Yalta is the undisputed #1 recreational star of Crimea. On its territory balmy climate is combined with unbelievably beautiful landscapes, and the number of historical monuments is not inferior to the number of architectural masterpieces. All the above-mentioned advantages of Yalta, as if by magic, projected into the territory of the park «Lower Oreanda». It is located on the territory of the sanatorium of the same name, on the lands of the Livadia settlement council and is included in the area of responsibility of the Yalta region of Crimea.
Its appearance park «Lower Oreanda» owes to the Russian Tsar Nicholas the First. In 1861, the imperial family bought this plot of the South Coast of Crimea from the heirs of Count Pototsky. The fact is that in the Upper Oreanda was already building a palace in the ancient style. Thus, the ruling monarchs wanted to connect their own estate with Cape Ai-Tudor. On it, Konstantin Nikolaevich, the second royal son, was completing the construction of the palace «Haraks». Therefore, the tsar expanded his personal land holdings, and gardeners Delinger and Kebah were invited to ennoble the newly acquired territory of 42 hectares.
Fortunately, the first landscape designers of the Russian Emperor did not make much effort, but only emphasized the natural beauty of the area. In the places where the rocks went into a wild primitive dance, led by the noise of the waves, were arranged viewing platforms. The best preserved is the rotunda in the ancient style — a semicircle of 8 Ionic columns overhanging the sea. Today it is a recognized symbol of Oreanda, and its image is present in any guidebooks on the Yalta region.
Terrenkurs — paths for walking — were laid through the places where juniper, plane trees, Crimean pines, Pontian needles and frankincense grew for hundreds of years. The most anthropogenic decoration of the Lower Oreanda Park, apart from the royal palace, was a small system of pools made in the form of seas that belonged to the Russian Empire. It is said that they were used to teach geography to the young men of the Romanov house.
When Nicholas II took over the empire in 1896, he inherited not only the world’s greatest power, but also a family love for the South Coast of Crimea, Yalta and Oreanda. Nicholas II himself, while on holiday in Crimea, took daily walks along the so-called Solnechnaya, Horizontal or Tsarskaya path. And upon his departure for St. Petersburg, the monarch ordered Mr. L.D. Mr. L.D. Yevreinov, the head of Livadia, to prepare the Lower Oreanda area for public festivities.
In 1901 all the improvement works were completed. Therefore, not only Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and her children, but also the entire Russian aristocracy and the creative elite of the Russian Empire enjoyed the views of the Lower Oreanda Park. For example, Fyodor Chaliapin and Aivazovsky, Chekhov and Tolstoy.
A little later the charms of Yalta’s surroundings were appreciated by the Soviet ruling elite. In 1948, by personal order of Stalin, a luxurious sanatorium «Lower Oreanda» was erected on the site of the former royal palace. It was intended exclusively for high-ranking communist apparatchiks. In 1995, the institution with its surrounding park and a sector of the Black Sea coast was transferred to the balance of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
To date, in the sanatorium «Lower Oreanda» can recover anyone who wishes. The institution has a wide profile. Everything is treated here — from nervous system dysfunctions to reproduction, from restoration of organ systems to fashionable psychophysical relaxation. There are programs for children and people of the older generation. This sanatorium is fundamentally not cheap. But it is here that Ukrainian politicians, Olympic athletes and honored artists like to rest.
To date, the park «Lower Oreanda» is a recognized attraction of Ukraine and a monument of garden and park art. Choosing holidays in Livadia, Yalta or Oreanda, you can count on high-class recreational services against the backdrop of truly regal landscapes.