5 Top Romantic Places in Crimea

Article written by Oleg Lavrentyev

The picturesque land of Crimea abounds in beautiful places worthy of your attention. No wonder that the land, blessed with wonderful climate and hospitable mountains and valleys, for centuries attracted various settlers, who created rich and diverse history and culture of the peninsula. Scythians, Sarmats, Greeks, Genoese, Tatars, Bulgarians, Russians, Ukrainians all these peoples made their contribution to Crimea.

It is not easy to choose from such a long list of sight-seeing places the best ones when almost all of them are worthy of visit. Nevertheless, I tried to highlight the sights most attractive for a romantic and fascinating journey.

 Vorontsov’s Palace and Park in Alupka

For those, who like scent of centuries, intimacy of walking paths of the old park, and the sound of waves, the Vorontsov Palace and park in Alupka (on the southern coast of Crimea) will be the ideal place. The Count Vorontsov was a very influential person in the Russian Empire of the XIX century. Having a number of estates all over the Empire, Vorontsov liked his Alupka Palace most of all. The construction of the palace took 18 years. It was projected by an English architect Edward Blore. All the facades of the Vorontsov’s Palace are unique and incorporate different styles. Another peculiarity of the Palace is that it was built of the local ultrastrong mineral, called diabase. Diabes is a hard to process volcanic rock which is mostly used in handicraft and never in construction. All the interiors are also very rich and unique. There are 150 rooms in the palace. The Vorontsov’s Palace is surrounded by an old park founded by a German gardener Karl Kebach in 1820-1840. The Alupka Park is considered to be one of the best in Crimea.

Tsar Path (Solnechnaya Tropa)

The Tsar Path starting from the Livadia Palace stretches out for more than 6,5 km (4,04 miles). Built in 1861 and prolonged in 1901 by order of Nicolas II the Tsar Path is one of the most beautiful and unique walking routs in Crimea. For about 1500 meters the path goes at the same height (135-140 meters over the sea level) which makes it very comfortable for walking. Besides that, crowns of trees covering the Tsar Path make it shady and cool even in hottest summer days. The Tsar Path is also called the Healing Path because of its unique microclimate produced by the oak and hornbeam forests surrounding it.

Massandra Palace and Wine-Cellars

Massandra is the historical centre of wine industry of the Crimea. The major place of interest in the settlement is the Masandra Palace of Emperor Alexander III and a park, which surrounds it. The construction of palace started in 1881. In 1889 the unfinished palace was acquired by the Royal Family for Alexander III. The project was changed by a new architect Maximilian Messmacher, who added more decorative elements to the building, making it similar to a palace from fairy tales. The Massandra Palace was finally built in 1900. In the Soviet times, it was one of summer residences of Joseph Stalin.

Chersonesos Taurica

If you want to see and touch the beauty of ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantium cultures, you don’t need to go to Greece, Italy or Turkey. You can find it here on the West Crimean coast of Ukraine.Chersonesos is an ancient city founded by Greeks in the V century B.C. on the territory of modern Sevastopol. The city existed for 2 thousand years. Nowadays, it is a national historical reserve of the ancient and Byzantine culture. In 1996 Chersonesos Taurica was included by UNESCO into a list of a hundred most remarkable sights of the world culture. The reserves of two museums of Chersonesos (the Museum of Ancient History and the Medieval Times) number 288 thousand finds. On the territory of Chersonesos there is also an Orthodox cathedral in the Byzantine style, built in 1891, renewed in 2002 (Vladimir’s Cathedral).

Caves of the Crimean Mountains

Coming to Crimea, don’t forget to visit its numerous caves, some of which are considered to be in the top 5 beautiful of the world. There are about 900 karst caves in Crimea. Several of them are equipped for excursions.

The Mramornaya Cave on Chatyr-Dag is considered to be one of the 5 most beautiful caves in the world. The length of excursion routs counts 1500 meters.
The Cave Emine-Bair-Khosar is located in two kilometers from The Mramornaya Cave and is also a very beautiful cave equipped for excursions.
The Kizil-Koba Cave (The Red Cave) is the biggest in Crimea. The length of its explored part is 18 km. There is an underground river in the Red Cave. It’s equipped for excursions. The length of excursion routs is 600 meters.
The Scelskaya Cave is situated near Sevastopol, in the Baydarskaya Valley. In 2003 this cave was also equipped for excursions. The length of a rout is 600 meters. In the Scelskaya Cave you may find a lot of underground lakes.

Keep in mind that it may be quite cold in caves, so don’t forget to pick up warm clothes when visiting them.