Construction of the building started in 1881 and was funded by the son of
Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov, , who had recently returned from the
1877-78 Russo-Turkish War. The construction of the palace that was initially designed by French architect Étienne Bouchard in the
Louis XIII style was soon suspended after the death of Prince Semyon Mikhailovich Vorontsov. In 1889 the unfinished palace was bought by the for
Alexander III of Russia. The new owner commissioned his favorite architect
Maximilian Messmacher to modernize the villa's design. Although Massandra was listed among imperial residences, no royals ever stayed there overnight (rather preferring the neighboring
Livadia Palace). After the
October Revolution and before
World War II, the residence was used as a government sanatorium "Proletarian Health" for people ill with
tuberculosis. After
World War II it was used as a state cottage (
dacha) under the name "Stalinskaya". After the
fall of the Soviet Union, Massandra Palace was used as one of the Ukrainian official residences where the
Massandra Accords were signed in 1993. In 2014 after the
Russian annexation of Crimea, the residence was taken over by the Russian Presidential Affairs Administration. A bust of Alexander III was unveiled in front of the villa in 2017. ==Gallery==