Ukraine · 20th century
The Swallow's Nest (Russian: Ласточкино гнездо, romanized: Lastochkino gnezdo, Ukrainian: Ластівчине гніздо, romanized: Lastivchyne hnizdo) is a decorative castle located at Gaspra, a small spa town between Yalta and Alupka on the Crimean peninsula. It was built between 1911 and 1912, on top of the 40-metre-high (130 ft) Aurora Cliff, in a Neo-Gothic design by the Russian architect Leonid Sherwood for Pavel Leonardovich von Steingel, a Russian noble with German roots.
The castle overlooks the Cape of Ai-Todor on the Black Sea coast and is located near the remains of the Roman castrum of Charax. The Swallow's Nest is one of the most popular visitor attractions in Crimea, having become the symbol of Crimea's southern coastline.
Text adapted from “Swallow's Nest” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Swallow's Nest ranks #417 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #4 of the 195 mapped in Ukraine. Founded 1912 — one of 169 atlas entries founded in the 20th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 7,204 times in the last 60 days, more than 91% of the atlas. 17 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Sevastopol, 52 km away. See how Ukraine compares in the castle statistics.
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