Character Park in the Crimea: history, photos, interesting facts

The southern coast of the Crimea is strewn with scattered chic palaces, magnificent old villas and elegant green parks. Almost all of them were created by the skillful hands of European masters during the XIX century. The real decoration of the Crimean coast is the Character Park. About him and will be discussed in our article.

The pearl of the South Coast - Gaspra

Approximately in the middle between Yalta and Alupka, on Cape Ai-Todor, the beautiful Gaspra is stretched. In addition to the magnificent health resorts and beaches, many sights are concentrated here. The first number among them, of course, is the palace "Swallow's Nest". But there are others: the villa Kichkine, the estate "Yasnaya Polyana", Character Park.

Crimea in the XIX century became a favorite place for the elite and bohemians from different corners of the Russian Empire. In those days it was rightly called Russian California. Has not ignored Gaspra. A tiny Crimean Tatar village very soon turned into a full-fledged and respectable resort.

This transformation is largely contributed to the climatic and natural conditions of the area. From cold northern winds Gaspra is reliably protected by a monolithic wall of Ay-Petrinskaya yaila. The winters here are very mild, and the summers are warm and long. Average air temperatures in July reach + 23 ... + 25 degrees. The swimming season lasts until the end of October.

Character Park: photo and description

The Kharaks estate was founded in the middle of the 19th century by Prince Michael Romanov (son of Nicholas I). It is located on Cape Ai-Todor, in one of the warmest places on the Crimean peninsula.

The characteristic park in Gaspra covers an area of 22 hectares. It combines elements of both regular and landscape (landscape) planning. On the territory of the park grows about 200 species and forms of trees, as well as shrubs. Among them - yew berry, Lusitanian cypress, winterflower, cedar, filillage and others. The age of some trees is very solid - from 500 to 1000 years.

Within the estate preserved palace, built by the famous architect N. P. Krasnov in the early twentieth century. The style of the structure is Scottish Art Nouveau. The palace is covered with beautiful orange tiles. A wide stone staircase leads directly to the sea from it.

Today, the character park, together with the palace and some other buildings of the estate, is run by the sanatorium "Dnepr", established in 1955.

History of the park and the estate

The word "harax" in Greek means "strengthening". And this is not surprising, because the estate and the park were created on the site of the eponymous Roman fortress, which existed here from the first to the third century of our era. The first archaeological excavations at Cape Ai-Todor were carried out back in 1897. Discovered here finds (fragments of buildings, mosaics and remains of clay pipes) served as an excuse for creating a museum of antiquity on the estate "Harax".

Built in 1908 according to the project of Krasnov the palace perfectly blended into the landscape of the Character Park. The owners of the estate visited here almost every year, until the revolution of 1917. It is known that in 1909 Tsarist Park was visited by the Emperor Nicholas II.

Soon after the October Revolution, the estate was turned into a holiday home for party figures. In the 1920s, it housed a sanatorium, which functions until today. By the way, in one of the buildings of the health resort there is a museum in which vacationers can get acquainted with the history of the estate "Harax".

Highlights of the park

The characteristic park is not just a beautiful and cozy corner of the Southern coast of Crimea. In its relatively small area, many interesting objects are hidden. Some of them are safely hidden from the eyes of tourists razmorennyh southern heat in the subtropical thickets of Crimean greens. For example, in thick thorns you can find the remains of a reservoir in which the garrison of the Roman fortress Kharaks kept water.

But the most interesting monument of antiquity in the Character Park is undoubtedly the so-called antique gazebo consisting of twelve columns. According to the assumptions of historians, these columns may be the remains of a burnt down Roman palace.

Another interesting object in the park is the juniper grove, whose age is estimated by botanists in 600-800 years! That is, it is much 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 see a magnificent view of "Swallow's Nest" and Ai-Todorovsky lighthouse.