The southern coast of Crimea is dotted with a scattering of chic palaces, magnificent old villas and elegant green parks. Almost all of them were created by the skillful hands of European craftsmen during the 19th century. The real decoration of the Crimean coast is Kharaksky Park. It will be discussed in our article.
Pearl of the South Coast - Gaspra
Approximately in the middle between Y alta and Alupka, on Cape Ai-Todor, lies the beautiful Gaspra. In addition to magnificent he alth resorts and beaches, many attractions are concentrated here. The first number among them, of course, is the Swallow's Nest Palace. But there are others: Villa Kichkine, the Yasnaya Polyana estate, Kharaksky Park.
Crimea in the 19th century became a favorite place for the elite and bohemians from different parts of the Russian Empire. In those days, it was rightfully called Russian California. Gaspra was not ignored either. A tiny Crimean Tatar village very soon turned into a full-fledged and respectable resort.
This transformation was largely facilitated by the climatic and natural conditions of the area. Gaspra is reliably protected from cold northern windsmonolithic wall of the Ai-Petri Yayla. Winters are very mild, and summers are warm and long. Average air temperatures in July reach +23…+25 degrees. The swimming season in the village lasts almost until the end of October.
Kharak Park: photo and description
The Kharaks estate was founded in the middle of the 19th century by Prince Mikhail Romanov (son of Nicholas I). It is located on Cape Ai-Todor, one of the warmest places on the Crimean peninsula.
Kharak Park in Gaspra covers an area of 22 hectares. It combines elements of both regular and landscape (landscape) planning. About 200 species and forms of trees and shrubs grow in the park. Among them are yew berry, Lusitanian cypress, winter flower, cedar, phyllirea and others. The age of some trees is very solid - from 500 to 1000 years.
Within the estate, a palace built by the famous architect N. P. Krasnov in the early twentieth century has been preserved. The building style is Scottish Modern. The palace is covered with beautiful orange tiles. From it, a wide stone staircase leads directly to the sea.
Today, Kharaksky Park, together with the palace and some other buildings of the estate, is administered by the Dnepr sanatorium, established back in 1955.
History of the park and estate
The word "charax" in Greek means "fortification". And this is not surprising, because the estate and the park were created on the site of the ancient Roman fortress of the same name, which existed here from the first to the third century AD. FirstArchaeological excavations at Cape Ai-Todor were carried out as early as 1897. The finds discovered here (fragments of buildings, mosaics and the remains of clay pipes) served as a pretext for the creation of a museum of antiquity in the Kharaks estate.
Constructed in 1908 according to the design of Krasnov, the palace perfectly fit into the landscape of Kharaksky park. The owners of the estate visited here almost every year, until the revolution of 1917. It is known that in 1909 Tsar Nicholas II visited Kharaksky Park.
Shortly after the October Revolution, the estate was turned into a holiday home for party leaders. In the 1920s, it housed a sanatorium that functions to this day. By the way, in one of the buildings of the he alth resort there is a museum where vacationers can get acquainted with the history of the Kharaks estate.
Park Highlights
Kharaksky park is not just a beautiful and cozy corner of the southern coast of Crimea. On its relatively small area, many interesting objects are hidden. Some of them are safely hidden from the eyes of tourists exhausted by the southern heat in the subtropical thickets of the Crimean greenery. Here, for example, in the dense thorn bush you can find the remains of a reservoir in which the garrison of the Roman fortress "Charax" stored water.
But the most interesting monument of antiquity in the Kharaksky Park, no doubt, is the so-called antique pavilion, consisting of twelve columns. According to historians, these columns may be the remains of a burnt Roman palace.
Another interesting object in the park is the juniper grove, agewhich is estimated by botanists at 600-800 years old! That is, it is significantly older than the park itself. If you walk along one of the paths to the sea, you can go to the "Captain's Bridge", from where you can enjoy a magnificent view of the "Swallow's Nest" and Ai-Todorovsky lighthouse.
