Children's Island

[helenazar]

Strange that the graffiti is foreign. Tourists perhaps?

Actually, you see graffitywritten in foreign languages, including English all over town, and with some of it you can tell that non native speakers wrote it. I am pretty sure it's not tourists but the locals, if only for the fact that to get to the Children's Island in order to write on the house you would have to have a boat or swim there, and you never see tourists swimming in those canals  . Although you never know .

[Jack_Johnson]

Thank you all for the pictures and information on the Children's Island. It always baffles me how much you know. Scott, thanks for those gorgeous photos of the playhouse up close, though it added to the sad thought of the island being so uncared for.

[eval]

I have a question.

Has anyone read about the tsar children´s activities in the playhouse on the children´s island in the family letters sent to family members or in the family diaries? I more or less take for granted that there is no pictures taken of the tsar children in or around the playhouse.
/eval

[Baby_Tsarevich]

I though i would start this thread up again, the playhouse subject is rather interesting one.
I remember seeing a few photographs of the children on the island some years back, but can't seem to find them. If anyone has any can they please post, or if there's any new pictures of recent visits?

-Anya.

[Robby]

I though i would start this thread up again, the playhouse subject is rather interesting one.
I remember seeing a few photographs of the children on the island some years back, but can't seem to find them. If anyone has any can they please post, or if there's any new pictures of recent visits?

-Anya.

Indeed Vera, I'm also interested how it looks nowadays.

[helenazar]

I bet it looks almost exactly as it did last year (see photos above) -  maybe slightly more delapidated  .

[Olishka~ Pincess]

 On the picture on page 4.  I think it do look exactly as it did last year. Its a shame to see it in bad condition. I was looking at the pictures of the childrens island. I was sad to see the grand duchesses children's island was damaged and  graffiti written. It look like the place been abandoned for 90 years. Its sad nobody have been taken care of the island or Alexander palace. I wonder how it look inside of the childrens island. I think today the grand duchesses are being disrespected even though their dead. People doing graffiti all over their chidren's island. Why are the boards placed up on the entance? 

[Baby_Tsarevich]

Maybe the door was stolen or ripped out or something?

Does anyone know if any pictures exist of the playhouse interiors? from the romanov days?

[Kaie Karadjordjevic]

 I also would love to see new present and past photos,it looks like a magical place, even overgrown, I am sad about the graffiti and vandalism though, some people do not respect history

[ChristineM]

The windows and doors are boarded up to prevent vandals accessing the house.   The interior is littered with broken - usually vodka - bottles, all sorts of rubbish and graffiti covers the walls.   The terrace was removed a few years ago - again due to vandalism.

The fact that the house is on an island is a bit of a disinsentive to the vandals, although its easy enough to swim across in summer and walk or skate across in winter.

It is virtually impossible for Tsarskoe Selo Museum authorities to guard the Children's House 24 hours a day.   Over the years there have been a number of people who have tried to stimulate interest in funding the restoration of the house.   I have discussed this with the Director of TSM and he explained his problem.

There are a number of military colleges and barracks in and around the town of Pushkin.   Hundreds, if not thousands, of disaffected young conscripts from all over the Russian Federation come here for training.   Unfortunatley sometimes the Parks and buildings within the Parks are targets for their frustrations.

tsaria

PS:   Detski Dom (Children's House has its own telephone number of the CAtherine Palace switchboard!)

[Baby_Tsarevich]

Why would it have it's own phone number? When was the last time someone was there?
Is it possible the make the Alexandra Palace grounds private? So no one can really enter without
paying admission to the museum?

-Anya

[Pippilin]

I was in Tsarskoe Selo this past September and sad to say, the Children's Island is still overgrown and the playhouse looks no better ( though not much worse ) than it does in Scott's 2005 pictures above. 
It would be very expensive for the State Museum to prevent free access to the Alexander Park.  It is HUGE and it is wild ( as opposed to the Catherine Park which is perfectly manicured ), and, in places, it is like a forest where a wolf might poke its head out from behind a fir tree. I think that Nicholas liked it that way. There are numerous entrances into the park and the townspeople use the paths to get from one side of town to the other.
So many problems to solve at the AP!

[Baby_Tsarevich]

Thanks for the info, I want to visit there so badly, might be going this summer.
Did you take any pictures?

-anya

[Geglov2-3]

http://pushkin-history.info/fotoalbom/8098.html

Остров доброго Саши. Открытка начало XX века.
Island kind Sashi. A card the beginning of XX century.

[ChristineM]

Isn't it amazing the piers have survived.

Lovely photograph, thanks.

tsaria