The Vorontsov Palace is one of the architectural gems of Crimea. It is located in Alupka at the foot of Mount Ai-Petri
The palace is built of diabase, and there is a park around it, a monument of landscape art
From 1828 to 1848 the palace served as a summer residence of the governor-general of the Novorossiysk Territory, Count Vorontsov, who was viceroy of the Caucasus for 10 years
The Englishman Edward Blore was appointed as an architect
The palace belonged to three generations of the Vorontsov family until 1917, when it was nationalized, and in 1921 it opened its doors as a museum. In 1941 the museum's exhibits, as well as those of many other museums in Crimea, were not evacuated. During the occupation the palace also served as a museum, but 537 paintings and drawings were exported to Germany. At the end of the war only a small part of them were managed to be returned.
From February 4th to 11th 1945, during the Yalta conference, the Vorontsov Palace hosted the British delegation led by Winston Churchill.
From 1945 to 1955 the palace was used as a state dacha, and in 1956 the government decided to establish a museum in the palace.
