This marble lion guards the Alupka Palace while overlooking the Black Sea.
History of the Palace
In a magnificent landscape, the Vorontsovsky Palace sets between the Crimean Mountains and the Black Sea in Alupka, Ukraine, close to Yalta. Constructed between 1830 and 1848 as a summer home for Prince Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov, his family owned the palace for three generations unitl the Russian Revolution.
In 1917, after the October Revolution, the Soviets transformed the Palace into a museum. In 1965, it was renamed as the Alupka Palace and Museum.
Today, locals still refer to The Alupka Palace as the Vorontsov Palace.
Designed by an English Architect
As the son of a diplomat, Prince Vorontsov spent his childhood in England with his father, Count Semyon Vorontsov. The Prince asked English architect Edward Blore (well-known for designing St. James Palace ,parts of Buckingham Palace, St. James Palace and the Government House in Sydney, Australia) to design the his palace in the Crimea (now Ukraine.)
While architect Blore never visited the Alupka, he considered the area’s mountainous landscape and sea front location in his design, perhaps resulting in the unusual mix of architectural styles ranging from Gothic to Moorish.
The Palace’s north side facing the Crimean mountains is described as “English Gothic” or “stark Scottish Baronial style” while the side facing the Black Sea is a “Moorish fantasy” with impressive gardens and the “lion terrace.” To the west, the Palace looks like a European medieval castle.
Inside the Palace
Visitors the Alupka Palace first tour the luxurious interior including impressive Wedgwood “˜blue room’, an English-style dining hall and an indoor conservatory. All restored rooms contain period artwork and furnishings.
The best views, however, are outside the Palace from the lush gardens overlooking the Black Sea. The landscaping of these gardens is said to have taken eight years with the help of soldiers constructing the terraces leading from the sea cliff gardens to the southern entrance of the Palace.
Plants were brought to the site from throughout the Mediterranean, South America and Asia. Today more than 200 species survie in the gardens.
Six white marble lions, by Italian Sculptor Giovanni Bonnani, flank the staircase leading from the sea cliff gardens. Each lion has a different expression.
Looking up from the staircase, one sees Mount Ai-Petri, one of the highest peaks of the Crimean Mountains.
Winston Churchill Guest at Alupka during Yalta Conference
Winston Churchill and the British delegation stayed at the Alupka Palace during the 1945 Yalta Conference between Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill at the neighboring Livadia Palace.
Churchill liked the lions and two stories are attributed to him (depending on which tour guide is telling the story.)
In one version, the British Prime Minister Churchill joked that one of the lions looked like him – minus the trademark cigar.
In the other version, the sleeping lion supposedly caused Churchill to say that it reminded him of politicians, “lazy”.
Getting to Alupka Palace
We visited the Alupka Palace, enjoyed tasting Massandra wine at a nearby winery, visited Swallow’s Nest and enjoyed other Yalta highlights while sailing on a Black Sea cruise onboard Holland America Line’s ms Prinsendam. Read about our visit here – Palaces, lazy lions and Massandra wine. Learn more about Swallow’s Nest here.
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