PHOTO: view of the Western Wing of the Alexander Palace, Tsarskoye Selo

According to the TASS News Agency, the Western Wing of the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoye Selo is now scheduled to open to the public in 2025.

Recall that the Eastern Wing of the palace, which houses the private apartments of Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorona, reopened to the public in 2021, after an extensive restoration which began in the autumn of 2015.

The Soviet navy in the Western Wing

In 1951, by a government decree, the Alexander Palace was transferred to the Ministry of Defense of the USSR. The Naval Department used the building as a top-secret, submarine tracking research institute of the Baltic Fleet. As a result, the former palace would be strictly off-limits to visitors for the next 45 years.

When it appeared that the Soviet Navy intended to vacate the complex, the Alexander Palace was included in the 1996 World Monuments Watch by the World Monuments Fund (WMF).

In the summer of 1997, a permanent exhibition dedicated to the Nicholas II and his family was opened in the Eastern Wing of the palace. It was at this time that my annual Romanov Tour became the first group from the West to visit the interiors of the Alexander Palace.

The rest of the palace, including remained under the administration of the Naval Department, who continued to occupy the Western Wing. It is due to their occupancy of this section of the palace, that very few of the original interiors and their elements survived.

It was not until October 2009, according to the order of the Federal Property Management Agency, that the Alexander Palace was placed under the administration of the Tsarskoye Selo State Museum Reserve.

Current restoration of the Western Wing

During her recent press conference, the Director of the Tsarskoye Selo Museum-Reserve Olga Taratynova told the Russian news agency, that “restoration work continues in the Alexander Palace. A huge effort is now being made to complete work on the interiors of the Western Wing of the palace.” She further noted, that “the largest part of the work will be completed by the end of this year, and that the opening of the entire Alexander Palace will not take place until next year (2025).

Upon completion, the Alexander Palace will become a multifunctional museum complex. The Western Wing will include exhibition halls, halls for temporary exhibitions, halls for research work and conferences, as well as a library and a children’s center.

This latest development will be welcome news to those who have been following the progress of the restoration of the Alexander Palace, and anxiously awaiting it’s completion. It is my understanding, that future restoration projects include a restoration of the the Children’s House and Island, and the restoration of the Children’s Rooms, situated on the second floor of the Eastern Wing of the palace. No time frame has been given for these projects, therefore, we could be waiting years before their completion.

© Paul Gilbert. 8 April 2024