Constructed at a cost reputed to have been almost 3 million roubles to designs by the notable English architect Edward Blore, the Alupka Palace was the epitome of luxury even by the standards of imperial Russia. Situated on the south coast of the Crimea below Mount Ai-Petri, near Yalta, it was built for the fabulously wealthy Prince Potemkin in 1837 who spared no expense in creating gardens to match the magnificence of the house. As they grew to maturity, the statuesque cypress trees in the grounds became an instantly recognisable feature of the palace from the sea, so much so that it proved an obvious choice for William Simpson to portray in his famous series of Crimean War Studies produced fromn 1854-56. By that date, the palace had become home to Prince Woronzoff and is identified as such in Simpson's version of the above view.