Alexander Palace interiors

[BobAtchison]

Christine is right - Dmitri's rooms were in the Catherine Palace.  There are pictures of him in the rooms with the Empress.  They could have used Elizabeth's rooms if they needed to stay in the AP.

Bob

[Forum Admin]

Bob says that this identification is wrong. It is definitely not Tsarskoe Selo. It is probably either the Ropscha Palace or old palace at Livadia.

[Lisa]

So do I!

[londo954]

HELP...is there a key somewhere available that tells what the other rooms in the Palace were sued for?

[helenazar]

Bob (or anyone else who can answer this),

Last week I got back from St Petersburg and other Russian cities (The Golden Ring), where I of course visited The Alexander Palace and some other very interesting Romanov-related places. I have some good photos that I would like to share by posting them somewhere on this site for those who are interested to view. Would you please tell me if I can do that and how. I have some good pictures of Alexander Palace interiors, as well as the grounds, and among others I also have pictures of the inside of the Ipatiev monastery where the Romanov Dynasty "originated", as well some Rasputin-related places and many many others that could be of interest to the members. If anyone is interested in seeing these and hearing my account of the visit there, you can also contact me at my email address: mushkah@yahoo.com.

Helen

[BobAtchison]

Helen - write Rob with all the details and the photos so he can make a recent visits page for you...

Bob

[jfkhaos]

I am a new member and was wondering, if it hasn't already been covered, if anyone has any descriptions of Elizabeth's rooms in the palace.  I have seen them on the floorplan at The Alexander Palace Time Machine, but when would she have used them?  When was the last time she used them, and did they remain as she left them once Alexandra turned her away?  Thanks!

[meg kees]

I just returned from a trip to Russia last week and visisted the Alexander Palace. I took many photos, but I'm a digital newbie and it will be a while before I can share all of them.  Several things struck me during my visit to the Palace.  I was surprised how closely the family wing was located to the street, especially when you consider how exposed the family would have been on the balcony.  I always pictured it as being much more secluded and private.  This wing of the palace is also much smaller than I expected.  Perhaps it is because I had just been to the Catherine Palace and everything is small compare to that building! But, when I went inside the rooms were much smaller than I had pictured, especially the bedroom and the mauve room.  Considering the amount of furniture that was in the mauve room, it must have been very cluttered and homey despite the luxurious fabrics, furniture, ect.  Also, the interior stairs on each side of the entrance hall were open and I was able to stick my head inside and look up.  They had boxes and other things stacked on them and I couldn't see anything. Bob, do you know if the children used these stairs, or were they only for servents? There were some yellow and green tiles on the floor in this area that looked very old, possibly original?

[Mark_Byron]

Hi Meg!

A few weeks ago, Helen Azur shared her photos of her trip to Russia. Was very kind of her and I will look foward to seeing yours.

But there was one photo, I kept going back to.

Helen apparently stood in the street and took a pic of the AP gates leading into the property, and I was so surprised, like you were, that the palace was so close to the street! I had never seen that view and tried to piece together what security must have been like considering one could see the windows of the imperial wing from the street. I guess, in the long run, it didn't make a difference since the palace was surrounded by hundreds of guards.

Thanks for sharing your experiences at the AP.

Mark

[ron]

Meg,
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts. I've never been there, but have tried to piece together the layout,dimensions...etc.  I thought it must be small, rooms strangely  arranged, close to the street.  Can you imagine if government ministers came/went - so close
to the Empress's rooms?  Candid comments - are the attempts to recreate successful??
ron

[Donny]

Yes, the Imperial Wing is very close to the street.

The building where the food was prepared for the Imperial family was actually right next to the street and sidewalk and the cooks were allowed to sell to  the public the extra food that the Tsarist family did not eat.

That way the servants could make a little extra money on the side.

[Mark_Byron]

Meg:

In Robert  Massie's N & A, he describes on page 113, security at the Alexander Palace. Massie mentions when Nicholas could look out his window at anytime and could see a posted guard. So now, I can feel, after seeing Helen's pic ( and what you must have seen) what Alexandra felt when she looked out the window during the revolution with Lili? waiting for Nicholas after the abdication and realizing the guards had deserted. There was no one at those once so heavily guarded gates.

[Donny]

Mark, Meg ..........

One thing to keep in mind is that there were several hundred years wherein the people of Russia  very much loved and admired  the Tsars and their families. The Tsars felt somewhat close to the people.

The Tsars felt that they did not have to fear the people of Russia.

All of this changed after the French Revolution when one Tsar was killed.  After that the  Imperial Dynasty began a long slow decline, until the day when they no longer existed.

[Dashkova]

I believe it was before the French Revolution that a tsar was killed. Many problems came from within the ruling house itself.  Look at Peter III, for instance.

As to how fond the Russian people were of the tsar, I do not believe this was truly the case.  When a population is kept ignorant and in poverty almost beyond imagination, with no real hope of improvement, many people were too ignorant and/or frightened to behave in any other way but adoration (which is more related to fear than admiration).

Even when the Social Revolutionaries went out into the countryside to incite the peasants, the people refused. It was not out of love or respect for the tsar. It was fear. Anyone who has read even a little about the lives and circumstances of 90 percent of the population before the Bolshevik revolution can understand what wretched lives those people endured.

And it was most likely out of ignorance on the part of the tsar to suppose for even a moment that the people felt actual love and appreciation for him and his regime.

"God is in his heaven and the Tsar is far away" about sums it up.

[Dashkova]

  Candid comments - are the attempts to recreate successful??
ron[/quote]


I was just there about ten days ago myself. The staff and management of the AP are doing the best they can with what they have, but I do not think the recreation is terribly successful. I realize it would be (and will be eventually) much better.  For me, the best part was the grounds of the palace.

The rooms are very close to the street, and I had always envisioned the Mauve room as being much more private. In fact, I still can't help but wonder if the rooms that have been somewhat recreated are arranged more for tourist convenience than what actually existed.

Apparently they are in their original position. It was not what I expected, but I will be very happy when more work has been done and more rooms can be opened up. I am planning to go next summer on an Art and Architecture seminar for six weeks, which will allow me to be more scholar than tourist, so maybe I will see more of the rooms. Who knows!

The AP is still well worth the visit, and was my favorite site visited while I was in Petersburg.