On 11th July 2025, the exhibition “Cossacks in the Service of the Tsar and the Fatherland. 16th Century – 1917” opened in the Cameron Gallery, which is adjacent to the Catherine Palace at Tsarskoye Selo.

The large-scale exhibition brings together more than 800 items from the collections of 13 museums and archives, as well as six private collections. Their geography covers almost all of Russia: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Gatchina, Novocherkassk, Ekaterinburg, Orenburg, Khabarovsk. Cossack troops and their units were stationed here for hundreds of years. Many of the items featured are being exhibited for the very first time.

Photo © Tsarskoye Selo State Museum

Photo © Tsarskoye Selo State Museum

Photo © Tsarskoye Selo State Museum

Visitors will learn about the origin of the life of the Cossacks during peacetime, their uniforms, equipment, the weapons and regalia of the Cossack troops, the Cossack guards, the august atamans and military leaders, the Cossacks at the Imperial Court, as well as the participation of the Cossacks during the wars of the 18th – early 20th centuries.

“We have been preparing this exhibition for more than two years. It is symbolic that it opens in the year of the 250th anniversary of the formation of the Don and Chuguev court convoy Cossacks, who were stationed in Tsarskoye Selo, served the Empress Catherine II and became the basis for the creation of the Life Guards Cossack Regiment, which guarded the Imperial Family until 1917,” said Dmitry Klochkov, head of the military-historical department of the Tsarskoye Selo State Museum.

Photo © Tsarskoye Selo State Museum

Photo © Tsarskoye Selo State Museum

Photo © Tsarskoye Selo State Museum

“The history of the Cossacks is a separate, unique world, inextricably linked with the fate of Russia. The service of the Cossacks covers several centuries, and at all times they stood on the most dangerous borders of the country. We hope that the exhibition will become not only a cultural, but also an educational event that will awaken interest in the history and exploits of the defenders of the Fatherland,” said Alexei Gnedovsky, CEO of VELES Capital, philanthropist.

Among the exhibits are Cossack weapons (sabers, daggers, pikes and even cannons), exquisite uniforms, equipment, regalia (badges, banners, and maces, St. George trumpets, award weapons, bratins, prize cups), household items and costumes of Cossack wives, sculptures, paintings, drawings, engravings, lithographs, printed graphics, personal belongings and rare photographs. The events of the First World War on the Caucasian front are demonstrated by a large model-diorama “Plastuns in the Trebizond Operation in the Spring of 1916” specially created for the exhibition.

Photo © Tsarskoye Selo State Museum

Photo © Tsarskoye Selo State Museum

Photo © Tsarskoye Selo State Museum

The exhibition tells about the participation of the Cossacks in the annexation of Siberia. This subject is widely known thanks to Vasily Surikov’s 1895 painting “The Conquest of Siberia by Yermak” – sketches for the famous canvas from the collection of the State Russian Museum (St. Petersburg) are featured in the exhibition.

Among the rare exhibits are a rifle that belonged to the ataman of the Azov Cossack Army Osip (Yosip) Mikhailovich Gladky (c. 1789-1866) from the collection of the Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineers and Signal Corps (St. Petersburg); granted kovshs (ladles) of the 18th century for Cossack atamans and noble Cossacks, sabers granted from emperors and empresses from the collection of the State Historical Museum (Moscow); children’s Cossack toys from the collection of the Russian Museum of Ethnography (St. Petersburg); uniforms of the last ataman of all Cossack troops, Tsesarevich Alexei Nikolaevich, from the collection of the Tsarskoye Selo State Museum. One of the priceless relics is the jubilee banner with the Alexander ribbon of the 7th Orenburg Cossack Regiment from the collection of the State Hermitage Museum (St. Petersburg).

Photo © Tsarskoye Selo State Museum

Photo © Tsarskoye Selo State Museum

The exhibition “Cossacks in the Service of the Tsar and the Fatherland. 16th Century – 1917” runs until 8th October 2025 in the Cameron Gallery, which is adjacent to the Cather Palace at Tsarskoye Selo.

© Paul Gilbert. 10 July 2025