Swallow's Nest

Charax (Ancient Greek: Χάραξ, gen.: Χάρακος) is the largest Roman military settlement excavated in the Crimea. It was sited on a four-hectare area at the western ridge of Ai-Todor, close to the modern tourist attraction of Swallow's Nest. The military camp was founded under Vespasian with the intention of protecting Chersonesus and other Bosporean trade emporiums from the Scythians. By the end of the 1st century AD, the Roman forces were evacuated from the peninsula. Several decades later the camp was restored by a vexillatio of the Legio I Italica; it hosted a detachment of the Legio XI Claudia at the end of the 2nd century. The camp was abandoned by the Romans in the mid-3rd century. The ruins of the camp were discovered by Peter Keppen in 1837; he estimated the length of the defensive wall at 185 sazhens (395 metres). Keppen identified the site with Charax (from the Greek word for "fortification"), the only Roman camp recorded in Crimea. Although there is no evidence that Charax was situated near Ai-Todor, the name stuck. Intrigued by Keppen's publication, Count Shuvalov funded the first (and rather amateurish) excavations of the site in 1849. In 1896, excavations were resumed under the supervision of Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich of Russia, who had his summer dacha constructed in the immediate vicitinity of the ruins and the 1865 lighthouse. The excavations lasted for fifteen years and yielded a great number of Roman coins and bronze artifacts. Michael Rostovtzeff, who oversaw the excavations on behalf of the St. Petersburg University, classed Charax as an "entire Roman city", rather than just a fort, as was previously thought. A museum of archaeological finds was opened at Charax in 1907. Further exploration of the site, undertaken by Vladimir Blavatsky in 1931-35, revealed remains of two public water basins, thermae, and an aqueduct. There were also a gymnasium and a sanctuary outside the walls. Blavatsky and his followers lent their support to Rostovtzeff's theory that the most ancient line of cyclopean walls at Charax was erected by the Tauri before the arrival of Romans, a theory which since lost much of its popularity. They also hypothesized that the castrum had been slighted by retreating Roman soldiers, in order to avoid its seizure and use by the enemy.

Kurpaty (Ukrainian: Курпати; Russian: Курпаты; Crimean Tatar: Kurpatı) is an urban-type settlement in the Yalta Municipality of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, a territory recognized by a majority of countries as part of Ukraine and annexed by Russia as the Republic of Crimea.Kurpaty is located on Crimea's southern shore at an elevation of 269 metres (883 ft). Nearby is the Dvuyakornaya Formation, containing several types of fossil. The settlement is located 8 km (5.0 mi) south west from Yalta. It is administratively subordinate to the Livadiya Settlement Council. Its population was 143 in the 2001 Ukrainian census. Current population: 136 (2014 Census).

Gaspra (Ukrainian: Гаспра; Russian: Гаспра; Crimean Tatar: Gaspra; from Greek ἄσπρα áspra, 'white'), officially transliterated Haspra, is a spa town, an urban-type settlement in Yalta Municipality in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. It is located on the Black Sea coast, west of Yalta, and is a popular holiday resort. Population: 10,310 (2014 Census). Leo Tolstoy lived in Gaspra in 1901 and 1902. Nearby are the Swallow's Nest, a modern castle and Charax, Crimea a Roman fort. The asteroid 951 Gaspra is named after the town.

Oreanda (Ukrainian and Russian: Ореанда; Crimean Tatar: Oreanda) is an urban-type settlement in the Yalta Municipality of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, a territory recognized by a majority of countries as part of Ukraine and annexed by Russia as the Republic of Crimea.Oreanda is administratively subordinate to the Livadiya Settlement Council. The urban-type settlement's population was 887 as of the 2001 Ukrainian census. Current population: 835 (2014 Census).

The Dulber Palace (Russian: Дворец Дюльбер; Ukrainian: Палац Дюльбер) is a Moorish Revival palace designed by Nikolay Krasnov in Koreiz, near Yalta in Crimea. Also known as the Palace of Grand Duke Peter Nikolaievich of Russia, Dulber Palace (dülber is Crimean Tatar for "beautiful", originally from Persian, del-bar, "heart-stealing", "beloved, beautiful"), is an asymmetrical architectural extravaganza with crenellated walls, silver domes, and more than 100 rooms, inspired by the Mameluk architecture of 15th-century Cairo. This palace was built between 1895 and 1897.

The Yusupov Palace (Ukrainian: Юсуповський палац; Russian: Юсуповский дворец) is a palace located in the town of Koreiz, near Yalta in Crimea. It was built for Prince Felix Yusupov-Soumorokov-Elston and his wife Princess Zinaida Yusupova (1861–1939) in 1909 by Nikolay Krasnov, the architect responsible for the imperial Livadia Palace in nearby Yalta. The palace, whose style may be described as Renaissance Revival and Roman Revival, boasts a romantic park with exotic plants and a wine cellar founded by Prince Lev Galitzine in the 19th century. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, the palace was nationalised and served as Joseph Stalin's favourite dacha during the Yalta Conference and at other times. From 1991 to March 2014 Yusupov Palace was owned by the President of Ukraine. On 21 October 2014, The Council of Ministers of Crimea decided to transfer to use for the president of Russia. After the Annexation of Crimea to Russia in March 2014, the Yusupov Palace became a special complex for the administration of affairs of the President of the Russian Federation.

Livadia Palace (Russian: Ливадийский дворец, Ukrainian: Лівадійський палац) is a former summer retreat of the last Russian tsar, Nicholas II, and his family in Livadiya, Crimea. The Yalta Conference was held there in 1945, when the palace housed the apartments of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and other members of the American delegation – the Soviet delegation was housed in the Yusupov Palace, and the British in the Vorontsov Palace some eight kilometers distant. The palace houses a museum, and is sometimes used for international summits.

The Yalta Conference, held 4–11 February 1945, was the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union to discuss the postwar reorganization of Germany and Europe. The three states were represented by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and General Secretary Joseph Stalin. The conference was held near Yalta in Crimea, Soviet Union, within the Livadia, Yusupov, and Vorontsov palaces.The aim of the conference was to shape a postwar peace that represented not only a collective security order, but also a plan to give self-determination to the liberated peoples of Europe. Intended mainly to discuss the re-establishment of the nations of war-torn Europe, within a few years, with the Cold War dividing the continent, the conference became a subject of intense controversy. Yalta was the second of three major wartime conferences among the Big Three. It was preceded by the Tehran Conference in November 1943 and was followed by the Potsdam Conference in July of the same year, 1945. It was also preceded by a conference in Moscow in October 1944, not attended by Roosevelt, in which Churchill and Stalin had spoken about Western and Soviet spheres of influence in Europe.

Koreiz (Ukrainian: Кореїз; Russian: Кореиз; Crimean Tatar: Koreiz) is an urban-type settlement lying south-west of Yalta in the Yalta Municipality of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, a territory recognized by a majority of countries as part of Ukraine and incorporated by Russia as the Republic of Crimea. The name of the town means "villages" in Greek (χωρεία, chorèa). Koreiz absorbed the nearby spa of Miskhor in 1958. Population: 5,455 (2014 Census). Koreiz has arguably become best known as the site of two palaces: The palace of Grand Duke Peter Nicolaievich of Russia, known as Dulber (dülber in Crimean Tatar means "beautiful"), is an asymmetrical Moorish Revival architectural extravaganza with crenellated walls, silver domes, and more than 100 rooms, inspired by the Mameluk architecture of 15th-century Cairo. This palace was built between 1895 and 1897. Nikolai Petrovich Krasnov , an architect who worked on the imperial Livadia Palace in nearby Yalta, built the Yusupov Palace for Prince Felix Yusupov in 1909. The palace, whose style may be described as Renaissance Revival and Roman Revival, boasts a romantic park with exotic plants and a wine cellar founded by Prince Lev Galitzine in the 19th century. After the Russian Revolution of 1917 the Soviet authorities nationalised the palace; it served as Joseph Stalin's favourite dacha during the 1945 Yalta Conference and at other times.

Livadiya (Ukrainian: Лівадія, romanized: Livadiia; Russian: Ливадия; Crimean Tatar: Livadiya, Ливадия; Greek: Λιβαδιά) is an urban-type settlement in Crimea. It is located 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) west of Yalta. Population: 1,074 (2014 Census).

Hirne (Ukrainian: Гірне; Russian: Горное) is a rural settlement in the Yalta Municipality of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, a territory recognized by a majority of countries as part of Ukraine and annexed by Russia as the Republic of Crimea.Previously, the settlement was known as the Eriklik (Crimean Tatar: Eriklik) village Following the forced deportation of the Crimean Tatars in 1944, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR published a decree on May 18, 1948 renaming the settlement along with many others throughout Crimea from their native Crimean Tatar names to their current variants.Hirne is located on Crimea's southern shore at an elevation of 308 metres (1,010 ft). The settlement is located 4.5 km (2.8 mi) from Livadiya, which it is administratively subordinate to. Its population was 85 in the 2001 Ukrainian census. Current population: 147 (2014 Census).

Yalta Mountain-Forest Nature Reserve (Ukrainian: Ялтинський гірсько-лісовий природний заповідник) is a protected nature reserve that covers the southwestern ranges of the Crimean Mountains, along the south coast of the Crimean Peninsula. The reserve is in the administrative district of Yalta Municipality