Yalta

Yalta is on the tip of the Crimean Peninsula and was a favorite resort spot in the 19th century for the aristocracy and gentry.  Leo Tolstoy spent summers there and Anton Chekov had a home there.  Tsar Nicholas finished building a home there (Livadia Palace) in 1911 (bad timing!)  Lenin and Stalin both went there -- it has many sanitoria, or resorts where taking the waters is considered restorative to one's health. During the USSR days, it was a vacation spot for Russians since travel outside of the country was limited.  And Yalta is known for being the place where Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin met two months before FDR died in 1945 to make plans for post-war Europe.

The existence of Yalta was first recorded in the 12th century and was described as a Byzantine port settlement.  In the 1300s it was part of the Genoese trading colonies and in the 1400s, it was part of the Ottoman Empire.  Yalta was annexed into the Russian Empire in 1783.

We toured with a group of 16 people that Mark had met through Cruise Critic and had a very knowledgeable guide by the name of Sergey.  Our first stop was St Michael's Church.

View from the church

Everywhere in our travels we saw "street dogs."  These are essentially stray dogs that everyone feeds and no one owns.

We were only able to catch sight of Swallow's Nest, a small castle built on a cliff overlooking the Black Sea.

Our next stop was Vorontsov's Palace or the Alupka Palace.  It was built as a summer residence during 1828-1848 for the Governor-General of Novorossiya, Prince Mikhail Vorontsov.  After the revolution, it was nationalized.  In more recent years, it served as temporary housing for Churchill and the British Delegation during the Yalta Conference.

The flowers on this wall were raised, creating a beautiful texture.

We also visited the Yusupov Palace, a favorite of Stalin.  He stayed here during the Yalta Conference.

Mark was able to sit at Stalin's desk and talk angrily on the phone.  Apparently there is a photo of Stalin he is trying to imitate.

 This room had beautiful texture on the curved ceiling (below) and on the walls.

A lovely veranda

Lastly we toured Livadia Palace.  Roosevelt stayed here and there were displays showing where the talks were held for the Yalta Conference.  All three leaders stayed in different Palaces, but Livadia is where they met to confer because it was easier for FDR who was in a wheelchair.

 The famous table where details were hashed out (above) and a newspaper photo of the delegates (below).

This was used as a dining room for FDR, who was housed here and it was also where the final documents were signed for the Yalta Conference

There were also displays about Tsar Nicholas II and his family who had the palace built.  They were executed during the Russian Revolution six years after it was built.