The Farm Palace at Peterhof will grace the cover of our 2014 calendar 

Each year since 2009, Royal Russia has issued a beautiful calendar. The entire proceeds from the sale of these calendars help offset the costs of maintaining the Royal Russia web site and blog, and assist with translation costs and much more.

Last year, the 2013 calendar sold out before Christmas. As a result, I was also able to donate a portion from the sale of this calendar to the Tsarskoye Selo State Museum Preserve and the Peterhof State Museum Preserve. These donations go towards restoration work and the acquisition of items for the palace-museum collections. I am very proud that I have been given the opportunity to make at least a small contribution to each museum.  What an honour to be able to give something back to Russia!

Our 2014 calendar, The Romanov Legacy: The Palaces and Residences of the Russian Imperial Family, will be published this Fall.

More than a dozen palaces and residences will be featured, including the Farm Palace at Peterhof, the Petrovski Palace at Moscow and the lesser known palaces of the Grand Dukes and Grand Duchesses in St. Petersburg and the Crimea. The calendar will feature rare photographs of these Romanov residences, including vintage images of their historical interiors, and information on the history and fate of each.

The Romanov Legacy 2014 Calendar will be available in September 2013, and made available through our online shop.

Please note that no advance orders are being accepted at this time.

© Paul Gilbert @ Royal Russia. 10 May, 2013

I am pleased to announce that Royal Russia has launched a page on Facebook, the popular online social networking service which serves over 1 billion active users around the world.

The new Facebook page does not mean the end of my blog. I felt that Facebook was a good way to promote Royal Russia to a larger audience. It will also give people the option of viewing updates on both my web site and blog on one page.

Our Facebook page will be updated daily with all the latest updates to our web site, blog, book shop and more.

You can also add your own comments and engage in discussions with others about the Romanov dynasty, their legacy, the monarchy, Imperial Russian history and more.

This is an exciting new venue for Royal Russia, one of which I am sure will be enjoyed by Romanovphiles and Russopiles alike.

Follow us on Facebook page by clicking on the following link;  

Royal Russia - The Romanov Dynasty on Facebook

© Paul Gilbert @ Royal Russia. 22 April, 2013

If you enjoy the daily news, videos and photographs on this blog, as well as our main web site, please consider supporting our ongoing work by purchasing our magazines and calendars (coming September 2013). The proceeds help offset the costs of maintaining this blog and web site, translation costs and much more. Plus, earlier this year, Royal Russia initiated a new campaign: Giving Back to Russia - which provides donations to Tsarskoye Selo and Peterhof for restoration work and the acquisition of items for their respective museum collections. 

The magazines and calendars will be enjoyed by any one with an interest in the Romanov dynasty or Imperial Russia. Not only will they make great additions to your own personal library, but make the perfect gifts to friends and family who share your interest in these subjects.

•  Royal Russia Annual No. 3 (2013)
•  Royal Russia Annual No. 2 (2012) 
•  Royal Russia Annual No. 1 (2011) 

Thank you for helping to keep the memories of old Russia alive!

© Paul Gilbert @ Royal Russia. 10 April, 2013

Last year, more than 90 videos were added to the Royal Russia web site and blog. They were posted from a variety of Russian and English media sources in both Russian and English.

Here is a list of our Top 20 videos from 2012:

(2) The Last Ball - A Documentary

(3) Photos of Lost Russian Crown Jewels Found In US Library

(4) Tour of the State Halls and Private Rooms of the Grand Kremlin Palace

(5) Tsarskoye Selo in 1941

(6) The Alexander Palace: A Walk Through the State Rooms

(7) The Russian Imperial Family in Denmark, 1899

(8) The Video Tour of GARF Exhibit on Murder of Imperial Family

(9) Colour Film Footage of Tsar Nicholas II

(10) The Church on the Blood in Ekaterinburg

(11) A Walk Through the Alexander Palace

(12) Grand Duke Constantine Constantinovich

(13) The Romanovs: Elizabeth and Sergei

(14) Yusupov Chambers: Splendid Residence of Russia's Richest Nobles

(15) Tsarist-Era Treasures Found in 18th-Century St Petersburg Mansion

(16) Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinovna Documentary

(17) The Imperial Train in the Grand Duchy of Finland

(18) The Vladimir Palace - Residence of the Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich

(19) Russia Commemorates the Holy Royal Martyrs

(20) Rare Voice Recording of Tsar Nicholas II

Many of the videos are in Russian, however, do not allow that to deter you from watching them as each one is filled with beautiful film footage (both historical and contemporary) of the Romanovs and their legacy.

© Paul Gilbert @ Royal Russia. 2 January, 2013

© Paul Gilbert @ Royal Russia

© Paul Gilbert @ Royal Russia. 19 September, 2012

I have just returned from an 11-day journey which took me to Ekaterinburg and St. Petersburg in Russia, as well as Helsinki, Finland. I flew a total of more than 18,000 km and I walked many miles more exploring the Romanov and tsarist wonders that each of these cities and their surroundings had to offer.

Despite the fact that this was a business trip, I would have to rate this as one of my most enjoyable and memorable to date because I saw many new things related to the Romanovs and their legacy which I had not seen on previous trips.

The highlights of my visit to Ekaterinburg include;

(1) The Church of All Saints (Church on the Blood), built on the site of the Ipatiev House.

(2) Ganima Yama, the monastery complex built at the site of the Four Brothers Mine where the remains of Tsar Nicholas II and his family were thrown in July 1918.

The highlights of my visit to St. Petersburg include; 

(1) The Alexander Palace at Tsarskoye Selo, where I saw the State Rooms, and the second floor of the palace which once housed the childrens rooms.

(2) The Feodorovskoye Cathedral at Tsarskoye Selo, where I saw the completed interiors and iconostasis of the main church and the Lower Church.

(3) The Alexandria Park at Peterhof, where I visited the Farm Palace, the Gothic Chapel, and the ruins of the Lower Dacha.

(4) Peterhof, where I arrived by hydrofoil and visited the newly restored Palace Church, the Imperial Yacht Museum and the Treasury which houses new acquisitions including jewellery, costumes (dresses and uniforms), personal items of the Russian emperors and their families, from Peter I to Nicholas II. The treasures in this museum are housed in the former private apartments of Catherine the Great and updated on a regular basis.

During my stay, I did a tremendous amount of research, and complied over 50 large sheets of notes, and took nearly 600 photographs, some of which are shown above. I look forward to sharing them with Royal Russia subscribers on my web site and blog, as well as the pages of Royal Russia Annual* in the coming weeks and months ahead.

*My visit to Ekaterinburg will be featured in Royal Russia Annual No. 2 (due August 2012), and include photographs which I took during my 4-day visit.

I also met with the company in Russia who supply my online shop with a steady stream of photo albums, biographies and palace guidebooks. I brought back samples of more than a dozen new books on the Romanovs and their palaces, many of which I have placed large orders for and will offer in my online shop upon receipt from my supplier in St. Petersburg in the coming months.

© Paul Gilbert @ Royal Russia. 06 June, 2012

© Paul Gilbert @ Royal Russia. 23 May, 2012

In October 2011, I published a short biography about myself on Royal Russia. I felt that as both the Founder and Web-Site Administrator of Royal Russia that it would be a perfect opportunity to introduce myself to both old and new visitors to my web site and blog. I receive many emails, letters and phone calls from people all over the world with their questions about the Russian Imperial family, their legacy, and Imperial Russia. I always think it nice to be able to put a face to a name. My biography has recently been updated, and includes some new photographs. I hope this article will give you some idea of my background, as well as my goals and aspirations for Royal Russia.

|||Click Here to Read Introducing Paul Gilbert, Son of Old Russia|||

© Paul Gilbert @ Royal Russia. 23 May, 2012