"I have conquered an empire"

The Catherine Palace (Russian: Екатерининский дворец) is one of my favorite two Romanov residences. The Alexander Palace is the other. The Catherine Palace is a Rococo palace located in the town of Tsarskoe Selo, built in early 18th-century. It was the summer residence of the Russian tsars. Empress Catherine I of Russia is the namesake of the palace. Although the palace is popularly associated with Catherine the Great, she actually regarded its “whipped cream” architecture as old-fashioned.

↳  Alexandra’s Mauve Room 

Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna

Fragments of Alexander II’s Officer Uniform of the Life-Guards Field Engineer Battalion which he wore on March 1st, 1881, the day of his murder.

A graduate of the Smolny, she was a lady-in-waiting to Grand Duchess Natalia and, later, Grand Duchess Maria. Her position af the mistress of the future tsar aquired her relatives with sought-after positions at court. She left her position at court in 1798.

Pavilion Hall at the Hermitage Museum. St Petersburg, Russia.

Grand Duchess Vladimir of Russia’s diamond and pearl brooch, probably made by Cartier.

Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia’s Pearl and Diamond Brooch (19th Century).

Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna (middle) with cousins, Princess Alexandra (left) and Olga of Hanover & a cute pet. Early 1900s.

Cousins Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna and Princess Elisabeth of Hesse with their parents and other relatives, Darmstadt 1899

Xenia Alexandrovna used this fan for the 1903 Bal des Costumes Russes in the Winter Palace, where she was dressed as a boyarina. The jewellery that she wore was given to her by her paretns at her wedding.

Grand Duchess Ekaterina Mikhailovna of Russia, Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, by Neff.

The blessed, content days after the engagement of Sasha and Minnie in Denmark

Emperor Alexander III of Russia wearing a Danish uniform at the Fredensborg Palace, the Danish Royal Family’s spring and autumn residence.

The siblings are photographed here in the year 1896.

Princess Marie Georgievna of Russia in Russian costume

Princess Tatiana Constantinovna of Russia (1890-1979), a great-grandchild of Emperor Nicholas I.