Vorontsov Palace (Alupka)

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Vorontsov Palace

The northern façade of the Vorontsov Palace.
General information
Architectural style Tudor, Scottish Baronial, Moorish Revival, Gothic
Location Alupka, Crimea, Ukraine
Coordinates 44°25′12″N 34°03′2″E / 44.42°N 34.05056°E / 44.42; 34.05056Coordinates: 44°25′12″N 34°03′2″E / 44.42°N 34.05056°E / 44.42; 34.05056
Construction started ca. 1828–1830[nb 1]
Completed 1848
Cost 9,000,000 silver rubles[5]
Design and construction
Owner Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov
Architect Edward Blore, William Hunt[nb 2]

The Vorontsov Palace (Ukrainian: Воронцовський палац; Russian: Воронцовский дворец) or the Alupka Palace[nb 3] is an historic palace situated at the foot of the Crimean Mountains near the town of Alupka in Crimea, southern Ukraine. The Vorontsov Palace is one of the oldest and largest residential palaces in all of Crimea,[3] and is one of the most popular tourist attractions on Crimea's southern coast.[7][8]

The palace was built from 1828 through 1848 for Prince Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov for use as his personal summer residence. It was designed in the Tudor style by English architect Edward Blore and his assistant William Hunt.[1][8] The building incorporates elements of Scottish Baronial,[9] Moorish Revival,[4] and Gothic architecture.[3] Blore had designed many buildings in the United Kingdom, and was particularly well known there for completing the design of the Buckingham Palace in London.[10]

An important feature of the Vorontsov Palace is the adjoining park ensemble, which features 40 hectares (99 acres) of greenery and forestry arranged by German landscape gardener Carolus Keebach.[11][12] Today, the Vorontsov Palace is a part of the "Alupka Palace-Park Complex," a national historical preserve including the Massandra Palace in neighboring Massandra.

Contents

[edit] History

Prince Mikhail Vorontsov (1782-1856) commissioned the palace for use as his own summer residence.

[edit] Design changes

The Vorontsov Palace was commissioned to be used as a summer residence for the Governor-General of Novorossiya, Prince Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov (1782–1856).[1] Originally, the palace was intended to be constructed according to a strict Classical design, based upon plans carried out by Odessa architect Francesco Boffo and English architect Thomas Harrison. Construction began in 1828, however it was suspended in June 1831 by Vorontsov, who at the time was traveling abroad in England.[5] While abroad, Vorontsov decided to review the design's draft summary and incorporate new trends from Western European architecture.[5]

The palace's Tudor-style exterior diabase stone walls were found locally in the region.

This had put Vorontsov in a predicament; he had to find another architect to complete the new design, who would also incorporate elements of luxurious palaces in the British Raj (modern-day India).[5] Vorontsov then choose noted British architect Edward Blore (born 1789 – died 1879) to complete his summer residence, who had already worked on many British estates and palaces, as well as a couple buildings in then British Australia.[13] Blore himself did not visit the town of Alupka,[10] however, he was well informed about the area's mountainous landscape and terrain.[13] When the construction restarted in 1830 under the supervision of fellow architect William Hunt, it was discovered that a foundation and basement of the palace's main concourse was already in place, owing to its original design by architects Boffo and Harrison.[13]

[edit] Construction

Vorotsov had thousands of personal serfs sent in from the Moscow, Vladimir, and Voronezh governorates of the Russian Empire to construct the palace.[13][6] The serfs did all of the labor by hand, aided with the help of primitive hand tools.[13] Masons were also brought in to help with the construction. The palace's stone blocks were made from a local greenish-gray tinge diabase,[4] chosen for its unique color to best match the surrounding mountainous landscape and forest greenery.[13] All of the other materials were brought in from abroad.[4]

One of the palace's first rooms to be built was the main dining room, built from 1830 to 1834. The main and central wing of the building was constructed from 1831 to 1837. During 1841 and 1842, a billiard room was added to the dining room. From 1838 through 1844, the guest wing, the east wing, towers, the maintenance wing, and the front entrance were added on to the building. The last wing built of the castle was the library wing, which was built from 1842 to 1844. The remaining four years of construction were spent on the palace's interior decor.[4]

The last decorative items to be placed within the place grounds were the six Medici lions.

The largest of the landscaping jobs carried out on the palace's grounds were done from 1840 to 1848 with the aid of soldiers, who also helped to form the terraces in front of the palace's southern façade.[13] The palace park's fauna was brought in from various locations throughout the world, including from the Mediterranean, the Americas, as well as from East Asia.[7] The plant life brought in over a 150 years ago still features close to 200 species of plant life.[7][11]

In the summer of 1848, the place ensemble's construction was completed with the addition of three pairs of white marble Medici lions sculptures, installed alongside the central staircase leading up to the palace.[13] Each of the three pairs, carried out by Italian sculptor Giovanni Bonnani, are sculpted in a different pose, with the a pair of "sleeping lions" at the bottom of the staircase, a pair of "waking lions" near the middle, and a pair of "standing lions" at the top near the palace itself.[14] The construction of Mikhail Vorontsov's summer residence in Alupka convinced Tsar Alexander II to have his own family retreat built in neighboring Livadia.[15]

[edit] Post-Vorontsov history

For three generations, the Vorontsov Palace belonged to the Vorontsov family. After the October Revolution in 1921, the palace was nationalized, after which it was converted into a museum, which occupied the main, dining, and library wings of the building.[5] In addition to the Vorontsov family possessions, the museum also featured the exhibits of the nationalized estates of the Romanovs, Yusupovs, and Stroganovs.[5] In 1927, the palace's Shuvalov wing housed a sanatorium "10 Years of October," while the palace's main concourse featured Alupka's resort policlinic and spa baths.[5]

The palace grounds and the steep Crimean mountainside in July 1942.

When World War II began in 1941, most of the museum's expositions were evacuated from Alupka in order to minimize potential damage and loss. However, some 537 art and graphics exhibits (including temporary exhibition paintings from the State Russian Museum and the Simferopol Art Museum), 360 pieces of the building's decor, sets of unique furniture, and a series of historic books were stolen by occupying Nazi German forces,[7] amounting to a loss of 5 million rubles at the time.[16]

During the war, Nazi leader Adolf Hitler presented the palace as a reward to Field Marshal Erich von Manstein, who made it his own personal headquarters, which explains why the palace was so well preserved.[1] The palace was later converted into a museum for Wermacht officers stationed in and around Crimea.[16] Originally, the Nazi Germans had planned to blow up the palace, although the rapid advance of the Separate Coastal Army and supporting Yalta partisan groups during the Crimean Offensive spared the palace from destruction.[16]

From February 11 to 14, 1945, the Yalta Conference took place in the neighboring Livadia Palace between representatives from the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union. Winston Churchill and his British delegation were given temporary residence within the Vorontsov Palace.[10] Within two weeks, construction workers had restored 22 rooms in the main palace, 23 rooms in the Shuvalov wing,[15] and even replanted the palace gardens. The palace's English-inspired architectural style gained praise from Churchill himself:[10]

The Moorish Revival southern façade features elements of Islamic architecture.

The setting of our abode was impressive ... Behind the villa, half Gothic and half Moorish in style, rose the mountains, covered in snow, culminating in the highest peak in the Crimea. Before us lay the dark expanse of the Black Sea, severe, but still agreeable and warm even at this time of the year.

— Winston Churchill, 1945[15]

For several years after, the palace was used as a summer residence for the Soviet secret police, and later as a trade sanatorium.[1] In 1956, the palace was once again reinstated as a museum,[8][17] while two years later, it was expanded to include interior art exhibits. The majority of the artwork looted during the war was never returned, although only a small collection was recovered and was brought back to the museum.[5] In 1965, the palace was included into the "Alupka Palace-Park Complex,"[7] a national historical preserve which also includes the Massandra Palace in neighboring Massandra, built in the Louis XIII château style for Russian Tsar Alexander III.[18]

Although it has survived years of wear and warfare, one of the palace's wings is in danger of collapsing into the Black Sea below.[10] Cracks have begun to appear in the library, housing the museum's nearly 10,000 books and manuscripts.[10] Although Edward Blore had a state-of-the-art drainage system built into the palace's foundation, years of neglect and the construction of a nearby sewage pipe in 1974 have helped to increase the potential for a landslide.[10] Another potential looming disaster is surrounding the medieval-style gatehouse near the palace's west side.[10]

[edit] Architecture

The southern façade features the Shahada with an inscription stating "There is no God but Allah" in Arabic.

Although the Vorontsov Palace was built based upon new 18th century construction techniques and styles, it still manages to incorporate Classical style architectural elements. I5 Its design and formation harmonizes with the surrounding Crimean Mountains, tying in closely with the overall structure of the palace grounds.[1][5][11] The palace was designed in the English Tudor style,[1] although it came to encompass elements of Scottish Baronial,[9] Moorish Revival,[4] and Gothic architecture[3] since it took close to 18 years to complete its construction. The exterior of the palace is reminiscent of the building and architectural style of typical English castles; the further away a portion of the palace is from the main gates, the newer its architectural style.[19]

Even though it was mainly designed in the English style, the palace possesses eastern architectural influences. For instance, the Gothic-style chimney stacks are reminiscent of Islamic minarets.[19] The southern façade is also designed in such a way, characterized with a flat roof topped off with two minaret-style towers, below which there is an entrance hall leading out towards the exit through a horseshoe arch. The interior walls of the entrance hall feature the Shahada with an inscription stating "There is no God but Allah" in Arabic.[5] Side balconies adjoin the entrance hall looking over the so-called "lion terrace," which lines the staircase leading up to the palace.

The palace consists of a total of 150 rooms, the most important of which are the blue room, chintz room, dining room, and the Chinese cabinet.[1] The museum covers the first floor's first eight rooms, featuring more than 11,000 exhibits, including engravings of the 18th century, paintings from the 16th through 19th centuries, including those depicting Crimean scenarios by Armenian seascape painter Ivan Aivazovsky, as well as furniture crafted by Russian wood masters from the 19th century.[11]

The library is based off of Sir Walter Scott's own library, revealing the personal friendship that Blore had with Scott.[20] Inside, the library features about 6,000 literary and musical works of the 18th and 19th centuries.[1] The interior's woodwork, including the doors, panelling, and ceilings, is made out of oak. The walls are adorned in cloth, with designs made by Dutch, Flemish, French, and Italian painters. The palace's Gothic fireplaces are made out of polished diabase.

The interior's woodwork is made out of oak.
The blue room features intricate decor completed by serf artisans led by Roman Fortunov.
Detail of the blue room's flowery decor.

[edit] Grounds

A 19th century vintage postcard showing the Vorontsov Palace and nearby greenery.

The palace park forms a single ensemble with the palace, consisting of 40 hectares (99 acres)[11] designed by German landscape gardener Carolus Keebach.[12] It was created in the first half of the 19th century in the from of an amphitheatre, featuring wide open spaces and gardens planted alongside the walkways.[1] The walkways are covered with 29 bags of colored stones brought in from the Crimean city of Koktebel.[1]

Keebach had the park designed in such a way that it would incorporate the landscape's native vegetation, mountain springs, and nearby rocky masses,[11] in addition to foreign plant species brought in from the Mediterranean, both North and South America, as well as from East Asia.[7] Today, the park still features more than 200 exotic tree and shrub species, including a wide variety of pam trees, laurels, cypresses, olive trees, and evergreen viburnum, among many others.[11]

Crimea's coastal highway runs through the park, dividing it into the upper and lower portions.[11] The upper park is dominated by the mountain springs, as well as by the native southern coast forestry and clusters of foreign tree growth. A feature of the upper park is the Fountain of Trilby, which was placed there in 1829.[11] The lower park is modeled upon a style called the Italian Renaissance garden.[11] It features three pairs of Medici lions near the staircase leading up to the palace's southern façade, carved out of carrara marble by sculptor Giovanni Bonnani.[11]

[edit] Legacy

Owing to its status as an important local tourist attraction and architectural monument, the Vorontov Palace and its surrounding park complex were commonly featured in Ukrainian and Soviet cinema productions such as: An Ordinary Miracle (1964), Nebesnye lastochki (1976), Crazy Day or The Marriage of Figaro (2004), and Sappho (2008).[1][19]

Russian poet Ivan Bunin visited the palace in 1900 and wrote a short poem entitled "Long alley leading down to the shore..." (Russian: К прибрежью моря длинная аллея...).[21]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

Notes
  1. ^ Some sources specify 1828 as the construction date,[1][2] while others date the building's construction to 1830.[3][4] Indeed, construction began in 1828 according to an original design plan; however, it was restarted in 1830 according to a new plan conducted by architect Edward Blore.
  2. ^ The palace was originally supposed to be built according to a plan by architects Francesco Boffo and Thomas Harrison; however, only the foundation and lower levels were finished before architect Edward Blore took over as lead architect.
  3. ^ The Alupka Palace (Ukrainian: Алупкінський палац; Russian: Алупкинский дворец) name was contrived during Soviet times[6] to remove mention to the Vorontsov noble family.
Footnotes
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Vorontsovsky palace" (in Russian). Qrim.ru. 31 October, 2008. http://www.qrim.ru/about/sights/VorontsovPalace. Retrieved 29 July 2011. 
  2. ^ "Official website" (in Russian). Alupka palace-park museum preserve. http://worontsovpalace.com.ua/. Retrieved 2011-07-29. 
  3. ^ a b c d Ivchenko 2010, p. 290.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Zharikov 1983-1986, p. 298.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Vorontsovsky palace" (in Ukrainian). Zabytki. http://zabytki.in.ua/uk/29/vorontsovskiy-palats. Retrieved 30 July 2011. 
  6. ^ a b Chernov 1986, p. 184.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Zharikov 1983-1986, p. 299.
  8. ^ a b c Malikenaite 2003, p. 60.
  9. ^ a b Gilbert 1992, p. 817.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h Warren, Marcus (28 October 2000). "Crimea's castles in the air face collapse". The Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/1372204/Crimeas-castles-in-the-air-face-collapse.html. Retrieved 30 July 2011. 
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Vorontsovsky palace and Alupka park" (in Russian). Sunny Crimea. http://www.sunnycrimea.com/sights/alupka.shtml. Retrieved 2011-07-29. 
  12. ^ a b Shirokov, O. "Alupka Park". The Crimean sights. Taurical National University. http://www.crimea.edu/eng/crimea/sights/landscap/parks/aluppark/full.html. Retrieved 3 August 2011. 
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h "Alupkinsky palace" (in Russian). Vorontsov Mikhail Semyonovich. voroncov.net. http://www.voroncov.net/article/dvorec1.html. Retrieved 30 July 2011. 
  14. ^ Zharikov 1983-1986, p. 301.
  15. ^ a b c Plokhy 2010
  16. ^ a b c "Vorontsov Palace-Museum" (in Russian). World's Museums. http://wmuseum.ru/ukraina/142-voroncovskiy-dvorec-muzey.html. Retrieved 4 March 2012. 
  17. ^ Ivchenko 2010, p. 292.
  18. ^ "Crimean republican establishment "Alupka Palace-Park Museum-Reserve"" (in Russian). Ministry of Culture of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. http://www.mincult.crimea-portal.gov.ua/rus/index.php?v=5&tek=67&par=41&l=&art=93. Retrieved 23 February 2012. 
  19. ^ a b c "Vorontsovsky palace" (in Russian). Crimean Architectural Portal. http://www.archiportal.crimea.ua/yalta/vorontsovskiy-dvorets.html. Retrieved 29 July 2011. 
  20. ^ Port, M. H., "Blore, Edward", on the website of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (subscription or UK public library membership required), http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/2679 
  21. ^ Bunin, Ivan. "Long alley leading down to the shore" (in Russian). Ivan Alekseevich Bunin. bunin.niv.ru. http://bunin.niv.ru/bunin/stihi/231.htm. Retrieved 3 August 2011. 
Bibliography

[edit] External links

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