Anyone interested in WWII history would have heard of the Yalta (or Crimean) Conference.  It was here at the Livadia Palace that Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin met to negotiate how post-war Europe  was to be carved up.

Tsar Nikolas II and family

The Palace was originally built in 1911 as a summer palace for Tsar Nikolas II.  Tuberculosis was the scourge in the early centuries and Yalta’s sunny climate was recommended as being conducive for recuperation.  There is a beautiful garden at the palace and a pathway that stretches some 7 km to the Swallow’s Nest. The family’s physician recommended that going for walks in the sunshine was beneficial for the Tsar’s family.

Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin, Yalta

In the Palace there are also lots of black and white pictures of the proceedings during the Yalta Conference, including this famous shot of Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin.  The white meeting room is stunning.  During the Conference, which ran over 8 days from February 4 – 11, 1945, the delegations from the three nations were accommodated in three different palaces.  The U.S. delegation stayed at this palace, the British were accommodated at Alupka Palace, whilst the USSR delegation was accommodated at the Koreiz Palace.

Livadia (White) Palace

At the back of the Palace is the Romanov Family Chapel.  Nikolas II took an oath of faithfulness to the Russian throne here and his bride, Princess Alisa von Hessen was confirmed into the Orthodox Church and given the name Alexandra Feodorovna.  When we visited there was some refurbishment being carried out inside.  Photography is not allowed inside the Chapel and if you so much as raise your camera hand, the nuns who run the place will quickly tap you on the shoulder.  I actually didn’t see the no photography sign outside.  Livadia Palace is certainly worth a visit as the place is steeped with history.

Travel Signposts Blog

The Russians have likened Anton Chekhov to the Shakespeare of Russia.  Anton Chekhov was born on 29 January 1860 in Taganrog, a port on the Sea of Azov in southern Russia.  He started writing as a young student and was very talented in short stories. 

Chekhov's House - front entrance

Chekhov qualified in medicine at Moscow State University and intended practicing medicine. Whilst studying he was already successfully writing humorous magazine stories and sketches.  When he realised that he had tuberculosis, he began to rely more and more on his writing to provide him with an income.  Being a doctor, he chose not to think about his illness or to seek treatment, as a result of which he died at the young age of 44 years.

Chekhov is closely associated with the Crimea as he spent his last years in Yalta. He built a house in the Yalta suburb of Autka and his famous short story “The Lady with the Little Dog” was set in Yalta.  He also had a dacha (country cottage) at Gursuf, a few kilometres down the coast.

Chekhov's House - Living room

A visit to Chekhov’s House gives great insight into this talented author. Known as the White Dacha, his Yalta home was frequently visited by other writers of his time including Ivan Bunin, Maksim Gorky and Alexander Kuprin.  In the house are lots of pictures, furniture and memorabilia to remind of his times there.  There is also the piano which his friend and composer Rachmaninov played when he visited.  Chekhov wrote “Three Sisters” and “The Cherry Orchard” here and whenever necessary, he would escape to the peace and quiet of his smaller dacha at Gursuf.

Gorky's Bench, Yalta

When he died in Germany in 1904, the house passed to his sister Masha.  She kept the house as closely as possible to its original form as when Chekhov had lived there. Walking through the house, you get a sense of warmth about the place.  The clock in the living room is set at 1:00 p.m. which is when the family had their lunch together.  The beautiful garden was laid out by Chekhov himself.  He planted some 159 plant species, however today only 40 species remain.  The green bench is named “Gorky’s bench”.  Chekhov supposedly said to Gorky that if every person would do everything possible on this earth, our planet would be beautiful.

Chekhov's House - Garden

Chekhov was a compassionate man and in spite of his own poor health, he set up a fund to build a health centre for poor people suffering from tuberculosis, now known as the Chekhov Sanatorium. Together with his friend Maxim Gorky he also created another fund to open a town library, which is now Yalta’s Chekhov Library, the biggest in the Crimea.

Helen

Travel Signposts Blog

Cable car ride, Yalta

The station is on vul Kirova which is off nab Lenina 17.  A large chairlift sign near the staircase point to the direction of the base station. The return trip costs 20 uah and there are plenty of red, blue and green chairlifts going up and down.   They operate from 11 a.m. and normally stop at 5:00 p.m., but during the months of July and August they run till 11:00 p.m.

Hopping on the cable car

I hopped onto the moving chairlift and Tony followed suit.  We very quickly found out how tight the space was and two average sized people fits in nicely, however for bigger people, it would be better to take one chairlift each.  The chairlift door opens inwards and once you got in you had to quickly squeeze behind the door to allow the next person to get on. With Tony’s large camera bag, it was a big tricky to start with.  It would have been much easier if the door opened outwards.  A small latch secures the door, but looking at how flimsy it was, we decided that it was not a good idea to lean out.

The chairlift takes you over rooftops to Darsan and along the way you have great views of the Bay area and unfortunately for the houses below, you look into people’s backyards as well.  The ride took about twenty minutes each way and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

Helen

Travel Signposts Blog