25 Chapters of My Life: The Memoirs of Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna by Alexandrovna Olga & Paul Kulikovsky & Sue Woolmans & Karen Roth-Nicholls

Author:Alexandrovna, Olga & Paul Kulikovsky & Sue Woolmans & Karen Roth-Nicholls [Alexandrovna, Olga]
Format: mobi
Publisher: North Highland Publishing
Published: 2011-08-14T16:00:00+00:00

Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich in military camp, ca. 1912.

Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna and Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich

Chapter 15

Who was Rasputin?

The palaces and parks in Tsarskoe Selo were from about the same epoch as the Gatchina palace and park were and had all been built by prominent Italian architects, who Catherine II and her son Paul I had invited to Russia to show their art. Like Gatchina, Tsarskoe Selo was situated by a lake and the park was full of small pavilions – one more elegant in its architecture than the other. There were two palaces in Tsarskoe Selo. The big one was only used on formal occasions. The smaller one was my brother’s residence and was where he always lived with his family. It stood in a park of its own, had a farm of its own and also a retirement home for old long-serving horses. There was even a horse cemetery where the names and dates of the horses buried there were engraved on special flagstones.

In the enormous so-called Catherine Park, there were numerous very beautiful and elegant pavilions. Small bridges spanned a brook or a canal here and there, a temple with columns disclosed an old Greek statue of Apollo or Venus halfhidden among lilac bushes, a marble bench stood invitingly in the shade of a stately oak and nearby a waterfall would spread coolness over its surroundings and make music for the ear. There was a special atmosphere over the Tsarskoe Selo park, and you would not have been surprised if, at the bend of the path, you would have seen the great Catherine herself as she walked along with her little dogs as she so often must have done in the years gone by. Tsarskoe Selo was full of the glory of bygone days and evoked a feeling of melancholy. In the middle of the lake there stood a tall bronze pillar on a stone foundation. One day I visited this place in a boat and saw on that occasion that there was a door at the bottom of some steps, which apparently led to a secret passage. The door was locked, as no one was allowed down there because it was dangerous. It was said that the passage led under the whole lake and out into one of the many fantastic buildings in the park. How I longed to explore that long tunnel under the lake, but I never had an opportunity to do so.

The park round the royal residence was two hundred years younger than the Catherine Park. In it were also many strange buildings – mainly from the time of the Romantic Movement. One of these small buildings was called ‘the Ruin’ – it looked like a church that had been shot to pieces. It only had one room and in it stood a large figure of Christ. Another building was of a more recent date – a sort of chalet that stood on the banks of a lake. It had its own sad story.

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