On foot or on horseback, they constantly made walks along it, met each other, came to visit, since there were convenient descents from the path to the estates "Chair", "Dulber", "Kharaks", "Kichkine". And on this path Emperor Nicholas2nd century In 1909, he twice personally tested soldier's camping equipment weighing more than two pounds ...

In the "Soviet" times, the Sunny Path was very popular among the guests of the resort. It was followed by paths of terrenkur (therapeutic walking) of almost all sanatoriums located along it. There was even a pedestrian excursion route. Naturally, her condition was constantly monitored. In our time, the coating has collapsed in places, there are almost no benches left along the path in places of rest, in addition, fences of private households have grown in several places. But Fresh air and wonderful views of the sea and mountains remained, and walks along the Sunny Path are still popular ...

Soon the trail leaves the limits of Livadia and leads us to the territory of Oreanda.

In 1825, Oreanda was bought by Emperor Alexander I, who thus became the first owner of the estate in the Romanov dynasty. south coast Crimea. Alexander twice (in 1818 and 1825) made short trips around the Crimea, each time remaining in awe of the South Coast.

It was there that he found the corner that he had been dreaming about all the last years and where he would like to settle forever: “I will soon move to the Crimea, I will live as a private person. I served 25 years, and the soldier is retired during this period, ”he said.

However, the dream of a solitary life in Oreanda was not destined to come true. On October 27, 1825, the emperor went to inspect the St. George Monastery. The day, at first warm, gave way to a cold, foggy and damp evening. The emperor left in one uniform and caught a bad cold. On November 19, Alexander I died in Taganrog. Soon his wife, Empress Elizaveta Alekseevna, died, and the estate passed to Alexander's brother, Nikolai.

For the first time, Emperor Nicholas I and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna saw their South Coast estate on September 17, 1837.

For the history of Yalta, this date became significant - it was on September 17, after the consecration ceremony of the Church of St. John Chrysostom, built according to the project of the architect Toricelli, that the emperor ordered that the village of Yalta be granted the status of a county town...

Alexandra Feodorovna was delighted with Oreanda, and Nikolai immediately decided to present this estate to his wife and build a palace for her here.

The project was commissioned by the famous architect K. F. Shinkel. In 1840 the project magnificent palace in the “neo-Greek” style was ready and aroused the admiration of the royal family, but after discussion, its implementation was abandoned due to the huge (more than 1 million silver rubles) cost of construction. Reworking of the project was entrusted to the favorite of Nicholas I, the famous St. Petersburg architect A. I. Stackenschneider, who took into account the wish of the Empress to have a small cozy villa. Leaving the style proposed by his predecessor, he reduced the building area by almost 4 times. In 1842 new project has been approved. The construction of the palace lasted for 10 years, but finally, in the fall of 1852, the palace was ready.

In 1852 the construction of the palace was completed. It cost half a million rubles and became one of the best creations of AI Stackenschneider. From the road located above the estate, it seemed like a "magic castle", as contemporaries perceived it. Indeed, against the backdrop of harsh rocks and dark vegetation, it looked light and airy thanks to the whiteness of the Inkerman stone, open galleries and balconies, and the picturesque completion of the roof. Designed in the style of the Italian Renaissance, it was distinguished by strict proportions, a clear rhythm of columns, pilasters, window openings, and floor divisions. Porticos decorated with caryatids, a large number of acroteria, decorative vases, magnificent capitals of the Corinthian order and cornices "of the best finish with cast ornaments" gave the palace elegance and conviviality. All this ended with the solemn sound of white marble stairs leading to the facades of the palace. Each palace has always had its own special artistically designed interiors, which constituted the "landmark of the building." So in Oreanda, the inner courtyard became the center of both compositional planning and artistic and decorative. Judging by the descriptions preserved in archival documents, it was splendidly executed in color: its walls and ceiling "were painted in Pompeian style." One can imagine how 12 columns of reddish Crimean marble harmonized with this beautiful painting. In the middle was a fountain with a pool and a vase of dark gray Oreand marble on a pedestal of the same, but yellow marble. The floor was paved with white and gray Italian marble slabs, 4 dark marble paths led to the fountain. The so-called vine garden was originally designed, which adjoined the eastern facade of the palace and the pergola. It was all decorated with marble: a fountain made of white Carrara marble with a pool and bowls in the style of the Bakhchisaray fountain (one of the earliest replicas of this fountain on the South Bank) was built into the wall. The columns that surrounded this garden were carved from Oreand light marble, and five polished vases, two round tables and a double bench were distinguished by whiteness.

The ceremonial halls of the first floor were magnificently decorated: Big hall(in old documents it is called the Salo) was decorated in the style of Louis XVI (classicism). A coffered ceiling with gilding, two fireplaces of red Crimean marble, a strict solution of the walls. Later, for this hall, St. Petersburg furniture manufacturer A. Vasmut, who made furniture for the Orenada Palace, will be ordered 50 pieces of furniture, also in the style of Louis XVI. In contrast to this austere hall, the boudoir was decorated in the light, playful style of Pampadour (rococo). Here the fireplace was of white Carrara marble carved. The walls, covered with white silk stock fabric, were set off by a gilded baguette. Other large rooms on the first floor - the foyer, study, living room, dining room, bedroom were also distinguished by beautiful decoration: there were fireplaces of white Italian and red Crimean marble, walnut wood panels, Swedish marble stoves, gilding in the decoration, typesetting oak floors , walnut, maple, door handles - "bronze gilded with crystal colored balls" and other decorative elements.

In addition to the main ceremonial rooms, on the first floor there were also two chamberlain rooms, 3 rooms for the retinue, a duty room, a servant's room, and a room for servants. On the second floor there were two studies, a living room, 15 small rooms, two valet rooms, bathrooms; on the mezzanine - the wardrobe of Her Majesty and the "compartment for the residence of room girls."

In the rooms of the palace, 8 large and 12 medium-sized fireplaces made of white Carrara marble and "Crimean porphyry" were installed, the floors of balconies and galleries were lined with colored slabs.

It was the first royal palace on the South Bank. And in terms of its beautiful architectural forms, and the superbly executed decorative design of the interiors, it really was royal - everything was at the highest artistic level. In one of the guidebooks of the 1870s. one could read: "While looking around the palace, pay attention - to the courtyard and the pavilion in Pompeian style with excellent Crimean marble columns, to the beautiful caryatids supporting the balconies facing the sea, to the marble staircase leading to the second floor ... In Oreanda everything deserves attention and detailed review.

The RGIA keeps a number of projects for Oreanda, from which you can learn about some of the buildings on the estate. Almost all designs are copies of Stackenschneider's drawings; the signatures of Ashliman and the "architect's assistant" Werth confirm the fidelity to the originals. Looking at these drawings, you are convinced that Oreanda was not supposed to have a big economic activity. All buildings were designed only to ensure the daily maintenance of the estate in due order.

In September 1850, the palace, where the last finishing work was going on, was visited by the heir to the throne, Alexander Nikolayevich. His Imperial Highness went down past the greenhouse along the newly built road to the palace buildings, where he first examined the plans approved by the Highest, then deigned to inspect the upper and mezzanine of the palace, the kitchen with underground passage and the construction of a stable with an outbuilding. Moreover, the Grand Duke Tsesarevich drew attention to the difficulty of the work and the sickly faces of most of the working people who were assembled at the buildings.

From the palace buildings, His Imperial Highness deigned to drive past the cascade to the imperial house, and from there through the menagerie and the estate of Count Pototsky Livadia to Yalta, declaring his pleasure to the chief caretaker of the Oreanda estate for the order and cleanliness with which the garden and roads in Oreanda are kept.

Walking along Livadia, he went out onto the Tsar's path and, without even knowing it, repeated the path of Nicky and Alex back in 1894, when they went to mass at the temple in Lower Oreanda Love of the last Russian emperor. Then, already as emperor and empress, they often walked here.

The only difference is that in 1894 they purposefully went to the church, and I went past the Lower Oreanda, but, seeing the temple, I turned back and then along the back streets, then along the road, then along the disguised stairs, I reached the Church of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos.

Although the Church of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos was built only in 1885, it has an interesting backstory.

The policy of the Russian emperors towards the Christians of Crimea was incomprehensible. The Greeks, who had lived in the Crimea from time immemorial and survived many conquerors, together with other Christians, were taken out of the Crimea in 1778 and settled in the Azov region. Along with the Greeks, among the settlers were Armenians, Georgians, Bulgarians and Vlachs. A total of 31,386 Christians were deported. While in Rhodes, I met one such ancient descendant of these Greeks, who lived in Mariupol.

When the Crimea was annexed to Russia in 1783, the Greeks from the Azov region were not returned. At the same time, the Russian government was interested in the full settlement and economic development of new territories. Instead of Christians who previously lived in the Crimea, they began to encourage and call for the resettlement of Greeks from continental Greece and the islands of the Archipelago. And not only Greeks who were Orthodox, but even Catholics and Protestants from various European countries. Until now, there are Protestant and Catholic churches in Crimea.

Of the resettled Greeks in 1789, the Balaklava infantry battalion was formed, which guarded the coast from Sevastopol to Feodosia. In 1809-1831, its commander was Theodosius Dmitrievich Reveliotis, a leader of the Greek national liberation movement against the Turkish yoke, who became a general in the Russian army. The regiment guarded South coast Crimea. The enterprising Greek, apparently a descendant of the cunning Odysseus, bought up a lot of land in the area of ​​Mukhalatka, Kukuk-Koy, Kekeneiz, Simeiz, Alupka, Oreanda, Livadia. F.D. Reveliotis began to sell his lands only when, in connection with the upcoming construction of the Simferopol-Yalta-Sevastopol road, their prices rose sharply.

Representatives of the noble elite Russian Empire became interested in the lands of the southern coast of Crimea. The Lower Oreanda was bought from Reveliotis on October 29, 1823 by Count Alexander Grigoryevich Kushelev-Bezborodko (1800 - 1855).

In October 1825, at the invitation of the Novorossiysk Governor-General Count M.S. Vorontsov, Emperor Alexander the First visited the Vorontsov estate in Alupka. During this visit, the Russian autocrat visited Oreanda and even spent the night there in a Tatar house. The emperor, inclined towards mysticism, wanted to build a house for solitude in these wild and picturesque places. Count Kushelev-Bezborodko promised to transfer Oreanda to Emperor Alexander the First. But the deal had to be documented by Nicholas the First because of the death of his brother Alexander. This event took place on April 26, 1826. Thus the first appeared imperial estate on the southern coast of Crimea, only it was not of interest to Nicholas the First, for 10 years the emperor did not visit there, Oreanda was supervised by Count M.S. Vorontsov. But when Nicholas the First decided to donate the estate to his wife, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, he came to Lower Oreanda with his family and large retinue in 1837.

In the center is the crowned couple: Alexandra Feodorovna (1798-1860) and Nicholas the First (1796-1855). Children frame the photo of their parents: Alexander (1818-1881), Maria (1819-1876), Olga (1822-1892), Alexandra (1825-1844), Konstantin (1827-1892), Nikolai (1831-1891), Mikhail (1832 -1909).

Alexandra Feodorovna (born Princess Frederick Louise Charlotte Wilhelmina of Prussia) was the daughter of the Prussian King Frederick William III. Therefore, she reacted responsibly to the gift, deciding to build a palace for living. She commissioned the design of the palace from Karl Friedrich Schinkel (1781 - 1841), a German architect who built many fine buildings in Prussia. We liked the project very much, but having calculated the estimated construction costs, we politely said goodbye to it, generously endowing it with goodbye. Without delay, the project was commissioned to another architect, this time from St. Petersburg, Andrei Ivanovich Shtakenshneider (1802 - 1865). This project was approved by Nicholas II in 1842 and construction began, which lasted for 10 years. Supervising architects were Ludwig Valentinovich Cambiaggio (1810-1870) and Ashliman Karl Ivanovich (1808-1893) are already familiar to us. And the stone work was in charge of the Englishman William Gunt, who had previously participated in the construction Vorontsov Palace in Alupka.

In 1852, the royal family visited Oreanda, in which a handsome palace towered.

This was the last visit to the estate for Nicholas I and Alexandra Feodorovna. Before her death, the Dowager Empress bequeathed the estate not to her eldest son, Emperor Alexander II, but to her second son, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich. The Grand Duke was rarely in Oreanda, on short visits, but he was proud of his estate. When he traveled incognito, hiding his belonging to the imperial family, he introduced himself as Konstantin Nikolaevich von Oreandsky, a Crimean landowner.

But his family regularly visited the Crimean estate, Konstantin Nikolayevich's wife, Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna, nee Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg (1830-1911), often rested here with their children, of whom they had six: four boys and two girls, one of the girls, Olga Konstantinovna will become the Greek queen. The age difference between the oldest and youngest child was 12 years.

Together with the family of Konstantin Nikolaevich, his younger brothers Grand Dukes Nikolai Nikolaevich and Mikhail Nikolaevich came to rest.

Interestingly, those who wished were allowed into the estate. So in 1867 the famous American writer Mark Twain (1835-1910) visited here. In his book "Simples Abroad" he admires the estate: "It is charming here. The beautiful palace is surrounded on all sides by the mighty trees of the old park, spread among the picturesque cliffs and hills ... The palace was built in the style of the best examples of Greek architecture, a magnificent colonnade surrounds the courtyard planted with rare fragrant flowers, and in the middle a fountain beats - it refreshes the hot summer air.

When the fire started on August 7, 1881, the Grand Duke was at the estate. The fire continued through the night and into the next morning. Most of the furniture was saved, including the prince's favorite piano. It was decided not to restore the palace, part of the ruins were dismantled and one might think that these are ancient ruins preserved from the ancient Greeks.

In a new place. in the oaks, the prince decided to build a temple in memory of his mother. He described the chosen style as Georgian-Byzantine, and ordered the project to Alexei Andreevich Avdeev (1819–1885), who implemented many projects in the South of Russia, including the Crimea. One of the most famous projects is the Vladimir Cathedral in Sevastopol. After the death of Avdeev, the former vice-president of the Imperial Academy of Arts, an expert in Byzantine art and church painting, Prince Grigory Grigorievich Gagarin (1810–1893) corrected and finally completed the project of the temple for Oreanda after the death of Avdeev.

At first, Konstantin Nikolayevich wanted to consecrate the temple in honor of the Holy Trinity, but then he changed his mind and the temple was dedicated to the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos.

By order of Konstantin Nikolaevich, starting from May 2, 1885, the Yalta photographer Fedor Pavlovich Orlov periodically photographed the construction site. F.P. Orlov (1844 - died after 1906), merchant of the 2nd guild. He was seriously fond of photography, often fulfilling orders from the royal family to create albums with views of the Crimea. Thanks to him, we can see how the temple was built.

Collage "Construction of the temple in Lower Oreanda" (Photographs by F.P. Orlov) In the center: the completed temple (1886) Along the edges, the stages of construction: 1). April 1885. The foundation of the temple; 2) April 1885 Construction of the temple walls; 3) June 1885 Construction of the arches and vaults of the temple; 4). August 19, 1885. The erection of the cross on the dome of the temple; 5). September 1885 External decoration of the dome of the temple.

Now near the temple there is a belfry, which appeared in 2001,

and when the temple was built, five bells were located on an oak tree, which has survived to this day. Part of its crown can be seen in the photo on the left.

The mosaic in the temple was made by the Venetian Antonio Salviati (1816 - 1890).

True, part of it was destroyed in Soviet times. Mosaic icons of his work are available not only inside, but also outside. The image of the Savior is installed above the central western doors, under the ridge of the roof there is a half-length image of the image of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos.

The altar of the church is very beautiful,

and behind it is a multi-figure composition "The Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos", preserved from 1886.

You can take pictures in the temple, especially if you make a small donation. The temple resembles a cross inscribed in a rectangle.

After the death of Konstantin Nikolaevich, the temple was maintained by his sons - Grand Dukes Konstantin Konstantinovich (1858 -1915), general, president of the Russian Academy of Sciences and poet, known under the pseudonym K.R., and Dmitry Konstantinovich (1860 -1919), commander
Life Guards Horse Grenadier Regiment.

It was Dmitry Konstantinovich who became the owner of the estate after the death of his father in 1892. In August 1894, shortly before his death, Emperor Alexander III bought the estate for Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich, the future Russian Emperor Nicholas II.

On the side of the church stands a bust of John of Kronstadt.

It was erected in honor of the fact that in the fall of 1894, the holy righteous John of Kronstadt, who came to the terminally ill Emperor Alexander III, served several times in the Intercession Church.

In 1924, the temple was closed, in 1926 it was transferred to a sanatorium and excursions began to be led to the temple. In 1927, after the Crimean earthquake, cracks appeared in the walls of the building and they wanted to demolish it, but something did not work out. Until the end of the Great Patriotic War, the temple was closed, then workshops appeared in it, replaced by warehouses. A motor depot, which still exists, was located in the churchyard, only the motor depot and the temple were fenced off from each other with an iron fence. In the sixties of the last century, they again wanted to demolish the temple, and again this cup passed the temple. In 1992, the church was handed over to believers,

Archpriest Nikolai Donenko was appointed rector of the temple.

A.P. Chekhov liked to visit here. The heroes of his story "The Lady with the Dog" Dr. Gurov and Anna Sergeevna "In Oreanda they sat on a bench, not far from the church, looked down at the sea and were silent. Yalta was barely visible through the morning fog, white clouds stood motionless on the tops of the mountains. The foliage did not move cicadas were calling in the trees, and the monotonous, muffled sound of the sea, coming from below, spoke of peace, of the eternal sleep that awaits us. indifferent and deaf when we are gone. And in this constancy, in complete indifference to the life and death of each of us lies, perhaps, the guarantee of our eternal salvation, the uninterrupted movement of life on earth, uninterrupted perfection."

I also visited the place where the heroes of the story sat. I met a couple from our time, sitting on benches, looking at the sea and drinking cognac. Therefore, photographing the benches had to be abandoned, so as not to embarrass the resting couple. But I photographed the view from Oreanda.

❤ started selling air tickets! 🤷

In 1837, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna received the Oreanda estate as a gift from her husband Nicholas I and commissioned the design of the palace to the Berlin architect Karl-Friedrich Schinkel. The architectural solution proposed in 1839 by K.F. Shinkel was admired by the royal family, but the project was abandoned due to the high cost.

In 1840, Professor Andrey Ivanovich Shtakenshneider was invited to create a new version of the project. "The project of the palace in Oreanda" became one of the best creations of the architect A.I. Shtakenshneider.

The Petersburg architect, having preserved the general idea, style and layout of the planned ensemble, completely changed its scale. He significantly reduced the size of the future palace and, moving it from the top of the mountain to one of the mountain terraces descending to the sea, softened the "fortified" character of the building. Based on the composition A.I. Stackenschneider took the plan of a Roman house with an atrium surrounded by Doric porticoes. It became the center around which the ceremonial interiors were grouped. The external architecture of the palace had a pronounced renaissance character. In 1842, the emperor approved a new project. The construction of the palace lasted 10 years and was fully completed by the autumn of 1852. The craftsmen worked under the guidance of architects L.V. Cambiaggio and K.I. Ashliman. All stone work from the beginning to the completion of construction was in charge of the Englishman William Gunt.

Against the backdrop of harsh rocks and dark vegetation, the royal palace seemed like a “magic castle”, it looked light and airy thanks to the whiteness of the Inkerman stone, open galleries and balconies, and the picturesque completion of the roof.

On the night of August 7-8, 1881, a fire destroyed a wonderful work of architecture of the 19th century, and only after 66 years the ruins of the royal palace were dismantled. After the end of the Great Patriotic War, by order of the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks I.V. Stalin, the construction of the sanatorium complex "Lower Oreanda" began.

In 1958, on the site where the royal palace was located, according to the project of the architect M.Ya. Ginzburg, the main building of the sanatorium was built (now the Imperial building). Since the construction of this building was completed after the death of Ginzburg, when the trends of "pomp" and "decoration" in Soviet architecture intensified from year to year, the project underwent changes towards enriching the external appearance and especially the interiors of the building. The building is built in the form of a luxurious two-tier "Roman" palace with wide stairs leading to the second tier.

Simultaneously with the Imperial building, a coastal elevator, piers and fortifications of the beach were built.

After the October Revolution, interest in the "Lower Oreanda" manifested itself in the late 1930s, when, at the direction of I.V. Stalin in the Crimea begins the construction of new resort health resorts.

One of the leading architects for their construction was M.Ya. Ginzburg.

Ginzburg worked a lot in the Crimea. In 1917-1921 he lived on the peninsula and studied the folk architecture of the Crimean Tatars. Having moved to Moscow, in 1925 Ginzburg and the Vesnin brothers organized the Association contemporary architects, which included leading constructivists.

In the early 1930s M. Ya. Ginzburg headed a group of designers working on a regional planning project for the southern coast of Crimea. Sanatorium "Nizhnyaya Oreanda" is the first sanatorium on the southern coast of Crimea, built after the end of the Great Patriotic War.

Architect Ginzburg began working on the project back in 1940. But the construction of the first stage of the Nizhnyaya Oreanda sanatorium complex was carried out only in 1948, after his death.

Simultaneously with the deluxe building (now the "Kremlin"), an administrative building was built, as well as all the infrastructure necessary for the life of the sanatorium.

The Kremlin building was erected in a modest Palladian style using elements of constructivism. In plan, it was a closed rectangle with arched openings on the facades and an atrium courtyard and was designed for only 40 seats. The building is located on a gently sloping terrain with a drop towards the sea and adjoins a steep slope leading to the shore.

In 1950, also according to the project of M.Ya. Ginzburg, the building of the Medical building of the sanatorium "Lower Oreanda" was built. The best health resort doctors worked in the elite health resort and the latest medical equipment of that time was installed.

By the end of the 50s of the last century, Nizhnyaya Oreanda became a favorite vacation spot for the leaders of the country and the leaders of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, prominent figures of science, culture and art.

Nobel laureates N. Basov and A. Prokhorov, academicians L. Landau and I. Kurchatov, directors N. Sats, I. Pyryev, S. Obraztsov, E. Matveev, actors I. Ilyinsky, R. Plyatt, I. Makarova, singers L. Zykina and M. Bieshu, ballerinas O. Lepeshinskaya, G. Ulanova and M. Plisetskaya, as well as famous politicians, diplomats and many other legendary personalities of the 20th century.

The Church of the Most Holy Mother of God in Oreanda was built in 1885 by order of the Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich Romanov.

The temple is made in the Georgian-Byzantine style according to the project of the academician of architecture A.A. Avdeev. The church was richly decorated with mosaic images and ornaments by the Italian mosaicist Antonio Salviati. Such famous painters and ornamentalists as Prince G.G. also took part in decorating the temple. Gagarin, former Vice-President of the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, academicians D.I. Grimm, M.V. Vasiliev.

At the end of the XIX-beginning of the XX centuries. the temple was considered one of the most beautiful on the southern coast of Crimea. The holy righteous John of Kronstadt served in this fertile place. Starting with Alexander III, the entire royal family prayed here when they rested on the South Coast.

In 1924, the temple was closed and transferred to the jurisdiction of OHRIS in order to use it as an excursion object as an architectural monument. In 1928, the temple was supposed to be demolished, but the defenders of cultural monuments stood up and the temple survived. In the post-war period, the church was used for mechanical workshops, construction and vegetable warehouses.

In 1992, the temple was returned to the Church. And now we can again see the rare image of the Savior in adolescence, the twelve apostles, the full image of the icon of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos, and partially preserved faces of the saints.

The park in Oreanda began to take shape in the 30s of the 19th century under the guidance of the English gardener W. Ross. It crashed in landscape style. Its layout and new plantings were made in such a way as to preserve the originality of Oreanda, without violating its "wild", primordial beauty.

The main planning of the park was carried out during the construction of the palace. In April 1849, the architect Stackenschneider drew up a master plan for the reorganization of the entire garden and a detailed design for part of the garden around the palace. As Stackenschneider writes, “the palace was built on a place where a garden should be laid out around it,” and therefore he suggests “planning and finishing the area in front of the palace up to 625 square meters. soot”, to plant 1,000 different trees and up to 5,000 shrubs of different varieties.

New plantings represented the subtropics of various regions of the whole the globe. However, making numerous plantings, gardeners organically included specimens of the local Crimean flora in them. Until now, in the center of the park, opposite the main building, there is a huge oriental plane tree. Oriental plane tree (also plane tree, plane tree) is a woody plant, a species of the genus Platan (Platanus), family Platanaceae (Platanaceae). In nature, the oriental plane tree reaches colossal proportions and exceptional longevity.

The magnificent Lower Oreanda plane tree is the largest and one of the oldest plane trees on the South Shore. Its age is more than 200 years, the height is 30 m and the circumference of the trunk is 6.5 m.

This plane tree was carefully guarded throughout the 19th century; no plantings were made around it. As a result, with its mighty branches widely scattered to the sides and descending to the ground, the plane tree formed a kind of tent.

Under this tree, the last ruler of the Russian Empire, Nicholas II, liked to relax and hold military reviews in October 1910 and May 1912. Nekrasov, Bunin, Chekhov, Aivazovsky and many other great and famous connoisseurs of the beauty of the Lower Oreanda walked here, forever inscribed their names in world history.

In 1920, after the establishment of Soviet power in the Crimea, Oreanda, like other royal estates, was nationalized. AT summer period under the canopy of the plane tree, rest camps were set up for the builders of the "new world".

Today, the Oriental plane tree is the real pride of the Lower Oreanda park. It belongs to the category of natural monuments, is considered unique and has an independent scientific, aesthetic and historical value.

In 1825, Emperor Alexander I, at the invitation of Count M. Vorontsov, made a trip to the Crimea. Passing Oreanda, he is so struck by its beauty that he decides to establish his estate here.

However, in the same 1825, Alexander I dies, and the estate passes by inheritance to his younger brother Nikolai.

In 1837, Emperor Nicholas I set off on a trip to the Crimea, and on September 17, 1837, the royal family went to Oreanda. Here is how an eyewitness describes their arrival: “Having arrived at the gate leading to the Oreanda Park, the emperor stopped the horse and approached the empress and announced that he was giving her Oreanda.

On the same day, they examined the buildings erected according to the designs of the architect F. Elson: a “house with a tower” for guests, a greenhouse, houses of the estate manager, a gardener and a winemaker. By the time of the Highest arrival, the small “imperial” house, where Alexander I stayed and dined with friends in 1825, was carefully repaired: the roof was covered with tiles, the ceiling was changed, and a gallery was attached to the facade.

After the death of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna on October 20, 1860, Oreanda passed into the possession of the Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich and until 1894 was in the status of a grand duke, and not a royal estate.

The year 1881 turned out to be fatal for Konstantin Nikolayevich.

On March 1, in St. Petersburg, Emperor Alexander II was killed by a bomb explosion of the terrorist Grinevitsky. With him ended the era of liberal reforms that led the country to a constitutional monarchy. Under the new emperor Alexander lll, the Grand Duke was out of work. He was removed from almost all positions held.

The prince spends the summer of 1881 in Oreanda. On the night of August 7-8, a dramatic event took place - the palace burned down in Oreanda due to an oversight. After the fire, Konstantin Nikolayevich decided to settle in the "imperial house", in which he lived during the now frequent and lengthy visits to his beloved Oreanda estate. In this regard, the house was renamed into "admiral" - by the title of its owner.

In the Admiral's House, the facade of the building was designed in the style of Tatar folk architecture with lancet windows and a carved wooden gallery. In the left half was the room of Konstantin Nikolaevich, and across the hallway, in the right - the adjutant's room. Several small rooms at the back of the house were occupied by servants.

Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich lived in this house from 1881-1889. In 1889, after a stroke, paralyzed, he was transferred to his estate Pavlovsk near St. Petersburg.

In a secluded corner of the magnificent Nizhny Oreanda park with a classic rose garden, well-groomed flower beds, and neat paths, there is an elegant Aivazovsky gazebo. It offers a wonderful view of the Big Yalta.

Here, where the azure sky merges with the boundless blue, I often wrote seascapes I.K. Aivazovsky (1817-1900).

The remarkable marine painter had a close and long-term friendship with the owner of the estate, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich Romanov. As the artist’s grandson recalls in his naval notes “from the distant past”, published in 1948 by the Society of Russian Officers in America, the Grand Duke and great artist always corresponded and on the desk of I.K. Aivazovsky there was always a portrait of Konstantin Nikolaevich. The same friendship connected the artist with the retinue of the Grand Duke, so Konstantin Nikolayevich signed his telegrams to Aivazovsky: “Your Oreand friends.”

Today, a snow-white gazebo, named after an outstanding marine painter, - favorite place rest and inspiration of philosophers, romantics and lovers. Here, in peace and solitude, contemporary painters and poets continue to create their works of art.

The owners of the Oreanda estate sought to do everything so that both in the English garden and in the forest park one could feel “quiet, comforting calmness”. When designing a landscape park in Oreanda, the architect A. Shtakenshneider used natural situations, transforming them into landscape objects.

One of these objects was the "Swan Lake", located near the palace at the very foot of the cliff, the top of which was decorated with a rotunda.

When you look at picturesque corner park with ponds surrounded by a bamboo grove, it is hard to imagine that once there was a swamp in this place. When planning this section of the park, Stackenschneider wrote in his proposals: “Under the rock (on which the rotunda is installed) there are several keys, and from them the place turned into a swamp, which is why it is necessary to dig small ponds in those places with the preservation of large trees.” Ponds were proposed to be dug to a depth of 1.5 arshins (for this it was necessary to dig soil up to 20 cubic meters of soot), "to overlay the bottom with small stones, and the banks with large ones."

Tulip trees and bamboo were planted around the ponds.

White swans were launched into the ponds, which replenished with touching offspring, majestically gliding along the mirror surface of the ponds.

In 1837, Emperor Nicholas I presented his wife, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, with the estate of Nizhnyaya Oreanda, which he had inherited from his brother, Emperor Alexander I.

In 1842-1852. the construction of the first imperial palace complex in the Crimea in Lower Oreanda, designed by the architect A. Stackenschneider, is underway.

The first building in the palace complex (1843) was a beautiful white stone rotunda. She crowned one of the cliffs of Oreanda. The rotunda was made in the neo-Greek style and consists of eight seven-meter Doric columns carved from Kerch pieced stone. best quality with excellent elaboration of capitals, architraves, cornices. The rotunda immediately became calling card royal estate. A staircase of several hundred steps led from the palace to it. From the rotunda there were wonderful views of Yalta and the southern coast.

After a fire in the palace in 1882, the rotunda became the only architectural object left from the original palace complex. Since the beginning of the 20th century, it has been the most visited place on the southern coast of Crimea.

Emperor Nicholas II was especially fond of walking from Livadia along the Horizontal Path, who, together with his family and retinue, often visited the rotunda.

The unique decoration of the Lower Oreanda are rocks and mountains. The most spectacular of these mountains is the Cross Rock, which in ancient times was called Uryanda, the area of ​​​​which is 7 hectares. The height above sea level is 204 m, of which 176 m is a steep cliff, at the foot of which a juniper grove has grown. On the slopes of the rock, there are many thickets of strawberries and a juniper-pistachio forest with 500-700-year-old trees.

On the top of the Uryanda cliff, archaeologists discovered the remains of medieval city that has existed here since the 8th century.

After 1837, the name of the Uryanda rock was changed to Krestovaya. This change was associated with a visit to the Crimea by the family of Emperor Nicholas I, who presented Oreanda to his wife, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna.

On one of her visits to Oreanda, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, together with Count and Countess Vorontsov, climbed to the top of the Uryanda rock, erected a wooden cross there and planted a bush of evergreen laurel with her own hands. Subsequently, this cross was replaced by a cast-iron one 3.5 m high. Since then, the rock has become known as the Cross.

In 1955, the first USSR climbing championship took place on Krestovaya.

Since 1965, the rock has been a complex natural monument.

From 1861 to 1892 Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich was the owner of Oreanda, and there is no doubt that one of the "artist's inventions" (as it was written in the guidebook) belongs to him.

Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich was born in 1827. His father, Emperor Nicholas I, decided that Konstantin should make a career as a military sailor and for five years entrusted his education to an outstanding sailor and scientist, Admiral Fyodor Litka. In fact, he was the first offspring of the Romanov dynasty to become a professional sailor.

On January 21, 1853, Konstantin Nikolayevich entered the administration of the naval ministry and was promoted to vice admiral.

As a man who devoted his life to maritime affairs, Konstantin Nikolayevich decides to decorate the park in his beloved Oreanda with small reservoirs, which were given the shape of the southern seas that were part of the Russian Empire.

In 1879, in the park, not far from the Admiral's House, original models of pools were created, which repeated the contours of the Black, Azov, Caspian and Aral Seas.

Evergreens were planted around the reservoirs. With a neat and regular haircut, gardeners achieved the outlines Crimean mountains and the Caucasus Range.

The park in Lower Oreanda began to form in the 30s of the 19th century under the guidance of the English gardener Ross, and was laid out in a landscape style. In all the plans of that time, the park was called the "English Garden".

During the spring of 1837, tree seedlings and flower seedlings were ordered and received from Riga from the large Karl Wagner Botanical Institute. At that time, several varieties of magnolias, 22 species of dahlias, tuberoses, anemones, camellias, pelargoniums, violets, purslane and many other flowers were planted in the park. The basic planning of the park was carried out in the 1840s. during the construction of the palace for Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. In 1849, the architect Stackenschneider drew up a master plan for the reorganization of the entire garden and a detailed design of a part of the garden around the palace, and proposed planting 5,000 shrubs of various varieties.

It is split into two huge gray boulders and rises near the seashore. A grotto is hidden in it, the remains of a cave in which, at the beginning of the 20th century, the archaeologist Zhukov discovered the site of a primitive man. Mastovaya rock and the grotto are interesting not only as natural and archaeological sites. At a time when Oreanda belonged to the royal Romanov family, the imperial flag was hoisted on a flagpole 16 m high on the Mast Rock, its oarlocks have been preserved to this day.

During the period of the first Russian revolution (1905-1907) in the grotto "under the nose of the tsar" there was an underground printing house of the Yalta organization of the RSDLP, which printed proclamations calling for the overthrow of the autocracy.

In Soviet times, Mastovaya rock and its grotto were used in the filming of popular adventure films such as Children of Captain Grant, Treasure Island, Sea Hunter, etc.

Oreanda has retained its unique beauty and silence rare on the coast. It dominates both the large old park and the exposed rocks, which give the area a severe look. From them, as some researchers believed, the name Oreanda came from - "rocky"

In the Yalta District there are several small urban-type settlements with an interesting history and amazing sights. One of these villages is Oreanda, located just west of the Yalta center and Livadia.

It is believed that the name of the village comes from the word "rocky", because indeed the village is surrounded by rocky formations from almost three sides.

All road travelers on the route pass through this village Yalta-Alupka because it is right on the track. Tourists walking along the Tsarskaya (Solar) path from Livadia to Gaspra will also be able to see Oreanda from a bird's eye view.

Geographically, the village is divided into Upper and Lower Oreanda. Its main part with all the tourist and sanatorium infrastructure and attractions is located in the lower region.

During the entire existence of this resort village, it was visited by many famous figures of culture, literature, art, politics, and so on. On its alleys one could meet L. Tolstoy, A. Chekhov and M. Twain, I. Kozlovsky and L. Zykin, I. Pyryev and E. Evtushenko, R. Plyatt and L. Landau, A. Tupolev and M. Pugovkin. And the list goes on and on...

History of the village

Oreanda is one of ancient Crimean settlements, where Goths and Alans, Tauris and Greeks once lived. The first religion of the settlement was Christianity. In the 14th century by agreement between the Republic of Genoa and the Crimean Tatar Khan - Oreanda became a Genoese village. In the 15th century, after the defeat of the Genoese, like everyone else Crimean coast, she became part of the victorious Ottoman Empire.

The settlement did not particularly develop during the Ottoman period, and Islam as the dominant religion did not take root here. Until the first half 19th century Oreanda (then called Urgenda) stood half empty, and then was privatized by the famous Count Potocki who created the famous palace ensemble in Livadia even before the royal estates appeared here.

Soon, the Oreand lands were transferred to the imperial family. It happened like this. In 1825, these places really liked Alexander the First who visited Count Vorontsov. And the emperor wanted to build a summer residence here for his often ill wife and for his planned vacation after leaving power. Potocki, of course, cedes the land to the emperor. However, Alexander the First suddenly dies in Taganrog and the land of Oreanda goes to his heir - Nicholas the First.

Nicholas during his first visit to Oreanda in 1837 gives these lands to his wife Alexandra Feodorovna. At the same time, work begins on the formation park area and small summer houses are being built for the imperial family. In the early 1940s, the construction of the very first summer Imperial Palace on the Crimean peninsula (arch. A. Stackenschneider).

Nicholas the First finished the palace was accepted in 1852. However, his family was not destined to rest here, because the emperor soon dies, and a few years later his wife, Alexandra Fedorovna, also passes away. By will, the estate in Oreanda with a beautiful palace went to their son, the Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich who fell in love with it and spent a lot of time here for more than 30 years.

At the beginning of August 1881 there was a terrible tragedy for Konstantin. The beautiful palace, built with love during the life of his mother, burned down. The prince had no funds for his restoration, and he continued to live in Oreanda in a small house called Admiralsky.

In memory of the deceased palace, Konstantin Nikolayevich decides to build a temple, for which he himself chooses a place and a name, dedicating it to his favorite autumn Orthodox holiday of the Intercession.

Church of the Intercession, built at the end of the 19th century under Konstantin Nikolaevich

After the resignation, the Grand Duke almost constantly lives in his Oreandovsky estate. A lover and connoisseur of beauty, he makes a close acquaintance with I. Aivazovsky living in Feodosia does a lot of work in the park, taking care of the preservation of rare plant species. The Grand Duke was also engaged in viticulture, growing the most tender grape varieties here.

The great artist Aivazovsky often came to the prince, and there was a gazebo in the park where he liked to work in solitude, which was called that - Aivazovsky's gazebo.

After the death of Konstantin in the early 90s. 19th century, his son had a chance to own the estate Dmitry Konstantinovich, but not for long. For Alexander the Third, who already has a summer Palace in Livadia, bought Oreanda from Dmitry for his son - the future Nicholas II. During this period, in the village itself there were only a little more than a dozen households and less than a hundred residents lived.

Early 20th century was marked by the construction of hotels and the development of the resort business. One of the best hotels in the Crimean south appears here - Hotel "Oreanda". After the revolution and civil war in addition to hotels, sanatorium buildings and boarding houses are being built. Holidays in Oreanda have always been considered pretty elite, and here one could meet famous diplomats, politicians and cultural figures.

It was for the domestic elite that a wonderful sanatorium was built after the war. "Lower Oreanda"(architect M. Ginzburg).

Sanatorium "Lower Oreanda" grew up on the site of the former imperial palace"

It was decided to erect the main building of the new health resort on the site of the ruins of the burned-out imperial palace in a modern constructivist style. Subsequently, more and more new sanatorium buildings appear. There were beautiful luxury rooms, the best doctors and the latest medical equipment.

And today, rest in Oreanda is quite calm and not fussy, but very pleasant and very healthy. Beaches here are comfortable and convenient. The infrastructure is quite developed, and in any case, Yalta is very close - just some five kilometers away.

On the territory of the village since tsarist times there has been wine shop, now belonging to PJSC "Massandra". Today Oreanda is resort village with a population of about a thousand people, and a historical landmark of the South Coast.

Attractions Oreanda

palace park

As already mentioned, the royal estate of Oreanda was acquired with the aim of holding here a summer medical and recreational holiday for members of the royal family from the time Alexander the First. Initially, before the construction of the royal palace, were built summer house and for the residence of the imperial family, one of which had a high guest tower. Amazing views of the Yalta surroundings opened from this tower.

Priority importance already at the first stage of the development of the estate was given to the creation park area. The manager of the estate A. Asher did a lot of work in this regard. From Riga botanical garden seedlings of various species of trees, shrubs and seedlings of flowers were discharged. Among the acquired and planted plants at the end of the 30s were multi-species magnolias, and numerous flowers: from dahlias, anemones, camellias and purslane to pelargoniums and violets.

The formation of the palace park was carried out by a gardener V.Rossom in the tradition of the English garden using the local rocky landscape. This made it possible to create amazingly picturesque corners filled with a romantic mood. The park area was officially called " imperial garden in the Oreanda estate.

The entire garden and park planning was drawn up taking into account the planned palace structure, so that the park would surround the palace from all sides. In total, more than a thousand different subtropical trees and more than five thousand shrubs were planted in the park.

very organic in park ensemble fit in and the plants growing here earlier in the form fig, strawberry, turpentine, iron and other trees. Bordered by bright and colorful flower beds, the old giants looked majestic and monumental.

From the initial period of the formation of the Oreandovsky Park to our time, one sycamore, whose age has exceeded the second hundred years.

Bicentennial plane tree is a relic landmark

The diameter of its trunk tends to 7 meters and the height is over 30 meters. Its magnificent sweeping crown forms a green tent. This plane tree is a local landmark, because under its crown the last Russian emperor rested, and many famous people, such as the, Chekhov, Bunin, Aivazovsky other.

When creating a palace park, all the existing natural objects transformed into objects of landscape decoration. So the swampy lowland, located at the foot of the cliff with a semi-rotunda, was transformed into a beautiful "Swan Lake", which Oreanda vacationers strive to see today.

To organize the lake was dug pond, the banks are decorated with large stones, and tulip trees and bamboo are planted around. The result is a magnificent picturesque corner of nature, which is very decorated with white swans that settled here.

"Swan Lake" on the territory of the palace park

Under Konstantin Nikolayevich, who had the rank of vice admiral and was very fond of the nautical theme, the so-called "map of the seas", consisting of several reservoirs, repeating the silhouettes of the southern seas of Russia. Evergreen shrubs were planted around the stylized seas, the shearing of which gave them the shape of the Caucasus and Crimean mountains.

To give rocks surrounding the estate, a more lively view, they were also decorated. One of them was decorated Rotunda with white columns, which brought a certain zest to the overall composition. Alexandra Feodorovna, the wife of Nicholas I, erected a wooden cross on Krestovaya Hill, which was later replaced with a decorative one.

The main part of the estate, along with the park, vineyards, orchard and flower beds, was surrounded by local deciduous and pine forests, which gave a sense of solitude and mystery.

In the Soviet years, in connection with the development of sanatorium-and-spa construction here, the park area was further developed. However, it is in the department of the sanatorium and it is impossible for mere mortals to get there.

The only thing left to do is admire the park area with observation deck half-rotunda.

First Crimean Palace (lost)

Naturally, the royal family initially wanted to have such picturesque place like Oreanda its summer palace, the project of which was carried out by the famous St. Petersburg architect A. Stackenschneider, and the construction itself was supervised by Count Vorontsov, the local governor-general. It was on his orders that the first building of the palace complex becomes Semi-rotunda, made of white Kerch stone on one of the cliffs of Oreanda. This beautiful eight-column structure became the main landmark of the new royal estate.

The palace was created from Crimean building materials - stone was supplied from Inkerman and Kerch, brick - from Feodosia, marble of different shades was of local Oreand and Miskhor origin. Only for the manufacture of front stairs and fireplaces, the best marble was brought from the Alpine Carrara.

The palace was being built from 1843 to 1852 and became the best creation of Stackenschneider. The white and light palace with airy galleries and balconies, built according to all the rules of the Italian Renaissance, looked like a fairy-tale castle against the background of dark rocks. Numerous rhythmic columns, porticoes with caryatids, pilasters, decorative vases, magnificent capitals and cornices - all the elegant decor created an atmosphere of celebration and joyful mood.

There was also a traditional patio in Pompeian style with 12 columns, with a central pool, fountain and marble vase. With east side the palace was grape garden, also decorated with marble structures. There were columns, vases, and benches made of marble. One of the walls was decorated with an exact copy Bakhchisaray fountain.

The halls of the palace were also magnificent, their luxurious design is eloquently indicated by the styles of their execution. The large front hall is made in Louis 16 style(classic), and the furniture set for the hall by special order was made in the same vein. The boudoir is Marquise Pampadour style(rococo), etc.

Everywhere was marble, color ceramic tile, various types of wood, gilding, crystal, silk upholstery, fireplaces (20 in total) and more. This very first imperial Crimean palace was truly magnificent.

Around the palace itself in the park area appeared greenhouses and outbuildings, including stables, wine cellars etc.

Unfortunately, all this splendor was lost in the fire of 1881. From what has survived, the owner of the estate Konstantin Nikolaevich Church of the Intercession is being built.

Church of the Intercession of the Holy Mother of God

What you must see in Nizhnyaya Oreanda is the Church of the Intercession, built in 1885(architect A. Avdeev). The church of the Georgian-Byzantine style appeared here thanks to the instructions of Konstantin Nikolaevich, the Grand Duke and the then owner of the local estate.

By the way, on his own orders, monthly photo reports were made on the construction from May to September 1885, which greatly helped in the subsequent restoration of the temple. A temple was erected from the stone that remained after the fire from the beautiful Oreanda Palace. The church turned out to be small, single-domed and cruciform. The domed drum, equipped with narrow arched windows with yellow glass, was topped with a bronze gilded openwork cross.

Three sides of the temple were decorated with arched galleries. Since the church was built on the territory of an oak grove, in order to preserve all the trees, the altar of the temple was slightly turned to the southeast. It is interesting that one of the oaks later played the role bell towers. 5 bells of various weights were fixed on it. The last two emperors of the Romanov dynasty listened to the sound of these bells from the oak belfry.

The Church of the Intercession at the end of the 19th century was considered one of the the most beautiful on the southern Crimean coast. It was especially wonderful interior design, consisting of mosaic paintings made by an Italian master A. Salviati. The walls were also decorated with large white-marble crosses made in Livorno. From a combination of four types of wood, a beautiful carved iconostasis(author Kubyshko).

He held worship services in this church several times. John of Kronstadt who communed here Princess Elizabeth Feodorovna, whose monument can be seen today near the temple. In general, the walls of this church remember all the members of the royal family, who, starting from Alexander the Third, attended local services and simply came here to pray.

The mention of the temple is also present on the pages of the famous story by A. Chekhov "Lady with a dog", whose heroes came to Oreanda and sat on a bench not far from the Temple of the Intercession.

On the these " Chekhov's benches" sat the characters in love from "The Lady with the Dog"

After the establishment of Soviet power, the temple was closed, and later was subject to destruction. But it was simply turned into a mechanical workshop, and partly into storage facilities. As a result of the barbaric attitude towards works of art mosaic canvases most of the temples were destroyed. Ten icons, including the Intercession of Our Lady, were on the verge of extinction. The iconostasis was also practically lost.

In the 50s, during the construction of the Nizhnyaya Oreanda Sanatorium, the fate of the Church of the Intercession again "hung in the balance." Doesn't fit modern architectural complex, the temple had to disappear. He was saved by local historians who obtained a letter of protection recognizing the church as an architectural monument. Then a warehouse of pesticides was placed here, and the churchyard was transformed into a motor depot.

At the beginning 90s the temple was returned to believers. Worship services and restoration work began. Modern restorers have been able to recreate some of the mosaics and a unique dome painting depicting a beardless Christ.

And at the beginning of the 21st century, a real Bell tower, a 600-kilogram bell for which was cast in Donetsk using a unique technology.

Admiral's house

As already mentioned, before the construction of the magnificent royal summer palace in Oreanda, several buildings were erected to accommodate members of the imperial family, among which was the imperial house, where in 1825 he stayed Alexander the First.

Subsequently, the estate received the status of a grand duke, becoming the property of one of the sons of Nicholas I - Constantine. After the assassination of Alexander II in 1881, Konstantin retires from political affairs and decides to settle in his Crimean estate.

However, in the same summer, another sad event occurs - the magnificent palace ensemble burns down. Nevertheless, Konstantin Nikolaevich decides to stay in Oreanda. He moves to the "imperial" house, renaming it "admiral", according to his rank. In this house the Grand Duke will live before 1889 when paralysis breaks him. After that, he will be transported to his Pavlovsk estate, where he will die.

Admiral's house built with elements Tatar folk motives. These are lancet windows and a wooden gallery decorated with carvings. The house is covered with tiles. There are only two large rooms in the house, one of which was occupied by the Grand Duke (to the left of the entrance hall), the second housed the adjutant. A few servants lived in the rear small rooms.

Hotel "Oreanda"

At the beginning of the 20th century, as already mentioned, the village of Oreanda began to actively develop as a resort, because its climate was similar to that of Yalta, as well as the beauty of nature. However, it was more peaceful and romantic here. First of all, luxury hotels for vacationers are being built. One of the most famous and the best hotels belonging to the first class, was the hotel "Oreanda", built in 1907. Its owner was a retired general, a professor of military history, a writer, and so on - Alexander Witmer.

Hotel "Oreanda", built in 1907, is still functioning

This hotel has been recognized the best on the entire Crimean coast. Located in a park area near the sea coastline it was immaculately decorated from the inside - luxury furniture, mirrors, elegant decor plus cleanliness and comfort. At the hotel was even art salon, in which one could see the paintings of Aivazovsky, Shishkin, Vereshchagin and other venerable artists.

During the revolutionary events and the Civil War that followed them, the hotel building served as a defensive fortification, which caused him numerous damages. After the revolution, "Oreanda" was used as a health resort closed type for CEC members and for the NKVD. During the Great Patriotic War, the hotel became a military hospital, and after the war it again turned into a sanatorium.

One of the architectural fragments of the Oreanda Hotel

Remembering the cult Soviet film "Assa"