Russian Palaces

[Alexey 1904]

Princess Nadia: Carl Rossi must have been a wonderful architect to have turned a private citizen's home into a palace. Your descriptions of the area around the Emperor's palace are so vivid, I can almost imagine them in my mind. Count Elagin sounds like he was a caring individual who liked to share his wealth with the 'common people'. Reading about the oarsmen singing Russian songs reminded me of when I went to Venice years ago and was serenaded by happy Italians singing Italian songs. I look forward to any future posts of yours.

[Princess Nadia]

Thank you, Alexey

I am so glad that you and many other people are interested in Russian history!

[Warren]

Originally Posted by Al_bina

I have to say that Sergiyev Posad exudes an air of serenity and tranquility. If memory serves me right, it is the summer residence of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia

Trinity Lavra of St Sergius, Sergiyev Posad (70km NE of Moscow)

Constructed between the 15th and 19th centuries.
Ivan III built a church in 1476; the Assumption Cathedral was commissioned by Ivan the Terrible in 1559; Peter I twice found refuge within the monastery from his enemies; Empress Elizabeth visited annually with her 'secret spouse' Count Alexey Razumovsky; he commissioned a baroque church and she commissioned the 88-metre tall baroque belltower.

The monastery was closed in 1920, looted in 1930 (the Tsar-Bell of 65 tons was destroyed), and returned to the Russian Orthodox Church in 1945. The lavra continued as the seat of the Moscow Patriarchy until 1983, when the patriarch was allowed to settle at the Danilov Monastery in Moscow. The monastery is currently home to over 300 monks.

v Images courtesy Wikipedia, reproduced under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

[Al_bina]

Thanks for the information!
I visited Sergiyev Possad, which was named Zagorsk at the time, in 1983. I have lots of wonderful memories of this visit. I am surprised to learn that it is not the summer residence anymore.

[Burzg]

This is veyr big Palace , i always mix if they series next each other or 1 palace all
but i know is one palace right ?

[Warren]

It is a monastery complex built over a period of centuries and containing many different buildings and churches, just like the Kremlin in Moscow.

[sheikah deena]

this monastery really amazing and have wonderful old Architectural
really deserve to call this place WOW

[Grandduchess24]

So is the winter palace the biggest palace in Russia ?

I love peterhof, the winter palace, the Catherine palace they are just so regal as well as livadia.

[Romanov Princess]

Russia has the most beautiful palaces in the world

[AristoCat]

Originally Posted by Romanov Princess

Russia has the most beautiful palaces in the world

Completely agree; after all, they are all so glorious and you can tell the rulers put their all into building them into something so magnificent.

[CyrilVladisla]

The small drawing room in the Tsarina's apartment shows the influence of the Neo-Rococo Style. The main features are the combination of light colors (white, gold, and blue) and the original layout of the room around a central pillar.
The central pillar divides the transit area from what is called the Welcoming Corner.

The Yusupov Palace is a palace of Grandeur.
The ceilings are elegantly fancy.
The furnishings are of the utmost quality.

The St. George Room was named in honor of the Knights of St. George.

[Al_bina]

https://il-ducess.livejournal.com/377677.html

The above link contains photos of the Yusupov Palace Palace on the Moika river. Princess Zinaida Yusupova's portrait perfectly captures her stunning aristocratic beauty.

[Sun Lion]

Here are a few of the photos I took at the Winter Palace - sometimes referred to as the Imperial Hermitage, (the Hermitage being made up of four buildings).

The brown doors are made from tortoise shell.

An unbelievably beautiful place - much more beautiful internally than Versailles, though Versailles has the advantage of it's gardens and fountains.

The Winter Palace though, has the advantage of being just around the corner from Nevsky Prospekt, the big - long and wide - shopping street of Saint Petersburg.

But then the whole city of Saint Petersburg is one palace after another, and now a lot of them are in very good condition, or being worked, on thanks to the influx of International tourists. The Russians know what a jewel they have in this city. I fell in love with it.

And the river just on the other side of the Palace freezes for four months a year - yet is a major cargo corridor, so the ice-breakers have to go through each night.

And don't get caught on the wrong side, as the bridges close each night to let the shipping through all year round, and you won't be able to get home until the next day.

[Lady Nimue]

Where are the pictures, Sun Lion? Eagerly await.

I love your short travelogue snippets.

[Sun Lion]

Originally Posted by Lady Nimue

Where are the pictures, Sun Lion? Eagerly await.

I love your short travelogue snippets.

Hi Lady Nimue - hope you can see them now.

So hard to choose which photos to post, no single photo can convey the actual splendour of these places.

I took almost 17,000 snaps in total on my trip, and a lot of course have nothing "Royal" about them, but I did see many palaces and castles, so have an enormous supply to post if I can.

This is one place, the other being the Queen Mother's Castle of Mey, that was a real joy to see - thrilling even, it was so big, so beautiful, and it "Russianess" so exotic.

Hopefully I'll eventually get around to some of the others - saw the church where CP Mary was married, (I "follow" her), and where the twins were Christened, plus Amalienborg.

Even Skagen where M and her family sometimes holiday.

A lot of English, Scottish, Irish and Welsh castles.

Sweden's Royal Palace, a wonderful house in countryside Finland that the Russian Imperial Family used to holiday at, and which they could have escaped to, but they didn't think they were in danger at that time.

So many places I got to see, and wonderful guides everywhere with their stories and in some cases personal anecdotes.

It's lovely you're enjoying my snippets - I so didn't want to leave Europe - so many things that are so different to here in Oz.

[Lady Nimue]

Originally Posted by Sun Lion

Hi Lady Nimue - hope you can see them now.

Yes, I can, thank you. Lovely.

Originally Posted by Sun Lion

So hard to choose which photos to post, no single photo can convey the actual splendour of these places.

The little bit, and the personal nature of the pictures, more important.

Originally Posted by Sun Lion

This is one place, the other being the Queen Mother's Castle of Mey, that was a real joy to see - thrilling even, it was so big, so beautiful, and it "Russianess" so exotic.

"Russinaness" of the Castle of Mey? Explain, please.

Originally Posted by Sun Lion

Sweden's Royal Palace, a wonderful house in countryside Finland that the Russian Imperial Family used to holiday at, and which they could have escaped to, but they didn't think they were in danger at that time.

So sad. A different world had they survived, methinks.

Originally Posted by Sun Lion

So many places I got to see, and wonderful guides everywhere with their stories and in some cases personal anecdotes.

Would love too hear those stories! Hint! Hint!

Originally Posted by Sun Lion

It's lovely you're enjoying my snippets - I so didn't want to leave Europe - so many things that are so different to here in Oz.

I am. I wish you would go on in further depth, and at longer length. View that as an invitation, a prod.

[Iluvbertie]

Originally Posted by Lady Nimue

So sad. A different world had they survived, methinks.

I really doubt that. The revolution was already underway and the Bolsheviks would still have taken over when they did setting up the Communist regime.

The Civil War would still have happened - minus 5 major victims - and that is all that would have been different.

Add to the fact that they would have been targets for the Communists as threats to the regime - and the regime were good at killing their opponents outside the USSR as well as within it.

They would have been something like the Greeks - regarded as 'royal' by other royals but to the rest of the world an oddity.

[Sun Lion]

Will do Lady Nimue.

I know what you mean about "little bit" and "personal".

At Versailles I took a lot of photos of urns in the garden and birds sitting on ledges!

Some big shots too of course, but a lot of others on a more "manageable" and relatable scale.

You know you can't get in everything you're seeing and experiencing, so it's sometimes best to take a token photo of something unique or that you can touch - as a memory of being there.

[Al_bina]

Originally Posted by Sun Lion

Here are a few of the photos I took at the Winter Palace - sometimes referred to as the Imperial Hermitage, (the Hermitage being made up of four buildings).

The brown doors are made from tortoise shell.

An unbelievably beautiful place - much more beautiful internally than Versailles, though Versailles has the advantage of it's gardens and fountains.

The Winter Palace though, has the advantage of being just around the corner from Nevsky Prospekt, the big - long and wide - shopping street of Saint Petersburg.

But then the whole city of Saint Petersburg is one palace after another, and now a lot of them are in very good condition, or being worked, on thanks to the influx of International tourists. The Russians know what a jewel they have in this city. I fell in love with it.

And the river just on the other side of the Palace freezes for four months a year - yet is a major cargo corridor, so the ice-breakers have to go through each night.

And don't get caught on the wrong side, as the bridges close each night to let the shipping through all year round, and you won't be able to get home until the next day.

Thanks for the photos !
The Winter Palace is as majestic as I remember it. Based on your photos, I think that major restoration work on the Palace has been done.

[Lady Nimue]

Originally Posted by Sun Lion

Will do Lady Nimue.

I know what you mean about "little bit" and "personal".

At Versailles I took a lot of photos of urns in the garden and birds sitting on ledges!

Some big shots too of course, but a lot of others on a more "manageable" and relatable scale.

You know you can't get in everything you're seeing and experiencing, so it's sometimes best to take a token photo of something unique or that you can touch - as a memory of being there.

I await your stories with anticipation!

You didn't answer my query regarding your observation of the Castle of Mey.

"Russinaness" of the Castle of Mey? Explain, please.

Originally Posted by Iluvbertie

I really doubt that. The revolution was already underway and the Bolsheviks would still have taken over when they did setting up the Communist regime.

The Civil War would still have happened - minus 5 major victims - and that is all that would have been different.

Add to the fact that they would have been targets for the Communists as threats to the regime - and the regime were good at killing their opponents outside the USSR as well as within it.

They would have been something like the Greeks - regarded as 'royal' by other royals but to the rest of the world an oddity.

All true.

I think what I meant was that in human terms the Czar and Czarina would have made a great deal of difference to the Russian emigree community. It would have been a different world. An interesting 'maybe' to think through. An alternate history line.

You are also correct that something untoward may have been devised by the Soviets for the Czar, anyway. Alexis would have likely died young, too. No male issue. Line would have died out, but those girls may have married well.