The museums in Yalta are not numerous but they are very interesting.

One of them is Chekhov’s Museum, it is the house where the great Russian writer lived. Chekhov acquired a plot of land in Yalta in 1898. Chekhov’s house was built according to a project of Russian architect Leonid Shapovalov. It was a house with its mezzanine and side wing.Anton Pavlovich Chekhov lived and worked in this house from 1899 to 1904. He made a good plan for the garden around his house and he planted a lot of trees, bushes, flowers in his garden. There was a silence-corner with the small bench surrounded by lilac bushes and the stream with a small brige over it in Chekhov’s garden. As far as he fond of fishing and he planted bamboo for the fish-rod at the stream in his garden.

Anton Chekhov is “the Pushkin of prose”, spent his last years in Yalta. He worked a lot in his Yalta-house, here were written such a famous works as his story «Lady with Lapdog», the play «Three Sisters» and «The Cherry Orchard», the «Short story in the Ravine», the Stories «A New Summer Home», «The Bride».

When Chekhov was unwell, he worked in his bedroom, the living room also served as the dining room. Chekhov read his plays to the actors of Moscow Art theatre who visited him in Yalta.  

  The famous Russian writers Lev Tolstoy, Ivan Bunin, Maksim Gorky, Alexander Kuprin, Vladimir Korolenko, artist Isaak Levitan, the famouse Russian singer Feodor Chaliapin sang and Sergey Rachmaninov and Peter Chaykovskiy played the piano in Chekhov’s house.

Each year many tourists visit the Chekhov Museum. They come here to pay tribute to the writer and to get a feeling for the atmosphere surrounded Anton Chekhov. It’s very interesting to see the environment in which Chekhov lived during the last years of his life.

Everything in his study has been kept as it was on May 1, 1904, the day the sick Chekhov left the room for the last time. On his writing desk is a page from the manuscript of the story «The Bride».

Anton Chekhov died on July 2, 1904 at the resort in Germany.

In 1921 the writer’s sister, Maria Chekhova, was asked to organize the museum. She was the museum’s permanent director until her death in 1957.

The Yalta Museum of Local Lore with the history and architecture section is located in an original building which was formerly an Armenian Church. It was designed by the architect Gabo Ter-Miikelov and was built in 1917. In design it was a copy of a famous monument of St. Ripsime temple in Echmiadzin.

The decorations on the outside of the church are notable for the magnificent stone carvings executed by master Tiragros. The cupola was painted by the famous painter V. Surenyants (1860-1921). The exhibition opens with some actual archeological finds relating to the most ancient of the Crimea’s inhabitants. A map shows the sites inhabited by the primitive peoples. Neolithic tools found on the summit of Mount Ai-Petri (St.Peter mount) are on display.

Other sections of the exhibit are devoted to the Tauri, the Scythians and the ancient Greek colonies in the Crimea. The finds made on the territory of Kharaks (Cape Ai-Todor), the only ancient Roman fortress on the Southern Coast, are impressive.

The Middle Ages in the Crimea are represented by a collection of Byzantine coins, tools, ornaments, tombstones and a 10^th -century mosaic, all of which were found near Yalta, Alushta, Gurzuf and Simeiz.

Documents and photographs reflect the development of the Crimea’s southern shore during 19^thand early 20^th centuries.

In the museum there are exhibits relating to the pre-war Crimea. The section on the Great Patriotic war (1941-1945) has a large collection relating to the heroic fight of Yalta’s citizens against the fascist invaders. On stands one can see photographs of fighters in the people’s home guard, in the Yalta detachment of partisans, in underground groups.

There are also personal effects belonging to partisans, underground fighters and scouts. A section devoted to present-day Yalta completes the exhibition.

Among the best biological museums are the

Nikitsky Botanikal Garden, the Sevastopol Museum-Aquarium, the Glade of Fairy-Tales (“Polyana Skazok”) and Zoo in Yalta.It’s very popular among children and edult visitors.