Best Romanov
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The Fabergé Imperial Easter eggs are jeweled objects commissioned by members of Russia's Romanov dynasty from the House of Fabergé between 1885 and 1916. Most were created as Easter gifts for the empresses and contain a concealed miniature or mechanical surprise, using materials such as gold, enamel...
Peter I ruled Russia from 1682 to 1725, first as tsar and later under the title emperor, and pursued extensive military, administrative, and cultural reforms. He created a regular army and navy, reorganized government, promoted technical education, and required sections of the elite to adopt Western...
Mikhailovsky Palace is a Neoclassical palace located in Saint Petersburg, Russia, designed by the architect Carlo Rossi and completed in 1825. It was originally constructed as a residence for Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich, the youngest son of Paul I. The palace is a defining example of the Russian Em...
Oranienbaum is an 18th-century palace and park ensemble at Lomonosov, on the Gulf of Finland west of central St. Petersburg. The estate began as a country residence for Prince Alexander Menshikov and was later developed for Catherine II, retaining many original Baroque interiors and the only grand R...
Catherine II, known as Catherine the Great, was the German-born empress of Russia from 1762 until her death in 1796. She came to power after the overthrow of her husband, Peter III, and presided over territorial expansion toward the Black Sea and through the partitions of Poland. Catherine correspon...
The earliest stone palace in St. Petersburg, built in the early 18th century for Alexander Menshikov, first Governor-General of the city; now a Hermitage Museum branch.
A late 19th-century palace near Yalta, Crimea, built for Tsar Alexander III in a French Renaissance style and completed in 1902 amid a pine forest.
A Neoclassical palace in St. Petersburg, built between 1768 and 1785 by Antonio Rinaldi for Count Grigory Orlov and named for its marble-faced exterior.
Alexander II was emperor of Russia from 1855 until his assassination in 1881. He is chiefly associated with the Emancipation Reform of 1861, which ended legal serfdom for millions of privately owned serfs, although redemption payments and land arrangements limited its benefits. His government also i...
A Baroque palace in Strelna near St. Petersburg, originally commissioned by Peter the Great and restored in 2003 to serve as the State Complex Palace of Congresses.
An 18th-century palace on Nevsky Prospect in St. Petersburg, built in the 1740s; gifted to Count Razumovsky, it later became a favored residence of Russian tsars.
A Neoclassical palace in St. Petersburg built in the 1780s for Prince Grigory Potemkin by Ivan Starov; it later served as the seat of the State Duma.
Tsar of Russia from 1881 to 1894 who reversed liberal reforms after his father's assassination, pursued aggressive Russification, and forged the Franco-Russian Alliance.
Last Russian tsar, reigning from 1894 to 1917, whose autocratic rule and failures in World War I precipitated the Revolution that led to his abdication and execution in 1918.
