Tsarskoye Selo | Nicholas II

Dacha of Nicholas II’s court architect in Tsarskoye Selo to be auctioned

PHOTO: the former dacha of Court architect Silvio Danini in Tsarskoye Selo, as it looks today – in a “deplorable state of disrepair”.

The former dacha of Tsar Nicholas II’s Court architect Silvio Amvrosievich Danini (1867-1942), built at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries is to be auctioned in Tsarskoye Selo.

The dacha was part of a complex of buildings constructed by Danini himself between 1899-1902, which included two-story “Large” and “Small” dachas, a stone service wing and a barn. A richly landscaped garden was also laid out. The “Large” dacha featured turrets, bay windows, the timber facades embellished with decorative elements.

The opening bid for the 6500 square foot wooden dacha is set at 18.66 million rubles [$238,000 USD]. The auction will be held on 23rd June. Under the terms of the agreement of sale, the buyer must agree to restore and preserve the buildings historic look, and to be completed within seven years from the date of registration of the transfer of ownership.

PHOTO: early 20th century view of Silvio Danini’s estate at Tsarskoye Selo

Danini’s “Large” dacha is located on Pavlovskoye highway, 26A in Pushkin [Tsarskoye Selo], a short drive from the Alexander Palace. Having received the post of architect of the Tsarskoye Selo Palace Administration in 1896, Danini rented a small house for his family. By 1899, the architect decided to buy the property and build a larger house.

During the Soviet period the building was used as the Pushkin Palace Administration, and then as a dormitory of the Institute of Economics. After repairs in the 1970s, it was used as a branch of the Institute of Agricultural Cybernetics, then by the Agricultural Institute. In the 1990s, it served as a resident for scientists.

The property was abandoned more than a decade ago. Since that time several unsuccessful attempts have been made to sell and restore the historic dacha.

In August 2016, Danini’s dacha was listed as “an object of cultural heritage of regional significance” by the Committee for State Control, Use and Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments (KGIOP).

In 2020 a plan to open an eight-room hotel was proposed, however, nothing ever came of the idea due to lack of funding by developers.

According to the daughter of the great-grandson of the architect Vera Kozlova, the wooden dacha is currently is in a “deplorable state of disrepair”.

PHOTO: Silvio Amvrosievich Danini (1867-1942)

The Last Court Architect

Silvio (Valentin) Amvrosievich Danini was born in Kharkov on 1st July (O.S. 19th June) 1867.

He was born in the family of Italian opera singer Ambrogio Danini (1807-1872) and his wife Emilia. In 1893, Silvio married the Lutheran Vera Stuckenberg (1874-1944), the couple had four children, whose descendants today live in St. Petersburg.

In 1879, after the death of his father, Silvio and his mother Emilia moved to Poltava, and in 1886 to St. Petersburg, where in 1892 he graduated from the Academy of Arts with the title of “Class Artist of the 1st degree”.

He began his career under the guidance of the architect Alexander Fyodorovich Krasovsky (1848-98), abd participated in the restructurtion of the northwestern wing of the Winter Palace for the future emperor Nicholas II. As a result, in 1892 he was hired to repair, and then reconstruct with extensions, the Znamenskaya Church in Tsarskoye Selo. In 1894 he restored the Catherine Cathedral in Tsarskoye Selo. In 1896, the Nicholas II personally appointed Danini architect of the Tsarskoye Selo Palace Administration, and on 5th October 1911, he was awarded the title of Chief Architect of the Imperial Court.

Danini was responsible for the construction of more than 40 buildings in Tsarskoye Selo [renamed Pushkin in 1937] – many of which have survived to the present day.

He is probably more widely known for his development of the Alexander Palace – the last residence of Nicholas II and his family, from 1905 to 1917 – which included:

1896-1898 – reconstruction of the left [eastern] wing of the Alexander Palace for the personal apartments of Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna, and the construction of an underground passage-gallery between the palace and the Palace Kitchen.

PHOTO: view of the famous Alexander Palace balcony (circa 1940s)

Danini was also responsible for the installation of the famous balcony in 1896 for Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. It was here that many iconic photos of the Imperial Family were taken. The balcony was dismantled between 1947-49.

1896-1898 – the wrought iron gate at the entrance to the park to the Alexander Palace, which has been preserved.

1906-1907 – the Imperial Garage, which housed Nicholas II’s motorcars, which has also been preserved.

After the revolution, in 1923, Danini moved to Petrograd, where he designed hydraulic structures on the Svir River. Silvio Danini died in Leningrad on 11th January 1942 during the siege (his wife and daughter Virginia were later evacuated). He was buried at the Volkovsky Lutheran Cemetery in the family grave of the Stuckenbergs.

New additions to the interiors of the Alexander Palace

Posted on 22 Days Ago by Paul Gilbert

Photo © Tsarskoye Selo Restoration Workshop

It has been almost two years since the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoye Selo opened its doors to visitors after an extensive restoration and reconstruction which began in the autumn of 2015. This extensive and costly project brought new life to the former private apartments of Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, situated in the eastern wing of the palace.

Since that time, additional interiors – the Marble (Mountain) Hall – have opened while recreated furniture and other decorations continue to be added to the interiors.

In late March, new additions were added to the Maple Drawing Room and the Working Study of Nicholas II:

PHOTO: a large stand for palm tree and other large plants is the latest addition to the Maple Drawing Room

Photo © Tsarskoye Selo Restoration Workshop

In the Maple Drawing Room, one of several large stands or tubs has been recreated. Empress Alexandra Feodorovna would have them filled year-round with palm trees and other large plants – as seen in the photo below taken shortly after the Imperial Family were sent into exile in August 1914.

PHOTO: colour autochrome of the Maple Drawing Room. 1917

PHOTO: the Tsar’s desk and ottoman have been recreated for the Working Study of Nicholas II

Photo © Tsarskoye Selo Restoration Workshop

In the Working Study of Nicholas II, an L-shaped desk and ottoman have been recreated.

The Working Study of Emperor Nicholas II was decorated in 1896-1897 in the English Style by Roman Meltzer (1860-1943) and furniture master Karl Grinberg. It was in this room that the Emperor read papers, including numerous correspondence, received foreign ministers and dignitaries and listened to reports.

PHOTO: Emperor Nicholas II with his brother-in-law Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse, in the Tsar’s Working Study. 1901

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Dear Reader: I have written more than 100 articles and news updates on the history and restoration of the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoye Selo. If you have enjoyed all my updates, then please help support my research by making a donation in US dollars – donations can be made by PayPal or credit card. Click HERE to make a donation. Thank you for your consideration – PG

Tsarskoye Selo publishes rare Romanov Family Archive

Posted on April 21 by Paul Gilbert

NOTE: the source of the this article is from the web site of the Tsarskoye Selo State Museum, it has been edited and updated with additional information by Paul Gilbert. ALL the photographs are © Tsarskoye Selo State Museum.

The Tsarskoye Selo State Museum has composed and published a new research catalogue based on an archive of materials of Romanov family members. This priceless archive was purchased for over ₽ 5,300,000 [$65,000 USD] from a private collector in London in 2017, thanks to financial support from Sberbank, also the sponsor of the catalogue’s publication.

The new Russian language catalogue includes private correspondence, drawings and photographs of members of the Imperial Family. The catalogue is authored by researchers Irina Raspopova and Victoria Plaude of the Tsarskoye Selo State Museum.

The presentation of the catalogue was held on 7th April 2023 [see poster above] by the Director of the Tsarskoye Selo Olga Taratynova and the Chairman of Sberbank’s North-Western Office Viktor Ventimilla Alonso. The museum’s deputy director for research and education Dr Iraida Bott, delivered a talk on the Alexander Palace after the Romanovs.

The archive includes more than 200 previously unpublished private correspondence, drawings and photographs spans over half a century, of the second half of the 19th century and the early 20th century, from 1866 to 1922.

The catalogue contains full texts with detailed comments to all the letters, telegrams and notes, as well as detailed descriptions of the photographs. An annotated name index includes 215 names mentioned in the texts.

Most of the documents relate to Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna (1875-1960), Emperor Alexander III’s daughter and Emperor Nicholas II’s sister, and to Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich (1878-1918), Nicholas II’s brother, as well as to George Vladimirovitch Shervashidze (1894-1978), titular Prince of Abkhazia, who was close to members of the Imperial Family.

Xenia’s letters to her brother Michael, whom she always affectionately addresses as “my darling Misha”, date from the early 1880s to 1914. She wrote them on her monogrammed paper and on the headed paper of the palaces and hotels where she stayed. Her letters include those penned by her children, decorated with vignettes and drawings.

In a letter dated 23rd November 1916. Michael writes to Xenia from Ai-Todor in the Crimea. All their family quarrels settled by then, he ends the letter saying, “Natalya Sergeevna [known as Countess Natalya Brasova, from May 1911] thanks you very much and also sends her greetings, and I hug you tightly. Loving you heartily, Your Misha.”

Of particularly great interest are three letters of 1917-18 and a postcard dated 25th February 1918 to George Shervashidze from Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich, a first cousin of Alexander III and an eminent historian. The author describes in detail the situation in Petrograd during the days of the October Revolution and mentions Trotsky, Kerensky, Lunacharsky and Lenin. The envelopes have no postage stamps because the grand duke’s letters were delivered by trusted individuals. His postcard of 25th February 1918 ends with somewhat prophetic words: “Little by little, all our acquaintances move to where there is no sadness or joy.”

Of great value to the Museum is Nicholas II’s autograph in his laconic note of 1899 to his sister, Grand Duchess Xenia. Also valuable are Empress Alexandra Fiodorovna’s short English messages to her sister-in-law, funnily addressed “Darling Chicken” and signed “Your old Hen”.

Taken away from Russia by Romanov family members, the archive was partially kept by Xenia and later inherited by her descendants.

Besides the Romanovs’ correspondence, Sberbank helped the Museum purchase twenty-three photographs taken by General Alexander Nasvetevich (1837-1911), an aide-de-camp to Emperor Alexander II. The shots include the photographer’s self-portrait, Alexander III and his son Nicholas at a parade in Krasnoe Selo, Empress Maria Feodorovna at Gatchina, and other important events at the imperial court.

The materials in the catalogue will be of interest to historians, archive specialists, museum workers, and anyone interested in the history of the Romanov dynasty and their last representatives in particular. The catalogue is currently only available at the Tsarskoye Selo Museum Shop in the Catherine Palace and at Dom Knigi in St Petersburg.

On this day – 22nd March 1917 – Nicholas II and family are placed under house arrest in the Alexander Palace

Posted on March 22 by Paul Gilbert

Iconic image of Emperor Nicholas II in the Alexander Park at Tsarskoye Selo

On this day – 22nd March (O.S. 9th March) 1917 – the Provisional Government decreed that Emperor Nicholas II, his wife and five children should be held under house arrest in the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoye Selo.

At eleven in the morning, the Imperial Train pulled into the Imperial Railway Pavilion at Tsarskoye Selo. Nicholas emerged wearing a Caucasian fur cap and soldier’s greatcoat. Behind him the members of his suite began to jump off the train – like rats abandoning a sinking ship – and run down the platform. Not looking back – they fled.

According to Count Paul Benckendorff (1853-1921), the Emperor’s motorcar arrived at the gate of the Alexander Palace and was stopped by the sentry, who summoned the Commandant. The Commandant went down the steps and asked in a loud voice who was there. The sentry cried out, ‘Nicholas Romanov’. ‘Let him pass,’ said the officer.

During his captivity, the Tsar was subject to constant harassment and humiliation from the soldiers – most of whom were thugs – stationed in and around the Alexander Palace.

According to Pierre Gilliard: “The Emperor accepted all these restraints with extraordinary serenity and moral grandeur. No word of reproach ever passed his lips.”

Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna sitting in the Alexander Park, June 1917

On Alexander Kerensky’s order, Nicholas and Alexandra were kept apart in the palace for a period of 18 days. They were permitted to see each other only during meals, and only in the presence of soldiers. It was during this time that Kerensky conducted an investigation of the Imperial couple’s documents and letters. He failed to find any evidence which would incriminate either of them.

Kerensky interviewed Alexandra regarding her involvement in state affairs and Rasputin’s involvement in them through his influence over her. She answered that as she and her spouse kept no secrets from each other, they often discussed politics and she naturally gave him advice to support him; as for Rasputin, he had been a true holy man of God, and his advice had been only in the interest of the good of Russia and the imperial family. After the interview, Kerensky told the Tsar that he believed that Alexandra had told him the truth and was not lying.

Nicholas II working in the vegetable garden behind the Alexander Palace in 1917

The Imperial Family had total privacy inside the palace, but walks in the grounds were strictly regulated. Members of their domestic staff were allowed to stay if they wished and culinary standards were maintained.

Even in the Alexander Park, their movements were restricted. The photo below, show the prisoners at the frontier of their domain. They were not permitted to cross the bridge which led them to the big park, to the outside world and freedom.

Colonel Eugene Kobylinsky was appointed to command the military garrison at Tsarskoye Selo, which increasingly had to be done through negotiation with the committees or soviets elected by the soldiers.

Nicholas II and his family under guard in the Alexander Park, August 1917

The Imperial Family were held under house arrest until 14th (O.S. 1st) August 1917, it was on this day that Nicholas II and his family left the Alexander Palace for the last time. They exited from the Semicircular Hall of the palace, and travelled by car to the Alexandrovskaya Station where they were sent into exile to Tobolsk.

For an eye witness account of Nicholas II and his family under house arrest in the Alexander Palace, please refer to the following book The Romanovs Under House Arrest: From the 1917 Diary of a Palace Priest, the memories of Archpriest Afanasy Belyaev, who served as priest and confessor to the Russian Imperial family.

Watercolours by Pavel Shipov returned to Alexander Palace

Posted on March 16 by Paul Gilbert

Watercolours by Pavel Dmitrievich Shipov (1860-1919)
Photo © Tsarskoye Selo State Museum

A pair of watercolours by Pavel Shipov – believed to have been lost during the Great Patriotic War (1941-45), have been returned to the Tsarskoye Selo State Museum. Up until 1941, these works hung in the Working Study of Emperor Nicholas II in the Alexander Palace, which at the time was a museum[1].

During the Nazi occupation of Tsarskoye Selo (1941-44), the Alexander Palace was used as headquarters for the German military command. Following the Nazi retreat in 1944, many items from the palace were destroyed, lost of stolen[2].

The provenance of Shipov’s watercolors are confirmed by the inventory numbers on the works (A-2033, A-2035), which match those found in the inventory book of museum items of the Pushkin Palaces-Museums of 1940.

The watercolours were in the possession of Björn Kohler-Svendsen, who received them from Horst Kohler-Svendsen, a relative who was in the Pushkin [Tsarskoye Selo] during the Nazi occupation. It was during the German retreat from Pushkin, that Horst discovered the watercolours and took back them to Germany. The watercolours were presented to the Russian Embassy in Berlin, who subsequently arranged for them to be returned to Tsarskoye Selo.

Both watercolours are pasted on cardboard and edged into frames, while on the reverse side there are inscriptions written in German with a ballpoint pen.

The watercolor seen on the right in the above photo depicts the presentation of the deputation of the Vologda province to Emperor Nicholas II on 29th January 1910, which features three members of the deputation, two of whom are holding icons. In the center of the composition the Tsar is depicted, leaning forward to kiss the icon. Two officers are depicted standing behind the Tsar.

On the back of the frame, Horst wrote: “I brought this painting from the city of Pushkin near Leningrad. It was lying on the floor of the Alexander Palace when the palace was destroyed by grenade explosions. I survived, and brought it with me in 1941.”

The second watercolor seen on the left in the above photo depicts a private of the Life-Guards 4th The Imperial Family’s Rifle Regiment. The artist has signed his name P. Shipov in the lower right corner, and in the lower left corner is written Tsarskoye Selo / 29 Jan. 1910.

On the back of the frame, Horst wrote: “This picture fluttered in the wind when, in the winter of 1941, the Catherine/Alexander Palaces in Pushkin, Russia (Leningrad) was bombed and damaged. I picked it up, and brought it with me.”

Pavel Dmitrievich Shipov (1860-1919)

Pavel Dmitrievich Shipov (1860-1919) served as Lieutenant General in both the Russian-Japanese and First World Wars. On 21st February 1908, he was appointed Wing-Adjutant to the Retinue of His Imperial Majesty Emperor Nicholas II, with the post of commander of the regiment.

He was also an artist, educated at the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg. During the war, he specialized in military portraiture, making pencil sketches and watercolor portraits of soldiers and officers, observing them in battles and on leave.

Shipov was shot by the Bolsheviks on 23rd July 1919, although according to other sources he was shot in 1923.

These two watercolours now bring a total of five works by this artist in the collection of the Tsarskoye Selo State Museum. Both watercolors will be returned to their historical place in the Working Study of Nicholas II in the Alexander Palace.

NOTES and FURTHER READING:

[1] In June 1918, the Alexander Palace was established as a museum and opened to the public. It was closed in 1941.

[2] The fate of the contents of the Alexander Palace in the 20th century

Marble (Mountain) Hall opens in the Alexander Palace

Posted on February 2 by Paul Gilbert

PHOTO: the restored interior of the Marble [aka Mountain] Hall in the Alexander Palace. © Tsarskoye Selo State Museum

Sixteen months after it’s official reopening in August 2021, the restoration of the interiors of the Alexander Palace continues. On 2nd February 2023, the Marble Hall – which is part of the ceremonial enfilade – officially opened it’s doors to visitors for the first time in 80 years.

Visitors can now see the Marble Hall as it looked in the 1930s when the Alexander Palace was a museum before the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War in 1941. The opening of the Marble Hall is the fourteenth interior restored or reconstructed in the Alexander Palace since the large-scale restoration began in 2012.

The restoration work on the Marble [nicknamed the Mountain Hall by Emperor Nicholas I, 1796-1855] included the restoration and cleaning of the artificial marble walls and fireplaces. The highlight of the interior, however, is the recreation of the wooden slide, thanks to financial support of the Transsoyuz Charitable Foundation.

The Marble (Mountain) Hall which connects the Large Library with the Portraits Hall, is now included in the Alexander Palace tour.

PHOTO: the recreated slide in the Marble [aka Mountain] Hall
© Tsarskoye Selo State Museum

The restoration of the Marble Hall interior was developed by specialists of the Studio 44 Architectural Bureau in St. Petersburg, while the actual restoration of the interior and the reconstruction of the slide was carried out by the specialists of PSB ZhilStroy.

The interior, like other halls of the ceremonial enfilade, have retained some elements of their original decoration. During the process of work, the artificial marble walls of light gray and lilac shades, the parquet flooring and a fireplace were cleaned and restored. In addition, historical photographs helped experts recreate a picturesque frieze imitating artificial marble, as well as oak door and window fillings.

During the work on a lunette – situated above the mountain slide – an authentic oil painting on canvas imitating a window was discovered and restored. During the restoration of the ceiling, the metal rosette in its center, was dismantled, restored and reinstalled.

PHOTO: view of the restored interior of the Marble [aka Mountain] Hall
© Tsarskoye Selo State Museum

The project for the recreation of a chandelier was developed by specialists of the Tsarskoye Selo Amber Workshop according to the historical model; the painstaking work on creating a copy of the 40 candle chandelier was carried out by Studio Yuzhakova.

The restored interior has been further complemented with furniture from the museum’s collection; bronze items and porcelain vases, and a fireplace screen, the original from this interior; a bronze clock and candelabra with figures of Orpheus and Eurydice.

PHOTO: the Marble (Mountain) Hall as it looked before the Second World War

The mountain slide was ordered in 1833 by Empress Alexandra Feodorovna [wife of Emperor Nicholas I] for the New Palace [Alexander Palace] at Tsarskoye Selo.

Following the completion of the parquet and other finishing works of the Marble Hall’s interior in 1843, the question of replacing the “mountain slide”, which had fallen into disrepair was discussed. In the report dated 18th March 1843, the architect I.Ye. Efimov notes that the existing foundation of the old hill, “was all split, the surface chipped in several places, out of which nails were dangerously exposed and thus beyond repair.”

Efimov announced that the cost to replace the wooden slide would be 500 rubles [a significant fee in the mid-19th century].

The Mountain Hall and its slide were enjoyed by the future Emperors Nicholas I, Alexander II and Alexander III, all of whom played on the hill as children. The Emperors, even after they became adults, periodically slid down the mountain along with other members of their family. For example, the educator of the future Alexander III S.A. Yuryevich wrote to his parents in 1847, after moving at the end of August from Peterhof to Tsarskoye Selo, anticipating “noisy games in the Mountain Hall”.

A member of the aristocracy noted in her memoirs how Emperor Alexander II invited her to the Alexander Palace as a child and invited her to play on the wooden mountain. She noted that Alexander II who was then 50 years old at the time “himself, slid down with his grandson in his arms.” It is worth noting that this particular grandson was the future Emperor Nicholas II.

The four daughters of Nicholas II and their brother Tsesarevich Alexei were the last of the Imperial Children who played in the Mountain Hall. As in previous years, adults also entertained themselves on the slide with equal pleasure. In 1908, Lili Dehn, recalls riding with the Grand Duchesses “on the mountain slide, installed in one of the premises of the palace. We had fun for hours, getting great pleasure from the ride. I completely forgot that I was a married woman who was going to become a mother in a few months. ”

PHOTO: In the 1930s. the ceremonial dresses of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, the wife of Emperor Nicholas I, were exhibited in the Marble (Mountain) Hall

During the Great Patriotic War (1941-45), the Marble (Mountain) Hall was damaged during the Nazi occupation of Tsarskoye Selo.

Following the war, the Director of the Alexander Palace Anatoly Mikhailovich Kuchumov (1912-1993), describes the destruction of the Hall: “We go to the Hall with a slide … the amazing color of the marble is still pleasing , which is especially evident now that all the curtains have been removed. There is not even a trace of the hill, the mirrors have been ripped out, the marble fireplace is broken – the caryatids have all been stolen. The massive gilded frame from the picture hanging above the hill seems to have miraculously survived. The vault of the hall in one second has been damaged by dampness, since the roof over this hall was torn apart by a shell ”

VIDEO of the recently restored Marble (Mountain) Hall in the Alexander Palace

Note: the audio is in Russian, however, do not let that deter you from watching this 2-minute newsclip, which allows us to see the more intricate details and elements of the interior and mountain slide.

The Alexander Palace: Then and Now

Posted on January 4 by Paul Gilbert

PHOTO: view of the front and rear facades of the Alexander Palace, Tsarskoye Selo

The Tsarskoye Selo State Museum Reserve have reissued a series of colour autochromes and photographs which allow us to compare some of the interiors of the Alexander Palace as they looked like in 1917 and how they look today, following a large-scale reconstruction and restoration project that began in the Autumn 2015.

Shortly after Emperor Nicholas II and his family were sent into exile to Tobolsk on 1st (O.S.) August 1917, George Kreskentievich Lukomsky (1884-1952), chairman of the Commission for the Acceptance and Registration of Property of the Tsarskoye Selo Palace Administration, arrived at the Alexander Palace, where he “methodically and consistently photographed” the interiors of the former Imperial residence.

Zehest had been commissioned by the art historian George Loukomski, Head of the Tsarskoye Selo Inventory Commission. A total of 140 colour auto-chromes were taken of the Alexander Palace. A collection of 48 auto-chromes, which were acquired at a Paris auction in 2012 have since proven to be of immense value with the restoration of the interiors of the Alexander Palace.

The Alexander Palace reopened to visitors on 14th (O.S. 1st) August 2021, marking the 104th anniversary since the Imperial Family left the palace for the last time. Visitors can now see thirteen reconstructed and restored interiors of the private apartments of Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna located in the eastern wing of the palace.

These include the New Study of Nicholas II, Moorish Bathroom of Nicholas II, Working Study of Nicholas II, Reception Room of Nicholas II, the Valet’s Room, PLUS the Maple Drawing Room, Pallisander (Rosewood) Living Room, Mauve (Lilac) Boudoir, Alexandra’s Corner Reception Room, the Imperial Bedroom, the Small and Large Libraries, and the Mountain Hall. In addition are the State Halls: the Portrait Hall, the Semi-Circular Hall and the Marble Drawing Room.

Please note that all the photos posted below are courtesy of the Tsarskoye Selo State Museum:

Empress Alexandra’s Corner Reception Room as it looked in 1917 and 2022.
Photo © Tsarskoye Selo State Museum

Pallisander (Rosewood) Living Room as it looked in 1917 and 2022.
Photo © Tsarskoye Selo State Museum

Mauve (Lilac) Boudoir as it looked in 1917 and 2022.
Photo © Tsarskoye Selo State Museum

Maple Drawing Room as it looked in 1917 and 2022.
Photo © Tsarskoye Selo State Museum

Small Library as it looked in 1917 and 2022.
Photo © Tsarskoye Selo State Museum

Pallisander (Rosewood) Living Room as it looked in 1917 and 2022.
Photo © Tsarskoye Selo State Museum

Reception Room of Emperor Nicholas II as it looked in 1917 and 2022.
Photo © Tsarskoye Selo State Museum

Mauve (Lilac) Boudoir as it looked in 1917 and 2022.
Photo © Tsarskoye Selo State Museum

The Western wing of the Alexander Palace is scheduled for completion no earlier than 2024. After the completion of the work, the Alexander Palace will become a multifunctional museum complex, which will include exhibition halls, halls for temporary exhibitions, halls for research work and conferences, as well as a library and a children’s center. The basement floor will house a ticket booth, a museum shop, a café, a cloakroom, a tour desk, as well as technical and ancillary facilities.

Please note that I have written more than 60 articles on the history and restoration of the Alexander Palace, which include 100s of photographs, illustrations and videos. Click HERE to review the articles in this category.

On this day in 1933 the Feodorovsky Sovereign Cathedral at Tsarskoye Selo was closed

Posted on December 27 by Paul Gilbert

PHOTO: Early 20th century view of the Feodorovsky Sovereign Cathedral at Tsarskoye Selo

On this day – 27th December 1933, the Feodorovsky Sovereign Cathedral[1] at Tsarskoye Selo was officially closed by a resolution of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee[2].

The Cathedra’s Upper Church became a cinema hall, where a screen was placed right in the altar, while the Lower Cave Church[3] was turned into a warehouse and archive for film and film documents.

The Decree on the Separation of Church and State had been proclaimed by the Bolsheviks in January 1918. It declared all Church property to be the property of the state. Sanctioned by this license, squads of Bolshevik thugs went around the country desecrating and looting churches and monasteries, mocking religion and religious people unmercifully, even murdering priests, monks, nuns and other believers by the thousands.

The years between 1929-1939, the Russian Orthodox Church was subject to further rabid anti-church persecution. Thousands of cathedrals, churches and monasteries were desecrated and pillaged by the Bolsheviks, by order of Joseph Stalin.

PHOTO: watercolour of the Feodorovsky Sovereign Cathedral (1917) by Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna

At first, during the collectivization process, many rural parishes were dissolved by local Soviet authorities, and on 9th August 1931, the Leningrad [St. Petersburg] City Council raised the question of closing all of the city’s churches.

The Bolsheviks anti-church campaign spread from parish to parish throughout the former Russian Empire. In Pushkin[4] the Feodorovsky Sovereign Cathedral[4] was desecrated and pillaged before it was finally closed in 1933.

In 1934, the Bolsheviks conducted an Anti-Easter campaign, which included Detskoye Selo[4]: “… in an attempt to distract parishioners from the churches, a carnival with music and dancing was arranged on the streets of the city… Against the backdrop of the Catherine Cathedral a screen was arranged on the wall of the City Council on which a film was shown.”

Between 1934 to 1935, a total of 361 churches were closed in the diocese, and many more churches could not function due to the absence of the repressed clergy.

PHOTO: the Feodorovsky Sovereign Cathedral in 1945

The Feodorovsky Sovereign Cathedral was badly damaged during the Nazi occupation of Pushkin (1941-44). During the Soviet years, the Feodorovsky Sovereign Cathedral was left in a terrible state of disrepair and neglect.

PHOTO: the Feodorovsky Sovereign Cathedral in 1977

After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 the Feodorovsky Sovereign Cathedral was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church. The entire complex of buildings closely connected with the life of the last Russian Emperor was taken over by the Moscow Patriarchate, who allocated funds for the reconstruction and restoration work carried out over a 20 year period.

The Feodorovsky Sovereign Cathedral was reconsecrated on 29 February 1992. Regular liturgies are today carried out in the Upper Church, and the Lower Cave Church. In addition, Divine Liturgies are regularly conducted in memory of the murdered Emperor Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia Nikolaevna, and Tsesarevich Alexei Nikolaevich.

The Feodorovsky Sovereign Cathedral has become a popular pilgrimage site for Orthodox Christians from across Russia and around the world. In addition are monarchists, modern-day Cossacks and adherents of the Holy Royal Martyrs.

On 17th July 1993, Russia’s first monument to Emperor Nicholas II by the Russian sculptor V.V. Zaiko was established in the garden located in behind the Cathedral.

On 4th May (O.S. 21st April) 1913, Emperor Nicholas II and his family planted a group of oak trees on the grounds of the Feodorovsky Sovereign Cathedral. A total of seven trees were planted that day, with each member of the Imperial Family, beginning with the Tsar, planting a single oak tree. Of the seven trees planted, only four have survived to the present day, the other three were cut down during the Nazi occupation of Pushkin.

PHOTO: the Feodorovsky Sovereign Cathedral as it looks today. The blue tent-roof of the Royal or Tsar’s Porch – used by the Emperor and his family – can be seen to the right

NOTES:

[1] The Feodorovsky Sovereign Cathedral served as the regimental church of His Imperial Majesty’s Own Convoy. In addition, the cathedral served as the house church for the Imperial family, while they were in residence in the Alexander Palace. Construction of the Cathedral was financed by Nicholas II, who contributed 150,000 gold rubles from his own personal funds.

[2] The All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK) was the highest legislative, administrative and revising body of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR) from 1917 until 1937. Although the All-Russian Congress of Soviets had supreme authority, in periods between its sessions its powers were passed to VTsIK.

[3] Empress Alexandra Feodorovna was particularly fond of the Cave Church. A special room was arranged for her, which allowed her to retire in prayer. The chapel, a small room less than a meter wide, was installed to the right of the altar. It contained a mosaic icon of St. Seraphim of Sarov. The Cave Church has been fully restored and open to worshippers.

[4] On 7th November 1918 Tsarskoye Selo was renamed Detskoye Selo (Children’s Village). On 10th February 1937, it was renamed Pushkin, in honour of the great Russian poet, playright and novelist Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837). On 10th June 1939, the Catherine Cathedral was demolished by the Soviet authorities.

Christmas returns to the Alexander Palace

Posted on December 21 by Paul Gilbert

In 2021, the Tsarskoye Selo State Museum restored the tradition of decorating a Christmas/New Year’s tree in the Alexander Palace. For the second year in a row, a live spruce tree was installed today in the Pallisander (Rosewood) Living Room and decorated with more than forty authentic toys from the early 20th century from the museum’s collection.

From 1905 to 1917, the Alexander Palace was the centre of Russian statehood, and the permanent residence of Emperor Nicholas II and his family. It was here that they celebrated the New Year holidays, which included Christmas – the Imperial Family and their close associates all took part in decorating the tree and gifts for it.

Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna celebrated Christmas in the Alexander Palace for the first time in 1895. It became a favourite family holiday and was celebrated on a grand scale. According to eyewitnesses, at least eight trees were installed in the palace, and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna herself took part in the decoration of each of them. She also chose gifts for the entire palace staff, including lackeys, cooks and stokers, a separate Christmas tree was decorated for them and the children’s nanny.

It was not until 1915, that the Alexander Palace became the permanent residence of the Imperial Family, however, they celebrated their first Christmas at Tsarskoye Selo on 24th December 1904.

PHOTO: OTMA seated in front of a Christmas tree in the Alexander Palace

Each year, on the 24th, the children would dress up in their finery and decorate a Christmas tree on the second floor, where there private rooms were situated. The first floor was set aside for the main family holiday. That evening, the Emperor and his wife visited the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna in the Gatchina Palace. There they also attended the Christmas Vigil service. The imperial couple returned to Tsarskoye Selo at 11 o’clock in the evening and arranged their Christmas tree in the Empress’s new room (apparently referring to the Maple Drawing Room of Alexandra Feodorovna).

In subsequent years, the celebration of Christmas in the Alexander Palace took place according to that of previous years: a Christmas tree for the children on the second floor, the main family holiday on the first: several separate trees for servants and guards in the ceremonial halls, and in Alexandra Feodorovna’s rooms – a tree for the Emperor and Empress. The last tree decorated in the Alexander Palace was in December 1916.

The celebration of the New Year was significantly inferior in scale to that of Christmas. Throughout the entire reign of Nicholas II, December 31st was a festive day for the Emperor. The last day of the year stood out with a small festive tea party with the participation of family members, as well as a New Year’s prayer service, at which the Emperor was always present.

Nicholas II plants oak trees at the Feodorovsky Sovereign Cathedral, April 1913

Posted on October 25 by Paul Gilbert

PHOTO: Emperor Nicholas II, his family and retinue planting seven oak trees on the square, in front of the Feodorovsky Sovereign Cathedral at Tsarskoye Selo, 1913

Construction of the house church of the Imperial Family at Tsarskoye Selo

The Feodorovsky Sovereign Cathedral was constructed between 1909 – 1912 by order of Emperor Nicholas II, to serve as the regimental church of His Imperial Majesty’s Own Convoy. In addition, the cathedral served as the house church for the Imperial family, while they were in residence in the Alexander Palace.

Construction of the Cathedral began in 1908, financed by Emperor Nicholas II, who contributed 150,000 gold rubles, a considerable sum, from his own personal funds.

On 2nd September (O.S. 20th August) 1909, Nicholas II laid the first foundation stone. The solemn Divine Liturgy was performed by His Grace Theophan, Bishop of Yamburg, attended by the Emperor and members of his family. The Cathedral was built in the old Russian style. Three years later, on the same day in 1912, the Feodorovsky Sovereign Cathedral was consecrated.

An alley lined with fragrant linden trees ran from the cathedral to the Imperial Railway Pavilion nearby. Sadly, in the 1950s, the largest lime trees were transported to the replanted on Nevsky Prospekt in Leningrad [St. Petersburg].

PHOTO: Emperor Nicholas II, his family and retinue planting seven oak trees on the square, of the Feodorovsky Sovereign Cathedral at Tsarskoye Selo, 1913

The Imperial Family plant oak trees on the grounds of the Cathedral

On 4th May (O.S. 21st April) 1913, Emperor Nicholas II and his family planted a group of oak trees on the grounds of the Feodorovsky Sovereign Cathedral. It was one of many events marking the 300th anniversary of the Romanov Dynasty, held that year throughout the Russian Empire, in which the Tsar and his family took part. A total of seven trees were planted that day, with each member of the Imperial Family, beginning with the Tsar, planting a single oak tree each.

The trees were planted on the grounds of the square, which is situated on the southern facade of the Cathedral. It was through this square, that the Imperial Family arrived at the Cathedral, entering via the Royal Porch. During the winter months, when the days saw little daylight, the square was illuminated with lanterns, giving it a serene ambiance.

Of the seven trees planted, only four have survived to the present day, the other three were cut down during the Nazi German occupation of Pushkin [Tsarskoye Selo, 1941-44].

The four oaks can be seen behind a bust-monument to Tsar-Martyr Nicholas II – the first to be installed in post-Soviet Russia. A stone marker and plaque [see photo at the end of this article] mark the spot, where they were planted more than a century ago. It is nothing short of a miracle that they have survived.

PHOTO: Russia’s first monument to Nicholas II was consecrated on 17th July 1993, on the grounds of the Feodorovsky Sovereign Cathedral at Tsarskoye Selo

The first monument to Nicholas II in post-Soviet Russia

Situated in the garden [square] behind the Feodorovsky Sovereign Cathedral at Tsarskoye Selo, is a bust-monument to Tsar-Martyr Nicholas II, the work of St. Petersburg sculptor Victor Vladimirovich Zaiko (born 1944).

Installed and consecrated on 17th July 1993, it was the first monument to Nicholas II to be erected in Post-Soviet Russia. Since its installation nearly 30 years ago, more than 100 monuments, busts and memorials to Russia’s last Tsar, have been installed across the Russian Federation.

As previously noted, the bust-monument stands in front of the four surviving oak trees, seen in the background, which were planted by Nicholas II and his family on 4th May (O.S. 21st April) 1913.

The monument was consecrated on 17th July 1993, the day marking the 75th anniversary of the death and martyrdom of Nicholas II and his family.

PHOTO: view of Russia’s first monument to Nicholas II and the remaining oak trees which he and his family planted in 1913, on the grounds of the Feodorovsky Sovereign Cathedral

PHOTO: a wider view of the four remaining oak trees, planted by Nicholas II and his family in 1913, on the grounds of the Feodorovsky Sovereign Cathedral

PHOTO: a stone marker reads [translation]: 21 April / 4 May 1913. On this spot the Holy Royal Martyrs Sovereign Emperor Nicholas II, Sovereign Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, Tsesarevich Alexei and Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia planted seven memorial oaks.