Residents of Tsarskoe Selo?

I was wondering who was allowed to reside in Tsarskoe Selo, from the time of its origination by Peter I until Nicholas II's time? I am assuming one couldn't just pick up and move there if one felt like it, but who were its residents? Did you have to have certain status, a certain title, a certain amount of money? Did you have to be employed at the palace of be the friend of the imperial family?

Also, anyone have any idea what the population was at any given time (started out with this many people and ended with this many...)

Thanks.

Helen

Hi Helen!

Maybe you should have posted this under « Tsarskoe Selo Town »…! Anyway, I’m pretty sure I have read that (at least in the late 19th-early 20th century) a special permit was required to reside in Tsarskoe Selo…but I can’t remember where I’ve read it  :-/. In any case, the Palace Police had agents all over the town and people who had no business there were probably escorted out of town.

According to the 1897 census, they were 22,353 inhabitants : 13,553 men and 8,800 women. The high number of males can be explained by the fact that Tsarskoe Selo was also a garrison town, as many regiments were stationed there to guard the Imperial Family. By 1914, according to Baedeker, its population had increased to 30,800. These numbers probably don’t include temporary residents who lived there only when the Imperial family was in town. I haven’t yet found statistics for earlier times, but in 1808 the population of Tsarskoe Selo must have increased dramatically following the annexation of the town of Sofia. Nevertheless, it seems to me that for most of the 18th century and a good part of the 19th century, the full-time population must have been quite small, as the Court was quite nomadic and didn’t spend much more than a few months there every year. Alexander II seemed to have liked the place quite a lot, but Alexander III prefered Gatchina and didn’t spend much time there. It must then have looked like a ghost town. At the beginning of Nicholas II’s reign it was still seen as a resort town and it wasn’t until the 1905 Revolution that the Imperial Family and the Court made Tsarskoe Selo their main residence. This undoubtedly brought more permanent residents to Tsarskoe Selo.

Who stayed there? Some other members of the Imperial Family had palaces or villas there (such as Grand Duke Paul and Grand Duke Boris). The Yussupovs and some other aristocratic families were also part-time residents. Obviously, courtiers and their families (at least those who had more than an honorary function at Court and who didn’t stay at the Palace), such as Dr. Botkin and his family (in their memoirs, both Gleb and Tatiana wrote about their youth in Tsarskoe Selo). And people who worked at the various Court departments.

As there was a number of military, educational and health establishments in Tsarskoe Selo, a good number of officers, teachers, doctors, nurses, etc also stayed there, as well as a great number of servants and people of various trades needed to keep a small town running.

Thank you very much, Daniel!

Maybe you should have posted this under « Tsarskoe Selo Town »…!

You're probably right, although I thought of it as a Russian Imperial history question... But I did just post it under the TS Town too.

Thank you for the detailed explanation, Daniel. And thank you Helen for asking this question - it is an interesting one that I had been wondering about myself. I too have read somewhere that Tsarskoe Selo was only inhabited by people connected to the court during Nicholas II's time. What an exclusive town indeed!

Hi Sarai,

Antonio posted some interesting stats on the other thread I started about this, under "Tsarskoe Selo Town" topic.  

http://hydrogen.pallasweb.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=tsarskoetown;action=display;num=1109767781

Its quite a sensible proposition to build a secure village that specifically served the Imperial household and specific military units as their place of residence and education as was the case with the Lyceum. One of its most famous students was Pushkin.

Its quite a sensible proposition to build a secure village that specifically served the Imperial household and specific military units as their place of residence and education as was the case with the Lyceum. One of its most famous students was Pushkin.

Sort of like the gated communities in the States today

Sort of like the gated communities in the States today

No, ... not the gated communities I am familiar with. Normally they are not self sufficient, and T.S. had no gates but did have its own Gostiny Dvor, churches etc.

No, ... not the gated communities I am familiar with. Normally they are not self sufficient, and T.S. had no gates but did have its own Gostiny Dvor, churches etc.

Just kidding - it was nothing like the gated communities in the States!  

Was TS completely self sufficient though? Didn't they have import food or was it grown locally?

Was TS completely self sufficient though? Didn't they have import food or was it grown locally?

There probably were a few market gardens selling fruit and vegetables, but much of the food would have come from abroad or other parts of Russia. Crimea had wonderful apples!

. Crimea had wonderful apples!

HEHE -- No doubt-- but not as good as the famous apples of Summerisle!


...wink wink!
rskkiya

(this is a silly hammer horror film trivia joke --The Wicker Man)