In the ancient city park Salgirka, which remembers still caring founders of the city, is the most important architectural and historical monument of the city — the house of M. Vorontsov, or, as it is still called, «the house on Salgir» and «M. Vorontsov’s Palace».
Loud names of all who have ever stayed in the house of M. Vorontsov, it is difficult to enumerate, and in 1837 here even visited the imperial family headed by Emperor Nicholas I. And the tutor of Tsarevich Alexander, who also came to the house on the Salgir, was Konstantin Zhukovsky himself. But not only the famous names of guests can be attributed to the merits of this architectural monument — the appearance of the estate also amazed and delighted contemporaries, this landmark of Simferopol was often mentioned by famous writers, calling the house «a small palace».
Construction of the house on the Salgir River began on the left bank of the Salgir River in 1826 by architect F.F. Elson, who gave the Crimea more than one magnificent building — Tea House in Alupka, the church in the village near Yalta Massandra and others. Elson, adhering to his tastes, created the project of a spectacular one-story building in the style of late Russian classicism. But there was one «zest» in his project — not far from the big house a kitchen complex was erected, the architecture of which reminds Bakhchisarai Khan’s Palace.
Vorontsov’s house was nicknamed the Little Palace for a reason: thanks to the clear architectural planning and details that perfectly complement the exterior of the building, it really seems majestic and spacious. Among such details is the grand entrance, created in the form of a terrace, with steps descending on both sides to the park and framed by a colonnade in Doric style. On the sides of the staircase on small pedestals were installed marble balls, giving the whole architectural composition completeness and a unique look.
Contemporaries were amazed by the interior decoration of Vorontsov’s palace: luxurious furniture and lamps, decorative vases and paintings, and magnificent ceiling paintings in the Empire style and twisted wooden staircase leading to the second floor have survived to this day. The painting, created by an unknown author, particularly attracted historians, who have long tried to unravel the sources of its motifs. In the end, the clue was found in the Livadia Palace in Yalta, where a vase was discovered, the subject of which was remarkably similar to the ceiling painting in the blue hall of Vorontsov’s palace.
The first owner of the territory of the palace was the famous scientist P.S. Pallas, whose small estate can be and 
seen today in Salgirka, then the territory of the estate was bought by N.F. Naryshkina — then at the expense of the Governor-General of Novorossiya and began the construction of a house for the Naryshkins, later called the country house of M. Vorontsov. When the road Simferopol-Yalta was built by Vorontsov’s order, the house became a traveling house — many travelers and persons of royal families stayed here. Then this place became not only a concentration of fresh views and progressive ideas, but even a support for the development of scientific thought. In 1834 the palace was purchased from Naryshkina by M.S. Vorontsov, who kept the estate in perfect condition and ordered to plant an orchard here.
The time from the middle of the XIX century until 1992 was turbulent for the palace: after the death of the Governor-General and then his son S.M. Vorontsov, with whom the Vorontsov family ceased to exist, the owners of the estate changed several times, it fell into disrepair and was restored more than once. After the Great Patriotic War it was restored — then the marble balls on both sides of the front entrance were replaced by lions, and the building as a whole was significantly rebuilt.
Almost everything was returned to its place in 1992, when Ukrproektrestavratsiya restored the interiors in the style of the XIX century, walls and roof of the Vorontsov Palace. Today this magnificent architectural structure can be seen again almost the same as it was when it delighted even the emperor himself, and the palace has again become a place of scientific thought — since 1997, it has housed the Academy of Sciences of Crimea. Anyone who goes on vacation in Crimea can visit Vorontsov’s palace, and pleasant impressions of this architectural monument and the whole Salgirka park will remain for a long time and will certainly beckon you to visit these magnificent attractions of Simferopol once again.