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The Livadia Palace
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The Livadia State Palace-Museum
Livadia is a settlement 6 km far from Yalta. The main sight of the settlement is the Livadia Palace.
It is the former summer residence of the Russian tsar Nicolas II. The palace was built by the architect Nickolai Krasnov in 1911, and for his work N. Krasnov was given the title of Academician in Architecture. Renaissance motifs and elements of other styles can be found in the architectural design. An example of it is a church, which adjoins the west facade. A rebuilt catholic chapel with its altar facing not the east like in all Russian churches, but the south, ha beautiful Byzantine mosaic. The Urals masters made forged metal gates to the Italian patio, lanterns hanging from the arches were brought from Florence. The patio is surrounded by the arcade. Between the arches are carvings of dolphins, vases, grapes and cornucopias. In its centre there is a white marble fountain.
The Livadia Palace is famous for its historical memorial complex devoted to the 1945 Yalta conference. Three heads of the governments of the allied powers of anti-Hitler Coalition - W. Churchill, F. D. Roosevelt and J. Stalin gathered in conference. They coordinated their war plans for the final defeat of fascist Germany and their policy concerning the postwar world. The participants adopted the "Declaration on Liberated Europe" and agreed to convene a United Nations Conference in April 1945. The copies of the documents of the Yalta Conference are now on display in the White Hall of the palace.
Now the Livadia Palace is also used as an exhibition hall. Paintings by the artists of the 19-20th centuries are on display in the palace's exhibitions.
There is a vast park spreading from the palace to the very edge of the sea. It is one of the oldest and best landscape parks of Crimea. The park, laid out by the botanist Heckerle, gardeners Delilger and Pater in 1895 - early 20th century. It covers the territory of more than 40 hectares and incorporates picturesque landscapes, which are regularly planned according to the fashion of the 18th-early 19th centuries.
The Museum was opened for the public in 1974; since 1993 it operates as the State Palace-Museum. |
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