The swallow's nest is a very picturesque place on the territory of the Crimea peninsula in the village of Gaspra. Moreover, this miniature castle was erected in the second half of the 19th century. The Swallow's Nest is located right on the Aurora rock with a height of 40 meters on Cape Ai-Todor.
History of the Swallow's Nest
In its outlines, the building resembles a medieval knight's castle and is a real emblem of the southern coast of the peninsula. The exact dates for the construction of the Swallow's Nest are 1877-1878, when the order to the architects was given by a retired general of the Russian Empire, who participated in the hostilities of the Russian-Turkish war. This memorable place was depicted on their canvases by such famous painters as Aivazovsky, Lagorio and Borolyubov. But then the building was wooden and only vaguely resembled a modern one.
Then the Swallow's Nest became the property of the court doctor Tobin, and after that, to the wife of the Moscow merchant Rachmaninov, at the same time a serious reconstruction of the seaside dacha took place on the order of the new mistress. And the modern appearance of the Swallow's Nest received after the transfer to the possession of the famous oil industrialist Baron Steingel, who was very fond of rest in the Crimea. The Baron was also very fond of the German buildings on the banks of the Rhine, trying to transfer the romantic atmosphere of Germany to Russian territory. This project was carried out by the famous architect Leonid Sherwood, the son of the equally popular designer Vladimir Sherwood, who designed the Historical Museum in the Russian capital.
How to get to the Swallow's Nest
In the current political situation, when the Crimean peninsula was included in the Russian Federation, there are several ways to get to its territory.
Of course, the simplest of them is a flight to the airports of Sevastopol or Simferopol, where dozens of flights from Moscow and the northern capital depart every day. And after arrival, you can get to the Gaspra village by taxi or shuttle buses heading towards the city of Alupka or to Yalta. Unfortunately, there are no equipped hotels in the village itself, so it would be best to stay in these cities, and from them by taxi or private taxi for a relatively low price to come through the villages of Vinogradnoye, Livadia, Oreanda and Kurpaty to Gaspra.
If you prefer to travel by rail, then, unfortunately, it is currently not possible to come by train of JSC "Russian Railways". To do this, you first need to come to Krasnodar or Novorossiysk, and from there by buses or fixed-route taxis to the Kerch ferry and the ferry across the strait.
The direct distance between Moscow and Novorossiysk is 1,500 kilometers, but motorists currently need to first get to the ferry near the village of Sennaya, and only then "plunge" on the ferry. To do this, you will need to drive from the capital along the Kashirskoye highway, then along the M4, P251 and A290 highways.
