Livadia Palace is the famous summer residence of the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II. The palace was designed by the Russian architect N. Krasnov in the Italian Renaissance style with some features of Byzantine, Arabian and Gothic architecture in addition. Built in 1911 from white Inkerman stone this palace of the imperial family is often referred to as the White Palace. The Livadia Palace is well known as the site of the Yalta Conference, 1945, and the very place where Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin outlined the future of the postwar Europe and adopted the guidelines for the foundation of the United Nations. During the guided visit of the palace you will see the restored White Hall of the conference, which is remarkable for its size and refined gorgeous molding of the ceiling, the Czar's Gala Study and the Headquarters of the USA President during the conference. Continuing on, you will visit the czar's family personal apartments on the first floor of the palace. The exposition includes numerous photos of the imperial family, documents and original furniture. You will learn more of the history of the Romanovs, who used to enjoy immensely their stay in Yalta. Before leaving the palace you will have an opportunity to make a short visit to a shopping arcade for browsing and, should you desire you might purchase some nice mementos of your visit.
In 1945 British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Russian Secretary-General Joseph Stalin chose the Livadia Palace as the venue for what became known as the Yalta Conference. The "Big Three" met for a week in Livadia's imposing White Hall, and Tsar Nikolai's state study became Roosevelt's bedroom.
The Yalta Declaration, issued on February 11th 1945, set the stage for the division of Germany into zones of occupation, for the possession of Eastern Poland by the USSR, and the award of German territory in the north and west to Poland in compensation. Many historians regard the Yalta conference as the place where Churchill and Roosevelt accepted the Soviet Union's future domination of eastern europe in return for Stalin's pledge to keep out of the Mediterranean, withholding support for the Italian and Greek communist parties, in spite of their loyalty to Moscow. The Declaration also announced that a "conference of United Nations" would be held in San Francisco in April.
You can see the table where the Big Three and their staffs sat, and the English billiard room where the crucial documents were signed. Photographs taken in the palace at the time are displayed on the walls, and in the White Hall under glass there are original copies of Pravda dated 13th February 1945 reporting the outcome of the conference.
