If we consider Simeiz as one of the settlements of Ukraine, then according to the accepted classification with its 4 thousand inhabitants it does not fit even into the group of «small towns». It is a settlement of urban type. But if you look at it from the point of view of recreational resources, the tiny Simeiz turns into one of the coolest resorts in the South Coast. Judge for yourself, this village is located on one of the most picturesque parts of the coast of the Crimean Peninsula. In the sea in front of him, like Pushkin’s uncle Chernomor, rises the rock Diva. Its cordons are guarded by the Cat Rock and the Main Range of Crimean Mountains, so the city at first sight captivates its guests with the atmosphere of privacy and security.
Simeiz is really small, rather miniature. Therefore, what in big cities used to be called Lenin Street, and now Sobornaya Street, in this Crimean resort is represented by Alley Apollo or Cypress Street. By the way, its official name is Lenin Avenue and it is the only one hundred percent pedestrian boulevard in the whole territory of Big Yalta. Sometimes it is compared to New York’s Broadway, sometimes to the legendary Croisette in Cannes.
Apollo’s Alley runs along a somewhat wild city park at an altitude of 80 meters above sea level, true Black. It starts from the villa «Xenia», an impressive mansion in German Gothic style. It was built in 1911 by order of a certain Maltsov. In the city about the mansion is famous as a haunted house. By the way, the same Mr. Maltsov in 1915 improved the road leading to his house. By his order it was planted with a hundred pyramidal cypresses. Flowerbeds were laid out in the center of the road to consolidate its pedestrian status. The same gentleman ordered copies of famous antique sculptures abroad and installed them on his Cypress Alley.
Unfortunately, the First World War and the Civil War Maltsovsky statues did not survive, so in the 50-ies of the last century, when the resort economy in the Crimea began to develop, the village council restored the lost sculptures. To date, there are exactly four of them. They are installed on small pedestals-parallelepipeds at the beginning, in the center and at the end of the alley.
«Opens» the alley is not Apollo, but snow-white Artemis. This is the Greek goddess of hunting. The Simeiz goddess is dressed in a short exomid, in one hand she holds a bow. In the central part of the alley is her brother — the god Apollo, responsible for the Sun and patron of the arts. Opposite him stands an unidentified statue of a young man of athletic build, deprived of arms. This is probably Adonis, the lover of Dionysus and Aphrodite, who was famous for his rare beauty. The parade of sculptures on the Apollo Alley is completed by the real Heracles. In one hand he holds a club, in the other he holds the skin of the Nemean lion.
Staying on vacation in Simeiz, guests are very pleased to walk along Cypress Alley from the bus station and villa «Xenija» to the road leading to mount Koshka, to the Simeiz Observatory, along the Blue Bay to the village of Katsiveli. Many say that visit Crimea is worth it just for the sake of this wonder, saturated with the aesthetics of ancient Greek statues and wisteria-cypress fragrance.