A statue in Yalta's Fairy-Tale Glade portrays a bogatyr playing the bayan, a Russian folk instrument.

Nestled snugly into a natural amphitheater on the southern tip of the Crimean peninsula, the town of Yalta enjoys one of the few tropical microclimates in all of the former Soviet Union. Compared to the wind-driven open plains of Ukraine and the snow-covered expanses of northern Russia, Yalta seems a resort town in another world.

The children who visit Yalta also find another world: the world of fairy tales. The town is home to a sculpture park dedicated to the fairy-tale characters loved by Russian children. Since its founding in 1957, the Fairy-Tale Glade has been home to nearly two hundred sculptures.

Many of the stone, wood, and metal figures depict traditional Russian and Ukrainian characters, such as Ivan the Fool, the Firebird, Ruslan, Ludmila, and Baba-Yaga. Others show international characters popularized during the Soviet era, such as the Three Little Pigs, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and Red Riding Hood.