Both castles and palaces, like people, have their own biography, their own history, unique, completely unlike the others … The Massandra Palace also has one. Due to its location and remoteness, it could be called Vorontsovsky's good neighbor. They are different in architecture, but they have something in common. It is worth talking about this in more detail.
The annexation of Crimea to the Russian Empire in the 18th century became equally significant for both Crimeans and Russians. The historical event of that time did not pass by the small village of Massandra, which changed many owners. At first it was a French prince, Rear Admiral Karl Siegen, then the estate passed into the hands of the Russian landowner Matvey Nikitin. The owners of the mansion were also: Sophia Konstantinovna Pototskaya (a famous spy and adventurer), Olga Naryshkina, as well as the Vorontsov family, the owners of the Alupka Palace.
There are palaces that look like castles. There are castles that look like palaces. And there are castles-palaces or palaces-castles, as if specially conceived as "cinematic" decorations. One of them is … the palace in Massandra … It is enough to look at it to say: "An ideal place for filming movies based on the fairy tales of Charles Perrault!" East facade.
The construction of the palace began under Prince Semyon Mikhailovich Vorontsov, the son of Count Vorontsov. The previous building turned out to be badly destroyed by a storm that swept over Massandra, and Semyon Mikhailovich decides to rebuild another building, no worse than the previous one, but more comfortable and spacious. There was a relatively flat construction site. The count had died by that time and the estate, naturally, passed into the full disposal of the heir. The prince had his own view on the arrangement of the estate, which involved the construction of a new building, and the park, previously laid out by the German gardener Karl Kebach, was also planned to be slightly expanded and decorated with new exotic plants. Yes, this is the same Kebakh, the brainchild of which was the magnificent Vorontsov Park. The park in Massandra was laid out by Kebakh even before the palace was built, and all that was needed was to "tweak" it in accordance with the taste of the owner. Karl Antonovich coped with this task as always excellently.
And this is how its western facade looks from the side of the park.
The prince saw a mansion in the style of an old French castle. The order for the project of new apartments was sent to France to the then famous architect E. Bouchard. In 1879 Bouchard arrives in Massandra and begins work on a project. A year later, the drawings were ready, and Bouchard sends them to the customer for review and approval. At the same time, materials began to be prepared for construction, coming from all over the peninsula.
Sculptures at the stairs leading to the park.
The Vorontsov family, having ordered the project, expressed their wishes to make it as compact, comfortable as possible, smaller in area than the Alupka one. Not pompous, but certainly family.
Construction has begun …
And so the work began to boil. The construction of the palace proceeded at a very high pace. The French architect was personally present at the laying of the foundation, and during the construction he tried not to be absent for a long time in order to keep the process under control.
Thanks to the accelerated pace of construction work, the building of the palace was ready by mid-September 1881. At the same time, work was carried out inside the palace on the wiring of the water supply system, heating, and air hoods were installed. Outside, in the adjacent territory, earthworks were carried out: sites were leveled, irregularities were filled up, stones were removed.
Rumors about a new palace being built in Massandra spread throughout the Crimea. In addition to ordinary people, railway engineers also came to be curious about the curiosity. According to archival sources, the residence cost the owner 120 thousand rubles.
The construction was going well and nothing, as they say, foreshadowed trouble. She came from where they did not expect. “Your Grace, Prince Semyon Mikhailovich! This letter will bring you news that has plunged all of us into grief …”. This was the beginning of a letter from manager Massandra. And then he announced that after a severe cold, Bouchard suddenly died and they would bury him at the Yalta cemetery. Having received such sad news, Semyon Mikhailovich decides to take care of the family of the deceased. Vorontsov asks the builders to finish building the roof of the palace as soon as possible so that the widow and children could live in it.
The architecture of the palace is kind of fabulously exquisite … And the roof resembles scales.
After the death of the architect, construction continued. Vorontsov was constantly reported on the progress of construction, they tried to keep him informed of all matters. And so, when only the interior decoration of the palace remained, Semyon Mikhailovich himself unexpectedly dies. Construction has now stood still for 10 years.
After Vorontsov's death, the estate passed into the possession of his wife, Princess Maria Vasilyevna Vorontsova, by will. The princess, without explaining the reasons, refuses the inheritance in favor of the prince's niece, E. A. Balashova, subject to the payment of the annual rent. Later, the estate is bought out by the Department of Appanages.
When the best is not the enemy of the good
Emperor Alexander III, the current owner of the palace, liked the place where the palace was located, and the vineyards that were planted in the territory adjacent to the palace. The emperor was interested in winemaking, so the varietal plantations of grapes were very useful there. At the slightest opportunity, he tried to visit little Massandra. His wife, Maria Feodorovna, together with her son Georgy very often walked along the paths of the park, breathing in clean air, warmed by the sun and filled with sea moisture. The prince was sick with tuberculosis, and the Crimean climate was vital for him. Realizing this, Alexander III ordered the completion of the palace as soon as possible and entrusted the work to the French architect, Professor Mesmakher. A faithful friend and assistant of Mesmacher was a certain Wegener, for whom the Department had asked the architect the least. As it turned out, not in vain. Through the efforts of Wegener, tens of thousands of rubles were saved from the state treasury.
The interiors of the palace are simple but very elegant. This is the dining room on the ground floor.
Messmacher personally began to select builders and finishers, without entrusting this important work to third parties. Starting to work, the architect did not radically change the layout of the palace, he only slightly changed it. The area of the building was increased by additional galleries of balconies and stairs, and the bathrooms were made wider. All palace furniture was decorated with fine paintings. Only the southern facade of the palace has changed significantly. The one-tiered tower turned into a three-tiered one, crowned with a gilded symbol of the Russian Empire - a two-headed eagle.
Significant changes have taken place with the exterior decoration. Messmacher, wishing to give the palace a festive look, decorated the walls with ornaments and capitals made of gray stone. The old outdoor decor was removed, tweaked in the spirit of the new era, and returned to its original place. The roof has also undergone some changes. It was made from small slabs of French flake slate, a noble gray color, more like fine stone scales.
A semicircular wall that protects the castle from landslides.
Messmacher, mindful of the downpours in the mountains, took care of the integrity and safety of the palace. According to his project, a semicircular wall was built, located opposite the eastern facade. The wall was supposed to protect the building from landslides and rainstorms.
The ceiling is also carved!
The palace was complemented by exquisite vases on wall parapets, airy arches with Baroque reliefs and countless statues of ancient Greek gods that adorned the palace grounds, which consisted of several descending terraces. The statues were an exact copy of the antique sculptures of the Berlin Museum, with the only difference that ours were plaster of paris, imitating marble. The park designer has introduced his own "zest" into the design of the territory. The trick was that the "female" figures were located from the southern part of the palace, where the bedchamber of Maria Feodorovna was located. The statues of the male gods "scattered" from the north side of the palace, respectively from the side of the emperor's chambers.
The sideboard was modeled after medieval furniture.
Unfortunately, out of almost 30 figures, only six have survived to this day. Surprisingly, they are all paired: two satyrs, two chimeras and two sphinxes. The rest turned out to be irretrievably lost, the dashing times of wars and revolutions did not spare them.
The construction of the palace was coming to an end, and it only remained to equip it inside, when suddenly a new misfortune: Alexander III dies. The heir apparent to Alexander Nicholas II unexpectedly chooses a new palace in Livadia. The eminent family now visits Massandra Palace very rarely and reluctantly. And even going hunting or a picnic with his family, he avoided the palace, not to mention stopping for the night.
The walls are covered with carved panels, made in the same style in the furniture.
And yet, Nicholas II gave the order to complete the construction and Monsieur Messmacher, once again, starts work.
The architect was very talented in combining several styles. Fantasizing with the selection of material, boldly combining the sometimes incongruous, the "maestro" surpassed himself. The result was amazing.
For example, the walls of the lobby on the first floor were decorated with blue floral ceramic tiles. Windows and doors were pleasing to the eye with colored glass. The decoration of the walls in the billiard room was different. They used wood panels made of valuable wood species. The main decoration of the room was a magnificent corner fireplace, also decorated with intricately carved wood paneling and red bronze embossing.
This tile!
In the reception rooms of Maria Feodorovna, the furnishings were made of mahogany with gilded bronze trim. The architect made the study of His Imperial Majesty in light colors, using walnut wood for this. The marble fireplace was the logical completion of the office furnishings.
And this front fireplace!
By the spring of 1902, the work was finally completed. The fruit of the titanic labor of architects, builders, gardeners and just workers turned out to be amazing. Indeed, it turned out to be a small Versailles, such a miniature piece of France on the fertile Crimean land.
Fireplace in the imperial study.
Alas, even after the completion of the work, the palace was still lonely, without owners. The royal family only occasionally stopped by Massandra, but only in transit, and, as before, never stopped for the night.
Fireplace in the Empress's room.
New life for the palace.
And yet the Massandra Palace found new owners. Despite wars and revolutions, he survived and survived. Being in oblivion saved him from the barbarism that many estates and palaces were subjected to in those days. And thank God that they forgot about the palace! Fortunately, the unique built-in mahogany furniture, mirrors, chandeliers - everything that in many palaces was broken and … ravaged - has survived.
The palace was given a second life, it became in demand. No longer a royal family, but ordinary people. Before the 1941 war, a tuberculosis sanatorium functioned here. After the war, it became a state dacha, which was visited by Stalin, Khrushchev, and Brezhnev. Later, the building was transferred to the Research Institute of Viticulture, and since the summer of 1992the palace receives its first visitors as a museum.
The management of other museums eagerly helped the Massandra Palace. Furniture items, picturesque canvases were brought here from the museum storerooms, which then organically fit into the interiors of the museum halls.
Today the Massandra Palace looks like this …
And so it happened that the palace, undeservedly forgotten by the royal family, found a new life, and with it its friends, admirers, enthusiastic admirers and subtle connoisseurs of everything beautiful …
