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Alupka (a town on the Southern Coast of Crimea)

Alupka is a town on the Southern Coast of Crimea between Miskhor and Simeiz (4.5 km), with a thousand-year history, known for the Vorontsov Palace and its sanatorium and church heritage.

Overview

Alupka is a town on the Southern Coast of Crimea, situated along the Black Sea between Miskhor and Simeiz (stretching for 4.5 km). Its history spans more than a thousand years: from the fortification on the mountain above the town (8th century) and the Khazar settlement of Alubika (960 AD) to the Vorontsov Palace, the Bobrov sanatorium, churches, and the town status it attained 80 years ago.

Key Details / Subtopics

  • Origin of the name: In 960, the Khazar khagan Joseph mentioned the settlement of Alubika; in Greek, "alupu" means "fox". During the early Latin colonization the area was called "Lupiko" (Latin "lupus" — wolf), but at the end of the Genoese rule the "a" returned — Wolf again became Fox.
  • Early history and fortifications: The first stones of the fortification on the mountain above the town were laid in the 8th century. After the Genoese period, the area preserved toponymy associated with the fortress.
  • Vorontsov Palace: A masterpiece of English architectural genius and 20 years of labor by stonemasons whom Prince Mikhail Vorontsov brought from the outskirts of Moscow and Voronezh; built of gabbro-diabase. See more at Vorontsov Palace (Alupka). One of Crimea's calling cards and the most beautiful palaces in Ukraine, the most popular excursion site in Crimea. Nearby is Alupka-Isar (a fortress; "isar" in Turkic means "walls"/"castle"), now known as "Cross Mountain" (Vorontsov ordered a cross to be installed there); it preserved two tiers of masonry — Cyclopean and medieval. Vorontsov also built a mosque and the Christian "Temple of Theseus" (destroyed by a landslide 60 years later).
  • Bobrov sanatorium: At the end of the 19th century, Professor of Medicine Alexander Bobrov settled here; in 1902 he opened a sanatorium for children with bone and joint tuberculosis — the first in the Empire, in Europe, and possibly in the world. Bobrov also organized the construction of an Orthodox church; he died in 1904. For the next 30 years the chief physician of the sanatorium was Petro Izerhin.
  • Churches: The church in honor of Archangel Michael was opened in 1908 — the largest Christian church on the entire Southern Coast of Crimea. On the main street (Lenin Street), at its beginning stands the Church of the Archangel Michael, and at its end — a near contemporary, the Church of Alexander Nevsky.
  • Town status and the monument to Amet-Khan Sultan: For more than a thousand years Alupka was a village; it received town status exactly 80 years ago. On Liotchykiy Street (Pilots' Street) stands the official bust of twice Hero of the Soviet Union Amet-Khan Sultan (he received his second Gold Star in 1945), a native of Alupka who insisted that the monument be placed in his homeland.