Swallow's Nest, Gothic Revival folly in Gaspra, Crimea
Swallow's Nest is a small castle structure on Aurora Cliff in Gaspra, Crimea, with towers and decorative gables. The site stands 40 meters (131 feet) above the Black Sea and combines medieval forms with a narrow footprint.
Construction took place in 1911 to designs by Russian architect Leonid Sherwood for Baron von Steingel. Earthquakes and political upheavals shaped the later history of the building.
The name echoes the 1889 guidebook description of Dr. Tobin's "White Swallow" house perched on a near-vertical rock. Since 1975 a restaurant has operated inside, and the castle has appeared in Soviet films such as the 1987 adaptation of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None.
The structure can be reached by public transport from Yalta, with the journey taking around 30 minutes. Access is via stairs leading from the road to the cliff edge.
The building measures 20 metres long by 10 metres wide, not 20 square metres. Its original plan placed a foyer, guest room, stairway and two bedrooms on two levels inside the tower. In 1927 an earthquake threw decorative items and a piece of the cliff into the sea.
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