History and legends of the Swallow's Nest castle. Where is the Swallow's Nest Castle located? Where is the architectural monument Swallow's Nest Castle in Crimea? In which country is Swallow's Nest located?
Do you want to see a grandiose building that makes an unprecedented impression on everyone who sees it? So, go to the Ai-Todor Cape of the Aurora rock, where a fairy-tale castle with the beautiful romantic name “Swallow’s Nest” is nestled.
Every Crimean tourist should visit this! This castle is called a Crimean landmark; many people have magnets with the image of a castle hanging over the sea. This is one of the most beautiful places on the Crimean Peninsula and you should see it if you are nearby. Built on the top of the Aurora rock overlooking the sea, outside the village of Gaspra (12 km west of Yalta), it stands as a curious relic of Tsarist Russia and as one of the most beautiful monuments of true love. Now the palace is not the same as it was originally, today it looks even more beautiful. This little castle seems like technical madness, especially from a distance. And it is so picturesque that it is simply mesmerizing.
Once in the castle, you realize that this is a building that is too small for a castle, only 10x20 m, only two floors and several rooms (hall, living room, 2 bedrooms). It's hard to believe, but the castle was once surrounded by a garden, but during the great earthquake of 1927, the part of the rock where the trees were planted collapsed into the sea. Since then the castle has stood without a garden.
You can get there and back from Yalta by bus or by car, the price is about 300 rubles per person. You can also book a boat tour around the rock. Many tourists advise admiring the castle and photographing it from the sea. Many people refuse to climb the rock along the steep stairs due to strong winds and the fact that the castle itself is closed to tourists. But those who have visited the very top of the 40-meter cliff claim that “Swallow’s Nest” is the most suitable name for the castle. Despite the apparent unreliability of the building, there is an atmosphere of amazing peace, safety and comfort. It’s so calm there that it seems like you could pack a small castle in a box like a toy and take it with you!
After the reconstruction of the castle, it served tourists as a restaurant and hotel for a long time. Everything you needed could be found in hotel rooms, from headache pills to a needle and thread. The beds were very comfortable, the rooms were spacious with a great view. Each room has a small living room with 2 comfortable armchairs and a table to sit and read. Many people remember the Italian restaurant that operated from 1970 until the end of the 90s... There is hope that all this will return. But now there are many souvenir shops around where prices are not so high, and you will definitely buy something as a keepsake.
History of the castle
History of creation
It turns out that on the cape where the castle stands, the first settlement was organized by the ancient Romans; apparently, they considered this place as safe as possible. In the Middle Ages, monks lived there, they built a monastery in honor of St. Fedor (Todor, from whom the Turkic name of the cape came), so this place can be considered sacred. When the Turks captured Crimea in 1475, the monastery was closed and subsequently destroyed, the place became deserted. But in 1835, a lighthouse was erected there, near which a few decades later a romantic house appeared next door, the hero of our story, first called the “Castle of Love.”
In guidebooks about the history of creation they write something like this. At first, on the site of the castle there was a small wooden house, which was built on the orders of some Russian general. The name of the first owner is unknown, but guides say that even then the building was proudly called the “Castle of Love.” According to legend, the story of the appearance of the “Swallow’s Nest” is as follows. In 1877, a wounded Russian general came to Crimea for treatment. For the heroism shown in the Crimean War, the emperor gave him a plot of land on the Black Sea coast. On a 50-meter cliff (Cape Ai-Todor), a former warrior built a small house made of wood. A retired man was looking for solitude, peace and quiet romance, only blue skies and the Black Sea. The veteran called his modest house “Castle of Love.” History is silent about what kind of love it was - for a certain woman or for the beauties of Crimea.
Where the castle is located in Crimea can be seen on the map
Be that as it may, the construction was carried out absolutely anonymously, in full accordance with the wishes of the first owner of the land, because he wanted peace and privacy. That is why the names of the owner and architect of the original modest house above the abyss are unknown. How surprised the owner would probably be if he knew that in a hundred years the place of his retirement would turn into a real Mecca for tourists and would be depicted on thousands of postcards and calendars! And this despite the fact that finding the way to it is not so easy: the castle is not visible from the road, and only crowds of tourists who have been there can show the way!
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A few years later, the house became the property of Mr. Tobin, a doctor at the imperial court and the personal doctor of the Russian Tsar. Later, the cottage changed hands again, this time the buyer was the merchant Razmanina, and she renamed the “Castle of Love” to “Swallow’s Nest.” Then the building was bought by a wealthy German oil industrialist, Baron von Stiengel (Steingel), who was a big fan of holidays in Crimea. He demolished the original cottage and replaced it with a neo-Gothic manor house that still stands today.
The history of perestroika is briefly as follows. In 1910, the architect Vsevolod Sherwood came to Crimea for his honeymoon. The baron, who dreamed of a corner of the Rhine on the Black Sea, asked the architect to realize his dream in a concept suitable for a romantic castle. Sherwood, in love, was fascinated by this idea and took on it with great enthusiasm. Already in 1912, the castle was ready and waiting for Baron von Steingel. However, the baron never took advantage of this stone tale. But the architect managed to create an impossible combination: this castle is both monumental and elegant, looking majestic and weightless. His creation is loved by tourists, enjoys incredible stardom, and has even reached the status of an icon of the Crimean peninsula. And in 1914, the building was purchased by Moscow businessman P. Shelaputin, who organized a restaurant in the premises of a romantic castle.
The architectural structure of the Swallow's Nest cannot be classified as a castle in the literal sense of the word. It was not built to house and protect its inhabitants, with turrets and loopholes, like all normal castles. This structure was erected more for show to guests than for any practical use. When you first look at this structure, it’s hard not to be amazed by the simple physics that holds the structure “in a canopy.” The building is literally built on the edge of a cliff with parts of the balconies and terraces actually extending beyond the edge of the cliff, hanging in the air. Overall the building looks as if it could fall into the Black Sea at any moment.
However, the structure is very stable and even survived the major earthquake (6-7 on the Richter scale) that hit the region in 1927. It is noteworthy that the building itself was not badly damaged. But the rock underneath it received a large vertical crack. Part of the rock where the trees grew around the castle fell into the sea. As a result, the castle was partially without a foundation, simply hanging over the sea. For this reason, the Swallow's Nest was closed to the public for more than four decades, as the building was deemed structurally unsafe.
Reconstruction of the Swallow's Nest
In 1968, reconstruction of the swallow's nest began in an attempt to make it habitable, or at least visitable. Engineers inserted a large concrete slab into the rock, which helped strengthen the crack created by the earthquake. In 1970, an Italian restaurant began operating in the castle; back in the 90s it received visitors, but is now closed.
Although the palace itself suffered very little damage after the 1927 earthquake, it became necessary to save it from sliding into the sea. Several rescue projects have been developed. One of them provided that the castle would be dismantled, all its stones numbered, and then reassembled as far as possible, away from precarious rocks and precipices. Fortunately, this idea was not realized and the reconstruction of the swallow's nest was carried out according to a completely different project. After all, the fact that part of the balustrade hangs over the sea is both so scary and looks so fantastic and exciting!
Repair work was carried out in 1967-68 by employees of a construction company from Yalta. The balustrade that hung over the sea received a supporting concrete slab, and the palace was “enclosed” in anti-seismic belts. And in 1970, after renovation, the castle again became a restaurant and began to receive crowds of visitors. However, today it is just a tourist attraction.
Visit this wonderful Crimean castle, which has become a hymn to romantic love on a high rock!
bird home- one of the most popular places, which with its appearance fully justifies its beautiful name. The castle is located on top of the 40-meter Aurora rock, which is located on the central ledge of Cape Ai-Todor and presents an unusually picturesque view from all sides. Being a kind of crown of rock and a symbol of Crimea, the castle annually attracts many tourists from different countries who want to admire the beauty of this place.
The history of the castle dates back to the end of the 19th century, and its original appearance was radically different from its current one. It was a country house, the first owner of which, a retired general, showed courage and built a one-story building on a steep cliff, giving it the name “Castle of Love.” The future castle was captured with such a wooden house and remained on the canvases of Aivazovsky, Logorio and other famous artists of that time.
From that moment, the future castle began its countdown, changing several owners until it was acquired by the German entrepreneur Rudolf Stengel, who gave the building the appearance of a European medieval castle in miniature. The modern “Swallow's Nest” is a small castle and resembles a copy of a classic castle in the Gothic style with sharp spiers and figured, lancet windows.
This stunning spectacle beckons and attracts the eyes of travelers like a magnet. The unusual location of the building acts as a bold architectural solution. The white stone walls of the castle are visible from afar, especially beautiful in the evening illumination, at sunset or in the morning hours of dawn. During its existence, the castle underwent many changes, and after the earthquake it was temporarily closed as an object for excursion visits, but was subsequently restored, strengthened and reopened.
Swallow's Nest has been used both as a restaurant and as a sanatorium, but the castle withstood all the tests, it even became even more beautiful. Today the castle is not only a work of architectural art, but also an original restaurant where you can spend a cozy evening and buy a souvenir. But to get inside the castle, you need to overcome an obstacle of 1200 steps, so many admire the surroundings of the castle from the observation deck, from where other attractions that Crimea is so rich in are clearly visible.
You can get to the castle by sea by boat or by land by minibus. Of course, it is better to visit the Swallow's Nest as part of an excursion to hear from the guide fascinating stories about the sights of Crimea, in particular, about this castle of extraordinary beauty, which is located in the village of Gaspra. It’s like a snow-white lighthouse on a steep cliff soaring between the sky and the sea. The castle is deservedly considered one of the best places on the planet, so many scenes of famous domestic and foreign films were filmed here.
History of the castle on the rock
The famous Gothic castle above the cliff, “Swallow’s Nest,” is brightly highlighted against the backdrop of the sea and sky. Discreetly, almost hidden, like everything truly valuable, the southwestern spur of Cape Ai-Todor darkens behind it. There are many legends about the Swallow's Nest, but its real history is also interesting.
The castle made of gray stone with graceful Gothic turrets, located on the very edge of a steep cliff, is shrouded in the mysterious romance of the Middle Ages. Every year it attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists eager to take a close look at the miniature pearl of architectural genius, which today is a symbol of the southern coast of Crimea. Today, the Swallow's Nest serves as a spectacular decoration and landmark of the Crimean peninsula.
From the end of the 18th century, after the annexation of Crimea to Russia (1783), wealthy people began to buy land on the southern coast, build palaces, and lay out parks. It has become a tradition to come to Crimea on vacation. Visitors, whether they were estate owners with their families and guests or poorer people who needed Crimea for treatment, admired the shore and involuntarily put into each name the attitude of the discoverers of something that had long been discovered.
Aurora among the ancient Romans - goddess of the dawn. Most likely, the rock could have been named after her by people who came here at dawn to watch the sunrise. They were peaceful guests on this earth and continued the endless tradition of searching for beauty, like the universe itself. You and I are their heirs.
The first known structure on Aurora Rock is considered to be wooden dacha “Generalif” (“Castle of Love”). Her owner was unknown general, a participant in the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878, and, apparently, a romantic. After all, already at the age of a general, he gave his dacha the name "Castle of Love"! What reasons inspired such a romantic name: the beauty of the surrounding nature, enthusiastic dreams or an earthly feeling of love for a woman - we do not know. One can only fantasize about the history of a late, sad and sinful feeling, for the sake of which this refuge was built on a hard-to-reach rock. Who was next to the owner on starry nights, who was woken up, who was consoled by the goddess of the morning dawn?
Now we can only guess what exactly inspired the romantic general to make such an unexpected decision. Perhaps, he was prompted to build a small wooden dacha not only by the charming Crimean landscape, but also by the stories of old-timers about the sanctuary of the Virgin Goddess, who was once located on this site, who was worshiped by the local aborigines - the Taurians. It is also possible that a special tree brought him to this idea. According to legend, it grew in the place where the castle is now located, straight from the stone monolith, punching a hole for itself equal to the diameter of the trunk. Who knows, maybe the reason was one of the now forgotten Crimean legends about the goddess of the dawn - Aurora, after whom the rock was named.
Be that as it may, the picturesque area impressed the experienced warrior and inspired him to build. Every day the general climbed the rock where the work was being carried out and made sure that his every requirement was carried out exactly. And soon the rock was crowned by a small but cozy one-story dacha, which received its first name - Generalif.
The “Castle of Love” on a hard-to-reach rock attracted attention; marine painters I.K. depicted it on their canvases. Aivazovsky (1817-1900), L.F. Lagorio (1827-1905), A.P. Bogolyubov (1824-1896). Could they sing of this divine landscape without exciting the imagination, without turning to the gods themselves?
Old-timers tell a half-forgotten story about a cruel and brave horseman who, for the amusement of the public, blindfolded a doomed horse, sat on horseback, accelerated and jumped from a cliff into the sea, flying all forty meters through the air! He managed to remain unharmed, swim ashore, bow to the audience, and casually accept the award. Then he bought a new horse and prepared for the next jump.
After the death of the mysterious general, his heirs sold the dacha to a member of the Yalta city government, Albert Tobin, who served as a court doctor at the Livadia Palace, a favorite vacation spot of the royal family. It is known that the Tobin couple managed to slightly modify the wooden house. At this time, the name arose and became attached to the house on the rock "Bird home". But for unknown reasons, Madame Tobina chose to sell her estate to the influential Moscow merchant Anna Rakhmanova, the owner of several apartment buildings in Moscow.
For the new owner of the Swallow's Nest, a rich and educated lady, this acquisition was just another whim. Rakhmanova enthusiastically began rebuilding the Crimean estate. She demolished the wooden building and erected a stone house, which can still be seen today on postcards from the early 20th century. But, apparently, by 1911, Rakhmanova had lost interest in her nest
In 1911, the estate was acquired from a Moscow merchant's wife by a large German oil industrialist. Baron von Stengel . While developing the Baku oil fields and, obviously, missing his native Germany, the baron wished to leave in Crimea the memory of the knightly castles of the Middle Ages. In 1912, a miniature castle in the Gothic style, with turrets and lancet windows, was built for him on Aurora Rock. It is thanks to him that today we admire the beautiful castle, reminiscent of medieval fortresses in the Gothic style, which can often be seen in the baron’s homeland, Germany.
Like the previous owners, the oil industrialist decided to change the design of his acquisition. To do this, he invited the Moscow modernist architect Leonid Sherwood, the youngest son of the famous architect Vladimir Sherwood, who at one time designed the building of the Historical Museum on Red Square in Moscow. Leonid Sherwood graduated from the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, and then continued his studies in Paris. He was fond of the work of the talented French sculptor Auguste Rodin, knew him personally and listened to his advice. Having good taste, Sherwood appreciated the location of his next masterpiece and soon provided the project to the customer.
The author of the project was a talented hereditary Moscow architect A.V. Sherwood, son of the famous architect V.O. Sherwood, designer of the building of the Historical Museum in Moscow. The stepped composition conceived by the architect was based on the small size of the site. The 12-meter-high building was located on a foundation 10 meters wide and 20 meters long. The “birdlike” volumes were matched by the internal structure: the entrance hall, living room, steps and two bedrooms were successively located in a two-story tower that rose above the rock. A garden was laid out next to the building. It collapsed into the sea as a result of an earthquake.
The Baron was delighted with the project and spared no expense on the construction work. The old house was completely demolished, and in its place in 1914 a real Gothic castle in miniature, made of gray Crimean limestone and yellow Evpatoria stone, grew up. But it did not please its owner for long: on July 28, 1914, the First World War began, and the German oil industrialist had to leave the Russian Empire. The Swallow's Nest was sold to a wealthy merchant and philanthropist Pavel Shelaputin.
In the opinion of a specialist, the incorrect proportions are connected just as unsuccessfully; the combination of two cubes and a flat prism visually puts pressure on the cylinder of the tower, not balancing the composition, but “trying to push it into the abyss.” Contrary to architectural norms, the volumes do not emanate from one another and therefore do not look like a single whole. The parts of the building are connected mechanically, but with a polar load, that is, not attracting, but pushing each other. Some elements, such as the tower with its sagging balcony, clearly lack visual weight. From the outside, the entire palace complex seems like a shaky structure, ready to collapse into the abyss of the sea at any moment.
Perhaps structural instability was intended from the beginning. Sherwood could have planned such a construction at the request of the customer. However, it is impossible to find an explanation for other architectural inconsistencies. The volumes increase in accordance with the height of the dull staircase, with its high end heading towards the cliff. Drawing an analogy with an arithmetic progression, each subsequent element of the building rises above the previous one. No particular attention is paid to any of the parts; they all look equally plump, resembling a group of dignitaries of the same rank, lined up by height.
At the same time, some significance is conveyed by the details. The ring gear increases as the height of the block decreases. In the middle part of the ensemble there is a living room, highlighted by wide windows, balconies and high pointed cone-shaped spiers connected to a number of small arches. The rusticity of the base is expressed in the facing of this part with stones with a roughly hewn, protruding front surface.
To the architectural shortcomings of the building one can add the discrepancy between the sizes of window and door openings, as well as the extreme laconicism of the interior decoration. The decorations of the main hall include a massive fireplace, bronze sconces, antique inlay, and carved ceiling details with convex images of dragons. The atmosphere of bygone eras is created by 11 medieval coats of arms. However, the fairy-tale image is disrupted by dark wooden beams with excessively prominent fastening details.
If architecturally the Swallow's Nest is by no means a masterpiece, its artistic image is admirable. The touching loneliness of the palace, steadfastly resisting the sea elements, comes from its spectacular location. The idea of constructing a castle on the very edge of a sheer cliff is certainly not the merit of the architect. The picturesque place was chosen by the first owner, who unwittingly perpetuated his dreams and presented his descendants with a fairy tale in stone. 
Today, many attribute to Pavel Shelaputin such an act as opening a restaurant in the Swallow's Nest castle. However, this is not true. The fact is that Shelaputin was already seriously ill by that time. He managed to complete a purchase and sale transaction with Baron von Steingel and after that he immediately left for treatment in the Swiss city of Friborg, where he died in the same 1914. The Swallow's Nest was inherited by his minor grandchildren.
And yet, how did this castle become a restaurant? The fact is that while the heirs were growing up, the manager of the Crimean estates of the Shelaputins decided to open a profitable place in this building - a restaurant. But it did not bring much income, because difficult times came: first the First World War broke out, then the Civil War, and then the revolution. The estate was taken away by the new government, and the restaurant closed, but not for long.
The time has come for the new economic policy (NEP), which has brought significant changes to the life of the Swallow's Nest. This time it was transferred to the department of the Yalta cooperative. An open terrace was added to the castle, where the restaurant was restored. Enterprising co-operators of those years feasted here to the sound of the waves of the Black Sea exactly until September 12, 1927...
“A match flashed, and, strangely, the chair jumped to the side by itself and suddenly, in front of the amazed eyes of the concessionaires, fell through the floor.
- Mother! - Ippolit Matveyevich shouted, flying towards the wall, although he did not have the slightest desire to do this.
The glass jumped out with a clang, and an umbrella with the inscription “I want Podkolesin”, caught in a whirlwind, flew out the window towards the sea. Ostap was lying on the floor, easily crushed by plywood panels.
It was twelve o'clock and fourteen minutes. This was the first blow of the great Crimean earthquake of 1927. A nine-point blow, which caused untold misfortunes throughout the entire peninsula, tore the treasure out of the hands of the concessionaires.”
I. Ilf and E. Petrov,
"12 chairs"
In 1927, a strong earthquake occurred in Crimea with its epicenter in the sea, near the shores of Yalta. There were two shocks in the middle of the night. The first one was weak, as if warning, and forced people to leave their houses. That is why there were relatively few casualties in many of the destructions. The second shock hit a full nine.
The powerful earthquake, which went down in the history of the peninsula as the Yalta or Crimean earthquake, brought a lot of troubles and destruction. Stone blocks fell from the rocks and flew down, destroying everything in their path. Even Mount Ayu-Dag slid into the sea from such a powerful shock. The castle on Aurora Rock was not spared the misfortune either. This is how this event is described in A. Nikonov’s book “The Crimean Earthquake of 1927”: “... Quite a lot of visitors from the neighboring holiday home “Kharaksa” were having dinner on the balcony hanging over the sea. The audience dispersed only 10 minutes before the main shock, from which the tower of this intricate dacha collapsed. The stones that fell onto the balcony broke tables and chairs, broke the railings and threw some of the furniture into the sea, where the visitors would have followed if they had stayed 10 minutes later. In the tower, built of yellow Evpatoria stone, 2 gaps appeared, as if a huge cannonball had pierced it.” Part of the Aurora rock collapsed, the observation terrace in front of the building hung over the abyss. And to complete this catastrophe, a deep, slanting crack passed through the rock right under the castle.
The Swallow's Nest survived, but for many years it became a dilapidated building, and for forty years it turned into romantic ruins. True, there is information that in the 30s life here resumed for a short time. The castle was converted into a library for vacationers at the Zhemchuzhina sanatorium, which was located nearby. Apparently, local authorities did not take the consequences of the earthquake seriously. And only when the cracks in the building began to spread dangerously, the operation of the Swallow's Nest was banned. Of course, later there were some extreme tourists who, in search of adventure, looked for any opportunity to “leak” into the castle grounds to admire the marvelous view that opened from the observation deck.
There have been many proposals for unprecedented and absolutely necessary repair techniques. There was even a radical idea - to disassemble the castle, number the stones and slabs and put them back in the same order in a new, safe place. No, it wouldn’t be the Swallow’s Nest!
In the 1930s the castle housed reading room of the local holiday home.
Postcards from 1928-33
Only in 1967-1968, forty years after the earthquake, workers "Yaltaspetsstroy" We completed this semi-fantastic renovation without dismantling the walls. Led the operation architect I.G. Tatiev . First of all, it was necessary to bring a crane and other fairly heavy construction equipment to the site. And this is on roads that were intended mainly for cars and the occasional food truck! With great difficulty and risk, we managed to complete all the preparations. The rock turned out to be overloaded, and the work, meanwhile, was planned to be long. It required skill, intelligence, and great courage from the builders.
The restoration work that began in 1968 involved strengthening the foundation and partially modifying the façade and interior. The author of the restoration project, Yalta designer V.N. Timofeev placed the outermost block of the building on a cantilever reinforced concrete slab placed under the central volume. In this way, the outermost part of the house was securely fastened, remaining hanging above the collapsed rock. In addition to the monolithic slab, the entire building was surrounded by anti-seismic belts.
The tower, increased in height, acquired a decorative appearance thanks to four spiers. The correct architectural technique disrupted the dull increase in volumes, placing emphasis on the outer part of the palace. Today, the restored castle is officially recognized as an architectural monument of the last century.
If climbers are accustomed to spending their “working days” over the abyss, then for the masons of Yaltaspetsstroy this was new. Volunteers found and saved the case. Working in a suspended cradle, they filled the crack with stones and filled it with concrete. A reinforced concrete slab was placed under the base of the castle, and the seams were lined with lead. Then, without heroism and without haste, the workers carried out the restoration of the building. In such an “anti-seismic belt”, the renewed Swallow’s Nest found, to the joy of everyone who loved and loves Crimea, a second life.
In recent times, a spontaneous souvenir market has grown near the Gothic walls. What you won’t see here: thousands of small crafts made of ceramics, juniper and all kinds of plastics, corals and shells of tropical seas, color photographs, paintings. Most of all there are views of the Swallow's Nest itself: on canvas, on whatman paper, on metal and plastic trays, on “amphoras” made of noble ceramics. Hot item for 24/7 local trade!
Rock "Sail"
Golden Gate Rock
And now many young men are drawn to feats: to surprise the public or the lady of their heart, to test their abilities, to look fear in the face by jumping from a great height down... into the choppy Black Sea... Yes, there were desperate guys who decided to take such jumps. Not everyone, unfortunately, was lucky. The lucky few remained unharmed, they just lay down for several days. But there were daredevils ready to repeat the jump and even make money! It is also true that their clothes were torn, as if cut by a razor...
One fantastic incident is retold here in different ways. A young Yalta resident, a resident of one of the old quarters of Derekoy, after a serious quarrel with his wife, went to the Swallow's Nest, climbed the forbidden cliff, climbed over the parapet and, in despair, and perhaps with some panache for the audience, rushed down. The doomed heart could have stopped mid-flight, but a long-term skill worked: having grown up by the sea, the man jumped from cliffs and solariums many times. He did not succumb to mortal horror - he straightened up, spread his arms with his wings, flew vertically down, correcting the trajectory in the air flow, which suddenly turned out to be his assistant, and entered with his head, breaking the surface like a fake ceiling with his arms extended forward. When he surfaced and reached the shore, vacationers with cameras rushed towards him. The “hero” was praised, encouraged, asked to repeat the jump, and even collected money. The unlucky (or, on the contrary, too lucky?) suicide refused: a step that was deadly by design brought him back to life...
From the sea side, at the foot of the cliff, you can find several underwater caves and even dive into each of them, lighting the way with a waterproof flashlight. Hunters of the unique, you will not be disappointed! Just be careful: an underwater grotto is not the best place for meetings, and meeting with those who dived there earlier and are already swimming back is not at all impossible, especially during the day, at the height of the beach season. Don't scare each other!
The berth in a cozy bay allows local ships to moor even in a force four storm, when the neighboring port points “Golden Beach” and “Miskhor” are closed. From all over Crimea, sea and land excursions to the “original building” - the Swallow's Nest castle - gather. Almost everyone who comes to Crimea strives to climb to the Swallow's Nest at least once. True, in the area in front of the castle, where it was already crowded with souvenir sellers, in the summer so many curious people gather that thoughts involuntarily come to mind about the beneficial off-season, when at least early in the morning you can be here alone or together.
Since July 2011, Swallow's Nest is no longer a restaurant. The renovated palace-castle is now open to all guests and residents of the Crimean peninsula. Entrance to the castle will now always be free.
Tourists will be allowed into the exhibition hall on the castle grounds. The castle hosts the exhibition “The Magical World of Arkhip Ivanovich Kuindzhi”, which presents paintings from the collections of the Simferopol Art Museum, incl. his legendary painting “Moonlit Night on the Dnieper”.
The uniqueness of the exhibition is that it is designed according to the same principle that the artist himself used. The paintings are presented in absolute darkness, illuminated by a directed beam of light. It is also planned to hold chamber music concerts, historical and literary evenings, theatrical performances, presentations, etc. in the palace and on the adjacent territory.
It is planned to create an exhibition pavilion in which an art salon will be opened to organize trade in works of painting, photographs, arts and crafts, souvenirs, and local history literature. The plan includes reconstruction of the monument and bringing the surrounding area into proper shape: in particular, it is planned to equip two observation platforms and repair access roads. “Swallow’s Nest” is an architectural and historical monument located on the steep 40-meter Aurora rock of Cape Ai-Todor in the Yalta village of Gaspra.
The Ministry of Culture of Crimea and the Republican Committee of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea for the Protection of Cultural Heritage have developed a concept for using the architectural monument: chamber music concerts, historical and literary evenings, theatrical performances, presentations and much more will be held in the castle and in the surrounding area. An art salon will be opened in the exhibition pavilion. Thanks to this, trade in works of painting, photographs, souvenirs, local history literature, etc. will be organized.
The architectural monument "Swallow's Nest" will be a favorite place for tourists and people who love art. Exhibitions and wonderful concerts will certainly find their regular audience.
In the near future, there will be balls for young people on the territory of the castle, accompanied by exquisite live music. So, perhaps, we will soon become witnesses and participants of the first ball for the girls of Yalta.
Clickable
The house received such a romantic and unusual name from the owner of this site at the beginning of the 20th century. And the first wooden building on the rock, which offers a wonderful view of the sea, belonged to a certain general, a participant in the Russian-Turkish War of 1877–1878.
History of construction
The well-known small castle on the top of a cliff in the village of Gaspra, not far from Yalta, was built in 1911 by the architect A. Sherwood by order of Baron F. Shteingel. The famous oil industrialist wanted to give his dacha the image of a knight’s castle and even gave it the name “Generalif,” which means “castle of love.” However, this name did not stick. The architect built a dacha-castle in the Gothic style, adding arched friezes, decorative turrets, and jagged walls to the decoration of the facade.
The size of the building is not large at all: width 10 meters, length 20 meters, and height 12 meters. What makes the building so majestic, of course, is its location, because the height of the rock on which it is located is more than 40 meters. Inside the house there is an entrance hall, a living room with large windows, a staircase leading to the tower, and two bedrooms.
Earthquake in Crimea
Baron V. Steingel sold the house in 1914 and left Russia. The new owner opened a restaurant in the Swallow's Nest, which operated successfully.
The building was threatened during the 1927 earthquake, when part of the rock collapsed. Fortunately, the building survived, but the tower was partially destroyed and the observation deck was damaged. In subsequent years, the red corner of the rest home, a reading room, and then a dining room were located here, until the building was empty due to its disrepair.
Reconstruction began in 1968 and lasted three years; A monolithic reinforced concrete pipe was placed under the base of the Swallow's Nest, and the architectural elements of the exterior decor were restored.
"Swallow's Nest" in cinema
In 1960, a fragment of the Soviet film “Amphibian Man” directed by Vladimir Chebotarev and Gennady Kazansky was filmed on the cape. And 15 years later, thanks to director Stanislav Govorukhin, many learned what the interiors of the Swallow’s Nest looked like: the film Ten Little Indians was filmed here. In 2009, filmmakers again turned to the mysterious castle on the rock: director Yuri Kara filmed the film “Hamlet” here. XXI Century".
"Swallow's Nest" today
In 2002, reconstruction was carried out again, and “Swallow’s Nest” opened to the public as a restaurant. Traditionally, near the walls of the palace you can buy various Crimean souvenirs. In July 2011, the architectural and historical monument of national importance was transferred to municipal ownership, with the support of the Simferopol Art Museum, the exhibition “The Magical World of Arkhip Kuindzhi” was opened, where the famous painting “Moonlit Night on the Dnieper” was exhibited. Various exhibitions were held every 1.5–2 months until 2013, when cracks were discovered in the foundation slab and access to the castle dacha was suspended for design work to carry out reconstruction - strengthening the rock.