historyofromanovs:

The Romanov Family’s Alphabet - R is for Russian Winter.

historyofromanovs:

The Romanov Family’s Alphabet - Q is for Queen Victoria.

After Empress Alexandra’s mother, Grand Duchess Alice of Hesse and a younger sister died in 1878, grandmother Queen Victoria would often act as mother to six-year-old Alix and her remaining siblings. The Hessian Family would often visit the Queen in Britain. Alix was twelve when she met sixteen-year-old Nicholas. Years later, it was clear that they would marry. Nicholas’s parents disapproved of this and considered another brides. When Tsar Alexander III’s health declined and the succession of the throne was quickly approaching, he allowed his son Tsarevich Nicholas to marry the Princess.

At first, Queen Victoria did not approve of this marriage. She have always thought the health of German princesses would always be ruined in the extremely cold climate that was Russia. Victoria was even surprised that Alix’s older sister, Elisabeth, managed to survive the Russian winters.

“Russia I could not wish for any of you,” the queen confessed to Alix’s sister Victoria, just before Ella married Grand Duke Sergei, and was “carried away” to that “dreadful country.” Russia was a “horrid” place, in the queen’s opinion - “so bad, so rotten, that at any moment something dreadful might happen.” Nicholas declared that he would rather become a monk than marry anyone, except for his beloved “Alix H.” The Queen of course relented, the Tsar died at the age of 49, and the imperial couple married a few months later.

historyofromanovs:

The Romanov Family’s Alphabet - P is for Petersburg.

Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербург) is a city and a federal subject (a federal city) of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea.

In Russian literature, informal documents, and discourse, the “Saint” (Санкт-) is usually omitted, leaving Petersburg (Петербург, Peterburg). In common parlance Russians may drop “-burg” as well, leaving only Peter.

Saint Petersburg was founded by Tsar Peter the Great on May 27 1703. From 1713 to 1728 and from 1732 to 1918, Saint Petersburg was the Imperial capital of Russia. The Peterhof Palace (Russian: Петерго́ф,  German for Peter’s Court) is a series of palaces and gardens located in Saint Petersburg, Russia, laid out on the orders of Peter the Great. These Palaces and gardens are sometimes referred as the “Russian Versailles.”

Tsarskoye Selo (Russian: Ца́рское Село́; “Tsar’s Village”) is the town containing a former Russian residence of the imperial family and visiting nobility, located 24 kilometers (15 mi) south from the center of St. Petersburg.

Little pair with Alix …

Photos of Olga ,Maria and Anastasia painting

romanovillage:

The Romanov Family’s Alphabet - O is for OTMA.

OTMA was an acronym sometimes used by the four daughters of Emperor Nicholas II of Russia and his consort, Alexandra Feodorovna, as a group nickname for themselves, built from the first letter of each girl’s name in the order of their births: Olga (1895-1918), Tatiana (1897-1918), Maria (1899-1918), and Anastasia (1901-1918). In childhood, the Grand Duchesses came up with ОТМА as a sign of sibling closeness and affection for one another.

• The Grand Duchesses Maria, Olga and Tatiana with their aunt

the Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna sat on the grass, laughing with officers.