Alupka

The Town 17kms from Yalta in the Crimea is the resort town of Alupka. Famous as a beach resort and a favourite holiday destination for many citizens of the former Soviet countries. Alupka is also where the Vorontsov Estate is be found. Vorontsov Estate Constructed between 1828 and 1848 as the home of Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov Field Marshall of the Russian army, and hero of the Napoleonic wars and Governor-General of the Novorossiisk region. Vorontsov spent a vast fortune on this palace, employing the skills of english architect Edward Bloor, who is best known for his work on Buckingham Palace in England. As Vorontsov was brought up in england as his father was the Russian Ambassador, he loved most things english. As a result the palace is a mixture of Scottish Manor house with Moorish traditions taken from the 14th-century Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain.