The Swallow's Nest

 

The Swallows Nest is a beautiful castle located in Gaspra, Russia on the Crimean Peninsula.  It was built around 1911 on the top of a 130 foot high cliff along the Black Sea.   It is built in a Neo-Gothic design by a Russian architect name Leonid Sherwood for a Baltic German oil millionaire.
The first structure built along this cliff was built in 1895 was merely a wooden structure named the "Castle of Love" only to be replaced to the opulent castle that remains today.  The castle survived a massive earthquake in 1927, however the cliff sustained a major crack risking the building integrity.  This forced the building to be closed for over 40 years until 1968.  Today the castle is a very popular restaurant and an very popular tourist destination for obvious reasons.