#yusupov palace

[lesyoussoupoff]

The Youssoupoff's dining room before the revolution. Pictured on the table appear to be the two Faberge swans that were discovered by the Soviets in 1925.

[loiladadiani]

The Yusupov Palace (also known as Moika Palace)

Situated in the Moika Embarkment of Saint Petersburg, The Yusupov Palace is one of the most opulent palaces in Russia. It is sometimes known as the Moika Palace. More than 40,000 works of art, including works by Rembrandt, jewelry, and sculptures, decorate the palace. After the revolution, these works of art were largely relocated to the Hermitage and other museums. The palace recently went through restoration and is open to visitors.

Prince Felix Yusupov was the heir to the vast states of his parents (owners of the palace); the family was one of the oldest princely families in Russia and their wealth was immense. They had several palaces in Saint Petersburg, but this was Felix's favorite. A section of this residence was refurbished so that he and his bride, Prince Irina Alexandrovna (the only niece of Tsar Nicholas II,) could move in after their wedding.

The palace was the scene of the assassination of Grigori Rasputin by a monarchist group which included Prince Felix and Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich.

Below, see pictures of various living spaces in the palace, which also had a theater.

[wgm-beautiful-world]

Yusupov Palace & Museum, Saint Petersburg, RUSSIA

[ernestdescalsartwok]

RASPUTIN-ARTE-PINTURA-ASESINATO-FELIX YUSOPOV-SAN PETERSBURGO-RUSIA-PERSONAJES-ESCENAS-PINTOR-ERNEST DESCALS por Ernest Descals Por Flickr: RASPUTIN-ARTE-PINTURA-ASESINATO-FELIX YUSOPOV-SAN PETERSBURGO-RUSIA-PERSONAJES-ESCENAS-PINTOR-ERNEST DESCALS- El Místico RASPUTIN ejercía un enorme miedo en la aristocracia de la Rusia Zarista, sus poderes sanadores y su fuerte influencia sobre los Zares hicieron que se armara un complot para su asesinato, el Príncipe Felix Yusupov decide matarlo en su propio palacio Yusopov en Sant Pertersburgo. Personajes y escenas de la historia del Imperio Ruso en la pintura del artista pintor Ernest Descals, obra sobre papel de 50 x 70 centímetros.

[nadziejacher]

Yusupov palace on Moika, Saint Petersburg, Russia

[anthropologistfromentropy]

WTF, the Yusupov's Moscow palace literally had secret tunnels leading to Kremlin and all over Moscow??

Damn, I accidentally chose the perfect place for an orphanage for the queer kids from the brothel in my fic. It's like it was literally designed to be an Underground Railroad! And imagine how easy they can do attacks, just appear and disapper out of nowhere??

[urfellowrabbitkid]

doing a presentation about st. petersburg for polish classes now and it's so funny. i have to be careful all the time to not get too excited because i may be viewed as putinist lol. but at the same time i base everything on crime and punishment so? still scary tho

[aglaiamanno]

home theater in the yusupov palace, st. petersburg

[azspot]

Buried deep in a letter Democratic senators sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland requesting a special prosecutor to investigate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’s potential federal ethics and tax violations is something shocking: Democrats claim that the Supreme Court justice accepted a 2003 yacht trip to Russia and a helicopter flight to Yusupov Palace in St. Petersburg, Putin’s hometown—both paid for by Republican billionaire donor Harlan Crow.

Clarence Thomas Took Free Trip to Putin’s Hometown

[waitwtfismylife]

in anastasia, it's so obvious from the beginning that anya is the lost princess. in "a rumor in st. petersburg", she panics when she hears a truck backfiring, mistaking it for gunshots. while Dimitri and vlad were not present to witness that, it definitely arouse some suspicion within gleb. 

when anya first meets with Dimitri and vlad, she claims that she's waiting for someone in paris. who's in paris?anastasias grandmother, the dowager empress. she also says that she's been in the room in the yusupov palace where the three currently were, where there was a play, with fancy clothing and expensive champagne. before she said that, she had no knowledge of the room they were standing in being a theatre of fhe yusupov palace. as she sings "in my dreams", the amnesiac recalls all the feverish memories she has of her past. she sings "a beautiful river; a bridge by a square; and i hear a voice whisper i'll meet you right there in paris". this shows that anya knows of a bridge in paris, which the dowager empress tells anastasia about during the prologue. she sings "i've seen flashes of fire; heard the echo of screams". how was anastasia's family murdered? assassination by gunfire. of course, there would be screaming and fire. it is also proved historically that anastasia was the second to last one to be assassinated, the first being her younger brother, alexei. that being, she had already witnessed the five murders of her parents and sisters. 

during the "learn to do it" scene, there is so much clear evidence of anya being the lost princess that it's almost comical that vlad and dimitri don't realize it. the first one is when she perfectly curtsies, without being taught by vlad how to. the second time is when vlad asks who her best friend is, she replies "my little brother alexei". vlad tells her that she's wrong, to which she replies "i know who my best friend is!" this shows that anya knew things about anastasia's life that wasn't public knowledge. the third time is when she's learning her family tree, and claims that she recalls count sergei's yellow cat, to which vlad says "i don't believe we told her that". at the end of the song, vlad tells her that she did very good, but says it in french, to which anya replies in perfect french. vlad and dimitri hadn't taught her how to speak french. if anya knew how to speak french, then there was no possibility that she was of peasant descent. 

when anya is in a meeting with gleb in the communist headquarters, he tells her that his father was one of the guards that killed the romanovs, and that all seven of them were dead, to which anya replies "i don't want to hear it", showing that either she had trauma regarding the assassination, or that she just wanted to live out her fantasy. 

when dimitri gives anya the music box, which they had not yet realized was hers as a child, she is able to open it while he cannot. he is confused at this, and is amazed at the fact that anya knows the song that it plays. while she sings "once upon a december", the ghosts of the romanovs are onstage, and dance with her. while this is just the staging, it shows that anya has some sort of connection to them. after the song, she reveals to dimitri that she has a diamond in her pocket, which the nurse at the hospital found seen into her underclothes. when the romanovs were being taken to the cellar where they would be assassinated, they were under the influence that they were being taking to e new location, so empress alexandra of russia, anastasia's mother, urged all the girls to put their expensive jewelry into their underclothes. the diamond gives proof that anya had some value to her name in the past, without blatantly revealing that she was the grand duchess anastasia. 

during the scene on the train, communist officers board asking for people who are traveling illegally, which are anya, dimitri, and vlad. anya panics and dimitri assures her that it's all going to be okay. anya says to him "that's what the soldiers said when they were pointing their guns at us". this intrigues dimitri, and he asks anya more. she says "they said they were taking us somewhere safe. toby’s little heart was beating against mine. ‘they’re decent men,’ I told him. ‘they won’t harm us’." of course it's weird that anya is saying all this, but dimitri, amidst distraction, brushes it off, telling anya that she's taking this to far, not realizing that what she's saying is her actual experience. 

during "crossing a bridge", anya stands of tsar alexander iii bridge, which is the one the dowager told her about, the one in her dreams, she just didn't know it yet. 

during the scene where anya has a nightmare, it is shown that her nightmare is of her being taunted by the romanovs, along with more superfluous russian nobles. when dimitri comes in to comfort her, he tells her about how he, as a child, fell in love with anastasia, yet never believed he could be with her. when anya is singing, the sings "i tried not to smile; but i smiled; and then, bowed". dimitri is shocked, because while she was aware he had bowed to someone once, she was unaware that that person was anastasia. that is when they both realize that she is the grand duchess anastasia, and that the childhood crushes were finally reunited. 

during the ballet, the dowager empress sees anya, and sings "see that girl; could it be?" showing that even she thinks it might be anastasia, but doesn't want to believe it. after the ballet, anastasia goes into the interview with the dowager, to which she is immediately dismissed and branded a fraud. now anya is upset at dimitri, because she thinks that she was always just a pawn in his scheme to get the reward money from the dowager empress. 

when the dowager goes to anya's hotel to give her a second chance, she interviews her, asking questions such as "what was your mothers full title as empress of all russia?" anya only gives sentimental replies to these questions such as "she was mama to me. she was mama to all of us." the dowager is at first unpersuaded, until anya tells her that "my nana was the most loving woman imaginable." the thing that set this aside from the rest of the girls trying to be anastasia is that anya used "nana", while everyone else believed her to be "grandmama". anya can also recall the very specific scent that the dowager would always wear. orange blossom from sicily, that came in a box of polished inglewood. it is the final revelation when anya shows the dowager the music box, which was a gift that the dowager had given anastasia, right before the assassination. this finally reunites the dowager empress with her long-lost granddaughter. 

during the press conference scene, anya is reintroduced with count leopold, and upon meeting him, says "count leopold, with your dyed hair, powdered face, and vodka breath. no wonder my parents laughed at you behind your back," a statement which the dowager confirms to be true. 

when gleb finally catches up to anya, during "the neva flows/still reprise", he holds her at gunpoint, believing that all the romanovs must be dead. at first, he doesn't believe that she is anastasia, until she attests to that, making gleb having to shoot her. while she is terrified, she doesn't want to seem weak to gleb, so when he asks her "for the last time, who are you?" she responds "i am the grand duchess anastasia nicolaevna romanov. gleb cannot do it, so he drops the gun, and allows anya to go. 

dimitri, while leaving paris, accepts the fact that anya and him cannot be, while anastasia disagrees. anya chooses being with dimitri over being anastasia, and while remains in contact with the dowager, lives with dimitri, and the reward money for anastasia's return is given to charity.

[ridenwithbiden]

THIS MOTHERFUCKER !!!

"Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has been accused of not disclosing a yacht trip to Russia and a private helicopter flight to a palace in President Vladimir Putin’s hometown, among a slew of other gifts and loans from businessman Harlan Crow.

Buried on page 14 of a letter that two Democratic senators sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Tuesday, in which they urged Garland to appoint a special counsel to probe Thomas, was an astonishing list of dozens of ��likely undisclosed gifts and income” from Crow, Crow’s affiliated companies, and “other donors.”

In the letter, Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) said Thomas, one of the court’s staunchly conservative justices, even may have committed tax fraud and violated other federal laws by “secretly” accepting the gifts and income potentially worth millions.

“The Senate is not a prosecutorial body, and the Supreme Court has no fact-finding function of its own, making the executive role all the more important if there is ever to be any complete determination of the facts,” reads the letter requesting the appointment of a special prosecutor.

“We do not make this request lightly,” said the letter.

The list of potentially secret gifts also includes a loan of more than $267,000 provided by Thomas’ close friend Anthony Welters, the yacht trip to Russia from the Baltics, and the helicopter ride to Yusupov Palace in St. Petersburg. ProPublica first reported last year on the existence of extensive undisclosed gifts and lavish trips from Crow.

Additionally, Justice Thomas is accused of not disclosing tuitions for his grandnephew, free lodging, real estate transactions, and home renovations. The action escalates Democratic senators’ efforts to hold Thomas accountable for perceived ethics controversies.

According to the senators, Thomas’ conduct could violate the Ethics in Government Act, which requires officials like Supreme Court justices to file annual reports disclosing gifts and income accepted from outside sources.

“It is a crime,” reads the report, “To knowingly and willfully fail to file or report such information.”

Since 2023, two Senate committees have been looking into the 1991 loan from Welters that was connected to Thomas’ purchase of a luxury motor home. Welters previously responded to a New York Times request for comment on the loan only to say that it was “satisfied.”

Thomas, for his part, belatedly disclosed some—but not all—gifts from Crow this year and has defended the gifts as “personal hospitality” from some of his and his wife’s “dearest friends.”

“The evidence assembled thus far plainly suggests that Justice Thomas has committed numerous willful violations of federal ethics and false-statement laws and raises significant questions about whether he and his wealthy benefactors have,” Durban and Wyden wrote."

[lesyoussoupoff]

Princess Zenaida Youssoupoff in her famous salon. As you can see from photographs, aside from personal touches, the room has survived largely intact.

[miffy-junot]

Felix Yusupov on Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich

During 1912 and 1913 I saw a great deal of the Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich, who had just joined the Horse Guards. The Tsar and Tsarina both loved him and looked upon him as a son; he lived at the Alexander Palace and went everywhere with the Tsar. He spent all his free time with me; I saw him almost every day and we took long walks and rides together. Dmitri was extremely attractive: tall, elegant, well-bred, with deep thoughtful eyes, he recalled the portraits of his ancestors. He was all impulses and contradictions; he was both romantic and mystical, and his mind was far from shallow. At the same time, he was very gay and always ready for the wildest escapades. His charm won the hearts of all, but the weakness of his character made him dangerously easy to influence. As I was a few years his senior, I had a certain prestige in his eyes. He was to a certain extent familiar with my "scandalous" life* and considered me interesting and a trifle mysterious. He trusted me and valued my opinion, and be not only confided his inner-most thoughts to me but used to tell me about everything that was happening around him. I thus heard about many grave and even sad events that took place in the Alexander Palace. The Tsar's preference for him aroused a good deal of jealousy and led to some intrigues. For a time, Dmitri's head was turned by success and he became terribly vain. As his senior, I had a good deal of influence over him and sometimes took advantage of this to express my opinion very bluntly. He bore me no grudge and continued to visit my little attic where we used to talk for hours in the friendliest way. Almost every night we took a car and drove to St. Petersburg to have a gay time at restaurants and night clubs and with the gypsies. We would invite artists and musicians to supper with us in a private room; the well-known ballerina Anna Pavlova was often our guest. These wonderful evenings slipped by like dreams and we never went home until dawn. [...] My relations with Dmitri underwent a temporary eclipse. The Tsar and Tsarina, who were aware of the scandalous rumors about my mode of living,* disapproved of our friendship, They ended by forbidding the Grand Duke to see me, and I myself became the object of the most unpleasant supervision. Inspectors of the secret police prowled around our house and followed me like a shadow when I went to St. Petersburg. But Dmitri soon got back his independence. He left the Alexander Palace, went to live in his own palace in St. Petersburg, and asked me to help him with the redecoration of his new home.

*as a young man, Felix Yusupov had many romantic relationships with men and would often attend parties while dressed as a woman. this is presumably what he is referring to here.

source: Lost Splendour by Felix Yusupov, chapter 10

[mythological-art]

Sappho and Phaon

Artist: Jacques-Louis David (French, 1748-1825)

Style: Neoclassical

Date: 1809

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Collection: Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg

Sappho and Phaon is an 1809 neoclassical painting by the French painter Jacques-Louis David of Cupid, Sappho and her lover Phaon. It was commissioned by Prince Nikolai Yusupov for his Moika Palace and is now the only painting by David in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg.

Sappho is shown sitting in a chair at the foot of a bed in a classically decorated room with columns, a marble floor and a view to a rural landscape outside (with Venus's birds, doves, sitting on the doorstep). Phaon stands behind the chair holding a spear and bow. On her knee is a scroll with some of her verses in praise of Phaon and Cupid kneels in front of her, holding up her lyre, which she tries to play with her right hand whilst leaning her head back to let Phaon cradle her head in his left arm.

[loiladadiani]

Irina Alexandrovna Romanova (1895 -1970)

When Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich married Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna (sister of the then Tsarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich), he was marrying one of the best matches in Europe: Xenia was the daughter of the Tzar Alexander III and the sister of the future Tzar Nicholas II. She had been in love with "Sandro," her second cousin, since childhood (and he saw no reason to discourage her affections, of course)

Sandro and Xenia had seven children. Irina was their first child and only daughter. This beautiful, quiet, delicate child was the first grandchild of Alexander III (who died the year before she was born) and would be the only biological niece of Tzar Nicholas II.

During the first few years of their respective marriages, the Tzar and Empress Alexandra and Grand Duke Alexander and Grand Duchess Xenia spent a lot of time together, and their daughters Olga and Tatiana, and Irina being very close in age, spent a lot of time together and developed a relationship. Distance would later grow between the couples and the children.

By the time Xenia was pregnant with her seventh child, her marriage to Sandro had gone sour. Sandro had fallen in love with a French/Spanish woman and was having an affair with her. Subsequently, Xenia started an affair of her own. Some sources say that they managed to keep their marital problems from their children; others that their quarrels might have had something to do with Irina's decision to marry Prince Felix Yusupov when he asked.

Felix was handsome, extremely smart, and one of the richest men in Russia, but he had a reputation. Irina accepted him as a bridegroom regardless of her parents' misgivings. Felix had a wild youth which seemed to include affairs with men and women. He enjoyed dressing as a woman and wearing his mother's jewels; apparently, he even caught Edward VII's eye at some point. When the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna talked with him about this behavior before his marriage to Irina, he did not deny it. Still, he said that his wild days were over, and he was very much in love with Irina.

Irina had no qualms about signing away succession rights for their future progeny when she married Felix, who was not royal (their marriage was morganatic.) She married him wearing a veil that had belonged to Marie Antoinette. Both looked beautiful. Their wedding was the last grand happening (1000 guests) before the Great War.

Felix and Irina were out of Russia when WWI started and had difficulty passing through Germany to return to Russia.

The Yusupovs settled in a section of Felix's parents' Moika Palace. Felix and Irina had one daughter (whom they named Irina but called "Bebe") and helped the war effort in Russia by opening two hospitals and a sanatorium in their Crimean state of Koreiz.

Felix would go on to kill Rasputin (he was banished to Koreiz by the Tzar) in a misguided effort to help the dynasty survive. As things in Russia became worse. A group of members of the Imperial Family, including the Dowager Empress, Irina's parents and brothers, and several Grand Dukes and their families, avoided being imprisoned and murdered by seeking shelter in Crimea. The Russians held them, prisoner until the Treaty of Brest-Livtosk was signed. Interestingly enough, the Germans liberated them. They left Russia in a warship sent by England to rescue the Dowager Empress.

They lived in an apartment Felix had in London; they had also smuggled out paintings and jewelry. There was a car they had not used in years waiting in a garage in Paris. The couple was extremely generous to the Russian Community and gave a lot to the exiles in need. They eventually bought a mansion in Paris and opened a couture house in Paris, which was very successful for a few years.

Felix and Irina lead an expensive lifestyle, and their couture business went bankrupt (after significant success.) By 1934, as luck would have it, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer released a film named "Rasputin and the Empress." Felix sued the company for slandering Irina and won the lawsuit. He also released two books which did very well.

After this, the coupled lived a quiet life (for them), supporting young artists and attending various functions of the Russian emigre community.

Irina remained close to all her relatives and helped them whenever she could. Her father, Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich, died in her arms.

Felix's and Irina's marriage turned out to be a great success. They were married and lived together, supporting and caring for each other for over fifty years. When Felix died in 1967, Irina was grief-stricken. She died three years later.

[nadziejacher]

Yusupov palace on Moika, Saint Petersburg