The Romanov Dynasty is still alive, although it may not be certain who the Tsar of Russia would be if they were still in power. Let's have a look back at the Romanovs and their magnificent capital city of St. Petersburg.
Although the Communists, who replaced the Romanovs in 1917, moved the capital back to Moscow and renamed St. Petersburg as Leningrad today the name of the city has been restored to St. Petersburg, Vladimir Putin is from St. Petersburg, and the Romanov flag has replaced the Communist flag.
The city of St. Petersburg was founded, in the early 18th Century, by the Russian tsar known as Peter the Great. He was the grandson of the first ruler of the Romanov Dynasty, and this is where the Romanov leadership was based for over 200 years. The city was especially built, by forced labor, to be the westward-facing capital of the country, with a seaport and naval base, and the capital was moved there from Moscow.
By the way, the city of St. Petersburg in Florida was named after this city. When on the trip to western Europe, known as the "Great Embassy", Peter the Great became friends with William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania. The name of Pennsylvania means "Penn's Woods". Maybe there should be a city in Pennsylvania named for St. Petersburg.
During the First World War the name of the city was changed to Petrograd, which sounds more Russian. After the Romanov Dynasty ended, and the Bolsheviks came to power, the name was changed to Leningrad in honor of Lenin. After the end of Communist leadership, the name was changed back to St. Petersburg.
An incredible volume of world history is packed into this city, considering that it was founded barely three hundred years ago.
This is the Peter and Paul Fortress, which is an original part of the city, located on an island in the river. The church with the very tall steeple is the Peter and Paul Cathedral, which is within the fortress. It is where most of the Romanov rulers are buried.
There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move onto the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >. After clicking the up arrow you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.
https://www.google.com/maps/@59.9506425,30.3173665,3a,75y,209.68h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-sjdLyXppAzA%2FV0smK827UwI%2FAAAAAAAABYI%2FUc-KDxOXxSoWcuP5YkNgon3a_n_7CBOmgCJkC!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh6.googleusercontent.com%2F-sjdLyXppAzA%2FV0smK827UwI%2FAAAAAAAABYI%2FUc-KDxOXxSoWcuP5YkNgon3a_n_7CBOmgCJkC%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi0-ya316.92538-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i9728!8i4864
https://www.google.com/maps/@59.9393093,30.3167461,3a,75y,108.08h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-4LwlELB8V_o%2FVv76DpkqufI%2FAAAAAAAANn8%2F4s0QGeZ0VAc3rDnkTu8qqFHlsCkur_XfQCJkC!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2F-4LwlELB8V_o%2FVv76DpkqufI%2FAAAAAAAANn8%2F4s0QGeZ0VAc3rDnkTu8qqFHlsCkur_XfQCJkC%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya223.09868-ro0-fo100%2F!7i8704!8i4352
This is Kazan Cathedral, completed in 1811, with the colonnades in the front, facing the famous street called Nevsky Prospekt. There is also a Kazan Cathedral in Moscow, in Red Square.
https://www.google.com/maps/@59.9342662,30.3244542,3a,75y,279.77h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sNqdNZ729XdLFAFSDva7Zfw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DNqdNZ729XdLFAFSDva7Zfw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D288.96783%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
The most visible landmark in St. Petersburg is St. Isaac's Cathedral. This is a massive structure that resembles other great Baroque-era cathedrals, such as St. Peter's in the Vatican and St, Paul's in London. The young age of the city is seen in the fact that there are no Gothic cathedrals because it was only founded in the early 18th Century, long after the Gothic era. The Peter and Paul Cathedral, within the fortress of the same name, was the original cathedral of the city. St. Isaac's was built in the mid-19th Century.
https://www.google.com/maps/@59.933876,30.3059502,3a,75y,71.24h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-V1jJYg7htlU%2FVDkLy9rcnuI%2FAAAAAAAArws%2FOA6Zp31FOy4HewPLjNprc6D26_Ph8BT4gCLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh6.googleusercontent.com%2F-V1jJYg7htlU%2FVDkLy9rcnuI%2FAAAAAAAArws%2FOA6Zp31FOy4HewPLjNprc6D26_Ph8BT4gCLIB%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya57.868935-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i10240!8i5120
This is an Eastern Orthodox Cathedral, which closely resembles the iconic St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow, and is definitely not in the Baroque style of St. Isaac's and Kazan Cathedrals. The interior of this cathedral is rich iconography and golden halos typical of Eastern Orthodox churches. What is now the nearby Russian Museum used to be the Mikhailovsky Palace. The statue of the tsar riding a horse, at the adjacent Marble Palace, is Alexander II son and successor, Alexander III.
https://www.google.com/maps/@59.9401246,30.3287861,3a,75y,254.09h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-hxb3fc_E8n0%2FWI0S0iS0jpI%2FAAAAAAAADGc%2Fysan0isGEpc5ldRL7Ev8fZDImUhI4A5ZACLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh4.googleusercontent.com%2F-hxb3fc_E8n0%2FWI0S0iS0jpI%2FAAAAAAAADGc%2Fysan0isGEpc5ldRL7Ev8fZDImUhI4A5ZACLIB%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya207.35701-ro0-fo100%2F!7i8704!8i4352
There were several assassins, each armed with a bomb. The idea is that, if the first one didn't get the tsar when he passed by, the next one would. It was the second assassin who threw the fatal bomb after the tsar insisted on stopping to see what had happened when the first bomb exploded.
Thirty-three years later a group of Bosnians, looking to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, would use exactly the same technique. This is what began the First World War, as we saw in the posting on the World and Economics blog, "June 28, 1914, Assassination In Sarajevo":
Here are some scenes further down Nevsky Prospekt, which begins at Palace Square and the Admiralty Building, and might be the single most famous street in the world.
https://www.google.com/maps/@59.9315591,30.3572698,3a,75y,359.67h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sLnACM8U9Cnt4rwgD4qag7Q!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DLnACM8U9Cnt4rwgD4qag7Q%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D359.83426%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
This is around a complex known as the Smolny Convent. The river through the city is the Neva River.
https://www.google.com/maps/@59.9489299,30.3942011,3a,75y,77.7h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-99ayBvJWArI%2FV8Y1_xyRCFI%2FAAAAAAAAOqI%2FLKCIpljC8vQRAzI4WcvRYNM2hhx2IP3jgCLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh3.googleusercontent.com%2F-99ayBvJWArI%2FV8Y1_xyRCFI%2FAAAAAAAAOqI%2FLKCIpljC8vQRAzI4WcvRYNM2hhx2IP3jgCLIB%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi3.4415038-ya66.561714-ro8.1394615-fo100%2F!7i7776!8i3888
This is Trinity Cathedral, and the surrounding area. One is never far from a river or channel in St. Petersburg.
https://www.google.com/maps/@59.9159037,30.305624,3a,75y,41.83h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1srI-9hRvr4AraOysH3fvBcA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DrI-9hRvr4AraOysH3fvBcA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D24.16306%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
Here is the Narva Triumphal Gate, built to celebrate the victory over the forces of Napoleon. It very much resembles Napoleon's own victory arch in Paris, the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel.
This is Napoleon's Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, in Paris. Note the Chariot of Peace on the top.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arc_de_Triomphe_du_Carrousel#/media/File:Paris_-_Jardin_des_Tuileries_-_Arc_de_Triomphe_du_Carrousel_-_PA00085992_-_003.jpg
Here is the spectacular Naval Cathedral, located on Kronstadt Island just west of the city. If the interior of the cathedral looks somewhat familiar, it is because it is yet another great building that was modeled on the Hagia Sophia, which we saw in the posting on this blog, "The House Of Holy Wisdom, Where The Modern World Began". The cathedral was built in the early 20th Century, to replace an older church.
https://www.google.com/maps/@59.9916321,29.7779676,3a,75y,70.22h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-Zk8-QC3_rpI%2FV6Y87602XAI%2FAAAAAAAAAgc%2Fa_tm2rvjab8fYsedHeibAQx1nvScJ2ZBwCLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh6.googleusercontent.com%2F-Zk8-QC3_rpI%2FV6Y87602XAI%2FAAAAAAAAAgc%2Fa_tm2rvjab8fYsedHeibAQx1nvScJ2ZBwCLIB%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya143.28185-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i8704!8i4352
There are several Romanov-era palaces to the south and west of St. Petersburg. This is the Gatchina Palace.
https://www.google.com/maps/@59.5635741,30.1076581,3a,75y,113.25h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sGaet4ZHw_SUoWyVAeml_xQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DGaet4ZHw_SUoWyVAeml_xQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D130.29858%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
This is the Palace, built by Peter the Great and known as the Peterhof, that is reminiscent of Versailles.
https://www.google.com/maps/@59.8839581,29.9085106,3a,75y,103.57h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s1RGm3PwtRdhiDv7mZHZMMQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D1RGm3PwtRdhiDv7mZHZMMQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D115.682396%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
Here is the Catherine Palace, a summer residence of the Romanov tsars, to the south of St. Petersburg. It was began by Catherine I, the widow of Peter The Great who ruled after his death. It was also important to another Catherine, the later Catherine II who ruled during the heyday of the Romanov Dynasty, and is known as Catherine the Great.
She had been a German princess who was chosen as a bride for Peter III, a grandson of Peter the Great and Catherine I, and who did as much as anyone since Peter the Great to make Russia a great power. It was during her reign that the so-called Russian Enlightenment was going on, and Russia had settlements on the west coast of North America and in Hawaii.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Ross%2C_California#/media/File:FortRoss-chapel-reconstructed.jpg
Catherine was an avid art and antiquities collector, who began the vast museum complex known as the Hermitage which now includes the Winter Palace. The Winter Palace is on the right of the following photo.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermitage_Museum#/media/File:HermitageAcrossNeva-2.jpg
This is the Catherine Palace.
https://www.google.com/maps/@59.7157612,30.3963243,3a,75y,262.78h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sK5Vi7qHHJ2hmutRf9OGGlg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DK5Vi7qHHJ2hmutRf9OGGlg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D255.89497%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
Adjacent to the Catherine Palace is the smaller Alexander Palace. This was built by Catherine the Great for her grandson, who would rule as Alexander I and be credited with the victory over Napoleon. This was where the last of the tsars, Nicholas II, was born, his favorite residence during his rule, being considered as more secure than the Winter Palace in the center of St. Petersburg, and where he and his family would initially be held after his forced abdication in 1917.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Palace#/media/File:Alexander_palace.JPG
Ironically, the Romanov family would eventually be executed in the distant city of Yekaterinburg (or Ekaterinburg), the name of which means "The City of Catherine".
Catherine the Great would be succeeded by her son, Paul I. He was supposedly fascinated with knights and castles. So he built his own castle, St. Michael's Castle, where he felt safer than in any of the palaces, although he would be murdered in his castle soon after it was constructed in 1800.
Paul I was succeeded by his son, Alexander I. From that point on, all tsars would be named either Alexander or Nicholas. There would be three named Alexander, and two named Nicholas, before the end of the dynasty in 1917. Alexander II was supposedly the last tsar to actually live in the Winter Palace.
This is St. Michael's Castle, back in the center of St. Petersburg near the Winter Palace.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Michael%27s_Castle#/media/File:RUS-2016-Aerial-SPB-St_Michael%27s_Castle_02.jpg
A cannon on the warship Aurora fired a blank shot to announce the storming of the Winter Palace. The crew of the ship had joined the Bolsheviks, even though on the naval base on Kronstadt there would be a rebellion against them. This is the Aurora, now preserved as a museum, and the area around it. The Aurora is symbolic not of the Romanov Dynasty, but of it's overthrow in 1917.
https://www.google.com/maps/@59.9553884,30.3375124,3a,75y,69.12h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-oGH78BrRiOU%2FWEMXhocOeBI%2FAAAAAAAAHCY%2F96oaMaG22ewZdwZDD1D6uTQvcYNQOOV9ACLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh3.googleusercontent.com%2F-oGH78BrRiOU%2FWEMXhocOeBI%2FAAAAAAAAHCY%2F96oaMaG22ewZdwZDD1D6uTQvcYNQOOV9ACLIB%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya22.699348-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i8192!8i4096
But now, with the war making conditions worse, Nicholas was perceived, whether correctly or not, as utterly indifferent to the situation of the vast majority of the population. This indifference was perceived by Nicholas' enemies as going back to when nearly 1,400 people were crushed to death by the crowds at his coronation. Tsarina Alexandra had, by this time, been left effectively in charge of the country as Nicholas left to visit the battlefront. It was hoped that the abdication of Nicholas II would bring calm.
Kerensky and Lenin had been from the same hometown, and his father had once been Lenin's teacher.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ipatiev_House#/media/File:Ipatjew-Haus2.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Execution_of_the_Romanov_family#/media/File:Russian_Imperial_Family_1913.jpg
By this time civil war was raging between the Reds, which were the Bolsheviks, and everyone from the left and right who opposed them, and were collectively known as the Whites. The Reds would ultimately triumph, but the White forces were advancing closer to where the Romanov family was being housed in Yekaterinburg.
The Bolsheviks were concerned that the Whites would free the Romanov family, and then seek to use them to gain support from their remaining supporters, whether in Russia or abroad. The decision was made that the wisest course of action would be to just kill them. There are so many conflicting reports about what follows next that it is impossible to state with certainty whether or not it was Lenin who gave the order. Lenin's older brother had been executed for a plot to assassinate Alexander III, the son of Alexander II who was assassinated as described earlier.
The family was awakened at about 2 AM on July 17, 1917, and told that they were being moved again for their own safety. They were led into a semi-basement room in the house, and told to wait. Two chairs were brought in, at Tsarina Alexandra's request, and there was a single light bulb in the room. After a few minutes, a group of men with guns came into the room. A statement was read to Nicholas, informing him that they were being executed. The executioners opened fire.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Execution_of_the_Romanov_family#/media/File:Ipatyev_house_basement.jpg
Nicholas and Alexandra are reported to have died quickly. But the room was dark and dusty, and it was in the days before smokeless gunpowder, and many of the shots bounced off the walls and wounded some of the executioners. It turns out that the princesses had diamonds, and other jewels, secretly sewn into their clothing, and the bullets kept bouncing off these diamonds. Finally, the entire family was dead and their bodies were to be secretly disposed of, to prevent any supporters from making a shrine out of their graves or remains.
My understanding of the burials that have intrigued and mystified the world for a hundred years is that the bodies were disposed of in a mine shaft outside the city. The executioners then realized that the burial site was known and returned to dig up the bodies, and rebury them at a site several miles away. But the truck got stuck in mud, and they decided to lighten the load by burying two of the bodies by the side of the road there. The truck also seems to have carried railroad ties to cover the graves. After that burial, they then decided to just bury the rest there also, which were then buried in a mass grave that was separate from the first two.
Another story is that the bodies were buried in two separate graves so that, if either grave was ever found, it would not be thought that this was the Romanov family, because there were not enough bodies.
The White forces gained control of the area a short time later, and concluded that the bodies were cremated at the mine shaft, and that there was no reburial. Most people now see this as incorrect.
The skulls of most of the family had been smashed, to make identification still more difficult if ever found. I read one story that the princesses had earlier had measles, and a photo was taken of them with their heads shaved. That photo proved invaluable in reconstructing the skulls of each victim from the bone fragments.
The final graves might have remained secret forever, except that one of the executioners lived nearby and liked to talk about the episode to anyone who would listen. An amateur investigator managed to glean enough information to find the mass grave, but not the first two, in 1979. During the Gorbachev era, when society became more open, the find was revealed. The other grave, with the first two bodies, was also later found.
This is the complex of shrines for the Romanov family, outside Yekaterinburg. This is the site where the bodies were originally placed, not the final burial.
https://www.google.com/maps/@56.9422098,60.473259,3a,75y,77.87h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-OVk1Del1w3Y%2FV71N6nA5dfI%2FAAAAAAABMJ8%2FNWuZ5wIjJCMJMe9b7ofeLSgmRdQ-okRXgCLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh3.googleusercontent.com%2F-OVk1Del1w3Y%2FV71N6nA5dfI%2FAAAAAAABMJ8%2FNWuZ5wIjJCMJMe9b7ofeLSgmRdQ-okRXgCLIB%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya69.49863-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i8704!8i4352
The Ipatiev House, where they were held in their final days, was demolished in 1977. But a church has been built on the site.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ipatiev_House#/media/File:Yekaterinburg_cathedral_on_the_blood_2007.jpg
The Romanov Dynasty has been gone for a hundred years. There are a number of claims as to who would be the rightful tsar if it was restored today. But the Communist flag is also gone, and it is the Romanov flag that again flies over Russia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Russia#/media/File:Flag_of_Russia.svg
No comments:
Post a Comment