White Livadiya Palace. Yalta

A few miles west of Yalta are the grounds of the Livadiya Palace. Purchased by the Romanovs family in the 19th century, the grounds extend for a few miles along the best section of the Crimean coast. Nicholas II had Livadia Palace built as a summer resort for his family. The Late Renaissance structure is built mainly from local white limestone. It was also here, in the sparkling White Livadiya Palace, that the post World War II Yalta Conference (Crimean Conference) between representatives of the three victorious allied forces met to finalize plans for dividing Europe. Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt sat in the boardroom here in February 1945. The council room where the discussions were held has been preserved as it was during the Crimean conference of 1945.