My spelling of the name was incorrect. It is the Vorontsov Palace. Personally I think it is a very ugly building, an architectural mess. During WWll it was one of the Palaces chosen by Stalin as accommodation for the British delegations to the Yalta meeting. Rooseveldt and his mob stayed at Livadia, where the daily meetings were held, because the President was in a wheelchair, and the lower floor of the Livadia palace, including the Conference Room were on the same level, which made it easier for him to move about. he was already a very sick man and months away from death at the time.
Churchill and his delegation stayed at the Vorontsov palace, which they soon discovered was "bugged' by the Soviets. So every conversation they had at the dining room table was recorded by the KGB. The British delegation found out because one evening one of the delegates mentioned the fact that there were no lemons for the drinks. The next day the conservatory was filled with potted lemon trees !!
So they tested their theory and the next evening someone said how curious it was that there were so many empty aquarium tanks around the palace, but that there were no fish in them. The next day the tanks were filled with water and exotic fish !
I find it amazing how intrinsically stupid the Soviets were, even when it comes to small insignificant things like this, they gave themselves away.
Anyway, I think its quite an interesting story.
The carved lions you mention are at the foot of a staircase that leads down from the house to the gardens.
