The location of Gurzuf is the most pleasant. Here is a dacha with a beautiful house that once belonged to the Duke de Richelieu. An English garden, sloping and skillfully laid out, turf, a collection of pomegranate and fig trees, cypresses and poplars adorn this place. In the right hand is the chain of Yayla mountains; ahead is the village and the rocks of Gurzuf; finally the sea, whose waves quietly splash onto the sloping shore near the garden - all this gives Gurzuf a charming appearance. I have a good drawing of this dacha, which, by the way, depicts, and very similarly, Emperor Alexander on horseback, examining the location of Gurzuf. From Duke de Richelieu the dacha passed to Count Vorontsov, and now belongs to Mr. Fundukley.
Winding some more space along the shore, the road moves away from the sea to the left: it leads to Ai-Danil. Ai-Danil is also one of the estates of Count Vorontsov. Grapevines of almost all known genera are grown here and rich cellars are built. In all of the Count's establishments, one goal is noticeable - public benefit. By his example, he encourages other landowners to improve their properties and does not spare the costs of experiments that would be difficult for them; the successful innovations he tested and were then adopted with benefit by others, and thus from this side he can be called the benefactor of Crimea. Not far from here are the pretty dachas of Baron Berkheim and Mr. Jackson.
Nikita is a dacha overlooking the sea, with a botanical garden containing a nursery of almost all known grapes and trees of warm climates that can be adapted to the Crimea. This government establishment is kept in good order under the supervision of Mr. Hartvis. Further away is Magarach and, finally, Massandra - a rich estate with more than 600 acres. Countess Branitskaya bought it and gave it to her young grandson, Count Vorontsov. This place is reminiscent of the gigantic enterprise of Countess Potocka, who owned it and wanted to found a big city here. Driving from Nikita, you should notice on the highest point of the high road a recently completed beautiful church of Doric architecture. From under the foundation there flows a strong spring of clean and fresh water; the church portico is surrounded by walnut trees; between them there is an oak tree, considered the largest in all of Taurida. In this estate, decorated with rich buildings of all kinds, Count Vorontsov placed a horse farm.
From Massandra to Yalta the views become even more beautiful: before you is the Yalta Valley, mountain gorges overgrown with large pine trees; beyond Ai-Vasil, Derekoy and Outka there are dense forests along the Yailinsky chain of mountains; and finally the continuation of the fertile midday region, cultivated everywhere and meandering like a ribbon along the seashore. Picturesque, beautiful, amazing! In the distance, the tall white Oreanda Tower appears between the clumps of trees surrounding it, and completes this charming picture.
[1] Who has not heard about the miraculous wound received by Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov at this place in 1774 during the Turkish War? The bullet pierced his right temple and entered his left, passing behind his eyes and miraculously not damaging them.