Gaspra is a small spa town between Yalta and Alupka, in the Crimean Peninsula. There, forty meters above sea level on Aurora Rock, fearlessly and powerfully stands beautiful castle Swallow’s Nest, an icon of Crimean peninsula.
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The castle, which was built in the spirit of chivalry, is decorated with turrets, spires, balconies, windows of Gothic forms and embattled walls. Endless blue sky is above the castle and bottomless sea is washing the impregnable rock.
The castle looks especially inimitable from the sea: steep slopes of the central spur of Ai-Todor make it look royal and contemplative.
That is one of the most romantic places on the Crimean peninsula and there's no wonder that loving couples call it the Castle of Love.
A story has it that 130 years ago a wounded general came for treatment to the Crimea. For heroism in the Crimean war, the empire awarded him a land plot by the sea.
On the high rock of Ai-Todor Cape, the warrior built a small wooden house: he was looking for solitude, romanticism and calm, just blue sky and Black Sea. The veteran called his humble house “The Castle of Loveâ€.
But how did a wooden summer residence turn into a beautiful castle?
The new owner of the rock, oil magnate baron von Steingel decided to build a more refined structure. In 1910 architect Vsevolod Sherwood came to Crimea on his honeymoon.
The baron, who dreamed about a nook of the Rhine by the Black Sea, asked the architect for a concept suitable for a romantic castle.
Sherwood was captivated by this work and, as soon as 1912, the castle was ready and waiting for baron von Steingel.
However, the baron did not enjoy his stone fairytale very long: in 1914, the building was bought by Moscow businessman P. Shelaputin, who opened a restaurant on the premises.
But the architect managed the impossible: Swallow’s Nest is monumental and at the same time elegant, majestic and weightless.
It is beloved by tourists and has even achieved the status of icon of the Crimean peninsula.
Having reached the castle, you realise that it is actually very small as palaces go: it is 12 metres high, the base is 10 by 20 metres, there are only two floors, just a few rooms (hall, living-room, two bedrooms, converted, again, into a restaurant.)
It is hard to believe that the palace once was surrounded by a garden: during the great earthquake of 1927, the part of the rock where trees were planted fell into the sea.
Since this disaster 80 years ago, part of the balustrade of Swallow’s Nest has been hanging over the sea without a foundation. It is both a scary and exciting sight!
In 2011, the Swallow's Nest was closed for three months due to major restoration work estimated to cost $150,000 USD.
In 2008 Swallow’s Nest was awarded by “7 Wonders of Yaltaâ€. It is on the coin of the National Bank of Ukraine. ■