The Massandra Palace is a

Châteauesque Châteauesque (or Francis I style,Whiffen, Marcus, ''American Architecture Since 1780: A guide to the styles'', The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1969, p. 142. or in Canada, the Château Style) is a Revivalist architectural style based on the Fr ...

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...

of Emperor

Alexander III of Russia Alexander III ( rus, Алекса́ндр III Алекса́ндрович, r=Aleksandr III Aleksandrovich; 10 March 18451 November 1894) was Emperor of Russia, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Finland from 13 March 1881 until his death in 18 ...

Massandra Massandra or Masandra ( crh, Massandra; russian: Массандра; uk, Масандра) is an urban-type settlement in the Yalta Municipality in Crimea. Occupying the spot of an ancient Greek settlement (Tavrida-Ταυρίδα), Masandra was ...

, at the south coast of

Crimea 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 ...

. Construction of the building started in 1881 and was funded by the son of

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 ...

, , who had recently returned from the 1877-78 Russo-Turkish War. The construction of the palace that was initially designed by French architect Étienne Bouchard in the

Louis XIII style The Louis XIII style or ''Louis Treize'' was a fashion in French art and architecture, especially affecting the visual and decorative arts. Its distinctness as a period in the history of French art has much to do with the Regent, regency under w ...

was soon suspended after the death of Prince Semyon Mikhailovich Vorontsov. In 1889 the unfinished palace was bought by the for

. The new owner commissioned his favorite architect

Maximilian Messmacher Maximilian (von) Messmacher (russian: Максимилиан Егорович Месмахер, ''Maximilian Yegorovich Messmacher''; 1842–1906) was a Russian architect of German ancestry. He attended the School of Painting of St. Petersburg S ...

to modernize the villa's design. Although Massandra was listed among imperial residences, no royals ever stayed there over night (rather preferring the neighboring

Livadia Palace Livadia Palace (russian: Ливадийский дворец, uk, Лівадійський палац) is a former summer retreat of the last Russian tsar, Nicholas II, and his family in Livadiya, Crimea. The Yalta Conference was held there in ...

). After the

October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...

and before

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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the residence was used as a government sanatorium "Proletarian Health" for people ill with

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

. After

it was used as a state cottage (

dacha A dacha ( rus, дача, p=ˈdatɕə, a=ru-dacha.ogg) is a seasonal or year-round second home, often located in the exurbs of post-Soviet countries, including Russia. A cottage (, ') or shack serving as a family's main or only home, or an outbu ...

) under the name "Stalinskaya". After the

fall of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

, Massandra Palace was used as one of the Ukrainian official residences where were signed the Massandra Accords in 1993. In 2014 after the Russian annexation of Crimea, the residence was taken over by the Russian Presidential Affairs Administration. A bust of Alexander III was unveiled in front of the villa in 2017.

Gallery

File:Massandra Palace, Statue, Massandra, Crimea.jpg, Statue File:Massandra Palace, Statues, Massandra, Crimea.jpg, Statue Massandra Palace 2, Massandra, Crimea.jpg, Opposite of the front-facing part File:Массандровский дворец, Крым.jpg, Modern look File:Парк в Массандре, Крым.jpg, Palace Park File:Yalta old 13.jpeg, View at the end of the 19th century

References

External links

* * Buildings and structures in Crimea Museums in Crimea Palaces in Ukraine Official residences in Ukraine Royal residences in Ukraine Government buildings in Ukraine Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Crimea {{crimea-stub