Massandra Palace
Massandra Palace is a late 19th century architectural monument located in the Crimea, in the vicinity of Yalta. Not as majestic as Livadia or Vorontsovsky, the palace of Alexander III attracts with its elegance and warm, homely atmosphere of cozy halls and the surrounding building landscaped park. Founded under General Vorontsov, it soon came into the possession of the imperial family. Under the Soviet regime, after the end of the Great Patriotic War, the complex was favored by the party top brass – Massandra Palace became the residence of the CPSU general secretaries for many years. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the well-preserved building was turned into a museum. Now in the halls of the palace reproduced historical interiors, supplemented by authentic exhibits that belonged to the Romanov family.
Video: Massandra Palace
Contents- History of Massandra Palace
- Architectural features of Alexander III Palace
- Museum exposition
- Tourist information
History of Massandra Palace
The neighborhood of Massandra passed into the ownership of the Russian nobility immediately after the Crimea became part of the empire. Under Sophia Pototskaya and her daughters, the Massandra Park of about 42 hectares was laid out, but a worthy manor house began to be built only in 1881, when Prince Semyon Mikhailovich Vorontsov became the owner of the lands. An active participant of the Crimean wars, a general, he hoped to settle down in his own palace in his old age. His dreams were not destined to come true: a year after the work began, Vorontsov died, and the house designed by French architect Etienne Bouchard remained unfinished. The prince’s lateral heirs, the Counts Shuvalov, did not need the extra estate, so in 1889 they resold it to the imperial family.
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The new architect Maximilian Mesmacher, known for his St. Petersburg projects, received “inherited” from the Frenchman the exterior walls and roof. He added details that gave the Massandra Palace a decorative, “fairy-tale” look. Under his supervision, the interior rooms were finished, park paths and staircases were tiled. Despite the architect’s efforts, the complex did not become a full-fledged summer residence. There was simply not enough space to accommodate the entire courtyard. But Alexander III gladly used it as a hunting lodge, resting in the house after trips to the countryside.
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After the nationalization of the palace in Soviet times, it housed a tuberculosis sanatorium. Treatment was effective due to the sea air and thickets of conifers in the park, which was already beginning to fall into disrepair. During the war, the building was not damaged externally, and some interior details survived. After the war, the secluded location of the palace and its inaccessibility to the curious were appreciated by the country’s authorities, who turned the complex into their summer residence for many years. The object received the status of a museum only after the collapse of the USSR, now it is a branch of the “Alupka Palace and Park Museum-Reserve.”
.Architectural features of the Alexander III Palace
Third Floor Picture Gallery
A vivid contrast to the imperial interiors is the permanent exhibition housed on the third floor of the Massandra Palace. Here are collected works of Soviet, mainly Ukrainian painters and sculptors of the 40s-50s, working in the style of socialist realism. The genres and themes of the paintings are diverse: they are portraits of labor heroes and historical paintings, sketches of Soviet everyday life and traditional compositions based on the life of Lenin. The creators of the exposition appeal to the nostalgic feelings of the older generation, but Massandra’s top floor has its own secret that attracts visitors of all ages: from the open terrace, lined with broomlach tiles, you can freely admire the park and the sea and take excellent view photos.
.Massandrovsky Palace Park
How to get to Massandrovsky Palace
The site is located east of Massandra and 2 kilometers west of the Nikitsky Botanical Garden in Yalta. From Massandra to the palace can be reached on foot, but you should take into account that the road goes uphill, along a busy roadway. The stop “Massandra Palace” is the terminus of bus route No. 29 and trolleybus route No. 2. Further tourists on the asphalted road go up to the complex on foot. Visiting the attraction is better to plan separately: Massandra winery, no less popular object, is located quite far from the palace. It takes about 40 minutes to reach it on foot along a difficult road, by car you can reach it in 15 minutes, but you will have to be careful at inconvenient junctions.
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Opening hours and tickets
Entrance to the palace is open from 9 am to 5 pm, on Saturdays – until 8 pm. There are no weekends, the ticket office closes 45 minutes before the end of the day. A single ticket to visit the palace grounds, the imperial chambers and the exhibition of paintings stops selling 3 hours before the ticket office closes. Excursions are held at 12 and 14 hours, if there are at least 15 people interested. Given the small size of the rooms, attendees will be quite cramped. As an alternative, it is possible to rent an audio guide. A full ticket costs 550 rubles, only the court territory is examined for 70, the chambers on the 1-2 floor – for 300. A visit to the viewpoint and the painting exhibition on the third floor costs 200 rubles. Students and pensioners are given a 50% discount, for children all tickets cost 70 rubles.
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