CRIMEAN TRIP
26/8/99-3/9/99 with Holts Tours
Day 1 was spent travelling from London to Kiev, so the holiday didn’t really start until day 2. But it was a joy to see so many familiar faces when I got to the airport - Colin and Coryne Hall, Marion and Peter Wynn, David Greer, Charlotte Zeepvat (who was leading the tour), Frances Dimond, Nick and Diana de Courcy-Ireland and my travelling companion, Katrina Warne - Mike wasn’t spending any more of his precious time touring round with a bunch of nutters looking for old palaces. So much Romanov discussing as we travelled, and had dinner at our hotel.
Day 2 was spent in Kiev on a general tour of the city - seems to me it’s a city of churches as we visited several - all huge, well maintained, and often in a complex of buildings with other chapels. The most significant was the newly renovated St. Michael’s. Outside this was a monument to Princess Olga, who was significant in the medieval history of the city. Within walking distance was the site of the Tithe Church, which was the first church built in Russia. According to several sources I consulted before we went, Grand Duchess Olga married Colonel Kulikovsky somewhere in this area. This is about as near as we could get to working out exactly where as street names had changed, and original buildings had been destroyed. Sadly, the ex-Intourist guide was not able to help at all on this question, or on the one about where GD Olga’s hospital was. However, she did help in the search for the Petrovsky Nunnery although she wasn’t really sure why we wanted to see it. It had been founded by GD Alexandra Petrovna, wife of GD Nicholas Nicholaevich Snr, to undertake medical and social work in the city. It is here that she is buried, along with one of her grandchildren, a child of her son Peter, who died when only a few hours old. Her grave is still preserved and we were able to see it, as well as the smaller one of her grandchild next to her. It is still a working nunnery with a well-maintained church
And now we came to the part of the holiday that I had simply dreaded - the overnight train trip to the Crimea! And I am pleased to report that it wasn’t as bad as I’d feared. OK, it wasn’t luxurious and the facilities were pretty smelly, but the beds were quite comfy. No cockroaches as one of my friends had reported. And the stations were a treat. The train had its engine changed every few hours, which gave us time to get out and have a look round whichever station we had pulled into. And it was a whole wealth of entertainment - you could buy all sorts of goodies - fruit, veg, pastries, magazines and soft drinks. Even a smoked kipper if you so desired. Sad to report that Katrina’s door alarm was not a sensible idea on a train - it rattled loose and went off at 3 am waking up the whole carriage!
And so we arrived at Simferopol station in the Crimea at about midday on market day. The whole population of the Crimea appeared to be there too. And our coach and guide were miles away. It was a nightmare trying to fight through people to get to the coach - and worse, we had to cross the railway tracks to get out of the station. At one point, with my large case, I looked up and found a train bearing down on me. At this point I cursed Art for suggesting I bring him back lots of books, which is why I had brought such a large case in the first place. Anyway, we eventually arrived at our hotel in Yalta which could best be described as “Soviet”. The Communist govt of Russia had obviously decided that the Crimea was a great holiday destination - which it is, very reminiscent of the south of France. So, they built quite a lot of large, concrete hotel blocks with basic rooms, so the workers could come and stay here. The hotels have their own private beaches, swimming pools, sunloungers etc. But it’s all rather cheap and tacky and reminiscent of Margate. They called these holiday centres.
We had enough time to see the sites of Yalta for the rest of the day. Chekhov’s house was first. Rather small, some original furniture, and a museum next door dedicated to his life. You won’t be surprised to hear that he moved here for health reasons. Next, the Alexander Nevsky cathedral - why are they always called Alexander Nevsky? Rather grand for a seaside town, and the place where Katherine Yurievsky married Serge Obolensky. It may also have been the place that GD Nicholas Nicholaevich married Anastasia. We just had time to have a walk along the sea front, where Colin started what became his regular consumption of Ukrainian ice cream. It was easy to work out where the Standart must have moored.
Day 4 was a big day - Livadia! But we went for a boat trip first, along the coast to get an overall view of which palace was where. It was easy to pick out Livadia, one of the remaining buildings of Oreanda, Kichkine (Dimitry Constantinovich’s place) and the Swallow’s Nest. The Swallow’s Nest is a small folly of a building, on a high rock outcrop, that was used by HMS Marlborough as a reference point when it came to rescue the remaining members of the Imperial family.
We arrived at Livadia with an hour to spare, to have a look round the
grounds. Charlotte led us to some tennis
courts which is where the Maly Palace had been.
After an ice cream stop for Colin, we then looked around at the
profusion of different trees from different parts of the world that add
variety
to the gardens, before going to the look at the chapel where Alix
converted to
Orthodoxy. Very small and highly
decorated. It is a working church, and a
service was going on inside. It would be
easy to miss the main entrance of the palace which is no longer
used. We’ve all seen the pics, so it was great to
stand between the pillars. At the top of
which are the initials of each of the Imperial
children.
And on either side of the door were marble
seats with ornate lion’s head armrests.
The lions’ faces actually resembled Nicholas II’s!
Then it
was time to
go inside, via a backdoor that led into the Italian
courtyard.
This is much different from Romanov times -
flowers and trees have been added, and a fountain that wasn’t
originally there. I’m sure you know that the famous
Yalta
Conference photo was taken here.
Couldn’t get into the Great Hall that actually took place in,
but
could
look through the windows. Ornate
chandeliers and pillars that made it perfect for ballroom use. We were
led
inside and upstairs to Nicholas II’s study.
This room is dedicated to Romanov photos - mostly ones we’d
seen
before
but a few rarities, and a tapestry of Nicholas, Alexei and Alix given
by the
Shah of Persia originally. It was very
similar to the ones at the AP and the Hermitage - lots of dark
wood. NII’s desk stood in the middle of the room,
and faced the windows. Not much in the
way of original furniture, or even original rooms as the palace was
used as a
hospital then holiday centre. 
Nicholas's study
Alix’s boudoir is still visible, containing a photo of Alix and Tatiana taken in the boudoir. And the library has Alix’s original bookcases. On the ground floor, a room that we took to be GD Dimitry’s bedroom, contained some quite rare photos of Ernie, and other members of the Romanov family, plus details of the owners of other palaces in the Crimea. Overall impression was of an English country house inside a Tuscan palace. It didn’t quite work and we all decided that Alix’s taste left a little to be desired.
Moorish courtyard, Livadia
We moved next door to a real country house - the house of Baron Fredericks. Very baronial in a Scottish kind of way. Now it’s a posh restaurant where we had a lovely lunch. And next door again were the servants quarters - another large Tuscan looking building.
Time to walk off the lunch, and off we went on the Tsar’s path - the one he walked along in the new soldier’s uniform. Spectacular views on the way to Oreanda which is now a … holiday centre. A posh one at that for civil servants. There’s virtually nothing left of the old Oreanda that burnt down - we’ve seen the photos of the ruins but even they’ve gone. Marie Georgievna pinched a few pillars for the garden at Harax. There were a set of ponds in the shapes of different seas of the world, that were supposed to be original. And a small house that Constantine Nicholaevich was supposed to have lived in after the fire. The chapel still exists, and is a small distance away. Much like the Feodorovsky Sobor, this is a tribute to the efforts of the local community. It’s being restored, has a wonderful domed ceiling, and some very faded wall paintings. The man in charge spent ages telling us all about it and was rewarded with a very full collection plate, which was the least we could do.
Our evening was spent at a lecture about the Charge of the Light Brigade. 1 of our tour leaders, ex-army, decided that we needed to know a little about it. “It’ll only take half an hour”, he said. Two hours later he was still going. Too much for me and Katrina. At the mention of the word “cardigan! (as in Lord) we dissolved into schoolgirl giggles and had to leave.
The purpose of all this became obvious the next day when we took a coach ride into the Crimean peninsula. We stopped to look at the field of the Charge of the Light Brigade. After another half an hour’s lecture, I was none the wiser. I asked Charlotte to help. She explained brilliantly that the Russian guns were there, there and there, and we were in the middle and dead.
We were on our way, via some brilliant views on the coast road, to Bakhshiserai. On the way we saw the dacha where Gorbachev was held, and the holiday home of the current President of the Ukraine, a Mr.Kutchma. In fact, he was heading off there the day we went past, and there were police everywhere. At Bakhshiserai, we visited a 16th century Khans palace of typical Tartar decoration. Much discussion of the treatment of the Harem and how they weren’t allowed out at all (Colin was heard muttering at this point and I was glad Mike wasn’t there to put in his twopenneth worth). We had a tour of the only remaining building, the Favourite Wife’s House! Highlight was the famous Fountain of Tears - built by a Khan to mourn with continual weeping water, the death of his favourite concubine.
We were due to lunch on part of the estate that had
belonged to the
Yusupov family nearby, called Kokos.
When we got there, we found ourselves in a
… holiday centre. The
most Soviet so far. A
very poor sub-Butlins type place, with sheds
as places to stay. My
heart bled for the
people who had to stay here. But
they
put on an excellent spread for us for lunch.
Then we went down the road to a home for children with
mental health
problems. This was
once Zenaide
Yusupov’s palace. Well, what’s left - the main
building and a guest house. This
is in a very sorry state and probably wouldn’t have survived
at all if it
hadn’t been used by the state. Little to see of the
“paradise” that Agnes de
Stoeckl described. It’s
decoration was
based on the Khan’s palace, with the symbol of a blue eye
running through the
decoration.
One window was in the shape of an eye, and once
contained stained
glass.
Kokos: the eye
We were shown just the 1 room - the top half of the dining room that had been divided horizontally. It is now a dormitory for the children, but some of the original decoration still exists. And some of the original furniture is kept in storage at the Khan’s palace. Some members of the Yusupov family visit annually on behalf of the Yusupov foundation.
I shall skip the description of our evening as we whiled away the hours on the veranda of our hotel in the company of the Mafia and assorted ladies of the night! Different. Day 6 took us to the Alupka, once owned by the Vorontsov family, and the place where Roman Petrovich met his wife in the dark days of German occupation of the Crimea. This 1 is really set up for tourists and was full of souvenir stalls selling trinkets, but no books. The palace is a mixture of English country house at the front, and Tartar palace at the back. We did the typical tourist trail of dining rooms, reception rooms and Winter Garden. Not much of a Romanov connection here, but it is very well-maintained. Churchill stayed here for the Conference, and loved the statues of lions in the gardens especially the sleepy one. We had a long walk in the garden whilst Colin ate ice cream.
The afternoon was a visit to the Ai-Petri mountain, given as a present to Zenaide by her husband. Frances and I didn’t enjoy the views of the coastline as we went up it in a cable car. But we did enjoy the views from the top of the mountain, which surprisingly flattened out into a plateau. It was populated by souvenir stalls and a band of Tartars and their horses. And 1 Tartar camel. Said camel was for hire for a ride, which was irresistible. I hitched up my skirts and got on, providing a photo opportunity for the rest of the tour. Apart from Colin who was too busy buying an ice cream.
Day 7 was a pretty major day - as many palaces as we could fit in. We started off by meeting a guide who looked even more Intourist than our Intourist guide. But she turned out to be pretty open to a bunch of nutters interested in the Romanovs. She took us into the grounds of a govt building with a spectacular view of the coast, and a large statue of Stalin. On the horizon she pointed out the one remaining building of Ai-Todor. It is now a children’s home and try as we might, she could not be induced to take us there. She also pointed out Chair (Nicholas Nicholaevich Jnr). This is now the headquarters of the Ukranain KGB. We weren’t so keen to go and see that.
Our 1st visit of the day was to Koreis, which belonged to the Sumarakov-Elston family and hence the Yusupovs - see pics in the latest Ferrand. It won’t surprise you to learn that it is now a holiday centre - but a very posh one that cost $100 a day. It was also used by Stalin and Molotov for holidays - and it is their rooms you are shown - not a mention of the Yusupov’s. So not much is original except the magnificent Moorish dining room, with views of Ai-Petri out of the arch-shaped windows. We wanted to see the grounds but weren’t allowed, which was especially frustrating for Coryne as it was from here that Dagmar embarked to exile.
Koreis, the dining room
Down the road was Djulber and more Moorish decoration - in fact this looked more like the Khan’s palace than Bakhshiserai. Peter Nicholaevich and Militsa were mad about such decoration since they’d travelled in Egypt, and put a lot of their own ideas into the place. Huge, magnificent white-domed building with blue decoration. Over the door in Arabic it says “Allah bless everyone coming into this house”. It’s used by the Ukrainian Soviet, and when they aren’t in residence, you can guess what it is. The state rooms were downstairs, and the family rooms upstairs. We only got to see 1 room, upstairs, which still has its Moorish decoration. But we did wander the grounds where we tried to work out which windows belonged to the rooms used by Dagmar when under house arrest here. Must have been the ones overlooking the sea at the back.
Think I should mention at this point that most of the palaces so far had been designed by an architect called Krasnov. We now came to what he regarded as his piece de resistance - Harax. The Imperial family thought it was rather inadequate but he regarded it as his best work and compared it to William Morris’ Red House. It was built by Marie Georgievna to resemble an English country house - which it did.
Harax
She loved it anyway. Dagmar used it during the German occupation, and Olga and Captain Kulikosky stayed in an outbuilding. That didn’t survive the war, and neither did much of the main house but it has been rebuilt using old photos of the place. There’s even a museum containing some of the archeological finds of George Michaelovich. And our photo of our group is going to be put on show in that - as the 1st tour party to see the building. Just for a change, it is now a sanatarium specialising in respiratory diseases.
Last stop of the day was the Foros chapel - a small building on a high promotory of rock, said to have been built by a local landowner to give thanks for the survival of the Imperial family after the Borki train crash. The alternative Soviet version is that it was built by the landowner to give thanks after his daughter survived a riding accident.
Our last day in the Crimea consisted of a visit to the Alexander III palace at Massandra. This was a bit of a puzzle to us all as we thought he lived at Livadia. But it turned out that he bought this palace, in an incomplete state from a Vorontsov, as a home for NII and family during his years as Tsarevich. Obviously, this didn’t happen. The palace was completed though, and the grounds used by the family for picnics and tea parties in the famous rose garden. And it received 3 grand visitations during the 25th wedding celebrations of AIII and Dagmar - Nicky, Maud, Xenia, Sandro and Alix. However, the Ukrainian guides told us that the palace has a bad aura and all who’ve owned it have died before their time. When it was used by the KGB, even they took a dislike to it. Stalin hated if for holidays. It has been used as the Proletariat Health Sanotorium, a hospital, a wine institute, a state dacha and now a museum. Quite a few rooms to see. It what is called AIII’s study, there are several large presentation books for the 25th wedding anniv. And an unusual pic of GD Vladimir. 1 of the bedrooms contained furniture than may have come from Livadia. And there were paintings of Oreanda that probably belonged to Constantine Nicholaevich. The palace itself is another English style, Baronial manor, in a very heavy style that doesn’t suit the area at all.
It was now time to get back on the dreaded train. And we were overjoyed to find a relatively new and modern carriage with decent facilities and sinks in our compartments. However the sacrifice was bunk beds. I was condemned to the top by Katrina who was once my friend. I did not sleep much.
In our last few hours in Kiev, we were able to walk round the outside of the Maryinksy Palace, where Dagmar lived during WWI. It is now used by the govt for state functions. Coryne’s frustration at not getting in cannot be described! And we visited another church complex with spooky underground catacombs containing unburied bodies of saints.
It was a sad scene at Gatwick when we all had to say goodbye to each other. None of those false promises to stay in touch though, as we already do! There’s talk of a Romanovs in Moscow tour for 2001 which we’re all hoping for!
Text and images, copyright Sue Woolmans, 1999
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