NOTE: click on the above image to enlarge and see in greater detail

On 22nd October 2025, the photo-exhibition ‘The Tsar’s Family. Love and Mercy‘, opened in the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in the village of Vyselki, Krasnodar Territory.

The exhibition is showcased in the central alley of the Church, where large photographs of Emperor Nicholas II and his family are displayed on the walls. The exhibition is FREE to all.

The exhibit tells the story of the Nicholas II’s family, who unselfishly served others during the First World War and the traditions of nursing in Russia at the turn of the 19th – early 20th centuries.

Recall that when World War I broke out, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and her two eldest daughters Grand Duchesses Olga and Tatiana became Red Cross nurses. Together, from 1914 to 1917, they cared for wounded soldiers in a private hospital on the grounds of Tsarskoye Selo, until the family were placed under house arrest, following the Tsar’s abdication 15th March (O.S. 2nd March) 1917.

PHOTO: 3rd grade students of school No. 2 in Vyselki together with their teacher visit the photo-exhibition ‘The Tsar’s Family. Love and Mercy’

The exhibition has already been visited by 3rd grade students of school No. 2 in Vyselki together with their teacher Irina Fostenko.

The children listened with interest to the story told by Father Alexander about the service of the Imperial Family to the Fatherland, and about Nicholas II’s family, helping soldiers, the poor and the sick during the war years.

The photo project The Tsar’s Family: Love and Mercy was created in 2016 by the Sretensky Monastery in Moscow. The travelling exhibition has already been presented in Serbia, Germany, Italy, Canada, Argentina, New Zealand, South Africa, Romania, Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, and the Czech Republic.

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*As I have noted in previous posts, I support any initiative – big or small – to help keep the memory of Nicholas II and his family alive in 21st century Russia – PG

© Paul Gilbert. 30 October 2025