Description of the attraction
Livadia Palace is located in the village of Livadia in the Yalta region of Crimea, 3 km from Yalta. This luxurious white stone building, surrounded by a landscaped park, is one of the main attractions of the region.
Potocki Palace
Once there was a small estate with a Crimean Tatar village and orchards, which belonged to F. Reveliotti, the commander of the Balaklava battalion. It was bought in 1834 Count Lev Pototsky and renamed in the Greek manner to Livadia (in Greek it is "meadow" or "lawn"). The ramified and richest Potocki family possessed vast estates in the south of the Russian Empire and were distinguished by their passion for building palaces. They owned palaces in Lvov, Uman, Tulchin. The founder of Livadia is the son of Severin Potocki, a figure in the Ministry of Education and an acquaintance of Pushkin from his Chisinau exile. Thus, the famous Jan Potocki, the author of the Manuscript Found in Zaragoza, is the uncle of the first owner of Livadia.
Lev Severinovich Pototsky himself was a diplomat, began his career at the Russian mission in Italy, for a long time was a Russian envoy in Lisbon, then performed various diplomatic missions. He was an admirer of ancient culture, brought from Naples a rich collection of Pompeian antiquities. According to the memoirs of contemporaries, his palace in Livadia most of all resembled a museum. The park was decorated with sculptures, its pearl was an antique marble sarcophagus.
Flower gardens and greenhouses also attracted attention: Potocki was a member of the Agricultural Society of Southern Russia, and he understood the organization of gardens. The layout of the park, which was laid out in the times of the Pototskys, turned out to be so well thought out and successful that it has not fundamentally changed since then. Park with exotic and native plants was created by the gardener Depplinger. He began his career in the Nikitsky Botanical Garden under its famous second director N. Gartvis and was engaged in landscape gardening there. According to contemporaries, the basis of the park consisted of local oaks and ash trees, as well as exotic Lebanese cedars and cypresses; flowering ornamental shrubs are also mentioned: magnolias and clematis.
Tsar's dacha
In 1861, when Pototsky died in St. Petersburg, his heirs sold Livadia to the treasury for the royal dacha. Alexander II presented this estate to the empress Maria Alexandrovna … For many years Livadia became the Crimean residence of the Russian emperor: people rested here almost every year. Maria Alexandrovna really liked this place, and she enthusiastically took up the reconstruction: she herself chose an architect (I. A. Monighetti), and approved the plans and facades of the buildings.
Grand Palace was significantly expanded and redesigned. The former home chapel of the Potocki Catholics became a separate church (this is one of the few buildings that has survived to our time). Then they built another church - and Maria Alexandrovna herself chose a place for it.
A separate Small Palace for the heirs, reminiscent of Bakhchisarai ("in the Tatar taste" - as the architect himself called this Eastern eclecticism), as well as numerous garden pavilions and office premises. The marble for decoration was ordered in Carrara, and the furniture was ordered from the best Parisian craftsmen.
The park and gardens were now occupied by the gardener Clement Haeckel, also chosen by the empress: before that he worked at her personal estate near Moscow. The empress loved roses and was distinguished by poor health: Haeckel planted conifers so that she was always surrounded by healing air, and significantly expanded the rose garden. Pergolas, entwined with climbing roses, have become a decoration of the garden.
The first time officially the royal family came here in August 1867. On this occasion, in Yalta and the surrounding area, a grandiose folk festival was organized with horse races, regimental bands and attractions.
Life on the estate was "home", court etiquette was almost not observed. Here they walked, swam, and rested. The emperor also brought here his favorite favorite - the princess Ekaterina Yurievskaya … His last Crimean summer, after the death of the Empress in the spring of 1880, Alexander II spent here with Princess Yuryevskaya already as a morganatic wife.
Residence of Alexander III
The next emperor continued to consider Livadia as his residence and often came here. He did not get along with Princess Yuryevskaya and his children - and she eventually left Russia.
Now, after the assassination of Alexander II, terrorists were feared here and the estate was carefully guarded, but holidays still happened. For example, in 1891 the emperor and empress solemnly celebrated a silver wedding here.
At Alexandre III all buildings had to be repaired. Both palaces began to crack from the very foundation. By order of the emperor, his beloved Small Palace was completely rebuilt, at the same time the murals were renewed Holy Cross Church and installed a belfry next to it.
It was in Livadia that Alexander III died in 1894. He was buried in the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross, and literally the next day, the heir's bride, the future empress, accepted Orthodoxy there. Alexandra Fedorovna.
During these years, Livadia, while none of the members of the imperial family remained in it, was open for free inspection to everyone.
Construction of the new Grand Palace
Nicholas II believed that he spent the best years of his childhood here, in Livadia. The beginning of the new, XX century, he also preferred to meet not in the Winter, but in the Crimea. But in 1910. the emperor almost ceased to be here: state affairs demanded his constant presence in the capital. Meanwhile, the Grand Palace was completely damp and began to fall apart: in 1909 it was demolished in order to build a new one.
The new Grand Palace is now the main attraction of Livadia. This is the last imperial palace built in Russia. Became an architect N. P. Krasnov … He was a good friend of the royal family - he was invited to breakfast, taught the Grand Duchesses to draw. Krasnov planned to build the palace in the Italian style, which would have pleased the first owner of the estate, Pototsky. For example, the lobby of the palace copies the premises of the Venetian Doge's Palace.
Two and a half million rubles were allocated for the construction of the building, and about six million were allocated for the modernization of the estate. The new palace under construction was consecrated in 1910, and a silver plaque with engraving was laid in the foundation: blessing, date and names of everyone involved in the construction - from Minister V. Frederiks to architect N. Krasnov.
The palace was equipped with all technical innovations … Its own power station, telephone exchange, electric refrigerators, plumbing, mechanisms for feeding food from basements to kitchens, an underground tunnel from the palace to a detached pantry, garages for cars. This is a huge complex of various buildings, which has been almost completely preserved to this day.
In Soviet times
During revolution the decoration of the palace suffered: the palace was occupied first by the allied German troops, then by the White Guards, then by the red army. Furniture, decoration, personal belongings - everything was looted. But the building itself was not damaged and was opened here in 1925 sanatorium for peasants … However, it was visited not only by peasants, but also by famous writers - for example, V. Mayakovsky and M. Gorky.
The Livadia complex was badly damaged during the Great Patriotic War. Retreating from the Crimea, the Germans blew up many buildings on the peninsula. In Livadia the Small Palace and the Svitsky building were blown up, The Grand Palace survived, but was badly damaged.
By February 1945, it was urgently patched up. It was held here Yalta conference, where the leaders of the "Big Three" (USSR, USA and Great Britain) discussed the problems of the post-war world. In the Italian courtyard of the Livadia Palace, a famous photograph was taken in which the leaders of states are sitting at a fountain against the background of a marble gallery. The American delegation headed by F. Roosevelt was also settled here.
After the war, Livadia was used as state dachaand then became sanatorium … A museum dedicated to the Yalta conference was opened in the White Hall. The park and palace were used for filming … Here "Dog in the Manger" with Boyarsky and Terekhova, "Gadfly" 1955, "Anna Karenina" 1967
Palace Museum
Since 1994 Livadia has been working again as Museum … An exposition dedicated to the last Romanovs is open: the richly decorated interiors have been restored. Here you can see marble and wood finishes, exquisite furniture from the Siebrecht factory, wall paintings and much more. The study rooms of the emperor and the empress, bedrooms, dining rooms, drawing rooms, and the princesses' classroom are open for inspection.
The museum contains interesting relics … For example, a Persian carpet with the image of Nicholas I - a gift from the Persian Khan, watercolor portraits of the Empress by the artist Samokish-Sudkovskaya, amateur photographs taken by the Grand Duchesses.
The Italian and Arabic courtyards, the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross, as well as the memorial offices of F. Roosevelt and W. Churchill were also opened.
Interesting Facts
- In 1867, American journalist Samuel Clemens visited Livadia and liked it very much. We know him as Mark Twain, author of Tom Sawyer.
- The White Hall of the Livadia Palace is still sometimes used for international negotiations.
- In 2011, the Livadia Palace celebrated its 100th anniversary. For the anniversary, the great-granddaughter of Emperor Alexander II and Prince. Yurievskaya.
On a note
- Location: Yalta, smt. Livadia, st. Baturina, 44a.
- How to get there: from Yalta by minibus number 11 to the stop "Livadia - Piglet", then on foot.
- Official site:
- Opening hours: daily from 10.00 to 18.00, on Saturdays until 20.00.
- Tickets: adult - 350 rubles, concessionary - 250 rubles, children - 100 rubles.
