On 20th December 2023, an outdoor photo-exhibition dedicated to Emperor Nicholas II and his family opened near the Spassky Cathedral in Penza. Penza is the second Russian city after Moscow, where these unique photographs are presented to the general public in an outdoor setting.

The travelling exhibition The Tsar’s Family: Love and Mercy was previously held near the Sretensky Monastery in central Moscow from 16th October 2023 to 16th November 2023.

The Penza exhibit opened in a tree-lined alley located between the Spassky Cathedral and the Penza Diocesan Administration Building. Most of the photographs presented at the exhibition are dedicated to the participation of the Imperial Family II in matters of charity and service to others and the Fatherland.

Of particular note are selected photographs dedicated to the service of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and the Grand Duchesses as nurses in infirmaries and hospitals during the First World War.

The Tsar’s Family: Love and Mercy photo project was created in 2016 by the Sretensky Monastery in Moscow. The creator of the project, a resident of the Sretensky Monastery, Hieromonk Ignaty (Shestakov), gave lectures on the Tsar and his family at two universities: Penza State University and the Penza Artillery Engineering Institute.

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“The old buildings and streets of Penza remember the visit of Emperor Nicholas II to the city on 28th June 1904. During his visit, the Tsar attended a review of the troops going to the Russo-Japanese War, after which he attended a Divine Liturgy in the Spassky Cathedral.

In memory of Emperor Nicholas II’s visit to Penza, a memorial plaque was installed on one of the columns of the Spassky Cathedral, which was considered lost after the destruction of the cathedral by the Soviets in 1934.

In the late 1990s, this artifact was found by the famous Penza collector Igor Sergeevich Shishkin, who kept it all these years until June 2022, on the day of the consecration of the revived Spassky Cathedral by Patriarch Kirill. On this day, Igor Sergeevich handed over a memorial plaque to the Penza diocese.

There are plans to have the memorial plaque reinstalled to its original place in the Spassky Cathedral, next to the new icon of Nicholas II, for which a case is now being made.

A painting dedicated to this event was painted in the 1990s by Penza artist Denis Santalov. The painting depicts Nicholas II standing before the priest, who offers the Tsar an icon, which he in turn would kiss and make the sign of the cross.

© Paul Gilbert. 17 January 2024