It is a one of a kind fortress built in the 1800’s by a man who was the richest in Russia at the time, even richer than the Czars. The mountain behind us can be seen everywhere from the grounds and is 1,234 meters high. He also had connections to England and attended Oxford so you can see British influence in the design of the palace and gardens. 
It is built entirely of stone that you will find BENEATH granite and was designed by a famous architect from London. It has withstood numerous earthquakes in this region because of its unique design and the composition of the natural grout which holds the stones together. 
The gardens that surround the palace were entirely planted at the time the palace was built and it is the largest “artificial” garden in the world. 
They actually transplanted soil 11 meters deep from the mountain tops above the gardens and put them on rock so things could be planted and grow. 
This might not seem like much until you see that the gardens cover over 100 acres and this was done in the 1800s!We had a great tour of the inside of the castle which housed the British delegation during the treaty of Yalta. 
This palace was not harmed during the Nazi invasion however many of the paintings and historic library were burned. Hitler had planned to make this his palace and central headquarters before being killed in the war. 
Luckily for all of us this never happened!
We left the palace taking the “old Yalta road” that led us by numerous sanatoriums, hospitals built for those suffering from TB and cancer in the 1900’s. 
The unique climate and fresh sea air made these places perfect for people to recover. Many of them still operate as retirement facilities and have usable trams that take people from the apartments to the seaside. We also saw the famed “Swallow’s Nest” from the road as travelled by.
The tour ended by noon and we spent the afternoon on the beach with jellyfish once again all around us! We still enjoyed our time in the sun then headed back to the hotel for a quiet last evening in Yalta. 
This will probably be my last entry until we return home and I’ll add more pictures then. We spend the first half of tomorrow in Yalta then drive to Simperopol for our flight to Kiev. We get into Kiev at 9 p.m. and the fly out of Kiev the next day at 5:30 a.m. for the return flights home. This means we have to get up at 2 a.m.…I mean, what’s the point of going to bed!
Thanks to you all for following along and for your prayers. See you all when we are back over the pond! Peace, Jeff
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