarkable serf sculptor Roman Furtunov, a native of the village of Moshen, Kyiv province, is known. It was he who supervised all the stucco work in the palace. A fireplace made of white Italian Carrara marble, decorated with floral patterns, goes very well with the wall decoration.

Successfully presented here is a set of light living room furniture, made in the style of late Russian classicism in the 20-30s of the 19th century, also by Vorontsov’s serf craftsmen. The furniture is decorated with designs of vines and ears of wheat, indicating its manufacture in the south.

The decoration of the hall is perfectly complemented by porcelain decorative vases in the form of craters, works of the Imperial Porcelain Factory in St. Petersburg (now the Lomonosov Factory). They were painted by master Shchetinin.

The blue drawing room could also serve as a theater. Protrusions in the wall divide it into two unequal parts: the smaller one was the stage, the larger one was the auditorium. A wooden retractable curtain is hidden in the ledges. The last time in his life the great actor Mikhail Semenovich Shchepkin (1788-1863), the founder of the Russian realistic theater, performed in the home theater.

In 1863 he came on tour to Crimea. His health was very bad, but he hoped to get treatment here. At the invitation of the Vorontsovs, Shchepkin came from Yalta to the palace to speak to their guests, among whom he hoped to find patronage for a meeting with the queen, with whom he wanted to talk about the difficult situation of the artistic youth of that time. During the performance, Shchepkin became ill. After some time, he died in Yalta, where he was buried, and then his remains were transported to Moscow.

In 1896, Chaliapin sang and Rachmaninov played in the palace. In the 80s, the scene “In the Tavern” from the opera “Boris Godunov” was staged by artists of the Mamontov Opera. Among the cultural figures of the past who visited the palace in the 80s of the 19th century, especially noteworthy is the Ukrainian poet-democrat Stepan Vasilyevich Rudansky. He worked in Yalta as a district doctor. But neither medical practice nor literary activity provided Rudansky with the necessary living wage, and he was forced at one time to work as a personal doctor for the Vorontsovs. And, it can be assumed that the comparison of the luxurious life of nobles like Vorontsov with the life of the working people gave the poet rich material for creating satirical works on this topic.

The palace is surrounded by a beautiful park, which was also created in the 1st half of the 19th century under the leadership of the talented gardener Kebakh. But in order to maintain the character of a northern castle-palace, they decided to build a winter garden here.

In the winter garden there grew delicate heat-loving plants that could not even tolerate the southern winter and had to grow under the roof. Currently, rare araucarias, tall with spreading branches and delicate needles, are represented here - the homeland of Norfolk Island near Australia. From these same edges is the recurved cycad. Climbing up the walls, the creeping ficus repens (native Japan, China) is a plant preserved from the 1st half. 19th century.

White marble sculpture is a traditional decoration of gardens and parks. It goes perfectly with the lush greenery of plants, the mirror-like surface of park ponds and the sparkle of fountains.

In the center, near the fountain, there are three copies made by Russian masters of the 1st floor. 19th century. “Apollo Belvedere” is a copy of Leochares (Greek sculptor of the 4th century BC). Notable for its fine plasticity is a copy of a work by a 3rd century Greek sculptor. BC Doydals "Aphrodite Bathing". Unknown author – “Urania” – the muse of astronomy. Here is also the work of the French sculptor L. Marchest “First steps”, depicting a mother and a child starting to walk, and “Girl” by the Italian sculptor 1st floor. 19th century Quintilian Corbellini.

Sculptural portraits along the southern wall are the work of Western European sculptors of the 18th and 19th centuries.

The portrait of Empress Catherine II (1729-1796) was faithfully executed by the author of the German school, Johann Oesterreich (1747-1801). He is distinguished by the subtle skill of conveying openwork lace, ermine fur, curled hair and other details in marble.

French sculptor Denis Foitier (1793-1863), known in France for his works in the spirit of classicism, decorating the Tuileries Garden and the Church of St. Madeleines in Paris. He is also the author of numerous sculptural portraits. He painted portraits of the Vorontsovs in Paris in 1821. In the portrait of Semyon Romanovich Vorontsov (1744-1832), the observant artist was able to convey the individual traits and nobility of the Russian aristocrat. The portraits of Mikhail Semenovich and Elizaveta Ksaveryevna are executed in classical traditions, their faces are significantly idealized.

Perhaps the most expressive sculptural portrait of this small gallery is the “Portrait of William Pitt Jr.” (1757-1806), the English Prime Minister of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, by Joseph Nollekens (1737-1822). Nollekens is one of those English sculptors who in the 18th century they turned to realistic depictions of their contemporaries. In this work, the author realistically and convincingly showed a proud and arrogant English lord.

The most majestic room of the palace. The proportions in this room are perfectly found: the ratio of length, height and width. A ton of light pours in from the huge bay window and the window-doors located on both sides of it.

The interior decoration of the State Dining Room, as well as the Entrance Hall, is the most striking orientation towards English palace interiors of the 16th century. Carved wood is widely used in decoration. The ceiling decoration, reminiscent of medieval Gothic vaults, is more decorative than in the Entrance Hall and ends with carved padlocks. The railings of the balcony for musicians, connected by a bridge to the service building, are decorated with fine carvings.

The light brown tone of the wood harmonizes well with the olive color of the walls and gives the interior a strict, solemn sound.

Four panels by the French artist Hubert Robert (1733-1808), a great master of monumental architectural landscape, are an integral part of the decoration of the walls of the State Dining Room. During the construction of the palace, they were tightly fixed into carved frames. These decorative works, with their restrained brownish-greenish color, with the verticals of obelisks, poplars and cypresses, with the ruins of ancient architectural monuments, and romantic semi-fantastic nature, harmoniously fit into the interior. The best of them, “Basilica” and “Terrace,” dated 1802, are distinguished by their remarkable rendering of the air environment and perspective, and soft coloring.

Between two diabase fireplaces there is a fountain made of the same material, processed in the form of a fireplace. Here we once again encounter the remarkable work of stone carvers, who finely executed the turrets flanking the jagged cornice of the fountain and other decorations. The inside of the fountain is decorated with majolica slabs.

The furnishings of the formal dining room are consistent with the character of its decoration. The mahogany dining tables with massive, artistically crafted English bases of the 1st half of the 19th century sparkle ceremoniously and solemnly with a mirror-like shine of polishing.

A sideboard with legs in the form of powerful lion paws, with curls decorated with stylized palm and acanthus leaves along the edge of the tabletop is distinguished by the richness of decorative finishing. Integrated with the sideboard is an open lead-lined wine cellar for cooling wines.

Among the bronze decorating the dining room, the most interesting exhibits are candelabra decorated with Ural malachite, where one can note both the fine workmanship and the beautiful combination of bronze with the bright greenery of the stone.

The principles of decoration of this room are the same as in the lobby and dining room: orientation towards English palace interiors of the 16th century. The room was intended for games and entertainment. The billiard table was made of mahogany by the English company Barrow and Watt in the mid-19th century. A walnut set (sofa, table, chairs) with metal inlay and carvings - English work of the mid-19th century.

Palaces of the 18th and first half of the 19th centuries, as a rule, had collections of paintings. Sometimes special arrangements were made for them art galleries, more often the paintings were placed in the state rooms.

The walls of the billiard room were convenient for placing paintings, so here they are presented in large quantities. These are works of Western European artists of different times and schools.

First of all, two large still lifes by the 18th century Flemish artist Peter Sneyers (1681-1752) attract attention. With their monumental size, dynamic composition and colorful decorativeness, they are very characteristic of the Flemish school of this time, as well as the work of the artist himself. The still lifes are painted with great love and skill, so vividly that in the “Vegetable Pantry” we seem to feel the juiciness of the cabbage, the silkiness of the onions, we note how skillfully the texture of various materials is conveyed: the ringing metal of a copper basin with a bright shine, next to it the dull, fragile ceramic jug. “The Fish Pantry” is interesting for its dynamic composition, sonorous color and sculptural depiction of fish.

In the center above the fireplace is the work of the Italian artist of the Venetian school of the 18th century Bernardo Belotto (1720-1730) “Pirna. Upper Gate." The artist worked a lot in Poland and Germany. Before us is one of his German architectural landscapes with a harsh and gloomy medieval castle and a modest street contrasting with it.

“The Politician” is a work by the English artist William Hoggart (1697-1764). This is a painting by an outstanding realist artist of his time. The author of satirical paintings, he castigated the morals of the bourgeoisie. "The Politics" satirizes the merchant Mr. Tibson, who seeks to become famous as an expert on politics. Reading the newspaper, he doesn’t want to notice anything around him, not even the burning hat on his head, which he accidentally set on fire with a candle. The canvas is written in a free manner, very lively.

“Portrait of a Man” by F. Pourbus the Elder (1545-1581) is one of the best works of painting in this room. It conveys the character of an intelligent, strong-willed person with realistic depth. The face is masterfully painted, executed in a subtle color scheme, and the serious, penetrating eyes are expressive.

Dutch painting reached its peak in the 17th century. She was distinguished by her democracy, truthfulness and high artistic skill. The “Portrait of a Woman in Black” presented in the exhibition was painted in 1664 in the best realistic traditions of this school.

The nature of Alupka is distinguished by contrasts. If its northern mountainous part is harsh and static, which affected the architecture of the palace facades facing it, then the southern part of the city (area) is of a completely different nature - its landscape is dynamic, bright in color. Here, vast expanses of sea open up, the waters of which sparkle in the sun and shimmer with all the colors of the rainbow. And above the sea, to the very horizon, there is boundless heavenly blue. The lush vegetation contains a lot of flowering exotics.

The entire landscape, full of a major key, suggests different forms of architecture than in the northwestern part of the palace. E. Blore finds a successful solution by turning to the elegant forms and light colors of Indo-Muslim architecture of the 16th-17th centuries, combining them with motifs of the English Tudor style. Moreover, such a combination in the history of the development of architecture is not accidental: in a number of forms and elements of Gothic one can discern similarities with the forms of oriental architecture. Europe became acquainted with Arab architecture even before the emergence of Gothic - during the Crusades - and borrowed arches and towers in the form of minarets from the Arabs.

Inspired by such superb works of Hindu-Muslim architecture as the famous Taj Mahal in Agra, Humayun's Mausoleum in Delhi or the fabulous Alhambra Palace in Grenada, the architect creates the South Facade. It is in the Alupka palace complex - another new aspect of architecture so characteristic of romantic architecture, giving an idea of ​​some kind of oriental palace, evoking associations with Indo-Muslim mosques of the 16-17 centuries.

A huge portal opens here, the top of which is flanked by turrets reminiscent of minarets. A deep semi-circular niche two stories high is framed by a carved horseshoe-shaped arch, its vaulted ceiling is decorated with alabaster carvings.

The oriental character of the central portal is emphasized by the inscription on the frieze of the niche in Arabic: “And there is no winner but Allah.”

A typical detail of oriental architecture is the verandas that encircle the entire southern facade along with the Shuvalovsky building, as well as the wide extension of the roof above the cornice, decorated with carved overhangs. These details play an important functional role in protecting rooms from heat and blinding sunlight.

The openwork grilles of the verandas and balustrades give this part of the palace a special elegance. A stylized Indian lotus flower is woven into the decor of thin metal columns, rhythmically repeating along the facade from the Chinese cabinet to the dining room. The presence of the forms of this flower in the architectural decoration of the southern facade strengthens its connection with the local exotic flora.

Thanks to its asymmetrical silhouette - details striving upward, the palace on the south side organically fits into the panorama of Alupka. And the horizontal placement of the buildings of the entire palace complex, its broken line, as if repeating the line of the mountain range, the local diabase stone from which all the buildings are built, the surrounding exotic vegetation, make the entire palace and park ensemble an integral part of the Crimean mountain landscape harmoniously merging with it.

A diabase staircase leads from the palace towards the sea, decorated with marble sculptures of lions, made in the workshop of the Italian sculptor Bonanni. The best of them is “Sleeping Lion”. The sculptor superbly sculpted this mighty animal in a state of absolute peace, every feature in it breathes life, the muscles are relaxed, everything in it expresses the pleasure of a sweet sleep.

Nearby is an “awakened lion”, ready to roar. The next pair are the “Rising” and “Roaring Lions”, guarding the entrance to the palace.

Around the palace there is a vast park, which is a work of high landscape gardening art (it deserves separate consideration). The park is divided into two parts: upper and lower. The Upper Park is landscape. By laying it out, the gardeners wanted it to look like a forest. The southern part of the palace faces the lower park, which was built according to the principle of regular Italian parks. Here the skillful hand of the gardener is visible in everything: both in the arrangement of vegetation and in its curly haircut. Near the palace itself, the park is decorated with artistically made cascading fountains and decorative vases made of white marble.

The library building was built specifically for Vorontsov’s library, which was created over decades, passed down from generation to generation and numbered over 25 thousand books. The contents of the library are wide and multifaceted; it is encyclopedic in nature. In addition to books in Russian, there are a lot of books in foreign languages: English, French, Italian, etc.

The library characterizes Vorontsov as a practical figure who clearly understands the importance of deep theoretical knowledge for practice. The library contains books on various branches of science and production (medicine, sheep breeding, shipping, winemaking, legal proceedings). Memoirs, books on philosophy, history, natural science, politics, reference books, catalogs, reports, charters, codes of laws, archives are stored in this library. It quite fully reflects the state of not only Russian, but also European culture in the mid-19th century. There is no tour of the library; these are museum collections.

Why is it worth visiting the Vorontsov Palace in Alupka?

Alupka Palace is a complex and interesting phenomenon in architecture. Built from local materials by the hands of fortress stone-cutters, it became an integral part of the south coast landscape. Comparison with other estate complexes in Russia and Ukraine, as well as Western Europe in the first half of the 19th century, allows us to rightfully consider it an outstanding monument of palace and park architecture.

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

Vorontsov Palace and him park complex – "highlight" Alupka landscape and the main attraction of the seaside town.

Holidays on the Black Sea in Alupka attract 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 the Russian seaside town on the southern coast of Crimea.

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

The Ai-Petrinsky mountain range is one of the highest in Crimea. Like a shield it covers Alupka from the cold northern winds, and the largest number of sunny days a year (compared to Black Sea resorts Caucasus) make this town on the Black Sea coast a wonderful resort - the second after Yalta on the southern coast of Crimea.

History of Alupka.

The history of Alupka begins in the 6th-5th centuries BC, when the first Tauri settlement was founded on these blessed lands. Archaeologists found the remains of fortifications and a large burial ground on Mount Krestovaya. In the 10th century, Alupka belonged to the Khazars, in the 14th century it passed into the possession of the Genoese, who built a port and fortifications here, and later became a Tatar village. After the annexation of Crimea to Russia, these lands saw new owners: aristocrats and royal nobles. In the 20s of the 19th century, Alupka became the estate of the Governor-General of the Novorossiysk Territory, Count Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov, who decided to build a palace here. Until the 80s of the 19th century, Alupka was still a small village. Local population He was mainly engaged in gardening and viticulture.

IN late XIX century, Alupka begins to rapidly develop as a resort thanks to the fact that Russian “luminaries of medicine” recognize the healing properties of the local climate for the treatment of bronchopulmonary diseases and the healing of the whole body. In Alupka, dachas of aristocrats, shops, boarding houses, hotels, a post office and a telegraph appeared, and roads were built. In 1902, back in Tsarist Russia in Alupka, the first sanatorium for children began operating on voluntary donations.

During the years of Soviet power in Alupka, the construction of sanatoriums proceeded at a rapid pace, of which by 1940 there were already more than twenty.

Alupka received city status in 1938.

is a narrow strip of large and small pebbles, 4 km long along coastline. There are a total of 6 beaches and 23 beaches at sanatoriums. The main beach is a free city beach, which is located under Vorontsovsky Park. To the beach " Cote d'Azur", which is located near the bus station, you can drive up by car (there is paid parking).

The mild climate, dry air of Alupka with the aroma of pine, the Black Sea is the best place for the treatment of lung diseases. Here is the first children's sanatorium in Europe for the treatment of bone tuberculosis (founder Professor A.A. Bobrov). In 1982, a wine tasting room with 240 seats, Massandra, opened in Alupka.

Vorontsov Palace in Alupka.

Vorontsov Palace(Alupka) - this is the former summer Crimean residence Governor General of the Novorossiysk Territory Count Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov. Today is Alupka Palace and Park Museum-Reserve. It fits perfectly into the amazing landscape with a mountain range, evergreen vegetation and several narrow streets of the town, rising uphill from sea ​​coast. It is built from diabase, a material that is twice as strong as granite and is mined on the Crimean Peninsula. The gray-green color of the stone creates a unified architectural composition of the Vorontsov Palace with nature.

Photos of the Vorontsov Palace.

The palace was designed by the English architect Edward Blore. Construction took place from 1828 to 1848. The finishing process lasted until 1852. The architecture of the palace is unique. It consists of a combination of different styles:

• The North Front is late English Gothic;
• The Western Facade is a European medieval castle, a fortress from the 8th to 12th centuries;
• Southern - elements of India and the East. Huge dome of the South facade with Arabic inscriptions, open towards the Black Sea, has a romantic appearance. The “Lion Terrace” with gradually wary “kings” of animals adorns the magnificent staircase leading to the entrance to the castle from the park. Three pairs of lions made of Carrara white marble were made in the workshop of the Florentine sculptor Bonnani, but the most famous (lower) is “Sleeping Lion”.

The palace ensemble consists of 5 buildings, open and closed courtyards, terraces. The Vorontsov Palace looks both stern and elegant, stable and romantic. West Side The palace (the so-called Shuvalovsky passage) appears to 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 southern facade is famous for its high portal with a deep niche, on the frieze of which the saying “There is no winner but Allah” is inscribed in Arabic script.

Eastern and Western architecture are united by the palace's carved stone decorations, battlements and Gothic chimneys, as well as soaring domes in the form of mosque minarets and thin turrets on the sides. All this splendor is complemented by the natural pattern of Mount Ai-Petri.

Each of the 150 rooms included in palace ensemble, is original: “The Calico Room”, “The Blue Living Room”, “The State Dining Room”, “Winter Garden”, “Chinese Study”, “Billiard Room”, “Vestibule”. The luxury and love of the owners for their home is visible everywhere. The special pride of the Alupka Palace is its luxurious fireplaces in the Gothic style, made of marbled limestone and polished diabase stone.
"Great Dining Room"- the most majestic hall of the Vorontsov Palace. Its interior is made in the style of knight's castles. Tourists are impressed by: a decorative marble fountain with a balcony for musicians rising above it; walls decorated with wood carvings; candelabra made of Ural malachite. High ceilings, doors made of bog oak, simple furniture and oak panels add solemnity to the hall.
"Blue Living Room"- This is a bright, elegant room with a stucco openwork pattern of leaves and flowers covering the blue walls and ceiling. It has Turkish furnishings and luxurious fabrics.
"Winter Garden"– a combination of marble sculpture with rare evergreens. Copies of antique sculptures and portraits of the Vorontsov family, made in marble, make up the main interior of the Winter Garden.

Winter garden in the Vorontsov Palace Photo.

5 terraces of the Vorontsov Palace park- These are stylized five stages of medieval gardens with flower beds and trimmed plants. IN Upper terrace there are many marble vases, fountains, benches among the rose gardens, and the Lower one is distinguished by an abundance of wall fountains.

In 1921, the Vorontsov Palace became a museum. Since 1990, it has been the Alupka Palace and Park Museum-Reserve. Excursions and exhibitions are held here, including the Vorontsov Family Gallery. In 2007, a new exhibition “The House of Count A.P.” was opened here. Shuvalov."