Nicolas De Villiers, president of the award-winning historical theme park Puy du Fou, has revealed exclusive details about the franchise’s controversial new development in the highly-disputed Crimea region on the Russia/Ukraine border.

Crimea – last year annexed by Russia from Ukraine – continues to be a battleground in the area along the region’s border. More than a year later, the dispute between the two countries over sovereignty and control of the peninsula continues to rage on.

“Historically speaking, Crimea was Russian for centuries,” said Nicolas De Villiers speaking exclusively to Attractions Management. It’s complex and we can’t judge. Now Crimea is Russian again and we hope our scheme can provide a peaceful means to help people find their identity, and also act as an economic driver.”

In August 2014, Puy du Fou founder Philippe de Villiers – father of Nicolas – met with Russian President Vladimir Putin to sign deals to bring Puy du Fou not only to Moscow, but also to Crimea.

“We met with [Putin],” continued Nicolas. “It was wonderful and completely unexpected. When he found out that we wanted to set up a theme park in Crimea, he wanted to encourage this kind of initiative and wanted to see us.”

Speaking on the creative inspiration for the Russian projects, Nicolas said that the scripts will mix fact with legendary characters to create a compelling, original show.

“We’re not teachers and we don’t want to teach people just history,” he said. “We want to educate and entertain at the same time.

“In Moscow, the script will be based on Russian history, in Crimea it will be based on the history of the Byzantine Empire. Everyone’s fascinated by Russia because it’s a compelling and attractive culture."

Nicolas added: “Authenticity is one of our strengths. The materials and décor are real, the birds and horses are real. If we want an elephant, we find a real elephant – we won’t have Dumbo. It’s about making a great painting about our history and our people. Now we can do that in other countries."

A full interview with Nicolas De Villiers, where he talks in-depth about what makes the Puy Du Fou concept so attractive to new markets and how plans are progressing with other partners, will be available in the Q3 edition of Attractions Management, available soon.