The English oak tree seen in the watercolour painted in 1917 by the Tsarevich Alexei's personal physician, Vladimir Derevenko (1879-1936), was greatly admired by the young heir.

The oak tree did not survive, but the Tsarskoye Selo Palace-Museum Preserve have announced plans to plant a new oak tree in the same spot of the Alexander Park.

Four oak trees, each of which are more than 200 years old have survived in the park. In early October, fifty acorns were gathered from the four trees and taken to the greenhouses where they will be seeded and raised.

The new tree will grace the park in a few years as part of the extensive restoration project of the Alexander Palace and the Private Garden.

© Royal Russia. 4 November, 2011

The home puppet theatre that once belonged to the Tsarevich Alexei Nikolayevich, son of Tsar Nicholas II, was presented to the Tsarskoye Selo State Museum-Preserve at the International Museum Forum on November 3rd in St. Petersburg.

Toy puppet theatres were very popular among children and adults alike in Russia in the early 20th century. The theatre belonging to the Tsarevich Alexei, is a little more than a cubic metre in size, and includes seven dolls. Each of the dolls is believed to represent various members of the Imperial family, as well as Margaretta Eagar and Grigorii Rasputin.

After the Russian Revolution the theatre was sent to the Central Toy Museum in Moscow. In 1945, the theatre was transferred to the Museum of Puppet Theatre, headed by Sergei Obratztsov. Just recently, the theatre was on display In the Children's Rooms of the Alexander Palace Exhibition which was held at Tsarskoye Selo from June to November of this year.

© Royal Russia. 3 November, 2011

Eighteen objects of cultural and historic value have been received by the Tsarskoye Selo State Museum-Preserve.

The items, dating from the 18th to the early 20th centuries, had been confiscated recently by Russian Customs and the Federal Security Service, and included icons, books, plates, pencil and cigarette cases, and boxes.

One of them, a decorative plate dating from the late 19th-early 20th century was once used as a presentation dish in the Alexander Palace.

Two anatomy books, dated 1904-05, are similar to those used by the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and her daughters when they studied nursing in 1915.

Some of the objects belonged to Russian army officers, and will be sent to the First World War Museum at Tsarskoye Selo.

© Tsarskoye Selo State Museum-Preserve. 2 November, 2011

The Tsarskoye Selo State Museum-Preserve presented its restoration of the Agate Rooms Restoration Project at the St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum.

The Forum is a large scale congress and exhibition event held at Lenexpo from October 31st to November 2nd.

The museum's attractive 25-square-metre exhibit included banners depicting the Agate Room's exquisite interiors as they are expected to look like once the restorations are completed in September 2013.

© Tsarskoye Selo State Museum-Preserve. 1 November, 2013

A new statue of the Tsarevich Alexei Nikolayevich was recently unveiled in Rostov.  The ceremony was attended by Paul Kulikovsky, the great-grandson of the Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna.

The statue which depicts the Tsarevich in the uniform of the Cossack Ataman, of which Alexei was a soldier of the Ataman honour-guard. The statue was created thanks to donations and now stands in the courtyard of the Shakhty Cadet Corps.

© Royal Russia. 29 October, 2011

The Church of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God is to be rebuilt at Pulkovo, near St. Petersburg.

The historic 18th century church was built on the original road leading to Tsarskoye Selo by Giacomo Quarenghi for Empress Catherine II.

During World War II, the church lay in the path of approaching Nazi troops. Being situated on the Pulkovo Heights where fierce battles to defend Leningrad were carried out, the church suffered heavy damage.

After the war, the shell-ridden church was used as a vegetable store, while later it was pilfered brick by brick.

The path leading to the site where the church once stood is paved with the original stones.

Original documents and historic photographs will help restore the church to its original. Construction on the church has already begun and the first service is planned for Christmas of 2013.

© Royal Russia. 26 October, 2011

Alexander Kibovsky, Head of the Moscow Department of Cultural Heritage has announced that the restoration of Ostankino Palace will be completed by 2016.

The palace was damaged last winter, when the roof collapsed due to heavy snow. A temporary roof was installed and workers cleared further snow from causing further damage to the 18th century palace once owned by the Sheremetev family.

The restoration project, estimated at some 2.5 billion rubles will include the strengthening of the structure, a new roof, reconstruction of the garden buildings. Technical issues with the have been resolved and exhibits have been removed and placed into storage so that work can now begin on the palace.

© Royal Russia. 25 October, 2011

In the small picturesque town of Uremia (Irem, as noted in Russian documents of the 19th century), a suburb of Budapest, there is a street named Pavlovna. The street leads to the mostly forgotten, but equally important Russian Orthodox Church of the Holy Martyr Alexandra. Built in the early 19th century, the church is the final resting place for the Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna.

Alexandra was born at Tsarskoye Selo on 9 August, 1783, the third child and eldest daughter of Emperor Paul I and Empress Maria Feodorovna. In 1799 she was married to Archduke Joseph of Austria, a younger brother of Emperor Franz II. The couple settled in the castle of Alcsut in Hungary.

Sadly, her life at the Austrian Court was an unhappy one. The Empress Maria Theresa was jealous of her young beauty and fine jewels, while her Orthodox faith roused hostility among the Roman Catholic Court.

Alexandra died on 16 March, 1801, the same day she gave birth to a daughter. Her death occurred the same week that her father was murdered in St. Petersburg.

Archduke Joseph had a mausoleum built, but the Austrian Court refused her burial in a Catholic cemetery. Her coffin remained unburied until her brother, Emperor Alexander I had the small church built where she was at last laid to rest.

© Royal Russia. 24 October, 2011

The exhibition In the Children's Rooms of the Alexander Palace has been extended to November 10, 2011. This new video shows the newly renovated rooms of the children of Tsar Nicholas II, located on the second floor of the palace.

© Royal Russia. 22 October, 2011

Livadia Palace celebrated its 100th anniversary with the opening of a new gallery of portraits to the Russian emperors Alexander II, Alexander III and Nicholas II. 

© Royal Russia. 22 October, 2011