The night of July 16-17, 1918 a sad anniversary.

The First World War saw the collapse of four great Empires, one of which was the Russian Empire ruled by the Romanov Family for more than 300 years. Little did Tsar Nicholas II realise what would happen just a few years into the future to his dynasty, his family and his country.

He had been forced to abdicate by his generals in February 1917, the war for Russia was a total disaster. He returned to the Alexander Palace in Tsarkoe Selo just outside St-Petersburg to be with his wife and children. The Provisional Government had them arrested and sent into exile to various cities in Eastern Russia. At first there exile was benign but in April 1917 Lenin with the help of the German Government was able to return to Russia and there he overthrew the Provisional Government by staging a coup which turned into a 10 year Civil War. Lenin ended the war with Germany and Austria by giving away considerable amounts of land to the enemies. The Tsar and his family were then moved to Yekaterinburg to the Ipatiev House. Nicholas had real fears that with Lenin and the Bolsheviks now in power his family chance of survival were slim. His son Alexis was also serious ill and dying from the results of his haemophiliac condition.  His daughters Tatiana, Anastasia, Olga and Maria were harassed by the guards constantly. The family was on army rations and life was bleak in general.

On the night of 16 to 17 July 1918 the White Army faithful to the Tsar was fast approaching Yekaterinburg and the Bolsheviks had received orders from Lenin in Moscow to eliminated the family and its servants to prevent their liberation.

The Tsar and his wife Alexandra where woken up and told to prepare the family to move out quickly given the approach of the White Army. The family was told to move to the cellar for a group photo before departure. Alexis had to be carried down by his father and the Tsarina who was partially paralysed moved with great difficulty. The servants including the family doctor were also ask to go to the cellar.

Suddenly a group of 8 or 11 men entered the room and without further ado the Tsar was told that he and his family had been declared by Lenin and the Bolshevik government to be Enemies of the Proletariat. Without time to reply the Tsar holding his son in his arms was shot. The rest of the party was then also shot panic ensued given that the bullets in the small cellar ricocheted all over the place.
The Tsarina and her daughters had sown into their clothing 17 lbs of jewels and precious stones. The assailants finished them off with their bayonets.

The bodies where then severely mutilated and defaced, taken to a mine pit, doused with acid and set on fire. No one survived, a very detailed and complete report was sent to Lenin on what had happened, this document was kept in the secret archives of the Kremlin by the Soviets and was made public in 1991.

In 1977 the Ipatiev house was demolished on orders of the Central Committee in Moscow, it was attracting too much attention and it was feared that it might become a shrine. After the fall of Communism in 1991 serious investigation work was started and the remains located except for those of young Alexis and his sister Maria whose remains would only be found in 2007 with those of the family dog.  Extensive DNA testing was done and Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth II who is a close relative of the Romanov gave a sample of blood to help identification.
It was established with a very high degree of certainty and with further forensic evidence that indeed the remains where those of the Imperial Family and of their servants.

The Orthodox Church declared them to be Holy Martyrs and the Russian Government declared them to be victims of political violence. The Tsar and his family were never charged with any offence by the Bolsheviks nor were they ever tried for any crime of misdeed. They were simply eliminated for political reasons.

The rest of the Romanov family including the Empress Dowager Maria, mother of Tsar Nicholas fled Russia via the Black Sea where the British and Canadian War ships were sent to pick them all up. Many settled in France, Spain, Greece, Italy, Denmark, Canada and the USA.

Today on the site of the Ipatiev house stands a grand Memorial Church and every year at this time upwards of 70,000 people come for the Mass and processions in memory of the Tsar and his family as Holy Martyrs. The mine pit where the bodies were found is also now enclosed in an area of prayer and a chapel has been built on the site.

The Imperial family was re-buried in the Cathedral of St-Peter and St- Paul when President Boris Yelstin was in Office. He invited the Romanov Family and all the Grand Dukes to attend. Full military honours usually reserved for a Tsar where given, the coffins were flown on the Presidential Plane to St-Petersburg and an Honour Guard met and escorted the convoy to the Peter and Paul Fortress where the Imperial Mausoleum of all Romanov Tsars is located. The Funeral was broadcasted on State Television and the old Imperial Anthem was played. Yelstin wanted to break with the past and make amends for this great historical wrong. It is hoped that the Heir Tsarevitch Alexis and his sister the Grand Duchess Maria can join the rest of the family in the mausoleum soon.

Se website http://www.romanov-memorial.com

Crimea, Ukraine, Russia, then what?

During the Sochi Winter Olympics we were told by numerous officials that this was the symbol of the New Russia, post-USSR, modern dynamic etc... What we were really seeing was a bunch of modern buildings and infrastructure. Mentalities had not changed one Iota. Remember the Beijing Summer Olympics a few years ago. Well I was posted the that Communist Paradise from 2004-2007 and I saw how you can transform a city like Beijing by State Decree to impress the world with shiny new buildings and infrastructure this does not mean that attitude and government policy or general culture has changed. You can install new drapes and paint walls, you still have a derelict house.

Just a few days after the end of the Olympics it now seems we are back in the old Russia. President V. Putin decided that given event in the Ukraine he had to protect Russia's National Interests. Now Putin is playing to a National audience, his home base want a strong eternal Russia, the Mother Russia of Peter the Great or Ivan the terrible, it wants its Icons of its old past.

Putin has strong and influential supporters, the Orthodox Church in Moscow who wishes to control the Orthodox Church in the Ukraine, H.I.H Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, pretender to the Romanov throne and would be Tsarina and her son HIH Crown Prince George, Tsarevitch and Prince of Prussia, they are allied with the Church and can claim many monarchist who dream of a return to Imperial times, the Russian business elite who has grown rich with Putin, the Russian armed forces who feel they are regaining their old strength and part of the Russia people who are xenophobic and respond well to anti-Western propaganda.

Today the Communist Party of China and the President of the People's Republic of China came down on the side of Putin and Russia. This is why China was so quiet since the operation Crimea started. The Ukrainian Puppet and Moscow's man, President in exile Victor Ianoukovitch who is just over the border is also supporting all of Russia's moves. All his moves and words are stage manage by handlers in Moscow. Ianoukovitch is largely irrelevant now but useful nonetheless.

Why would Russia decide to occupy the Crimea? Well history should be our guide, first the city of Sebastopol where the Russian Navy is anchored was the creation of Tsarina Catherine II the Great in 1783. Before her Tsar Peter the Great at fought with much vigour the Ottoman Turks to get free access to the Black Sea. Historically the Crimea is part of the mythical greatness of Imperial Russia.
Of course the native people of the Crimea where the Tatars who lived under the Ottoman Turk rule until 1782 when Turkey lost the war against Imperial Russia and gave up the Crimea to Russia. Many Muslim Tatar fled to other parts of the Ottoman Empire, the Crimea was then populated with Russians, Ruthènes (Ukrainians) Moldaves and Germans.

Many Russian and Soviet leaders came from the Ukraine, Christianity entered Russian through Kiev 1000 years ago, the Kievian-Rus links go back centuries and have nothing to do with what Vladimir Putin wishes, he is simply using history as a guide.

There is also the question of the Ukraine of today compared to the Ukraine of 1946, the whole Western part was Poland, cities like Lviv were Polish not Ukrainian.  All this to say that the picture is a very confused one and not a simple black and white issue.

In 1954 under the rule of Nikita Krouchtchev, Crimea was given to the Socialist Republic of Ukraine.
A personal gift of the Secretary of the Communist Party to his adopted homeland Ukraine.

What is now emerging of this situation is that Russia had a very well prepared strategy to take over Crimea. A given sets of circumstances would trigger the deployment of Russian troops. While the world was looking at various events in and around Russia, Putin had given orders to prepare for this eventuality, supporting the then President and marginalized the Opposition groups. That NATO, the EU and the USA failed to see what was happening is not credible, they most probably knew but thought that it would probably not happen. It is now known and the US Congress is investigating, that the CIA had reported numerous times of the very real possibility of Russia taking over Crimea. But in an inter-governmental agency dispute the State Department ignored the reports and did not pass them along.

So we are presented with a fait accompli, the Russians have taken over Crimea, NATO has done very little despite the meetings and posturing. A resolution was passed by member countries. NATO could have asked Turkey a member State to close the Bosphorus to prevent Russian Navy ships to travel up to the Black Sea but it did not. The EU and Britain are not in favour of any economic sanctions, remembering that gas and other trade investments come from Russia. Germany and France prefer dialogue, the UK has done nothing to freeze assets so as not to anger President Putin. Everyone seems to be looking out for their economic interests.

The USA cannot do much either despite threats which are largely empty. Canada has huffed and puffed because our PM Harper is big on grand gesture always with an eye for the easy vote, in this case the Canadian-Ukrainian community in Saskatchewan. Our Foreign Minister Rusty Baird has made silly remarks about the Sudetenland and 1939 making a show of his ignorance and puffery.
Trade between Russia and Canada has increased from $1.5 billion a year to $4.5 billion in the last 3 years, a detail that seems to elude our PM and the Government. It would appear that Canada is not much interested in trade and more so in grand empty statements. It is well known that Putin has a profound dislike for Harper.

As for war, the media has gone on and on about it, really war with Russia? Is anyone serious? There is no chance of war between the USA and Russia, first because the public in the USA is not interested in Crimea or Ukraine after the adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan. But more importantly war between the 2 powers would mean a nuclear war or the end of the world. NATO has been careful not to mention war and the wording of its declaration has been more of denunciation than anything else.
The EU even Poland which borders Russia is not talking war, sanctions maybe.

No politician cares much for this situation because Ukraine is a bankrupt country with multiple socio- economic problems, Russia remains the main important trade partner. What EU politicians are carefully doing is a ballet, giving one message to the masses in their respective countries to respond to their concerns over Human rights etc... but on the other hand carefully manage the fall-out with Russia to protect economic interests.

President Putin knows that the West is not going to do much beyond talking, he has carefully assessed past situations. He knows that he is still required to provide support to the EU and USA for the situation in Syria and Iran. So it is important not to alienate him otherwise those situations could drag on and become more complex than they are now. Just on the question of Iran, PM Netanyahu of Israël was making noises today while the world is busy with the crisis in Crimea.

The public also knows little about the new Government in Ukraine, though the various EU governments and politicians know probably more. There are some extreme elements in the group and some discredited Ukrainian politicians like Ioulia Timoshenko who was released from jail a few days ago, she certainly is not a unifying voice in Ukraine.

Will we discover later that the Ukrainian opposition are not partners with whom we wish to engage politically? Is Putin right in describing them as ultra-Nationalist and Fascists? His pronouncement are based on local history and how history is viewed and understood there. We cannot fall in the trap of deciding that Putin and Russia is wrong and all they say is merely propaganda to be dismissed. We too are often played for fools by our own politicians and media outlets.

Latest story today was that the EU was ready to concede the annexation of Crimea to Russia simply to buy peace and get guarantees that Putin will not try to annex the Eastern part of Ukraine. Stay tuned to see where this situation will go nowhere. Other developments reported by the magazine FP
mentions a private conversation between Catherine Ashton, EU Foreign Minister and Urmas Praet Estonia's Foreign Minister, they spoke on the phone and it was revealed that the sniper in Kiev who was responsible for most deaths is believed to be on the pay of the Opposition now in power.
Baroness Ashton was surprised to learn this from Urmas Praet who informed her that the Opposition now forming the new Government does not want the matter of the sniper to be investigated. Baroness Ashton simply said, neither do we. Could Putin be right, Kiev has been taken over by ultra-Nationalists and other extreme right groups but in the continuous East-West dispute we refuse to believe a word he is saying.

I want to offer my own solution to this crisis, since a lot of the power of the Russian Government stands at the moment on Oil and Gas and the enormous revenue it gives Russia, why not weaken Putin by attacking Oil and Gas revenues. Canada has lots of oil and gas and nowhere to send it. Why not offer energy contracts to the EU as a safe and reliable supplier.  It could be shipped directly from Canada's East Coast to Europe, no need for the Keystone XL Pipeline which is dead in the water at this time.

Canada by becoming the supplier of energy to Europe could help make Putin feel insecure. The Russian threat to cut-off shipments of oil and gas to Europe would vanish. A potential energy weapon which would force Putin to be far more agreeable once he has less money coming into his coffers.
It would enhance Canadian trade and increase our world profile.

Robert K. Massie

Robert Massie is a great storyteller and a Pulitzer prize winner. He is 83 years old now and is latest book on Tsarina Catherine II of Russia (1729-1796) is a masterpiece, entitled Catherine the Great, the portrait of a woman.

In this portrait the Empress wears the orders of St-George and the great collar of St-Andrew. Both Imperial orders are still given today in modern Russia.

Previously Massie wrote about Peter the Great who is the founder-creator of St-Petersburg and modernizer of the Russian army and founder of the Russian Navy. Catherine a German Princess, whose birth name was Sophia Fredericka Augusta Von Anhalt-Zerbst, who came to Russia from her father's estate North-East of Berlin at 14 years old to be engaged to Peter's grandson Peter III (1728-1762), himself a child at the time, raised in Holstein, a very Prussian Prince, who suffered from serious psychological problems due to his being physically abused by his tutors after his parents death.

Her job as it was explained to her by Tsarina Elizabeth was to produce an heir for the Russian throne. Enormous pressures where put on her and Peter III to produce that heir. That she did not become mad herself in the stifling almost prison like atmosphere of the Imperial Court is almost a miracle. When she did produce a male heir Paul I (1754-1801), the newborn was taken away from her immediately upon being delivered and taken to the apartment of Empress Elizabeth, she would see her son only sporadically and from a distance.

              Tsar Paul I will reign only 6 months before being murdered in his bed by his generals. He angered far too many people and was not politically very savy. He wears the green jacket of the Life Guard.

Tsar Peter III who will be murdered by his wife's lover after a short reign, he was seen as an agent of Prussia. In this coronation official painting Peter wears a Prussian uniform.

Massie writes an extremely interesting book rich in details on Catherine II and examines the personalities of the other Kings and Emperors around Europe as well as the people at Court in St-Petersburg and life inside the Winter Palace. The reader is drawn into the story, you want to know more. The correspondence of Catherine II and of the people who came in contact with her also serves as abundant reference giving an intimate look at the people and their way of thinking. The murder of her husband Peter III by the Orlov brothers who will propel her on the throne and the murder of Tsar Ivan VI who was known State Prisoner no.1 shortly thereafter on orders of her Prime Minister Nikita Panin. Poor Ivan had been a prisoner since birth on the orders of Tsarina Elizabeth, shows that the male line of the Romanov family actually ended with the death of these two men. Catherine II son Tsar Paul I was in fact the son of her first lover, the diplomat Saltykov, all this arranged to secure the dynastic line at all cost. Frederick II the Great of Prussia played an important role in ensuring the future of the Russian Imperial Family by supplying German Princesses of the Holstein-Gottorp family.

Massie examines the story of her 12 lovers, mostly pretty boys from the Guard Regiment who spoke French and could amuse Catherine. All supplied by two former favorites Prince Grigory Orlov who murdered Catherine's husband Tsar Peter III and by Prince Grigory Potemkin who became vice-ruler of Russia and who is thought to have been her secret husband.  The book also details her great work to reform and develop Russia along modern European lines in the age of Enlightenment. Needless to say a very complicated and very human story.

It is difficult for ordinary mortals who live in the modern age to understand a woman like Catherine II. She was an autocrat in an age of absolute rulers, we are very far from our world. Massie tries hard to explain that we as readers must make an effort to see her world as very different from ours. The idea of political and social stability in the largest country in the world was paramount and may in many cases involve what we would think today as cruel or unjust decisions or punishments, but in this case necessary since no other solutions were available at that time. Massie has one chapter on the NAKAZ or great political and social reforms Catherine tried to introduce by convening an Estate General of all classes of Russian Society well before such a thing would be done in France or anywhere else in Europe or America. She quickly realized after 18 months of conferences that you cannot impose change on an illiterate people. Though she opened the way for reforms which her successors Alexander I and Alexander II, the Tsar Liberator will bring forth and many other important reforms of course will appear too late in 1905 and in 1917.

After our visit in June of St-Petersburg and Tsarkoe Selo reading this book brings more understanding to it all. One cannot but be impressed with the will of Catherine II an educated and intelligent women to reform and advance her country on many fronts at once.

                               Tsar Peter the Great, wearing the green jacket of the regiment he created the Life guard who today are the Presidential guards at the Kremlin. Today the guard wear the updated uniform of 1812.

The other great book of Massie is on Peter the Great (1672-1725), the modernizer who took Russia screaming and kicking into a European mold. The life of Peter was just as dramatic as that of his future successor Catherine II. Both can be considered the creators and founders of the Hermitage museum at the Winter Palace, being avid collectors of art. Peter's childhood was marked by dark conspiracies amongst the Boyars and Orthodox Church clergy and as a young child, he witnessed a massacre of State Councillors and family relatives in the Kremlin by body guards gone mad. An event of blood and gore which lasted 3 days, he will never forget these terrible events and will live in fear of conspiracies and plots. Peter is described as being extraordinarily tall for his time, at 6.5 feet tall, with a pronounced nervous twitch on his left side and famous for being moody, cruel and having violent rages but also a man who gave Russia its current flag modelled on the Dutch flag by simply reversing the design, a student of all things modern during his life time, curious and intelligent and surrounding himself with equally intelligent and talented people most of whom came from Western Europe. This all powerful autocrat was greatly feared and admired. He is tragically remembered for ordering the arrest which lead to the death of his only son for reasons of State.
Again a difficult concept for us to understand in a modern setting given that ''la raison d'Etat'' is never invoke nowadays. Peter was also involved in the 20 year war against Sweden and Charles XII which led to Russia taking the Baltic States from Sweden and establishing Russia as a world power. Massie also devotes passages of the book to the difficult relationship between the Tsar and the old Orthodox believers who were very xenophobic and constantly agitating for a return to isolation from Western influences. Peter instigated a policy of tolerance and protection of other Christian religions, he is described as a moderate in matters of religion and had apparently a good singing voice participating in the Choir at religious services.

We visited Peterhof his summer palace just outside St-Petersburg and the small house called Mon Plaisir which he built himself. Had it not been for Peter and Catherine, one wonders where Russia would be today, how would it have evolved, certainly there would be no St-Petersburg.

If you have the energy to read such huge books, it is well worth it, the wealth of details brings the subjects alive and give you a better understanding of Russia and the Romanov legacy. In 2013 the Russian State will celebrate the 400th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty.

         

Peterhof and the Winter Palace, Russia

On this trip to Northern Europe to 59.58 degrees North, the sun never sets before 22.58 in the evening which is very late by our standard living on the 49 parallel to the South where the Sun in June sets around 20.00 It never becomes fully dark up here, there is always on the horizon this white light. During our stay in St-Petersburg and last night has we sailed out of the harbour and up the channel to the open sea, there were dark clouds and some rain and strong winds, so the sky was much darker but still this light in the background allowing you to see, when normally in the South you would see nothing but pitch darkness.

Former headquarters of Carl Faberge, just 2 blocks from the Winter Palace, the name is still on the building in gold letters.

Our second day in St-Petersburg started with menacing clouds and a hint that the rain was not far off. We drove out of the City first by going around the major streets around the Winter Palace and the Admiralty, passing in front of several well known buildings, like the old Faberge building where Carl Faberge for years supplied jewellery to the Tsar and his family and designed those famous Easter Eggs, until the revolution when he was forced out of Russia and his company and contents were confiscated. We also drove past the Yussoupof Palace where Rasputin was killed by a group of conspirators who were trying to protect the Imperial family from his nefarious influence. Prince Yussoupof went into exile at the time of the revolution, becoming famous in Paris after writing of that fateful night. After the revolution many Russian aristocrats we were able to flee established in France, it was common to hear of Russian Officers who had become taxi drivers, the more prominent members of the Imperial family found refuge in England, Denmark and Spain where the Royal families of those countries offered them refuge. The palace rooms and cellar where the events of that night unfolded can be visited today, it is a big draw.

 Prince Felix Youssoupoff (1887-1967) Palace in St-Petersburg, it is so big I could not fit it in my camera lense. The canal in front is where Rasputin body was dumped on 30 December 1916.

We also passed in front of other churches like the Church of Our Lady of Kazan which resembles St-Peter in Rome.

The trip to Peterhof, the summer residence of Peter the Great is about one hour by car, it very much depends on the traffic. On the way to the Palace we saw another palace called by the locals Putinhof, it is the former summer palace of Grand Duke Constantine. The Palace was badly damaged during the second world war and then abandoned, until one day when Vladimir Putin wanted to establish an official Presidential Palace in St-Petersburg and he ordered the complete rehabilitation and reconstruction of this palace which now stands in an immense park on the sea outside of the city. It is used mainly by the Russian President when he is holding official functions or when important guests of the State are visiting Russia. Amazing what political will can do.

The front of Peterhof Palace as you arrive. Partial view. 

The great cascade at the rear of the palace facing the sea with all the gold statues.

another area of the garden in Peterhof with more fountains.

the rotating sun dial fountain and pool at Peterhof used in later years by Catherine II the Great as a pool for herself of course.

Peterhof was both a Palace for the Tsar Peter and his wife Catherine I, a simple peasant girl who did good. Paintings of her shows a rather plain looking woman with intelligent eyes who was much loved by Peter and who apparently knew how to handle him when he fell into one of his darker moments.

Peter also had other smaller pavilions built in the park of the palace and a manor by the seashore copied from a Dutch manor he had seen in The Netherlands. It is known that Tsar Peter worked on the design and interior decoration which is very faithful to what you would see in Holland.

The Dutch mansion designed by Peter the Great on the seashore when he wanted to get away.

However the most spectacular aspect of Peterhof is not the buildings but the great fountains. There are four such fountains. One is the famous baroque fountain of Samson and the lion which is set like a giant staircase cascading down from the main Palace to the canal below. All the many statues at different levels of this staircase are double gilded with gold, important to remember this is not gold paint but real gold, the giant statue of Samson represents Russia and the Lion is defeated Sweden. This fountain group is a celebration of the victory of the Russian army against Sweden at Poltava a war that lasted almost 20 years and established Russia as a world power.

At 11 O'clock every day in summer only, the fountains are turned on with great fanfare majestic music. It is interesting to note that only gravity activates the fountains there are no mechanical devices, as water comes from a giant cistern situated above the site, water rushes through ever narrowing pipes and then burst forth. All the water then cascades down into canals and streams in the forested park creating a idyllic setting.

Another feature of the park is the many tricked water traps, a park bench will suddenly gush with water jets drenching anyone sitting down. Or a park pathway will suddenly spurt water on passers by from every direction or a stone path outside one of the pavilions will become a shower of water. All this was built so that Peter could have a good laugh at his unsuspecting guests. These water traps are activated by a simple lever which can be activated by a simple twist of the wrist.

Peterhof is a real delight and again the Russian government worked hard at rebuilding it after the devastation of the Second World War. All the gold statues were stored in a secret hideaway during the war, except for the giant statue of Samson which disappeared and what you see today is a copy.

We had a very nice meal in the Orangerie of the Palace and the rain did not dampen our enthusiasm for the place. One other spectacular fountain is a giant pool with a rotaring copper Sun spurting rays of water as it rotates, again activated by the force of the water and gravity. This pool is said to have been a favorite of Catherine II the Great who use to come to Peterhof to swim.

On our return to the City our next stop was the Winter Palace and the Hermitage museum. Many people confused the Winter Palace and the Hermitage not understanding that the complex is several buildings. You have the Winter Palace which was the Official City Residence of the Tsar and his family and the Hermitage which was a private museum for the Tsar dedicated to his private enjoyment, meaning not open to the public. The Hermitage as the word implies is a retreat, a secluded place for the Sovereign to enjoy quietly this vast art collection. I have difficulty imagining one person going from one vast room to another alone admiring in complete silence these numerous master pieces.

Catherine II the Great would say that only her and the mice enjoyed the Hermitage and this was literally true.

The Hermitage was a private museum to house the collections of the Tsar and Tsarina. Imagine being the ruler and wandering alone in those great rooms.

The museum contains 3 million pieces of art. The best time to visit the Hermitage is January and February when next to no one comes to St-Petersburg. Unfortunately for us we arrived at the museum with 6 buses of Chinese tourists, it felt like the entire Chinese nation had descended on the museum. A very unpleasant experience. We opted for a visit to the gallery of Flemish painters and then the private and State Rooms of the Winter Palace so to avoid the worst of the hordes of tourists. It is interesting to note that no room is like any other room, all are lavishly decorated with the most extravagant materials. The art collection is very impressive and extensive an addition to the imposing decor. We can thank Peter the Great and Catherine II the Great for most of the collection we see today, both were avid collectors and it is said they were also shrewd business people, never paying the full price.

every room in the Hermitage is more splendid than the other.

The private apartments of Tsar Nicholas and his wife Empress Alexandra where the only ones damaged and looted during the storming of the Winter Palace in February 1917. Apparently the leadership of the revolution did not want the Winter Palace damaged nor the Hermitage collection vandalized so those parts of the palace where closed off. We did see the private library of Tsar Nicholas a beautiful wood panelled room in Gothic style very similar to the style used in Ottawa in the Parliament buildings. His library was used by the Provisional Government and preserved as is. As for the other rooms used by the family today they are empty or furniture from other palaces are on display. Strangely enough a long gallery with the life sized oil portraits of all the Romanov Tsars of Russia and Grand Dukes was preserved as was another gallery containing 350 oil portraits of all the great Czarist generals, the reason in this case, they were war heroes who had liberated mother Russia from the evil invaders.

The throne room in the Winter Palace an immense room all in white marble and gold.

The detail of the room housing the giant gold peacock clock, it still keeps time to this day.

The grand staircase of the Ambassadors reserved for persons coming to meet the Tsar.

one of the many reception rooms in the Winter Palace.

I would love to return to St-Petersburg to visit the Hermitage in January without the crowds.

Finally the last stop of our visit was the Church of the Resurrection also known as the Church of the Spilled blood, this refers to the assassination on 1 March 1881 of Tsar Alexander II by a group of terrorists. The church is a monument to the life of the Tsar Liberator as Alexander II is known. Historians now believe that had the Tsar not died on that day, the revolution might have been averted in 1917 as his reforms would have led to a Constitution. It is ironic in a way that this man was assassinated given all his many important reforms and good deeds during his life.

It is often thought in mainstream history that the Tsars were awful people or tyrants, however this is not so, the entire society in Russia was failing around the 1855 Crimean War. The bureaucracy was all powerful and as a whole Russia was still a feudal system. If anything went wrong the Tsar was blamed since he was an autocrat. A case in point, Nicholas II was seen as a tyrant when in fact he was a kind affectionate man, a Russophile and well educated. However he made one tragic mistake at the beginning of the First World War, seeing how badly his troops were doing, instead of replacing inept generals who were often family members or aristocratic families who had served faithfully the Romanov dynasty, he took personal charge of the command of the war and responsibility for what was happening, despite the fact the government tried to warn him of the dangers of such a move. He soon became the target of all the criticism and this in the end caused his downfall.

the walls are covered with mosaics not paintings, the floors are intricate coloured marble designs.

The Church of the Spilled blood is remarkable, the most lavish materials were used in its building, inside the walls are covered with giant mosaics representing the life of Christ, numerous great artists worked on this project. The spot where the Tsar died in the street is preserved with the original pavement covered by a granite and marble large canopy. The day we visited someone had placed a large flower bouquet, this area in the church is a shrine and cordoned off. The Tsar gate in front of the Altar is made of gold, silver and precious stones and the floor is inlaid marble. A large amount of rhodonite was also used, the red blood colour of this stone adds to the dramatic effect. On the outside the walls of the church are covered with several large tablets in granite and gold inlaid text describing the many accomplishments of Tsar Alexander II. During the Soviet period the church was nearly blown up by the communists because of what it symbolized and the inside was use as a warehouse. Today the church has been fully restored and cleaned and it is a jewel to see. Many Russians see it as a shrine to the Motherland.

the iconostasis wall in an orthodox church is in front of the Altar separating the priest from the participants. The Tsar Gate is made of precious metals and stones. The gate is open at the moment of consecration in the mass.

The shrine inside the church marking the spot where Tsar Alexander II died on the street.

Unfortunately we only had 2 full days in St-Petersburg and this is clearly not enough, there is so much more to see and appreciate. But we are happy with our first visit and with the many beautiful things we saw. It is also to the credit of the Russian Government who since 2000 has restored faithfully many important historical buildings employing hundreds of artisans in the process. We were also impressed with how clean the city was, Russians are respectful of the sites and even at Peterhof with the large crowds, we did not see one paper on the ground or discarded item anywhere.

We did go to the University Embankment to pet the heads of the bronze Griffons below the Egyptian sphinx, it is said that if you do this you will return to St-Petersburg.

St-Petersburg, Russia

No its not St-Petersburg, Florida, this is the city on the Neva River which is criss-crossed by canals and 60 other rivers, founded in May 1703 by Czar Peter the Great who was not a nice man, apparently. It was the capital of the Russian Empire until 1918 when Lenin and other assorted criminals and terrorists decided to return to Moscow, thank God they all are now on the thrash heap of history.

St-Petersburg is an important port on the eastern gulf of Finland, with a population of 5 million people.

We are taking a guided visit on recommendation from M.K. We are scheduled to visit the highlights of St-Petersburg over two days. Unfortunately there is so much on offer in this museum city and we will only have the opportunity to see a fraction of it, but we will make the most of it.

Our ship is docked on the English Embankment on the spot where the cruiser Aurora fired its guns to signal the uprising against the government of Russia in 1917. A very historical spot, from the deck I can see the Admiralty and the Winter Palace just 3 blocks away. The Palace of Grand Duke Vladimir and Kiril. There are many Grand Ducal Palaces near the Winter Palace. The Peter and Paul Fortress and the St-Isaac Cathedral, in the distance the cupola of the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ or also known as the Spilled blood in memory of assassinated Czar Alexander II, the church marks the spot of his murder by terrorists. The University Embankment is on the other side of the river with the Museum and Faculty of Fine Arts, the Palace of the first governor of St-Petersburg.

So you can say that we are truly in the centre of old St-Petersburg.

Alexander Palace in Tsarkoye Selo

We spent two days visiting the old Imperial Capital. On the first day our guide Julia came and got us. We drove to Tsarkoye Selo (Tsar Village) it is also known as Pushkin because it was in this village that the author Pushkin lived. Tsarkoye Selo is a village of grand imperial palaces and churches. Empress Catherine I wife of Peter the Great built her famous Catherine Palace, Empress Elizabeth later decided to change it and make it more splendid, the Great Catherine not liking the Russian baroque palace of her predecessor hired and Englishman, Cameron to build her a palace, very different and very English looking. In the meantime other palaces where built for other members of the Romanov Family. All set in beautiful immense parks with lakes and ponds, parks dotted with statues and pavilions and small hermitage, a word meaning a place of seclusion, where the ruler could be on his or her own away from the Court.

Catherine I Palace

Tsarkoye Selo is about 23 km from St-Petersburg and we took the old road or the only road set out by Peter the Great to get there. It is marked with marble stone markers at each kilometre. When you arrive at the village entrance a grand Egyptian portico greets you. The first palace is Alexander Palace which became the last home of the last Tsar Nicholas II and his family, it was also their prison for a few months until they were deported by Prime Minister Kerensky to Siberia before being murdered with their servants on the orders of Lenin.

All the gold you see in the Palaces is real gold.

The palace has been restored and so have the grounds, only 15 years ago it was a ruin. Tsarkoye Selo was occupied by the German and Spanish army during World War II and greatly damaged, the palaces were ruined. Alexander Palace is beautiful and full of sadness because of the events of 1917.

Gold trimmings with chinese silk embroidered on the walls, picture of Tsar Alexander I

We then proceeded down the street to the Catherine Palace, it is a marvel of gold and blue and white confection. It looks more like a marzipan fantasy cake than a palace. Photos show you what happened once the Nazi occupied the palace and the destruction they brought upon it. Including the disappearance of the famous Amber room, totally recreated today, it is a gem, a marvel to see. We spent several minutes looking at it and examining the room. It is forbidden to take any photos inside the Amber room.

We then went on to visit the small chapel of the Imperial Lyceum which was a school for boys of the Aristocracy, Pushkin was a student at that school.

Palace of the great Catherine II in English style.

Catherine II the Great, who was a German Princess from Stettin near Berlin, had very different taste and knew what she wanted, you could say she was imperious. We visited her office in a pavilion in the park of the palace. A group of Russian singers were there and performed a beautiful song for us, called Evening bells.

Vladimir Putin favorite restaurant, excellent food.

After all this walking we had lunch near by at the favourite restaurant of President V. Putin, they feature many dishes he likes and also complete menus of his birthday party. The cuisine is Russian and the food was wonderful. They also have a Russian orchestra with singers to entertain diners.

We returned to St-Petersburg and went to visit the St-Isaac Cathedral but on the way there we made a little detour to see a very special church in the garden of another palace of Catherine the Great, much ruined today however the small church of St-John the Forerunner survives intact.

This church stands on the exact spot, while she walked in her English garden, of the news of the defeat of the Ottoman Turkish fleet at the naval battle of Chesmen or Chesmenskaya. Again this building is pure fantasy all pink and white, looks very much like a big cake.

Chesmen Church 

Then on we went to St-Isaac Cathedral with its pure gold dome some 100 kg of it. The church is fronted by the bronze horseman figure of Peter the Great and at the plaza at the back the mounted statue of Tsar Nicholas I facing the city hall of St-Petersburg which is housed in the former palace of Princess Maria daughter of Tsar Nicholas I. On the side of the cathedral we saw the preparation of the opening of a new luxury hotel of the Four Seasons group which will is in the former grand palace of a noble family.

Tsar gate in St-Isaac Cathedral with lapis lazuli columns

The cathedral commemorates the victory and peace in Europe after the defeat of Napoleon. The huge red granite columns of the entrance of the church weigh 200 tons each. The church itself is all faced inside with intricate coloured marble and the Tsar gate in front of the Altar is aligned with malachite and lapis lazuli columns, the contrast of green and blue stone is striking. The architect a Frenchmen Auguste Montferrand. In fact this is one feature of St-Petersburg, the number of foreign architects, mostly Italians.

Malachite and lapis lazuli columns inside St-Isaac Cathedral

We also visited on the other side of the Neva river the Peter Paul Fortress and church where all the Romanov Tsars and family members are buried. This church also has a side chapel for the tombs of all the grand dukes. Recent burials have been those of the remains of Nicholas II and his wife Empress Alexandra, their children and servants, the Dowager Empress Maria, who died in Denmark, she was the mother of Tsar Nicholas and had escaped with several other family members with the help of the British Navy. The church is the history of the last 400 years of Russia. Peter the Great is buried there and so his Alexander II the Tsar Liberator who has a beautiful jasper coffin and his wife who has a rhodonite stone coffin. People bring flowers and many of the tombs had flowers including a 7 foot royal palm tree. At the back of the church several small tombs, those of the various governors of the Fortress who as a special honour are buried close to the Tsars they served. All recent funerals of the last 19 years of Romanov family members, have been Russian State Funerals. St-Petersburg is celebrating 400 years of the Romanov dynasty in 2013.

Peter and Paul Fortress Church where all the Romanov Imperial Family are buried

Jasper and rhodonite stone coffins of Tsar Alexander II and his wife

Burial chamber of the entire family of Tsar Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra and their children

It was a beautiful first day but also a tiring one, this city is full of treasures and our two day stop is simply not long enough, so we have to pace ourselves.