The Palaces of Yalta

September 1, 2011

Yalta’s palaces are not just any palaces; Yalta’s palaces are where the Yalta Conference took place.  So I have walked through halls once occupied by Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill.  I feel cool on so many levels. 

Lets start with Livadia Palace as I did on my tour.  It was built in the beginning of the 20^th century as the summer palace of Czar Nicolai II and in 1945 played host to the main functions of the Yalta (or Crimean as they say in the Ukraine) Conference as well as the American delegation since FDR, being slightly crippled at the time, had to be near the main functions in order to attend.  At this conference many important decisions were laid out including the outline of the United Nations Organization, the answer to the “Polish Question” of vital importance to Stalin as it outlined the borders of the democratic buffer zone between the USSR and Germany, and the role Russia would play in the Pacific Theater after the Europe Theater had been laid to rest.  The Conference was closed with the signing of the Declaration of Liberated Europe in alphabetical order after Stalin, citing the fact that it would be rude for the representative from the host country to sigh first, declined the honor.  Interestingly, the palace had been pretty much destroyed by the Germans on their way out of the Crimea so it had to be prepared for the conference proceedings but was not fully restored until much later.  The Palace is still used for international summits, which must be seriously cool to attend given all the history involved.

And now fun facts!  The youngest attendee of the conference was the American ambassador to the Soviet Union who was only 35 at the time (Imagine being able to tell your grandkids about that time you were in the same room as FDR, Stalin, and Churchill.  Hell, imagine being able to tell your grandkids that you personally knew a premier of the Soviet Union!).  Also included on the guest list were the daughters of the leaders of the conference.  Stalin was a widower at the time (which may or may not have been self imposed after his wife was sent by “someone” to the gulag for speaking out against his treatment of the Kulaks) so none of the delegates brought their wives out of respect.  The picture of the conference (I didn’t totally catch the name but the title seemed to me to be pronounced Verestroika) was taken in the central court yard on three separate chairs, so don’t piss off your guide by asking him or her to show you the bench.

However the history of Livadia Palace is not all Yalta Conference all the time.  It was originally bought by Czar Alexander II (he’s the cool one who freed the serfs) in 1861 but it was rebuilt by Nicolai II later on, a czar primarily famous for being the last czar.  He and his family only got to visit it four times, for the first time in 1914 and for the last time in 1917, the year of the revolution.  Interestingly, the palaces of the Czars are traditionally divided into “His” and “Hers” sections of the building.  We got the opportunity to see the bedroom of the two monarchs, the Czar’s study, and the Czarina’s boudoir.  Czarina Alexandra was a bit power hungry.  She wanted to be like the absolutists of old and consolidate power for her son, but this sadly pissed off her people who already didn’t like her for her associations with Rasputin and for her German heritage (in fact she was descended from the Saxcoburgs that Queen Victoria of England was also descended from).  The final Czars asked to be kept in Livadia Palace after the second revolution, but this request was denied.  The house in the East in which they died was consecrated as a cathedral in their memory.  The Palace was nationalized and turned into a museum in 1925.  Please enjoy some pictures…

The Swallow’s Nest palace was built by a German living in Russia for his Gypsy mistress.  It is a kind of symbol of Yalta in the way that the symbol of New York City could be said to be the Empire State Building or the Statue of Liberty (which is technically in New Jersey).  Which is to say it’s on all the post cards. Nowadays its an Exhibition Hall and an over priced and not very good Italian Restaurant. 

Vorontsov Palace, or The Alupka Palace, was the home of the Main Administrator or the Crimea under the reign of Catherine the Great.  Vorontsov trucked in Edward Blore, 80,000 serfs, and a German Botanist to design and build the house and the guardens respectively.  In the palace hangs a plaque commemorating the ten most talented serfs one of which, Роман Фуртуноѵ (I never caught the pronunciation, but she pointed out the spelling to us), hand crafted all the plaster decorations in the palace.  Which is kind of a big deal since no room is the same as any other room and there’s one room, which is covered in plaster flowers that supposedly do not repeat at all.  The palace itself is a combination of Tudor and Moorish styles.  I know that sounds incredibly strange, but it actually works surprisingly well.  Count Vorontsov wanted a unique palace and he certainly got one.  This palace also played host to Churchill and his delegation during the Yalta Conference as well as to the meetings of the Foreign Affairs ministers not attended by the Big Three.  Churchill became especially fond of one of the many lion statues that adorn the palace and surrounding parks called “The Sleeping Lion”, saying that it looked just like him but without the cigar. 

I leave you to enjoy the rest of the pictures.  If you’re interested in any more little stories about the Yalta Conference and Yalta itself, please ask away in the comments.  It tells me in my inbox if you comment and I check my email very regularly.