Cities

Yalta

Yalta is the most popular resort of Ukraine, lies near the southern tip of the Crimean Peninsula.
The city is ideally located and has an excellent climate. There are practically no north winds. The winters are extremely mild (roses often bloom in the open at Christmas) and the city is rich in acacia, laurel, magnolia, and palm trees, and is surrounded by orchards and vineyards.

There are many historical buildings and palaces in Yalta. One of them is Livadiya Palace - the family palace of the Russian Royal family, built in 1911 in the style of Italian Renaissance with the elements of Byzantine, Gothic and Arabic architecture. 1945 the conference of the leaders of 3 allied countries (the USSR, the USA, Great Britain) took place in the palace. The Yalta conference determined the political situation in the world for the second half of the 20th century.

Another interesting place worth visiting is "Swallow Nest" - a tiny palace, looking like a medieval castle with bastions and battlements, located on the cliffs of Ay-Todor Cape right over the sea. From Ay-Todor the whole Bay of Yalta opens out to the viewer. There are also the ruins of a 2,000-year-old Roman fortress nearby.

We would also recommend to visit Nikitsky Botanical Garden - a huge park with 28000 of trees, flowers and plants from all over the world.

In Massandra (5 km from Yalta) the Central Research Institute of Viticulture and Viniculture is located, which has worked to improve some 800 varieties of grape and several thousand hybrids from Algerian, French, Italian, Hungarian and Syrian vines.

Sevastopol

One of the best-known cities in the Crimea. Seaport and an industrial, scientific, and cultural centre of Ukraine. During the 5th-6th c. the city was the bastion of the Byzantine Empire on the northern shore of the Black Sea. During the 9th-10th c. it played an important role in the economic and political relations between Byzantine and Kyiv. In 988 the Kyiv prince Vladimir the Great captured Sevastopol, where he was converted to Christianity.

There are many historical attractions here. Among them are the ruins of Khersonesus, a Greek colony built in 422-421 BC, Vladimirsky Cathedral (The Cathedral of St. Vladimir), Vorontsovsky Palace, a unique monument of the architecture of a beginning 19 centuries and resembles English castles of 16 centuries, and the fortress "Kalamita", built by Turks.

The great Sevastopol sea aquarium is the only museum of its kind in the countries of the Black Sea, one of the oldest in Europe. There are various inhabitants of the Black and other seas, including exotic fish of fantastic colourings and forms form the Indian ocean, Japanese and Red Seas, Amazon river.

In the city you may see the monuments to heroes who defended Sevastopol during the Russian-Turkish War of 1854-1855 and during the Soviet-German War of 1941-1945.