Alupka (

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

and Russian: Алу́пка; crh, Alupka; gr, Ἀλώπηξ, Alòpex) is a resort

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

located in the

Crimean peninsula Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

, a territory of

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...

currently annexed by

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

(see

2014 Crimean crisis In February and March 2014, Russia invaded and subsequently annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. This event took place in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity and is part of the wider Russo-Ukrainian War. The events in Kyiv ...

). It is located to the west of

Yalta Yalta (: Я́лта) is a resort city on the south coast of the Crimean Peninsula surrounded by the Black Sea. It serves as the administrative center of Yalta Municipality, one of the regions within Crimea. Yalta, along with the rest of Cri ...

. It is famous for the Vorontsov Palace, designed by

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

architect

Edward Blore Edward Blore (13 September 1787 – 4 September 1879) was a 19th-century English landscape and architectural artist, architect and antiquary. Early career He was born in Derby, the son of the antiquarian writer Thomas Blore. Blore's back ...

in an extravagant mixture of Scottish baronial and Neo-Moorish styles and built in 1828–1846 for prince

Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov Prince Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov (russian: Князь Михаи́л Семёнович Воронцо́в, tr. ; ) was a Russian nobleman and field-marshal, renowned for his success in the Napoleonic wars and most famous for his participati ...

.
Population: 8,087 (2021).
Area: 4.2246 km².
Sister-city: Apopka, Florida, USA. Alupka and its surrounding area is full of resort hotels on the shore of the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

, where thousands of travelers (particularly from the former

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

) travel every year. Public transport to Alupka includes the bus system (bus routes #26 and #27 from Yalta) and other road vehicles.

Climate

Located in the subtropical climate of southern Crimea, Alupka has an average temperature of in January–February and an average temperature of in August. The average rainfall in the city is 400 mm per year, the average humidity is about 69%, and the average number of sunlight per year is 2,150 hours. The swimming season stretches from March until October, with an average water temperature of .

History

Alupka was first founded as a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

settlement. The name originates from the

word for fox (''Alopex'') . After the Greeks, Alupka came under control of the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

. The first written mention of Alupka dates to 960 in a document about the

Byzantine Emperor This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as ...

Romanos II Romanos II Porphyrogenitus ( gr, Ρωμανός, 938 – 15 March 963) was Byzantine Emperor from 959 to 963. He succeeded his father Constantine VII at the age of twenty-one and died suddenly and mysteriously four years later. His son Bas ...

. Later on, Alupka was controlled by the

Crimean Tatars , flag = Flag of the Crimean Tatar people.svg , flag_caption = Flag of Crimean Tatars , image = Love, Peace, Traditions.jpg , caption = Crimean Tatars in traditional clothing in front of the Khan's Palace ...

. After 1783 the city came into possession of Grigori Alexandrovich Potemkin,

governor-general Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

of the Novorossiya Krai. In 1798, the city had a population of 211, consisting mainly of farmers. At the end of 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, Alupka was a famous resort. In the middle of 19th century it was more popular than Yalta, mostly because of the work of the Governor of Novorossia at the time, Mikhail Vorontsov, who built a Palace there (some call it a Castle). Alupka is described by a French traveler in 1811 in his letters to a friend (starting at page127) "Voyage de Moscou à Vienne, par Kiow, Odessa, Constantinople, Bucharest et Hermanstadt; ou, Lettres adressées à Jules Griffith Auguste de Lagarde" Jan 1824 · Treuttel et Würtz: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=p1THCvg9rVEC&rdid=book-p1THCvg9rVEC&rdot=1

Attractions

Alupka is not only a

resort town A resort town, often called a resort city or resort destination, is an urban area where tourism or vacationing is the primary component of the local culture and economy. A typical resort town has one or more actual resorts in the surrounding ...

, but also an important tourist attraction. Major attractions in the city include: * Vorontsov Palace *Vorontsov's Park, located on the grounds of the Vorontsov Palace *

Ai-Petri Ai-Petri (, russian: Ай-Петри, uk, Ай-Петрі, sep=comma) is a peak in the Crimean Mountains. For administrative purposes it is in the Yalta municipality of Crimea. The name is of Greek origin, and translates as St. Peter ( el, Άγ ...

Mountain

Vorontsovsky Palace and Park

The main attraction of Alupka is the Scottish baronial and Neo-Moorish style Vorontsov's Palace, which was designed by the

architect

built in 1828-1846 for prince

. During the

Yalta Conference The Yalta Conference (codenamed Argonaut), also known as the Crimea Conference, held 4–11 February 1945, was the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union to discuss the post ...

, the palace—spared by the Germans during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

— served as the residence of Sir

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

and his English delegation. A large English-style park was designed and built for prince Vorontsov on the territory of the Vorontsov's Palace. The park was constructed from December 1824 to April 1851, and was envisioned, designed, created, and maintained by Chief Botanist of the Southern Shore of the Crimea, Carolus Antonius Keebach. Plant material for the garden was supplied from the Nikita Botanic Garden by its director, Nicolai Anders von Hartwiss. There is also a selection of various Hotels and restaurants. There are many things to do in central Alupka such as look at Ai Petri mountain and even take a cable car there.

Ai-Petri Mountain

Alupka is located at the foot of the 1234 meter

(St Peter) Mount of the Crimean Mountains chain. Since 1987, a three kilometer

Gondola lift A gondola lift is a means of cable transport and type of aerial lift which is supported and propelled by cables from above. It consists of a loop of steel wire rope that is strung between two stations, sometimes over intermediate sup ...

, one of the longest in Europe and split into two stages, carries passengers to and from the mountain, providing visitors with excellent views of the surrounding area and the

People from Alupka

Amet-khan Sultan Amet-khan Sultan ( Crimean Tatar: Amet-Han Sultan, Амет-Хан Султан, احمدخان سلطان; Russian: Амет-Хан Султан; 20 October 1920 – 1 February 1971) was a highly decorated Crimean Tatar flying ace in the Soviet ...

Crimean Tatar flying ace and test pilot * Alexander Khmelik Russian film producer, screenwriter *

Evgeni Aldonin Evgeni Valerievich Aldonin (russian: Евгений Валерьевич Алдонин; born 22 January 1980)Vorontsov's Castle in Alupka
— Pictures of Alupka Palace * — Alupka: Vorontsov's Palace and Park * — Webpage of the Alupka Castle {{Subdivisions of Crimea Seaside resorts in Russia Seaside resorts in Ukraine Cities of district significance in Ukraine Cities in Crimea Yalta Municipality