could u live in a house like that?

[Robert_Hall]

MA was considered a royal martyr in those circles, mis-understood, falsely accused and tragic heroine for her children. No wonder Alexandra identified with her! But those rooms-  They look nothing like that now, of course, but I find them  way too cluttered to be comfortable rather than depressing.  Typical Victorian bourgoisie. No wonder thay had an army of servants to keep the place dusted. The "comfy corners" and cozy atmosphere was just way too thick for my taste. I would be afraid to move about, lest I knock something over. I would not say they make me nauseous, but certainly uncomfortable. That was the taste of the times though. In looking at the Dowager Empress' rooms, it is the same overly cluttered feel.  I blame Victoria for it all.

[Janet_W.]

Oho Robert, so YOU'RE the one who wrote that song . . . "Blame Victoria"?!  Robin Williams sang a heck of a rendition of it a few years back on the Oscars show!

By the way, who is "u"? And why does he (or she) go by only one letter . . . and lower-case, at that! 

[dmitri]

I wonder what the tapestry of Marie Antoinette tells a person about Alexandra's personality? I saw it also hanging in the Alexander Palace. It is quite beautiful but hardly a welcoming piece. The room even in winter is quite light and airy. I guess one of the reasons Nicholas and Alexandra liked the Alexander Palace is it felt more like a home than a palace. Compared to the much grander Catherine Palace it does feel more like a home. In fact the front doors to the wing in which Nicholas and Alexandra lived do look very unlike a palace.

[Robert_Hall]

The tapestry is Aubusson after an iconic portrait by Vigee le Brun, MA's best portraitist. Alexandra most like fell in love with the original at Versailles. I know I did, and have a copy of one of the VlB portaits hanging in my library- made for the movie Marie Antionette with Norma Schearer. I posted it on  the treads where we were showing our respective collections.
 Like I said earlier, she probably identified, in part, with the tragic queen.

[dmitri]

I guess that alone is very telling about her. I wonder today whether Alexandra would be described as a manic depressive? Back to the topic it is eerie seeing seeing this tapestry in the Alexander Palace knowing what happened to the Romanovs.

[Vladimir_V.]

I had not known that.  Do you have a source for that information? 

At first time I heard it in the museum in the AP, but then I read the same in a book. I can try to search it if you need.

[helenazar]

I guess that alone is very telling about her. I wonder today whether Alexandra would be described as a manic depressive?

The term is now "bi-polar". I think she was rather more "depressive", than "manic", she didn't have too many highs. Back then it was called "melancholia" I believe. Alexandra always had melancholic tendencies, but they got significantly worse with the birth of her hemophiliac son (understandably so). One of the reasons she strongly identified with MA was because she too had trouble producing an heir and once they produced a son, this son was sickly (in MA's case he died)...

[dmitri]

I think if the tour groups actually came down to the Alexander Palace rather than only spending their time at the Catherine Palace restoration would take place a lot sooner at the Alexander Palace.

[helenazar]

I think if the tour groups actually came down to the Alexander Palace rather than only spending their time at the Catherine Palace restoration would take place a lot sooner at the Alexander Palace.

Yeah, but you know how it is, most tourists go where they are taken by their tour guides, and most never even heard of the AP, all they know is the Amber Room, or something like that, and that's at the CP. Unless they are truly interested in Russian history and know more than your average Joe-Shmo, that's the way it's going to be. The AP is not nearly as glamorous or famous as the CP (and not nearly as gaudy either ;-)), even though it is a lot more authentic (there is almost nothing authentic about the CP). So there you have it.

[dmitri]

Yes it is a shame that the package tours are so limited in where they take people. I often think more time is spent on the bus and being herded like sheep for those who endure such tours. I avoid them like the plague but do understand that for some people it is the only way they feel they are able to travel. Sadly Gatchina is also not on the tour routes either.

[Mazukov]

From my point of view, when you take a tour, let me say. like a "tour bus". What you are being shown is only the lustrous of the history in question. To really see, feel and experience the true dept of the history your looking at, you need to step off the path and dig about the back roads, when comparing the AP with the CP. It’s like night and day. The CP has been rebuilt and polished to a high shine. While the AP as been left raw within her state of disrepair. It’s apparently clear that what the general tourist wants to see is the polished glamour of what these palaces looked like "the amber room" with all its entire splendor. When visiting the CP one can actually see and feel that CP wasn’t just a home but a true Palace. Where as the AP was more raw in it’s charm. It was a working palace, even though it was more of a home than it was a palace. In comparison with the palaces that one would vision a King/Queen living in.
Also given the events of that happened within the AP that side of history is far less glamorous, than the events of what happened within the CP .It really comes down to the draw of the money.the CP has the draw where as the AP does not. But for those of us who are true history buffs. The AP and the events that went on within her walls are far more attractive  than any of the rooms within the CP that have been done over.

[dmitri]

You have raised many wonderful points. I think though that perhaps those of us with an interest in the last of the Romanovs who lived in the Alexander Palace are at times forgetful of the magnificent events that happened under earlier reigns in the Catherine Palace such as those of Empress Elizabeth and Empress Catherine II of the Great. Those were truly magnificent days and perhaps more important in the history of the Romanovs than those who lost such a great heritage.

[NAAOTMA]

The Alexander Palace, built by Catherine the Great for Alexander I, has historical importance with Imperial connotations through all subsequent reigns until the end of the Romanov dynasty. Ella, now a saint in the Russian Orthodox church, is linked to the palace through her rooms on the Navy side of the building. The palace itself is a gem like The Cottage at Peterhof. Most people visit the Grand Palace at Peterhof, with fewer numbers going to the Cottage. Perhaps one day a similar sort of situation will occur at in terms of a restored AP in its relation to the CP.

The AP as it is is more appealing to me in its current state than the Disneyland-like CP. But like everyone else who cares about the AP, my hope is that the roof and structual deficiencies are addressed ASAP.

In the autumn of 2006, the Singer building on Nevsky Prospect was in the process of having the Style Moderne ornaments restored to the building's facades. They had been ripped off, swept away as being decadent, after the Revolution. When I saw the restoration being done on the Singer buidling, I felt hope that the Maple Room might one day be treated with the same care. Time will tell.

[jessrosier]

I could very easily live in a house/palace like that. It is full of history and I would love to be able to spend just one night.

[pandora]

The colorized photo posted by the FA is beautiful and definitely brings life and personality to the room. I would enjoy seeing as many interior photos as possible in this same colorized fashion as I think it would help us to understand the Romanovs and their personalities - much can be revealed by a person's choice in decor and color palette. This room in color and style seems to embody the Victorian era Alexandra was raised in with the cluttered effect, bric-brac and especially the mauve color which of course was her favorite.