Crimea, A Jewel in Two Crowns: Amazing Photos Of Russia's Ukrainian Paradise From National Geographic

The April issue of National Geographic takes an in-depth look at Crimea. As writer Cathy Newman discovers, the beautiful peninsula may be a tourists' haven, but struggles with a dual political identity. As her report states:

The Crimean Peninsula is a diamond suspended from the south coast of Ukraine by the thin chain of the Perekop Isthmus, embraced by the Black Sea, on the same latitude as the south of France. Warm, lovely, lush, with a voluptuously curved coast of sparkling cliffs, it was a jewel of the Russian Empire, the retreat of Romanov tsars, and the playground of Politburo fat cats. Officially known as the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, it has its own parliament and capital, Simferopol, but takes its orders from Kiev.

Physically, politically, Crimea is Ukraine; mentally and emotionally, it identifies with Russia and provides, a journalist wrote, "a unique opportunity for Ukrainians to feel like strangers on their own territory." Crimea speaks to the persistence of memory--how the past lingers and subverts.

Read the full article by Cathy Newman in the April 2011 issue of National Geographic, available on newsstands March 29.

See the amazing full gallery by National Geographic's Gerd Ludwig here.

View a set of images from Ludwig's gallery below. All photos and captions are shown courtesy of National Geographic.

BIG SHOTS

Launch the fullpage Big Shots slideshow >>

Current Top 5 Slides

Rate  This  Photo

RANK# 

 | AVERAGE: 

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Spectacular

Chords of friendship bind accordionist Olesya Kamovich and comrades, who meet Sundays in Sevastopol to sing.

Chords of friendship bind accordionist Olesya Kamovich and comrades, who meet Sundays in Sevastopol to sing.

comments(34)

1

 / 7

Caption

Rate this Photo

RATE THIS PHOTO

 | AVERAGE: 

RANK# 

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Spectacular

CURRENT TOP 5 SLIDES

USERS WHO VOTED ON THIS SLIDE

loading...

CURRENT TOP 5 SLIDES

CHOOSE YOUR TOP 5 SLIDES

Share Your Top 5 With Your Friends

Close

Comments

[ex-eye-in-the-sky]

05:35 AM on 04/01/2011

Great pictures. Looks like a pretty cool place to go and visit. I'd hope they were just a little more careful on that beach though. Looks like they're letting motor boats come right up into the shallow water where the swimmers are. National Geographic always has the best photos. I borrow a couple of them every once in awhile for backgrounds on my desktop.

[beebertoy]

05:12 PM on 03/31/2011

that place looks like a miserable place to live. those people have horrible teeth

[independentjukebox]

10:40 AM on 03/30/2011

hmm - crowded and toothless is not how you sell your marketing campaign

[perfectsky]

11:39 PM on 03/28/2011

Those Eastern European ladies age really well.

[Terri Lorz]

11:37 AM on 03/28/2011

That beach was too crowded for me. Great photos. Terri Jo Lorz

[KIVPossum]

10:34 PM on 03/28/2011

You can find the private skinny dipping beaches

[Roger Werner]

10:37 PM on 03/27/2011

I spent 18 weeks in Crimea during summers of 1994, 95, 96 and I can testify it's one of the most beautiful and remarkable places I've ever seen. It's been 14 years and I think about the place virtually every day. At the crossroads of three continents, the food is incredibly diverse while the culture and language are predominantly Russian and Ukrainian. It has been occupied by humans back to at least the early Neolithic and it was home for Goths, Crimean Tartars, Scythians, Pontic Greeks, Romans, Byantium, Karaite Jews,and of course Ukrainians and Russians, each who left their mark on the land. The southwest corner along the coast between Yalta and Sevastopol has a climate comparable to the central California coast with a coastline comparable to Big Sur. Anyone looking for a different place to visit you can't beat Crimea.

[Crimea TwentyFour]

03:38 PM on 03/26/2011

Pretty good article, but there is one big mistake. Crimean Tatars not migrated from the Eurasian steppes in the 13th century. They are descendants of the local peoples like greeks, hunns, alans which had mixed with a nomads from Eurasian steppes.
Here is repercussion of NG article in one of Crimean news websites:
http://crimea24.info/2011/03/26/%EF%BB%BFalmaz-ili-gnoyashhayasya-yazva-national-geographic-ne-v-vostorge-ot-kryma/

[Roger Werner]

10:44 PM on 03/27/2011

In a sense you're correct: The Tartars were native to Crimean but the Khanate of the Crimea was establish by a remnant of the Mongolian Golden Horse in the 1443. In a sense, Tatar Khans were Mongolian, while the people and culture were distinctively Crimean, a fact Stalin ignored when he deported most Tatars from Crimea between 1928 and1939. Alleged collaboration of Tartars with Germans between 1942 and 1943 led to further mass deportations in 1944 followed by a Russification of the Region.

[hologuy]

12:00 AM on 03/28/2011

They were minorities before Stalin. Also, since Crimean Tatars had raided up to 3 million Christians as slaves (as that was the only qualification for taking a person) they were probably demographically outnumbered before then.

[msmary67]

01:16 AM on 03/26/2011

Was their not some spectacular villa there that the Romanov's vacationed at? I could swear that I have read the Crimea was a particular favorite of Nicholas ll and Alexandra. I may be wrong.

[JScott]

09:38 AM on 03/26/2011

I think Gorbachev had a mediterranean style villa there

[Roger Werner]

10:47 PM on 03/27/2011

Livadia Palace was the last summer dacha of Czar Nicolas and it was the location of the Yalta Conference between FDR, Stalin, and Churchill. It's located on the coast between Yalta and Balaclava about an hour east of Sevastopol along the coast road.

[anothervoice]

11:42 PM on 03/25/2011

A jewel? Why was I expecting more?

[SmolderingRuin]

01:57 AM on 03/28/2011

Me too. I'm not compelled to go there. That crowded beach alone is off-putting.

[LMPE]

04:30 PM on 03/25/2011

I like the looks of Crimea.

PS: Here's an example of the Crimean language (called Qırımtatarca, or Qırımtatar tili):

Bağçasaray – cenüp-ğarbiy Qırımda tarihiy bir şeerdir, Qırım Hanlığınıñ sabıq paytahtı, Bağçasaray rayonınıñ merkezi.

[hologuy]

06:31 PM on 03/25/2011

Sorry but the Tatar language is not the Crimean language. They came after most of the others (Greeks, Romans, Russians, Khazars, etc.)

[LMPE]

06:39 PM on 03/25/2011

The Tatar language (Tatar tele, Tatarça) is different. It goes:

О́птика (бор. грекча күренү, карау) — физиканың яктылык тотышын, үзлекләрен, сәбәпләрен һәм табигатен өйрәнүче, аның белән бәйле күренешләрне тасвирлаучы бүлеге. «Яктылык» термины астында күзгә күренүче яктылыкны гына түгел, ә аңа янәшә булган спектрның киң электромагнит нурланышын да аңлыйлар.

[Roger Werner]

10:58 PM on 03/27/2011

Here is an example of Crimean Tartar Qırım Hanlığı (Russian Крымское ханство; Ukrainian Кримське ханство; Turkish Kırım Hanlığı) that is pronounced in English as Bakhchisaray. The name Bakhchisara, capital of the Crimean Khanate, was immortalized by the Pushkin poem 'The Fountain at Bakhchisaray.' Yes, thee is a fountain at the place, which still stands. It's about an hour south of Simferopol. Close to Bakhchisara is the active Russian Orthodox Assumption Monastery of the Caves and an easy walk up hill is the old Karaite Jewish settlement fortress or Chfute Kale. One could easily spend a few days in this area looking at a thousand years of diverse culture.

[jl4141]

04:07 PM on 03/25/2011

Oh, Crimea River.

[dna user]

04:03 PM on 03/25/2011

Those women with the accordion seem down for whatever.

[anothervoice]

11:41 PM on 03/25/2011

I wanna party with THEM.

[p456]

03:19 PM on 03/25/2011

Those chicks in the photo are anything but beauties in paradise.............South beach in Miami anyone?

[magicsushi]

05:39 PM on 03/25/2011

This ain't People magazine.

[Rascal7]

07:23 PM on 03/25/2011

That photo stopped me from going any further.

[OldTart]

03:17 PM on 03/25/2011

You know, a bunch of bodies on a beach look like a bunch of bodies on a beach. Doesn't matter where the beach is. The rest? Lovely.

[CAMBEL]

10:52 AM on 03/28/2011

I think there was a line from Agatha Christie's "Evil Under The Sun" that went something like...all bodies on the beach look the same, like rows of butchers meat grilling in the sun."

Not the nicest way to look at it, but similar to your point.

[Dead Che]

03:05 PM on 03/25/2011

I have been to Crimea a few times. It can be a lot of fun. Especially if you like beaches, vodka, and hot commie babes.

[Erewhon7]

06:07 AM on 03/27/2011

silly comment.