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In the contest “Wiki Loves Monuments 2025”, the best photo among the objects of the temporarily occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea was recognized as the image of the Swallow’s Nest Palace, located in the village of Gaspra. The author of the work is Oleksandr Ryzhkov.
“Due to the saturation of colors in the foreground, the photo gets a visual volume. And the emphasis on the rock creates a non-standard compositional structure and enhances the perception of the monument,” commented jury member and historian Yana Tymoshenko.
The Swallow’s Nest Palace is an architectural and historical monument located on a 40-meter cliff of Cape of Ai-Todor. Made in the Neo-Gothic style, it has long been considered a symbol of the Southern coast of Crimea. At the same time, there is another interpretation of this building: researcher of Crimean Tatar history Martin-Oleksandr Kyslyy emphasizes that its appearance is connected with the colonization processes on the peninsula, and it embodies the image of “resort Crimea,” where the presence of indigenous peoples is ignored.
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The organizers of the competition note that every year they expect new photographs from the territories temporarily occupied by russia, but for some regions, including Crimea, they increasingly have to rely on archival materials. “This may not seem like a significant detail, but we really want to be able to recognize the winners in all 27 regions of Ukraine, so we are appealing to photographers, local historians, tourists – if you have the opportunity to upload photos from your archives, please take part in the next competition in the fall,” says Iryna Boyko, Communications Manager at Wikimedia Ukraine. – “And we are very grateful to our participants who, like Oleksandr Ryzhkov, the author of the 2012 photo that became the winning photo in 2025, upload their older works. It is still very symbolic to have all regions of Ukraine represented.”
In previous years, the jury recognized photos of other Crimean landmarks, including the Yeni-Kale Fortress, the Juma-Jami Mosque in Yevpatoria, the Khan’s Palace and the Dormition Monastery of the Caves in Bakhchysarai, Genoese fortress in Sudak, St. Elias Church (Surb Prkchi) in Bahatye, Karaites cemetery Balta-Timiez near Chufut-Kale, and the archaeological complex on the Aq Qaya plateau – White Rock.
As of 2025, the competition lists for this region include 4394 cultural heritage sites, of which 1029, or 23%, already have images on Wikimedia Commons. During 2025, 14 participants uploaded 410 photos covering 72 sites, nine of which were illustrated for the first time. In total, 349 people have contributed to the photo archive of Crimean monuments over the entire period of the contest’s existence.
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