Alupka

General Information 
It was first mentioned in the 10th c. under the name of Alubika. Alupka is considered to be one of the best health resorts in the Crimea. In 1901 Professor A. A. Bobrov built here the first sanatorium for tuberculous children. Now a monument to its founder stands in the territory of the sanatorium.

In the centre of the town stands the bust of Amet-Khan Sultan, the native of Alupka. twice Hero of the Soviet Union. During the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, the valiant pilot brought down personally 30 aircraft and in group fights - 19 enemy airplanes.

However, the main attraction in the town is the State Palace-and-Park Museum-Preserve with a beautiful park (see Monuments of Landscape Gardening of the Republican Status and National and State Historico-Cultural Preserves)

Alupka Park  Covers an area of 40 hectares. Founded in 1820-1840 under the guidance of the German gardener Karl Kebach. The Alupka Palace (see National and State Historico-Cultural Preserves) and park represent an integral architectural-artistic ensemble.

The kilometre-Iong main alley passes from east to west through the entire park territory. It separates the Upper Park from the Lower that faces the sea. By the character of its layout the Lower Park divides into the palace and seaside parts. The dominant feature of the Lower Park is the Vorontsov Palace and the adjacent territory. The territory in front of the palace consists of three terraces decorated with parterres, borders, sculptures, fountains, and a waterfall, descending to the sea. The alley of pyramidal cypresses parallels the seacoast and above it runs an oleander alley. The main seaside alley passes through the age-old Aleppo pine grove.

The southern extremity of the Alupka Park is the seashore. Sage-green and greenish-ochre rocks of whimsical forms and outlines present a picturesque sight. One of the highest rocks with a lookout point, which stands farther away of the seacoast, is called the Aivazovsky Rock in honour of the outstanding marine painter. Not far of the rock stands the Tea House, a pavilion built in the neo-classical style by the architect F. Elson in 1834. The exhibitions of works by the Crimean artists are periodically held in it.

A characteristic feature of the Upper Park is the surprising diversity of its landscapes. There are large glades, meandering paths, ponds, and waterfalls. Ponds are enhanced with whimsically set rock fragments that turn into the Great Chaos - a natural conglomeration of gigantic rock debris. Another place of interest in the Upper Park is the Small Chaos, a labyrinth of paths and passages among the dark boulders with artificial grotfos and streamlets. Between the Great and Small Chaoses there are three artificial ponds with decorative fishes, white and black swans, and golden ducks. The centre of the Upper Park composition is formed with four open landscaped glades: Platan, the adornment of which are two giant sequoias and the monkey-puzzle, a very rare relict tree; Sunny, where the Crimean oldest cypress grows that was planted as far back as the late 18th c.; Contrast, one of the most picturesque formed on colour and Iight-and-shade contrasts; and Chestnut, wonderfully beautiful in autumn. Altogether, there are about 200 exotic species, varieties, and garden forms of trees and shrubs. Here are found groups of stone pines, cedars of Lebanon, common yew, planes, chestnuts, cypresses, giant sequoias, and small-fruit strawberry tree (Arbutus andrachne). Age-old trees are one of the major adornments of the park. Here grows a holm grove, the only one on the Crimean Peninsula. The park has many fountains and artificial waterfalls: the Oriental fountain (1830-1840), the Gothic fountain (1829), The Fountain ofTears (1851), the Shell fountain (1946).

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