Livadia, Palace of Nicholas II

[Silja]

The shop is disappointing though . . . Had expected more books.

[mvp019a]

Well I ran across this message board and thought I would post some of my pics from my trip 2 years ago, in May of 2008.

If I can get anything to work...grrrr...
 

 
Well I have followed the instructions explicitly from the forum rules and I see nothing here...bummer.

[primrose]

Hi mvp,

I understand your frustration as I went through the same thing last December when I began posting my first images. I suggest you send a message to moderator Laura Mabee and ask for help... she walked me through the process and was happy to help when I messed up. She's very generous with her time... I'm so grateful to her as I'm sure I couldn't have done it on my own!

Good luck to you!

primrose

[Sarushka]

Laura posted a nice tutorial on photo-posting in this thread. :^)

[mvp019a]

 
There we goo...much better - thanks to Rob for turning on the light switch in my head!
 

[EmmyLee]

Nice photos, thank you! Was the palace as huge as it looks in photos? How much of the palace is open to tour?

[mvp019a]

It is pretty large, but not so immense as one might think.  The grounds were extensive with meandering paths all over through the gardens and foliage surrounding the palace.  I think the bulk of it was open...my favorite room (not pictured here) was the Tsar's study...it was a large room with a huge desk at one end, and the windows behind him were a panorama of the Black Sea - I could work in that room every day, except I might not get anything done for all the day dreaming of the view!
 
Unfortunately the tour was in Russian so I had to get very condensed info from my friend in between stops, but nonetheless it was a wonderful experience!

[primrose]

Love your pictures! Looks like you were there on a day when the crowds were not which makes the experience even better...

[PAVLOV]

Yes thank you very much. Your photos are beautiful. One can understand why they loved this palace so much. It must have been such a wonderful experience to arrive here after the cold and snow in St Ppetersburg.

The blue vase is very interesting, and I am wondering how many of the objects in the photographs are original to the palace. I really wish they would remove all the Stalinist momentoes, and the white piano. It looks very out of place.

[lilianna]

The plan-panorama  Livadia  http://www.crimea-kvn.ru/maps/pan_livadiya_dv.html

[Ian (UK)]

   The Tsar's Path, or solnechnaya tropa.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsar%27s_Path

   I like the fact the path was renamed in the soviet era from the Tsars Path to the Sunny Path, to rid it of its imperial family connections. "Sunny" would that be a direct translation? ...........Alexandra fights back or what !

   Do we know the exact route for the walk & has anyone ever completed it, and do any of the views along the walk relate to beinecke images. 

[Alan]

I was interested to read the post by The Ace 1918 that the Livadia Palace was the actual place where the Alliied Leaders met at the end of WW2. Its generally referred to as Yalta so its good to know the exact place.
Thanks,
Alan

[feodorovna]

I did a Black Sea cruise and stopped off at Yalta to visit Livadia. Despite the awful weather it was obvious that the surrounding scenery was wonderful and I could imagine Their excitement at finally arriving after Their long journey!!! Naturally, we were shown the room where the Allied Leaders met and I was glad to have seen it, but for me Livadia is first and foremost the summer home of the Imperial Family and it was a joy to see the childrens' schoolroom and to wander through rooms that they had inhabited, but I suspect I rather bored the rest of the party with my constant references to Them and Their tragic fate.
I was amazed by my first view of the palace, having previously only seen pictures of it I expected to see a completely Italianate villa, but approaching it from the side it looked rather like Balmoral and wondered if this may have been a deliberate attempt to recreate for Alexandra, happy memories of holidays with Granny. I feel sure They left Livadia with some sorrow and always looked forward to a return visit.

[PAVLOV]

I think you may be confusing Livadia with another Palace. Livadia is completely Italianate, and definately does not look like Balmoral.  Google Livadia / Yalta and you will see. i cannot remember the name of the other Palace you may be referring to, but it is a rather tasteless mess of Gothic and other styles all mixed up together. i think it is the Voronysov Palace you saw.

[feodorovna]

PAVLOV. I hastened to find my 2006 diary and on a very cold, wet Friday November 3rd we visited Livadia Palace. Also mentioned is the Palace of the British delegation which I presume to be the somewhat "tasteless mess of Gothic" otherwise known as Voronysov!! I also seem to remember a "pride" of lions, frozen in stone!!! Many thanks for unravelling my brain cells.