From the 1913 diary of Tatiana Romanov:
15 December. Sunday. Went to obednya in the morning. Had breakfast with everyone. Mama came downstairs after breakfast even though she has had a headache since morning. In the afternoon [we] took a walk, same as yesterday. Walked to Oreanda and from there walked on the horizontal path where we ran into Yuzik. Had tea all together. Olga, Ira and I went to the Alexander III Sanatorium. We rode around Massandra, did not know the way, but finally found 6 houses in ruins not far from each other. We walked around them all and on the way back rode by the darling yacht. Saw N.P. on the scuttle. Had dinner 2 with Papa and Mama.”
The Greek Revival Palace of Oreanda was constructed for Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, wife of Emperor Nicholas I, and was begun in 1842 by the court Architect Andrei Stackenschneider. In 1860, the palace passed to the ownership of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich who lived there until the palace was destroyed by fire in 1882. As the grand Duke had no money to restore the palace, the ruins were carefully maintained as a picturesque “Greek Ruin” amidst the elaborate gardens which were maintained as a beautiful spot to walk and rest. After WW II the ruins were finally cleared and in 1948 a modern health resort was built on the site. [Footnote by NICHOLAS B.A. NICHOLSON ]
Today, a tourist resort called “Lower Oreanda Resort” stands on the spot where the Romanov grand duchesses posed among the picturesque ruins of a palace.
From the book Tatiana Romanov, Daughter of the Last Tsar: Diaries and Letters, 1913–1918
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