Lomography

Yalta,Crimea
written by japsix on October 6th, 2009 , 7 comments (6 votes)

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Yalta is a city in Crimea, on the north coast of the Black Sea. The city is located on the site of an ancient Greek colony, said to have been founded by Greek sailors who were looking for a safe shore on which to land. It is situated on a deep bay facing south towards the Black Sea, surrounded by wooded mountains. It enjoys a warm Mediterranean climate with many vineyards and orchards in the vicinity.

Yalta is one of the most visited cities in Crimea. People can be seen strolling there all seasons of the year. And during summer time… well it’s not really pleasant to walk along its beautiful, but overcrowded streets and embankment (Sea Promenade (Naberezhnaya)). It is better to visit Yalta in fall, winter or spring, when it is empty, still and charming. And of course each season has its own advantages. For example in winter a score of swans, ducks, diving ducks come to spend the winter months in Yalta’s bay. They a moving along the embankment all day long waiting for people to feed them))
Spring in Yalta is full of bright colors, amazing flowers and warm sun!

But to be honest, summer is not bad too… you can take lots of cool shots in summer ) The embankment is full of tourists, fat ladies with their grandchildren, sunburned boys swimming right there, diving from the embankment, men with bear on a bench under a giant pine, lots of men with peacocks, eagles and monkeys offering you to take a picture with poor animal and of course pay them money for it)) amusement rides, children screaming, laughing, running everywhere! And my favorite sight is little “photo studios” offering you to wear a historical costume (in there opinion it means a huge sparkling dress covered with laces, ribbons, gold decorations, paillettes…etc)) These “photo studios” look CRAZY!! They do not have walls or smth like that, they are just a small area of the embankment covered with gold and red velvet sofas, gold thrones with gold Cupids, lots of crazy colored ribbon dresses and wigs of all colors and forms imaginable…

So you just walk along the sea from one side and along this craziness from another))) cause it not just one “photo studio”, there are at least 10 of them in a row… believe me… it is worthy of some good x-pro slide shots))))
There are several beaches on left and right sides from embankment. Yalta has a movie theater, drama theater, plenty of restaurants, open-air market.
Famous attractions within or near Yalta are:
• Yalta’s Sea Promenade (Naberezhnaya), housing many attractions and being recently renovated (2003-2004);
• Armenian Church, built by V. Surenyants;
• A Roman Catholic Church built by N. Krasnov, a famous Russian architect
• Yalta’s Cablecar, taking visitors to the Darsan hill, from which one can see Yalta’s shoreline;
• Renovated Hotel Taurica, the first hotel in the former Russian Empire with elevators;
• Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, constructed by the architect Krasnov, which also constructed the Livadia Palace and the architect P. Terebenyov;
• Former main building of the Ministry of Defence hotel, built in the style of a Gothic castle;
• Palace of Bukhara Emir;
• Yalta’s Zoo;
• Yalta’s Aquarium, housing small dolphins;
• Park-museum Polyana Skazok (Glade of Fairytales);
• House-museum of Anton Chekhov;
• House-museum of Lesya Ukrainka;
• House with Caryatids, where the composer A. Spendiarov lived