The Massandra Palace, Neglected Jewel Of Crimea

The history of the Massandra Palace on Crimea's southern coast has intrigued visitors and history buffs for generations. Formerly a residence of the last Romanov emperor, it is now a crumbling museum.

Prince Semyon Vorontsov commissioned French architect Etienne Bouchard in 1879 to construct a palace on lands that were originally granted by Empress Catherine II to a French aristocrat who never lived there. But two years later the architect died, followed by Vorontsov himself, and the estate was abandoned.
 

In 1889, the unfinished palace was bought on behalf of Russian Emperor Alexander III with the intent to modernize the design.

But Alexander died before seeing the project finished.

In memory of his father, Nicholas II (seen here with his wife, Alexandra Fyodorovna) finished building the palace. Even though Massandra was considered an imperial residence, no royals ever lived there; instead, they chose the larger and more oppulent Livadia Palace nearby.

After the Bolshevik Revolution and before World War II, the residence was used as a government sanatorium before being requisitioned for Josef Stalin as his summer house.

The furniture was created specifically for public visits with no common design concept; instead, a mixture of several styles can be seen.

Stalin visited but did not stay at the palace. It was later visited by Nikita Khruschev and Leonid Brezhnev. In 1992, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, a museum was opened.

Though the facades are quite striking, upon closer inspection, the deterioration of the landmark is especially noticeable, such as the closed porch of the southern entrance as seen from above.

The original sculptures of chimeras and a satyr playing the flute also show signs of neglect. 

In Greek mythology, satyrs were considered fertility demons and made up the retinue of the god Dionysus.

Danger signs such as this one marking a location on the third-floor balcony are seen throughout.

Stone column fragments and a vase litter the grounds. 

A statue of a female sphinx holding a ball is one of the 28 historical sculptures that are to be restored.

Crimea is a part of Ukraine that was illegally occupied by Russia in 2014. A bronze bust, commissioned from the sculptor Apollonov, was unveiled in 2017 to commemorate the life of Tsar Alexander III.