"Great Sin". How the coronation of Nicholas II turned into the Khodynka crush. Medal, badge and ruble for the Coronation of Nicholas II. How it was? Coronation of nicholas 2
A special ceremonial detachment, consisting of two divisions - cavalry guards and horse guards with chorus of trumpets - accompanies the heralds E.K.Pribylsky and S.P. Frolov, announcing to the townspeople on the Senate Square of the Kremlin
Choirs of trumpeters of the cavalry and horse guards regiments in front of the Senate building; in the center, in the middle of the front - adjutants general, chief masters of ceremonies, heralds, masters of ceremonies, senate secretaries on Senate Square
Citizens at the Arsenal building on the Senate Square of the Kremlin awaiting the ceremony of announcing the date of the sacred coronation; in the foreground - adjutant generals
Emperor Nicholas II (right), left - Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, in the center - Minister of the Imperial Court and Appanages, Adjutant General, Count I.I.Vorontsov-Dashkov
The coronation carriage of Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna drives past the stands with spectators at the Kremlin wall on Red Square on the day of the solemn entry
Life Guards Hussar Regiment at the Tsar Bell on the Ivanovskaya Square of the Kremlin on the day of the solemn entry Their Imperial Majesties to Moscow
Chamber-junkers and chamberlains on the territory of the Kremlin on the day of the solemn entry of Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna into Moscow
Life Guards Cavalry and Horse Regiments on the territory of the Kremlin on the day of the solemn entry Their Imperial Majesties to Moscow
The coronation carriage of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna in the Kremlin on the day of the solemn entry into Moscow Their Imperial Majesties
A carriage with the participants of the coronation ceremony on the territory of the Kremlin on the day of the solemn entry Their Imperial Majesties to Moscow
His Imperial Majesty's Cossack and Ulansky Life Guards regiments in the Kremlin on the day of the solemn entry of Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna to Moscow; right - Small Nikolaevsky Palace
Coronation cortege at the Church of St. Catherine of the Ascension Monastery in the Kremlin on the day of the solemn entry of Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna to Moscow; on the left - part of the Spasskaya Tower
The coronation carriage of the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna at the Church of St. Catherine of the Ascension Monastery in the Kremlin on the day of the solemn entry into Moscow of Their Imperial Majesties
Emperor Nicholas II (in front on a white horse) with his retinue in the Kremlin near the Ascension Monastery on the day of the solemn entry into Moscow of Their Imperial Majesties; on the right - the Church of St. Catherine
Emperor Nicholas II (in front on a white horse) with his retinue in the Kremlin near the Church of St. Catherine of the Ascension Monastery on the day of the solemn entry into Moscow of Their Imperial Majesties; on the right - part of the Spasskaya Tower
The carriage of one of the participants in the solemn coronation on the territory of the Kremlin; in the background on the left - part of the facade of the Small Nicholas Palace, in the center - the Spasskaya Tower, on the right - St. Basil's Cathedral (Pokrovsky on the Moat)
Military and civilian officials, palace officials at the carriages and carriages of participants in the solemn coronation in the Kremlin; in the background on the left - part of the facade of the Small Nikolaevsky Palace, in the center - Spasskaya Tower
Coronation cortege in the Kremlin near the Small Nicholas Palace on the day of the solemn entry of Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna to Moscow
The coronation carriage of Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna drives past the Small Nicholas Palace in the Kremlin on the day of the solemn entry into Moscow of Their Imperial Majesties; in the background - the Church of St. Catherine
The coronation carriage of the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, retinue, courtiers at the Archangel Cathedral in the Kremlin on the day of the solemn entry into Moscow of Their Imperial Majesties
The Palace Grenadier in the Andreevsky (Throne) Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace with the royal regalia; on the table from left to right - Big and Small imperial crowns, orb, scepter, porphyry (imperial robes); at the table
View of the throne seat in the Andreevsky (Throne) Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace (the throne in 1896 by the manufacturer P. A. Schmitt was made according to drawings by the curator of the Armory, Count A. E. Komarovsky)
Coronation cortege at the Small Nicholas Palace in the Kremlin on the day of the solemn entry of Their Imperial Majesties to Moscow; in the background - the Church of St. Catherine of the Ascension Monastery and the Spasskaya Tower
The masters of ceremonies drive past the Small Nikolaevsky Palace (left) in the Kremlin to the Ascension Monastery; in the background - the Miracle Monastery
View of a part of the square in the Kremlin in front of the southern entrance to the Assumption Cathedral, filled with the lower ranks of the patrons and spectators on the day of the solemn coronation
Foreign princesses invited to the coronation celebrations descend, accompanied by page-cameras, down the steps of the Red Porch of the Faceted Chamber, following the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna
A group of senior government officials - participants in the ceremony of transferring the imperial regalia - is sent from the Armory to the Grand Kremlin Palace, accompanied by the palace grenadiers
Horse Guards pass by the Ascension Monastery in the Kremlin; in the background - the Miracle Monastery
"Who began to reign - Khodynkoy / He ends - standing on the scaffold", - poet Konstantin Balmont, who wrote these lines in 1906, in the year of the 10th anniversary of the Khodynka catastrophe and 12 years before the death of the last Russian emperor, accurately predicted the fate Nicholas II.
The reign, which ended with the collapse of the Russian Empire, and then the death of the royal family, began with an event in which many saw a "bad sign" for the emperor. And although Nicholas II had only an indirect relationship to the tragedy of 1896, in the minds of people it was firmly connected with his name.
In May 1896, in the ancient capital of Russia, Moscow, solemn events were held related to the coronation of Nicholas II and his wife of Alexandra Fedorovna.
They prepared carefully for the event - more than 8000 poods were brought from St. Petersburg to Moscow for one tableware, and only gold and silver sets up to 1500 poods were brought. A special telegraph station with 150 wires was set up in the Kremlin to connect with all the houses where the emergency embassies lived.
The scale and splendor of the preparations greatly surpassed the previous coronations.
Coronation of Nicholas II. Photo: Frame youtube.com
"Tsar's gifts" and 30,000 buckets of beer
The ceremony itself took place on May 26 in a new style, and four days later, “folk festivities” were planned with the distribution of “royal gifts”.
Commemorative Coronation Circle, "Cup of Sorrows". Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org / Guy villeminot
The "royal hotel" included:
- commemorative coronation enamel mug with monograms of Their Majesties, height 102 mm;
- a pound roll made of granular flour, made by the "Supplier of the Court of His Imperial Majesty" baker DI Filippov;
- half a pound of sausage;
- vyazma gingerbread with 1/3 pound coat of arms;
- 3/4 pound bag of sweets (6 spools of caramel, 12 spools of walnuts, 12 spools of plain nuts, 6 spools of pine nuts, 18 spools of Alexander horns, 6 spools of wine berries, 3 spools of raisins, 9 spools of prunes);
- paper bag for sweets with images of Nicholas II and Alexandra Fedorovna.
The entire souvenir (except for the saiga) was tied in a bright chintz shawl, made at the Prokhorovskaya manufactory, on which, on one side, a view of the Kremlin and the Moscow River were printed, on the other, portraits of the imperial couple.
In total, 400,000 "royal gifts" were prepared for free distribution, as well as 30,000 buckets of beer and 10,000 buckets of honey.
Field with traps
The Khodynskoye field was chosen as the place of folk festivals, which by that time had already repeatedly performed similar functions. There they hastily prepared temporary "theaters", stages, booths, shops. In 20 barracks it was planned to treat them with drinks, in 150 stalls - to distribute "royal gifts".
Khodynskaya crush. Photo: Frame youtube.com
In normal times, the Khodynskoye field was used as a parade ground for the occupation of the troops of the Moscow garrison, and no one expected any incidents here.
Uncle Gilyay, the famous Moscow reporter Vladimir Gilyarovsky, who himself almost died there.
According to him, the Khodynskoye field, despite its large size, was not the best place for large gatherings of people. There was a ravine near the field, and on the field itself there were many gullies and holes after the extraction of sand and clay. In addition, there were many poorly sealed wells on Khodynka, which were not paid attention to on ordinary days.
The festivities themselves were supposed to begin at 10 am on May 30, but people began to arrive the day before. Whole families came and were placed on the field in anticipation of the cherished time for the distribution of gifts. Not only Muscovites flocked to Khodynka, but also residents of the Moscow region and neighboring provinces.
"It was impossible to hold against the crowd"
By 5 am on May 30, about 500 thousand people had accumulated in the Khodynskoye field. “It was stuffy and hot. Sometimes the smoke from the fire directly enveloped everything. Everyone, tired of waiting, tired, somehow subsided. Here and there swearing and angry shouts were heard: “Where are you climbing! Why are you pushing! “” - wrote Vladimir Gilyarovsky.
Khodynskaya crush. Photo: Frame youtube.com
“Suddenly it buzzed. First in the distance, then around me. Immediately somehow ... Screeching, screaming, groans. And everyone who was peacefully lying and sitting on the ground, frightened, jumped to their feet and rushed to the opposite edge of the ditch, where the booths were white over the cliff, the roofs of which I could only see behind flickering heads. I did not rush after the people, resisted and walked away from the booths, to the side of the races, towards the insane crowd that rushed after those who had rushed from their seats in an effort for circles. Crush, crush, howl. It was almost impossible to hold against the crowd. And there in front, near the booths, on the other side of the ditch, a howl of horror: against the clay vertical wall of the cliff, taller than a man, they pressed those who first rushed to the booths. They pressed me on, and the crowd behind them filled the moat more and more densely, which formed a solid, compressed mass of howling people, ”Uncle Gilyay reported about the beginning of the disaster.
According to eyewitnesses and police data, the events were catalyzed by rumors that bartenders were handing out gifts among “their own” and therefore there would not be enough gifts for everyone.
Irritated by the wait for many hours, people moved to the stalls. Trapped in the crowd, the protesters did not see where they were going. People began to fall into the ditches, the next fell on them, the lower ones were literally trampled. The screams of terror only increased the panic and chaos. Under the pressure of a huge mass of people, poorly sealed wells could not withstand, into which people also began to fall. From one of these wells, which had become traps, the police then removed 27 corpses and one wounded man, almost distraught from the experience.
"The chilled corpse swayed with us"
Frightened bartenders, fearing that the crowd would overwhelm them, began to throw parcels of "royal gifts" into the crowd. The crush intensified - those who rushed for gifts could no longer emerge from the crowd.
According to various sources, from several hundred to 1800 police officers were concentrated in the Khodynka area. This amount was not enough to prevent the tragedy. The main police forces were concentrated on protecting the Moscow Kremlin, where the royal couple spent the night.
Victims of the stampede on the Khodynskoye field during the celebrations of the coronation of Nicholas II. May 18 (30), 1896. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org
“It was dawn. Blue, sweaty faces, dying eyes, open mouths catching air, a rumble in the distance, but not a sound near us. Standing next to me, across one, a tall, handsome old man had not breathed for a long time: he gasped in silence, died without a sound, and his cold corpse swayed with us. Someone was vomiting next to me. He could not even lower his head, "wrote Vladimir Gilyarovsky.
Uncle Gilyai was rescued by the intervention of a Cossack patrol that arrived in time, which cut off access to Khodynka for new arrivals and began to "dismantle this people's wall outside." Those who, like Gilyarovsky, were not in the very epicenter of the human sea, the actions of the Cossacks helped to escape death.
Gilyarovsky, who got out of the crush, went home to put himself in order, but after just three hours he reappeared at Khodynskoye field in order to see the results of what had happened in the morning.
"Women with torn braids lay in front of me"
Rumors of hundreds of dead have already spread across Moscow. Those who did not yet know about this, moved towards Khodynka to take part in the festivities, and the tortured and half-dead people were reaching out to meet them, carrying in their hands the "royal hotels" that they had so dearly inherited. Carts with corpses also drove from Khodynka - the authorities gave orders to get rid of the traces of the crush as soon as possible.
Victims of the Khodynka crush. Photo: Frame youtube.com
“I will not describe the facial expressions, I will not describe the details. Hundreds of corpses. They lie in rows, they are taken by firemen and dumped into trucks. The ditch, this terrible ditch, these terrible wolf pits are full of corpses. Here is the main place of death. Many of the people suffocated while still standing in the crowd, and fell already dead under the feet of those who were running behind, others died with signs of life under the feet of hundreds of people, died crushed; there were those who were strangled in a fight, near booths, because of bundles and mugs. Women with torn braids and scalped heads lay in front of me. Many hundreds! And how many more were there who were unable to walk and died on the way home. After all, after the corpses were found in the fields, in the forests, near the roads, twenty-five miles from Moscow, and how many died in hospitals and at home! " - Vladimir Gilyarovsky testifies.
In a stampede on the Khodynskoye field, according to official data, about 1400 people died, hundreds were injured.
The tragedy on Khodynka did not make you refuse to celebrate
The incident was reported to Nicholas II and his uncle, Moscow governor-General Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich... Despite the incident, the planned festivities were not canceled. At two o'clock in the afternoon the emperor and his wife visited the Khodynskoye field and "were greeted with thunderous cheers and singing a national anthem."
On the same day, the celebrations continued in the Kremlin Palace, and then a ball at a reception with the French ambassador.
The reluctance of the authorities to change the program of celebrations, even after the mass death of people, was perceived negatively in society.
Mass grave of those killed on May 18 (old style), 1896 at the Vagankovsky cemetery in Moscow. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org / Sergey Semyonov
It is difficult to understand the true attitude of Nicholas II to what happened. Here is an entry from his diary that day: “Until now everything went, thank God, like clockwork, but today a great sin happened. The crowd that had spent the night on Khodynskoye field, in anticipation of the start of the distribution of lunch and a mug, threw themselves on the buildings, and then a terrible crush occurred, and, it’s terrible to add, about 1300 people were trampled! I learned about this at 10 1/2 o'clock before Vannovsky's report; the news left a disgusting impression. At 12 1/2 we had breakfast, and then Alix and I went to Khodynka to attend this sad "folk festival". Actually, there was nothing there; looked from the pavilion at the huge crowd surrounding the stage, on which the music played the hymn and "Glory" all the time. We moved to Petrovsky, where they received several deputations at the gate and then entered the courtyard. Lunch was served here under four tents for all volost elders. I had to give them a speech, and then to the assembled leaders of the court. Bypassing the tables, we went to the Kremlin. We dined with Mom at 8 o'clock. We went to the ball at Montebello. It was very nicely arranged, but the heat was unbearable. After dinner we left at 2 o'clock. "
Was the emperor worried about what had happened, or did the dinner "at Mom's" and the ball make him forget about the "great sin"?
"There will be no use in this reign!"
Most of the bodies of the victims, who were not identified on the spot, were taken to the Vagankovskoye cemetery, where they were mass buried.
The imperial family donated 90 thousand rubles in favor of the victims, sent a thousand bottles of Madeira to the victims in hospitals, and visited the wounded who were being treated in hospitals.
General Alexey Kuropatkinin his diaries he wrote about the reaction of representatives of the royal family to what had happened: “The Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich himself resumed the conversation with me, conveying the words of the Duke of Edinburgh that were spoken to him that evening that during the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the reign of Victoria there were 2,500 killed and several thousand wounded and no one was embarrassed by this. "
The words of the Duke of Edinburgh were actually said, or they are fiction, but Russian society was not ready to “not be embarrassed” by the death of 1400 people on Khodynka.
Temple in the name of the icon of the Mother of God "Joy and Consolation" on the Khodynskoye field ("on blood"). Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org / Sergey Rodovnichenko
The governor-general of Moscow was nicknamed "Prince Khodynsky". As for the emperor himself, according to one version, it was after Khodynka that he was first named Nikolai the Bloody.
“Typesetters surrounded me with questions and made me read. Horror was on all faces. Many have tears. They already knew some of the rumors, but everything was vague. Let's talk.
- Unfortunately it is! There will be no use in this reign! - the most striking thing that I have heard from an old compositor. Nobody answered his words, everyone fell silent in fright ... and switched to another conversation, "Vladimir Gilyarovsky recalled.
The authorities hesitated to the last whether to allow the publication of an article about the disaster. Ultimately, permission was given at a time when the police were about to seize the circulation of the newspaper "Russkiye Vedomosti" with the material "Khodynskaya catastrophe".
After an investigation of the events on the Khodynskoye field, the Moscow chief of Police Alexander Vlasovsky and his assistant. For failure to provide security measures, both were removed from their posts. At the same time, Vlasovsky kept his pension.
After 1896, the word "Khodynka" in Russian became a household name, synonymous with a large-scale disaster with a large number of victims.
Monday, May 14, 2012 07:56 + in the quote pad
On May 14 (May 26), 1896, the coronation of Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna took place. The ceremony was remembered for its splendor, comparable to the modern inaugurations of the President of Russia and the terrible tragedy on the Khodynskoye field. Also, the coronation ceremony went down in history as the first captured on film. The Lumiere brothers, the inventors of cinema, sent representatives of their firm to Russia for filming. No one could have imagined that this would be the last coronation of Russian crowned heads.
But it is Khodynka that will become the very first nail in the coffin of the Russian Empire.
Despite the fact that the capital at that time was Petrograd, according to ancient tradition, the Romanovs came to be crowned in the First See. On May 26 (May 14, old style), 1896, coronation celebrations began in Moscow and the coronation took place in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin of Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. The last coronation of the last emperor in the history of Russia ...
Having ascended the throne in 1894, Nicholas II Alexandrovich Romanov postponed his coronation for a year and a half. In May 1896, when the twelve-month mourning for the unexpectedly deceased 49-nine-year-old Emperor Alexander III ended, the coronation of the new emperor was scheduled.
All those one and a half years that separated the accession of Nicholas II to the throne from the coronation, festive preparations for this ceremony took place in Moscow. The organizers carefully worked out a plan of celebrations and entertainment, for which the treasury allocated about 100 million rubles. The training was supervised by the Chief of Police of Moscow Vlasovsky and the Mayor of Moscow, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich. The coronation festivals were supposed to last two weeks; their program included banquets, balls, concerts, receptions.
All the ceremonies of the coronation were performed by the preeminent member of the Holy Governing Synod, Metropolitan Palladium of St. Petersburg (Raev). The presence of the synod at the time of the holy coronation was transferred to Moscow. This was followed by a liturgy, in the celebration of which the aforementioned metropolitan was co-served by Metropolitan Ioanniky of Kiev (Rudnev) and Moscow Sergius (Lyapidevsky).
At the end of the Liturgy, the Emperor and Empress were anointed with holy myrrh and then the communion of the Holy Mysteries. The Emperor communed in the altar, at the Meal, according to the royal order (separately Body and Blood). Among others, Archpriest John Sergiev took part in the service of the liturgy.
"Announcement" of the sacred crowning of Emperor Nikolai Alexandrovich and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, which will take place on May 14, 1896.
On May 6, on his birthday, a few days before the Holy Coronation, as it should be according to the rite, Nikolai and his wife arrived in Moscow. For three days preceding the ceremonial entry into the capital, they stopped at the Petrovsky Palace, from where on May 9 a magnificent ceremonial procession was supposed to move to the Kremlin.
All days from May 6 to May 26, 1896 were declared the Coronation Period. On May 25, the birthday of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna was celebrated. On May 26, the Imperial Manifesto was published, expressing the monarch's gratitude to the inhabitants of Moscow.
"Celebrations and festivities of the upcoming Holy Coronation"
On May 7, the imperial couple in the Petrovsky Palace received in a solemn audience his lordship the Emir of Bukhara Seid-Abdul-Ahad-Khan with his heir-son, as well as his highness Khan of Khiva, Seid-Mogamet-Rakhim-Bogadur-Khan.
On May 8, the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna arrived at the Smolensky railway station, who was met by the imperial couple in front of a huge crowd of people. In the evening of the same day in front of the Petrovsky Palace a serenade was arranged in the Highest presence, performed by 1,200 people, among whom were the choirs of the Imperial Russian Opera, students of the conservatory, members of the Russian choral society and others.
Coronation invitation
On May 9, a solemn entry took place: the first was Police Chief Efimovich with a platoon of gendarmes, followed by an imperial convoy, a line of carriages with dignitaries, followed by cavalry guards, an imperial personal escort, a hundred of His Majesty's Life Cossack regiment six in a row, and so on.
Solemn entry to Moscow
The solemn procession to the coronation was opened by a squadron of cavalry guards, followed by Cossack guards on horseback, and then the Moscow nobility rolled in carriages.
Entry of the procession led by Nicholas II to Tverskaya through the Triumphal Gates
The Tsar rode alone. The procession was closed by open carriages, in which there were persons of the reigning house and foreign guests. According to Novoye Vremya, the coronation was attended by: one queen, three grand dukes, two sovereign princes, twelve crown princes, sixteen princes and princesses ... All were heading along Myasnitskaya Street to the Kremlin.
Nikolai drives up to the Iversky Gate - this is how the current Manezhnaya Square and the beginning of Tverskaya
Dismounted; tsars always visited the Iberian chapel
Through the Iverskie Gates Nikolay goes to Red Square
The royal cortege solemnly drives past Minin / Pozharsky and the newly built GUM (Upper trading rows)
Troops are waiting for Nicholas II on the Red Square near Execution Ground
The Bolshoi Theatre
Festive decoration of Lubyanskaya square (fountain in the center)
Alexandra Fyodorovna's carriage ride along Red Square
Entry of the procession through the Spassky Gate to the Kremlin
A guard of honor awaiting their Majesties near the Tsar Bell at the foot of Ivan the Great
People waiting for the ceremony and exit to the people of the Emperor on the territory of the Kremlin
The coronation ceremony of Nicholas II in basic details repeated the tradition established by that time, although each emperor had the right to make some changes to the ritual.
Serov V.A. Coronation. Confirmation of Nicholas II in the Assumption Cathedral
Makovsky K.E. Portrait of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna
So, for example, his grandfather and two crowned great-grandfathers - Alexander I and Nicholas I, during the ceremony, did not wear the "dalmatic" - the ancient clothes of the Byzantine emperors, reminiscent of the cut of the bishop's sakkos.
Nicholas II, during his own coronation, appeared to the audience not in the uniform of a colonel, but in a stately ermine mantle.
Laying the crown on Alexandra Feodorovna
Sentinel on guard of the tsarist reactionaries in the Grand Kremlin Palace
Andreevsky (Throne) Hall
The coronation ceremony took place at 10:30. The service was conducted by Metropolitan Palladium of St. Petersburg with the participation of the Kiev and Moscow metropolitans.
Exit of the royal couple from the Assumption Cathedral after the coronation
Procession under the canopy
The ceremony was attended by many bishops, as well as representatives of the highest Greek clergy. In a loud, distinct voice, the Emperor pronounced the creed, after which he placed a large crown on himself, and a small crown on the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna; then the full imperial title was read, fireworks thundered and congratulations began. The emperor, who knelt down and said the appropriate prayer, was anointed and received communion.
The incomparable interior of the Assumption Cathedral, where the ceremony of "holy coronation" took place
The Kremlin and Moskovretsky Bridge were decorated on the occasion of the holiday
Voskresenskaya Square (Revolution Square) near the famous Vitali fountain
The cortege of the participants of the celebrations drives through Strastnaya (Pushkinskaya) Square
The program of celebrations on the occasion of the coronation of Nicholas II included a festivities on the Khodynskoye field in Moscow - carousels were built there, tent stalls were installed; Muscovites were promised numerous shows, entertainment, beer and honey.
Opposite the Passionate Monastery - a wooden pavilion of the Moscow Zemstvo
Carved pavilion on Tverskaya-Yamskaya - the work of the architect Fyodor Shekhtel
Long before the coronation, it was also announced that gifts would be handed out to everyone at Khodynka. The authorities really prepared 400 thousand bundles with the royal set - a crust, a pound of sausage, a pound of sweets and gingerbread, and on top of that - a gilded mug with a royal monogram.
Muscovites and residents of the surrounding area on Red Square during the coronation celebrations
Thousands of Muscovites and residents of villages near Moscow gathered for the celebration. However, the place for the walk was unfortunate: deep ravines, abandoned wells could lead to disaster. And she burst out!
Muscovites and "guests of the capital" opposite the Petrovsky traveling palace, where the Romanovs stayed upon arrival from St.
Gathering of foreign delegations at the Khodynskoye field near the Petrovsky Palace
Triumphal gates on Tverskaya, through which the tsar entered Moscow, and obelisk columns with the text "God Save the Tsar" and "Glory forever and ever"
At 5 o'clock in the morning on May 18, there were at least 500 thousand people in the Khodynskoye field. When the rumor spread through the crowd that the barmen were handing out gifts among “their own”, and therefore there would not be enough gifts for everyone, the people rushed to the temporary wooden buildings. 1,800 police officers, specially dispatched to maintain order during the festivities, could not contain the onslaught of the crowd. Reinforcements did not arrive until the next morning.
On May 17 and 18, 1896, during the festivities dedicated to the coronation of Nicholas II, in Moscow, according to various estimates, from one and a half thousand (according to official data) to six thousand inhabitants of Moscow and the Moscow province (according to cemetery records) died. About the same number of mutilated.
The incident was reported to Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich and Emperor Nicholas II. The crash site was removed and cleared of all traces of the unfolding drama, the celebration program continued. On the Khodynskoye field, the orchestra under the direction of conductor Safronov played a concert, Emperor Nicholas II arrived at 14 o'clock, greeted with a thunderous "hurray" and singing the National Anthem.
The coronation festivities continued in the evening at the Kremlin Palace, followed by a ball at the reception of the French ambassador.
Choir program
Many expected that if the ball was not canceled, it would at least take place without the sovereign. According to Sergei Alexandrovich, although Nicholas II was advised not to come to the ball, the tsar said that although the Khodynka catastrophe is the greatest misfortune, it should not darken the coronation holiday. Nicholas II opened the ball with the Countess of Montebello (the wife of the envoy), and Alexandra Feodorovna danced with the Count.
The dead were buried nearby, at the Vagankovsky cemetery. The tragedy was terrible. And although the emperor donated money to the families of the victims, ordered to send wine to hospitals, visited the hospitals himself, attended the memorial service for the dead, his reputation was undermined. Nicholas II received the nickname "Bloody" among the people.
Unseen illumination
The coronation of 1896 was described in his memoirs by an eyewitness, a former Guards officer B.A. Engelhardt:
"... The day turned out to be glorious, there was not a cloud in the sky, the bright sun was playing on the golden domes of churches, on the bright decoration of the streets, on the shiny uniforms of troops and courtiers ... When the tsar appeared on the porch of the Petrovsky Palace, the first signal cannon shot rang out and the head of the procession set off.
A long column of cavalry units moved ahead. It was headed by a Moscow police chief with a platoon of gendarmes. At some distance behind them were the imperial convoy, hundreds of Kuban and Tertsy, in red Circassians, all - well done to the young man for the selection, on fine horses. Next came the Life Cossacks in red uniforms and the Life Atamans in blue, with long pikes in their hands. And behind these military units were the representatives of the Kyrgyz, Kalmyks, Uzbeks, Bukharians, Khivans, all in colorful national costumes, on richly decorated horses. Next went the deputies of the Cossack troops ...
The magnificent colonnade in Okhotny Ryad, in front of the building of the Noble Assembly, which has not yet been rebuilt ("House of the Unions")
The horse column was replaced by a foot column - a long stream of court officials: walkers with ostrich feathers on fancy headdresses, court lackeys in cocked hats, all in gold-embroidered camisoles, court musicians and, finally, the ranks of the royal hunt - in caftans with a dagger on their belt. Behind them in a ceremonial carriage rode the Supreme Master of Ceremonies ... Prince Dolgoruky ... Nicholas II was led by a white horse, traditionally forged on silver horseshoes. He sat in the saddle, and then a second shot rang out. At the moment the tsar left the palace gates, a third sounded, and the bells of all Moscow churches answered with a general ringing. And at the same moment, the "hurray" of the crowd of many thousands merged with the ringing of bells ...
The public garden on Kalanchevka near the Red Gate, which is now a monument to Lermontov; on the right - Reserve Palace (now Russian Railways)
Red Square was filled with volost elders, voyts and elders, with medals around their necks. From the square in the direction of the Kremlin gate, ranks of "Preobrazhensky" stretched. Along the red platforms stood cavalry guards and horse guards in red supervests ... In addition to numerous deputations from estates, nationalities and tribes of the immense Russian Empire, representatives of monarchs and heads of state from all over the world were present at the coronation ... On the same day, there was a traditional dinner in the Faceted Chamber. The dinner ceremony began with the offering of a gold medal to the king, beaten in memory of the coronation ... "
K. LARINA - Well, we are all here. We are Ksenia Larina, Ksenia Basilashvili. Hello Ksyusha!
K. BASILASHVILI - Good morning! Good day!
K. LARINA - And our guests Svetlana Amelekhina ...
K.BASILASHVILI - Amelekhina.
K. LARINA - Amelekhina, I'm sorry. Well, you see, we have the letter "e" in disgrace, no one prints it. Hello Svetlana!
S. AMELEKHINA - About me, yes. Good day!
K. LARINA - Svetlana Amelekhina, senior researcher and curator of the fabrics sector of the Moscow Kremlin museums. Coronation of Nicholas II on May 26, 1896.
K.BASILASHVILI - I'll correct it right away - there may be a question about the date: old style - new style. So, May 14 according to the old style, May 26 according to the new style.
S. AMELEKHINA - That's right.
K.BASILASHVILI - 110 years have passed. 110 years have passed since that moment. The coronation of the last Russian tsar - the last in every sense, and this is a tragic event. From the very beginning - from the very beginning - it was somehow clear to many that ...
K. LARINA - Business will not end well.
K. BASILASHVILI - Business will not end well. It was clear even to the emperor himself, right, Svetlana?
S. AMELEKHINA - Well, not quite so. He treated this event as an ordeal - he wrote about this in his letters to Maria Feodorovna, the Dowager Empress, his mother. But he expressed the hope that this would be the last difficult test in his life, because then, as he wrote, everything will go well, everything will be as it should be, and God will help us. But the opposite happened.
K. LARINA - Today, of course, we will give you gifts.
K. BASILASHVILI - We have two questions, and here I am asking the first of them, to my pager. So, which of the great Russian artists took part in the competition to create a sketch of the embroidery for the coronation dress of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna?
K. LARINA - And on the phone we will have another question - in the next part.
K. BASILASHVILI - A completely different question on the phone, yes.
K. LARINA - Good. Well, let's talk a little, how did you prepare for this event, what did you prepare for it, if we talk about accessories?
K.BASILASHVILI - And how long did this preparation start?
S. AMELEKHINA - We were preparing very seriously, because the coronation commission, which was created specifically for the preparation of coronation celebrations, began its work a year before the coronation. And the task was set to surpass their predecessors in ...
K. LARINA - On a grand scale?
S. AMELEKHINA - On a grand scale, yes, and in the sumptuousness of ornaments and attire for this coronation. During the year, roughly the creation of the coronation dress for the empress, coronation canopies, luxurious table-top tables began - I will tell you later what all this was for. Well, and the process ended well for the coronation celebrations. The best artists, decorators, and costume designers took part in the creation of all these necessary accessories. The best brocade companies were invited to create coronation robes and canopies, the best tailors took part in the creation of these costumes, including the costumes of coronation heralds ...
K.LARINA - Is it something that you put on once?
S. AMELEKHINA - Yes, it was worn once. Well, our emperors were crowned in military uniforms. And some of them were crowned even in shabby uniforms. It is known, in particular, the Emperor Alexander III. For Nicholas II ...
K.BASILASHVILI - This is intentional, yes, Alexander III?
S. AMELEKHINA - Well, in general, apparently, he was a very modest person, and, so, such ...
K. LARINA - Well, maybe it was a uniform that meant something to him in his life.
K. BASILASHVILI - How to take an exam in old clothes.
K. LARINA - Yes, yes, yes. And don't wash your head.
S. AMELEKHINA - Maybe for luck, yes, indeed. But the point is that both the uniforms of Alexander III and Nicholas II at the coronation, which are still preserved in the Kremlin museums, have a special sign that this is indeed a coronation uniform. Not an inscription in the sleeve of a uniform, but a special window cut on the chest for the rite of anointing. It is known that Nicholas II unfastened it himself - there is a hook there - unfastened this window so that it would be anointed with holy myrrh on his chest.
K.LARINA - Should there be a naked body?
S. AMELEKHINA - Well, after all, there is probably a shirt that was divided ...
K. LARINA - Probably.
S. AMELEKHINA - The fact is that since the time of Alexander III, both in our army and in the army, a semi-caftan uniform was introduced, the so-called when one floor was tightly buttoned. And it was apparently impossible to unfasten it during the coronation in front of the public.
K. BASILASHVILI - It is indecent.
S. AMELEKHINA - For this, here, on these uniforms, on the last two, coronation uniforms ... the last two Russian emperors ...
K.LARINA - Special windows.
S. AMELEKHINA - ... these are the windows.
K. LARINA - Well, what was Nicholas II for his uniform?
S. AMELEKHINA - Oh, Nicholas II was crowned in a very modest uniform, but how he wrote it ... I don't remember. In general, one of the courtiers said that "in our native Preobrazhensky." He chose the uniform of the Preobrazhensky regiment for the coronation, but he was a colonel of this regiment. After becoming emperor, he did not appoint himself a general, but was a colonel. Therefore, this is a colonel's uniform of the Preobrazhensky regiment, but, however, with gold epaulettes, on which the monogram of Emperor Alexander III and oxelbants are attributes of the adjutant wing of the late Emperor Alexander III.
K.BASILASHVILI - Now we will talk in more detail about the costumes - by the way, I want to remind you that these costumes, they are kept in the museums of the Moscow Kremlin, in the Armory, they can be seen in showcases. I don't know if everything is on display - hardly everything ...
S. AMELEKHINA - Well, the coronation dress of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna is in the window, yes.
K.BASILASHVILI - And now, probably, it is worth talking about him now. I know that this is such a masterpiece of world significance.
S. AMELEKHINA - Well, this dress was named a masterpiece of the art of embroidery right after its creation. The names are Alexandra Fedorovna's sister, Elizaveta Fedorovna. Because she took some kind of active participation.
K. BASILASHVILI - She sewed herself, in my opinion. Or one of the courtiers, someone was ...
S. AMELEKHINA - In no case, in no case, not herself. She, as it were, acted as an expert in this case. Those. even then, contemporaries were struck by the quality of the embroidery, the elegance of the pattern and the splendor of this costume. Although Alexandra Feodorovna always dressed beautifully, this dress exceeded all expectations.
K. LARINA - Was there a specific author there?
S. AMELEKHINA - The fact is that if we talk about the cut of this dress, then it was a traditional court dress, which were officially introduced at the Russian imperial court in 1834, by law, under Nicholas I. These are the so-called "Russian" court dresses, which resembled, as then contemporaries wrote, in 1834, a French sundress.
K.BASILASHVILI - Oh, such a swan, yes, with sleeves?
S. AMELEKHINA - Flap sleeves, typical for the secular costume of the Russian late 17th century. Well, by the way, also in Western Europe ...
K.LARINA - These are such, with such slots, right?
S. AMELEKHINA - Yes, yes, yes. Folding, they just hung there, hanging, hanging down. The front of the dress was shaped like a Russian sarafan, with a strap and buttons. And this costume also relied on a kokoshnik and a veil.
K. BASILASHVILI - By the way, here is a hint for our radio listeners who are now answering the question.
K. LARINA - Is that kokoshnik, really kokoshnik, really?
S. AMELEKHINA - A real kokoshnik ...
K. LARINA - Was she wearing a kokoshnik?
S. AMELEKHINA - They were wearing kokoshniks, yes. Kokoshniks for ... were supposed to be for married ladies, and for girls with such a costume, a bandage was required.
K. BASILASHVILI - And what, the whole competition was announced - now we are asking this question to our radio listeners ..?
S. AMELEKHINA - It is, as it were, a competition - you can conditionally call it ...
K.BASILASHVILI - i.e. is this not what was announced to the whole country?
S. AMELEKHINA - No, just the maid of honor of their Imperial Majesties Maria Feodorovna and Alexandra Feodorovna Maria Nikolaevna Ermolova, absolutely, here, the full correspondence of the name, surname and patronymic of the great Russian actress. But nevertheless, it was the maid of honor. Who lived in Moscow, and she was famous in Moscow ... or rather had a reputation as an expert in the art of embroidery. And the members of the coronation commission turned to her for help so that she would select masters who could create a sketch for a dress ... for embroidering a dress - i.e. the cut was clear from the beginning - and to pick up the craftswomen who could do it. And she successfully organized this process. And despite the fact that all this work lasted for a year, it was redone several times, for various reasons - if you want, I will tell you why. But in the end it was all created, superbly organized, and the dress came out gorgeous. Four embroidery designs were offered to Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna to choose from. It is surprising that despite the fact that the great Russian ... one of the great Russian artists proposed his sketch including - that is, he was asked to do it - a peculiar anonymous author won this competition. And the archival documents that I managed to find with the help of a colleague from Pavlovsk indicate that this anonymous author was Maria Nikolaevna Yermolova herself.
K. BASILASHVILI - What do you mean!
S. AMELEKHINA - She hid it, did not take money for it. Although they were supposed to, all the authors of the sketches were entitled to some sums for the work. Here, she won this competition.
K. LARINA - What drawings were offered?
S. AMELEKHINA - These were sketches. I'll tell you: it means that one of the artists - Nikolai Kozlov - offered two designs of embroidery in the style of Louis XIV and Louis XV, the artist, whose name I will not tell you yet, because this is a question, proposed a sketch in the Russian-Byzantine style, and Maria Nikolaevna Ermolova - in the Russian style. But in order to ...
K. LARINA - Are there simple patterns or some kind of plot?
S. AMELEKHINA - No, the pattern is definitely a pattern, and small pearls should have been included there. This pearl is indeed still on the dress, it is included in the embroidery, and this pearl is known to have been taken for embroidery from the room of crown diamonds. This is understandable, it was kept in the Winter Palace.
K.BASILASHVILI - And porphyry, of course, yes, probably? This one, the cape ...
S. AMELEKHINA - Coronation mantle?
K.BASILASHVILI - Coronation mantle.
S. AMELEKHINA - The coronation robe of Alexandra Feodorovna ...
K.BASILASHVILI - Was there?
S. AMELEKHINA -… now it is in the showcase of the Armory Chamber, it can also be seen. In general, for the coronation, three coronation robes were created, completely identical - for the emperor, empress and dowager empress. The length of each mantle is 7 m. The weight of each mantle is approximately 13 kg. Can you imagine ...
K. LARINA - Who should carry it?
S. AMELEKHINA - Each robe was carried by 7 chamberlains. For this, special handles are sewn on the lining. Moreover, when they carried the mantle of the empress, there was still need to contrive, because it was necessary to simultaneously hold the train and the mantle. And usually the chamberlains were elderly people. And in the memoirs of contemporaries they remained ... well, they watched with horror how one of the chamberlains kept dropping the train - the mantle remained in his hands, the train fell all the time. Everyone was very worried about this.
K. LARINA - Well, let's get back to the process. Approved ... chose a sketch, right? Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna were approved.
K.BASILASHVILI - And I also ... Ksyusha, wait a second, but I would also like to remember ...
K. LARINA - Well, did you miss something?
K. BASILASHVILI - Yes, another very important participant in this event. This is a person who is now being discussed a lot in connection with the reburial ceremony - this is Maria Feodorovna, the Dowager Empress. She also played a very important role.
S. AMELEKHINA - Yes.
K. BASILASHVILI - For the coronation ceremony, a suit was also made for her. Has it survived?
S. AMELEKHINA - Well, first of all, if my memory serves me, and if it really is, then it seems that her costume is kept in the Hermitage. I can't say for sure. But here I know exactly what role she played in the creation of Alexandra Feodorovna's coronation dress. She persuaded her daughter-in-law for a long time so that ... or rather, she explained that this is the most difficult process - to be in this dress and robe during the ceremony. And she remembered her suffering during her coronation.
K. LARINA - How long does the ceremony last?
S. AMELEKHINA - The ceremony takes a very long time. Those. at 10 o'clock in the morning they had already left the Red Porch, and then, as it were, the ceremony itself. Then they visited the Cathedral of the Annunciation, the Cathedral of the Assumption ...
K. LARINA - Ie. all day, practically?
S. AMELEKHINA - Yes, then they are the highest meals - and all in these costumes. The weight of Alexandra Fyodorovna's dress - I tried to weigh it in parts.
K. LARINA - Well?
S. AMELEKHINA - It consists of three parts. Approximately 10 kg.
K. BASILASHVILI - Yes, it's hard.
S. AMELEKHINA - But Alexandra Feodorovna was, unlike Maria Feodorovna, a physically stronger woman. Probably, this did not give her such suffering as Maria Fedorovna did. Maria Feodorovna has the most terrible memories. And she advised her daughter-in-law to lighten the weight of the coronation dress by any means. And therefore, initially for this dress, a light brocade was chosen, very light, like such silver gas. But when Maria Nikolaevna Ermolova, along with the nuns of the Ivanovo Monastery, who were entrusted with embroidery, at her insistence, tried to embroider something on it, it turned out that all this was crumpled, all this was ugly. Those. they flatly refused ...
K. LARINA - Ie. didn't make it easier, right?
S. AMELEKHINA - It didn't work out. But the funniest thing is that the abbess of the monastery, Abbess Sergius, who led this work, wrote about this. “And so we, there, have calculated. They chose brocade fabrics from the Sapozhnikovs - in the Sapozhnikovs' firm. We like the way it will look like the embroidery. Well, dresses, there, it will come out, there, a little, there, a kilogram, lighter. Well, that's enough, she writes. “And in general, I don’t understand, what is the calculation in several kilograms, if the train is carried by 7 people?”
K. LARINA - Yes.
S. AMELEKHINA - She, of course, knew better, yes.
K. LARINA - Why did you do it several times? You wanted to say about it.
S. AMELEKHINA - Oh, this is also a very interesting story. Because the dress was sewn and cut in St. Petersburg, and embroidered in Moscow. And all this was done in parts. It was Maria Nikolaevna Ermolova who organized this process. The Sapozhnikovs made brocade and sent it to St. Petersburg. There, in the firm of the famous dressmaker Olga Nikolaevna Bulbenkova, who was the supplier of the court of Her Imperial Majesty, she trimmed both Maria Feodorovna and Alexandra Feodorovna - they cut it all there. They were sent to Moscow. The nuns embroidered these pieces. They were again sent to St. Petersburg - there they were collected. Here. And the nuns wrote very interestingly about the quality of the work of the famous firm of Olga Nikolaevna Bulbenkova - whom I personally respect very much, because her works are magnificent. But there was only a cut, embroidery was done elsewhere. They wrote: “We, in general, do not understand what kind of work the famous company is, because we have cut everything out of the way,” although they were given samples of embroidery, ie. how it all will lie on the fabric. What, behold, "we cannot dock anything with each other ...". Well, in the end, in general, the nuns tried, something, stretched out, there, set up and in general. She sewed this brocade on a typewriter, which is absolutely forbidden. She stroked it - the stains went over the brocade. Therefore, in general, everything is so quiet, quiet, quiet they did this business, all together. In general, the emperor and empress did not even know about all this and have already seen a masterpiece.
K. LARINA - We are now listening to the news, then we return to the program.
NEWS
K. LARINA - Well, I think that since the name has been named, we will tell you a little about it now. This will be done by our guest Svetlana Amelekhina, senior researcher at the Moscow Kremlin museums. Well, I think you can ask the next question already, yes, Ksyusha?
K. BASILASHVILI - Yes, of course. And with this question, we will go directly to the ceremony itself, which we will now talk about in detail. There was a lot of mysticism in the ceremony itself, as Nikolai himself later recalled.
S. AMELEKHINA - Well, not so much ...
K. BASILASHVILI - But there was. So who, during the rehearsal of the coronation, played the roles of the emperor, empress, and empress dowager? There was such a rehearsal. Please state your position at court or, if you can, your surname. Or you can call them both - then we can still encourage you with something additional.
K. LARINA - Ie. what are these people called, right?
K.BASILASHVILI - Yes, who during the rehearsal of the coronation played the roles of the emperor, empress and dowager empress?
K. LARINA - "Is your program dedicated to the coronation or ladies' toilets?" - our listeners sneer. Well, let's go beyond the already ladies' toilets, please, Svetlana. Closer to the coronation.
S. AMELEKHINA - Well, about the coronation rehearsal, if you want ...
K. BASILASHVILI - Yes, of course.
S. AMELEKHINA - Since the question has been asked. Before the ceremony, which lasted quite a long time, it was apparently necessary to conduct such a ceremony. It is known that such ceremonies were held before the coronation of Alexander III, here, and Nicholas II. Contemporaries left even memories of this. Why - in order to correctly walk from the Red Porch to the Assumption Cathedral, and to carry the trains correctly and spread them out in the right way so that no one stumbles, no one gets confused. Here, such a ceremony was held. For her, models of coronation robes were specially created, corresponding in weight, but made of plain fabric, and the chamberlains carried after those people who depicted the emperor, empress and dowager empress.
K. BASILASHVILI - Well, now let's move on to May 14 itself. How did this day begin? In Moscow.
S. AMELEKHINA - This day began with the chime of the bells, and with the fact that already from 6 am all the courtiers gathered in the throne room, waiting for the emperor and empress to come out. The first coronation procession was opened by the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna. She was the first to march into the Assumption Cathedral and took her place. It passed under a special coronation canopy, which, it seems, was carried on huge silver rods by 8 adjutant generals. For her, the diamond throne of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich was transferred from the Armory specifically. She sat on it on a specially constructed platform under the also special throne canopy. Then the coronation procession began. It was opened by the highest dignitaries of the empire, who carried coronation regalia one after another on special gilded pillows.
K.BASILASHVILI - This is where everything took place in the Kremlin palace or already in the cathedral?
S. AMELEKHINA - It all passed ... the procession began in the throne room, then descended from the Red Porch, moved along a special platform to the Assumption Cathedral and entered the cathedral through the doors of the cathedral.
K.BASILASHVILI - i.e. the throne was already in the cathedral?
S. AMELEKHINA - Thrones - there were three of them. For Nicholas II, the famous bone throne of Tsar Ivan III was transferred, for Alexandra Feodorovna - the golden throne of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. When the regalia was brought to the cathedral ... brought to the cathedral ...
K. LARINA - And how many, many regalia?
S. AMELEKHINA - A lot. Well, let's try to list. Large imperial crown for Nicholas II, small imperial crown for Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, scepter, orb, two diamond chains of Andrew the First-Called - large and small for the emperor and empress - coronation banner, coronation ... state seal, shield ... state shield, state sword.
K.LARINA - Did they even carry a separate seal?
S. AMELEKHINA - Yes. Yes. And we have preserved in our museum these luxurious coronation pillows, on which they carried all these regalia. And, two more coronation robes carried ...
K. LARINA - And what about Monomakh's hat?
S. AMELEKHINA - Monomakh's hat did not take part ...
K. LARINA - Did you not participate?
S. AMELEKHINA -… never in the imperial coronation. Regalia were brought ... part of the regalia was always kept in the Armory - like a shield, a sword, the state banner. And the imperial crowns and diamond chains were kept in the Diamond Room of the Winter Palace. And before the coronation they were brought by a special train, placed in the Armory, and before the coronation they were transferred from the Armory to the throne room and placed on a special table. From there the procession began, from this place.
K. BASILASHVILI - And so, the procession enters the Assumption Cathedral.
S. AMELEKHINA - They were sprinkled with water by the priests, the emperor and empress entered the cathedral, ascended the platform and, in fact, the ceremony began. But the quintessence of this ceremony is, of course, the anointing ceremony in the altar of the Assumption Cathedral, which symbolized the descent of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit on the monarch, after which he became not subject to human judgment, only divine judgment.
K.BASILASHVILI - And it was then that the event happened, which Nikolay later recalled?
S. AMELEKHINA - Not at all.
K.BASILASHVILI - No, not here?
S. AMELEKHINA - There is no, it happened while he was wearing the coronation robe. His assistants, the grand dukes, so diligently straightened his mantle that the diamond chain of the Order of St. Andrew, which was already on his neck, either unbuttoned or broke and fell to the floor. And Nicholas II considered this a very bad omen, and was upset.
K. LARINA - Did the audience gasp?
S. AMELEKHINA - Well, obviously it was like this, somewhat camouflaged, especially ...
K. BASILASHVILI - It has slipped, probably, heavy, probably, right? She slipped so quietly, yes.
S. AMELEKHINA - Well, apparently, she unbuttoned all the same.
S. AMELEKHINA - After the coronation ceremony, after the anointing ceremony ...
K. BASILASHVILI - It lasted a long time, is the ceremony itself?
S. AMELEKHINA - Long enough, because the corresponding prayers were read there, the service was going on ...
K. BASILASHVILI - Two hours, yes, somewhere, probably?
S. AMELEKHINA - I think less.
K. BASILASHVILI - Less.
S. AMELEKHINA - We do not know the exact chronology in time. The ceremony is over, the crowns are dressed, the robes are dressed, all the regalia are laid, the emperor with a scepter and orb. And again they left the Assumption Cathedral, stood under the coronation canopies and went along the same platform first to the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, where they applied to the holy icons. Then, opposite, to the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, where the graves of ancestors were worshiped ...
K.BASILASHVILI - And all this time they carry the mantle behind them?
S. AMELEKHINA - Yes, they carry a mantle behind them, so you understand that a rehearsal was necessary. Then, when this ceremony was over, they returned along the Red Porch, entered the Grand Kremlin Palace again and went to the Faceted Chamber, where the highest meal was held with the invited guests.
K. LARINA - Tell me, please, Svetlana, and when the first words, if at all, is the emperor during the coronation. Does he say anything?
S. AMELEKHINA - He is reading the "Creed."
K. LARINA - Ie. he reads a prayer.
S. AMELEKHINA - He reads a prayer.
K. LARINA - Yes? And so, there is no appeal?
S. AMELEKHINA - No. Not.
K. LARINA - No? And during the meal too?
S. AMELEKHINA - Something I don't remember, so that the sovereign ...
K. LARINA - No?
S. AMELEKHINA - Ah, now I will tell you. He was making a toast, and this is very curious. The glass from which he drank the first toast, you can now see at the exhibition "Russian Emperors and the Armory."
K.LARINA - A glass or a cup?
S. AMELEKHINA - Glass.
K. LARINA - High?
S. AMELEKHINA - It is called "stop" even. Silver. It is believed that since antiquity it has been kept in the Armory, and belonged to Tsar Ivan the Terrible. So, he was poured honey, as it is written in the documents, they brought this glass of honey, and he drank the first toast, obviously having uttered some words.
K. LARINA - "Well, for the victory!"
K. BASILASHVILI - They say that it was still raining that day?
S. AMELEKHINA - Something about the rain ...
K.BASILASHVILI - No, no?
S. AMELEKHINA -… during the coronation of Nicholas II I do not remember. I know for sure that of all ...
K. BASILASHVILI - The clouds drove away.
S. AMELEKHINA - Of all the coronations - and I did all of them, little by little - there was always wonderful weather. How did they manage to calculate this day and appoint exactly ...
K. LARINA - And some documentation has survived, since that time?
S. AMELEKHINA - Yes, the colossal documentation is stored in the Russian State Historical Archive in St. Petersburg, and there are documents in the archive ... in the Russian State Archive of Humanities in Moscow.
K. LARINA - Well, is there some kind of letter that is given, here, to the king during the coronation? Here ... what captures this moment?
K.BASILASHVILI - Like, "became a king" from that moment.
S. AMELEKHINA - No, there is no such certificate, but there were other certificates - by the way, Vasnetsov took part in their creation. They can be seen in the coronation collection, which was published after the coronation of Nicholas II. These are the letters that the coronation heralds, heralds, read out before the coronation. They drove around Moscow, took out these luxurious, painted letters from their bags and read out the coronation manfesto - that was exactly what happened and what remained in the archives. Manifesto on the coronation of Nicholas II: what day is this great celebration scheduled for?
K.BASILASHVILI - Celebration ... well, we just talked about one day, which ended, as I understand it, with a trapeza and, probably, with a prayer after the meal, right, probably? I guess so ...
S. AMELEKHINA - Distribution of coronation tokens and medals.
K. LARINA - What is this?
S. AMELEKHINA - Special tokens have been minted for the coronation since the coronation of Catherine I ...
K. LARINA - Memorable, right?
S. AMELEKHINA - Yes. Which heralds either scattered into the crowd - and handed out medals.
K. LARINA - And where was the crowd in general?
S. AMELEKHINA - The crowd was present ... well, the crowd is relative, this is ...
K.BASILASHVILI - Selected crowd.
S. AMELEKHINA - Yes, a well-selected crowd in the Cathedral Square of the Moscow Kremlin. This is where the heralds threw coronation tokens. Well, earlier, in the 18th century, there really, probably ... well, of course, ordinary people in homespun caftans were not allowed.
K.BASILASHVILI - Well, you ... I, here, just wanted to remember another event that took place within the framework of the celebrations - a stampede on the Khodynskoye field. How long did these celebrations last, and what provoked this tragedy?
S. AMELEKHINA - Oh, you can ...
K. BASILASHVILI - I know that there is documentary evidence stored in your museum that reminds me.
S. AMELEKHINA - This is not documentary, but rather material evidence.
K. BASILASHVILI - Material evidence, let's say.
K. BASILASHVILI - On the 4th day.
S. AMELEKHINA - ... a festivities were planned on the Khodynskoye field, and Nicholas II in his memoirs left, here, his impressions of this day. What, before ... “Thank God, everything has been going smoothly and well to this day, a nightmare happened today. The people gathered at the Khodynskoye field in anticipation of dinner ", as he writes ...
K. LARINA - Free, yes.
S. AMELEKHINA - "... and gifts" ...
K. LARINA - Yes.
S. AMELEKHINA - I'll tell you now what the gifts are. As he wrote, he put pressure on the buildings ... "naper" is written there, on the buildings, and there was a crush. And “it's scary to say,” he writes, “1300 people were suppressed”. Then, on that day, he knew that 1,300 people, probably, later turned out to be more, as always happens. And “our impressions from this news are terrible”. Of course, he was very worried. And the gifts were, in general, in the traditional set of coronation gifts, in the 19th century as it was - this is a coronation mug, a coronation gingerbread, and all this was wrapped in a printed scarf. The Moscow Kremlin is painted there on a scarf, depicted, or rather, printed. And the date of the coronation is written.
K. LARINA - Ie. also such, memorable gifts for the people.
S. AMELEKHINA - Yes, memorable gifts that were distributed.
K. LARINA - But is it really just because of these gifts like this, so many people go there ...
S. AMELEKHINA - You know, a huge number of people always gathered for these celebrations, because in the 18th century, during the coronation of Elizabeth Petrovna and Catherine II, whole fountains were installed, from which wine was gushing. Huge fried bulls were exhibited on Cathedral Square, colossal tables were frozen. It was such a tradition, a holy tradition. It was very interesting for everyone to see, they expected - suddenly the emperor would appear, the empress - the only opportunity to see them. True, in my opinion, they did not plan to appear at the Khodynskoye field. I am not sure about that. And naturally, it was a holiday, a great holiday for the entire state. And how not to get there? There were few such holidays. And moreover, luxurious - huge sums were released for the device, all kinds of amusements. A real folk holiday. Festivities.
K.LARINA - Are there these souvenirs in the museum that were handed out on Khodynka? Yes?
S. AMELEKHINA - Yes, as far as I know, we have a coronation mug. By the way, they are in many museums - I know for sure, in the State Historical Museum there are. Here, and I, here, specifically in my storage, have a scarf. That's it. But its origin is interesting - for me it is mysterious, but, in general, and symbolic at the same moment. Because we have receipts in the main collection of the Armory, something was bought there, but here it comes from a cathedral, from one of the Moscow cathedrals. After the revolution. Those. Someone brought this handkerchief to the Assumption, Annunciation or Archangel Cathedrals, and it was kept there in the sacristy - there were traces of blood on it.
K. LARINA - Indeed a testimony.
K.BASILASHVILI - As a reminder of an event, that is ... That chain of events.
K. LARINA - By the way ... by the way about mysticism and about signs. Of course it's a sign. And you can perceive it - for the king it was also such a sign.
K. BASILASHVILI - I don't know how Svetlana perceives this, as a person who works with these suits, and do you think that nothing foreshadowed such an end? In this ceremony, in these events?
S. AMELEKHINA - No, well, Nicholas II himself already felt something like that, yes ...
K. LARINA - I felt it.
S. AMELEKHINA - Although ... most of all, by the way, here, they were afraid during the ceremony so that some oversight would not happen - because of this, rehearsals were arranged so that something would not fall there, and ...
K. LARINA - Let us answer the question already ...
PRIZE DRAWING (ANSWER - CAMERA-PAGES. SURNAME OF ONE - MANDRYK)
K. LARINA - Well, perhaps we should name all the others by their surnames, right?
S. AMELEKHINA - Yes. Engelhardt, who left his memories - this is where this ceremony is described. And Dyurazhinsky. The pages of the Emperor Nicholas II, Alexandra Feodorovna and Maria Feodorovna.
K. LARINA - Well, look, the rehearsal was held for those who are wearing these very ... robes and trains ...
S. AMELEKHINA - Well, yes, for everyone. And regalia, including.
K. LARINA - And here is how the participants themselves, the emperor and the empress, remembered all these points ...
K.BASILASHVILI - Where to go.
K. LARINA -… which must be walked on. Somehow there ... was there a rehearsal for them? Or were they just ... were they just being led?
S. AMELEKHINA - They were probably just told, they were preparing in advance what they should do. In addition, Nicholas II saw all this as a Grand Duke during the coronation of his father. And all this ... it was 13 years ... 13 years before my own ... And I remembered everything.
K.LARINA - And the protocol of the coronation has not changed ... has not changed?
S. AMELEKHINA - No. Not.
K. LARINA - Yes?
S. AMELEKHINA - No, maybe a little.
K. BASILASHVILI - Here, during our conversation, you mentioned such words as "canopies" several times, under which you must pass ...
K. LARINA - Table-table still - we wanted to know what it is. Tabletop.
S. AMELEKHINA - Desktop?
K. LARINA - Yes.
K. BASILASHVILI - Yes, yes, yes. Here's what ... is it necessary, why was it necessary, it was necessary to pass, there, under the canopy, there, necessarily red? Did it symbolize something?
S. AMELEKHINA - Well, red ...
K. LARINA - Well, have you ever been accepted as a pioneer, Basilashvili?
K. BASILASHVILI - Accepted.
K. LARINA - Well, what ...
S. AMELEKHINA - But it is not that red color, not that one. It was the crimson color of the canopies. This is an imperial color since the time of the Byzantine Empire. But, by the way, the coronation canopies were not only crimson. The canopy they walked under was gold. And it had a huge coat of arms of the Russian Empire. Those. right over their heads. The canopy, under which they sat in the Assumption Cathedral, stood during the ceremony, was crimson, also with a huge giant eagle. In general, it was a gigantic, heavy construction, since we still have them, and I store them specifically (laughs) ... You may feel sorry for me a little, because the weight ...
K. BASILASHVILI - Are you lifting it, alone?
S. AMELEKHINA - The weight of the valance, only one valance from the coronation canopy - they are now disassembled into its component parts - well, about 40 kilograms. The four of us with our assistants move from the table to the shelf where they are stored. Well, while the valances have not been restored, but some of the ceiling lamps from the coronation canopies have been restored. And now the largest, gigantic one, since the coronation of Nicholas II, will now go to an exhibition in Finland, along with the coronation mantle of Maria Feodorovna. Another one, gold, is now on display at the Emperor and the Armory exhibition. You can see if you come to our exhibition.
K.LARINA - And about the tabletop, you promised to tell.
S. AMELEKHINA - We have a lot of table-tables. The earliest, apparently ...
K. LARINA - What is it, first of all? Tablecloths, or what?
S. AMELEKHINA - Yes. The earliest, apparently, from the coronation of the Empress Anna Ioannovna, the latest from the coronation of Nicholas II, also of gigantic size and heavy weight, with huge gold tassels and fringes. Perfectly preserved, because it is made, here, from luxurious Russian brocade, also by the Sapozhnikovs. They were intended to cover the huge tables in the Throne Hall and in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin so that when the regalia on the pillows are brought, they could be laid somewhere. Because no one was allowed to touch the regalia with their hands, except for the high priests and the emperor himself. Therefore, he was served all this on pillows, taken from the table. He himself took the regalia in his hands.
K. BASILASHVILI - Is this the only coronation ceremony in the photographs that has survived, photographically documented? Because before that, in my opinion, photography did not have time. There are probably whole albums here?
S. AMELEKHINA - Well, the photograph actually appeared at much earlier coronations ...
K. BASILASHVILI - Yes.
S. AMELEKHINA - I know that in order to illuminate this celebration, famous photographers and famous artists, including Benoit, Makovsky, Samokish, Sutkovsky, Vasnetsov, were invited to the Kremlin.
K. LARINA - But Serov is called here by our listeners, no?
S. AMELEKHINA - Perhaps, perhaps.
K. LARINA - "Valentin Serov captured the coronation ceremony in the Assumption Cathedral."
S. AMELEKHINA - Surely.
K. LARINA - "Many wonderful sketches" - Alexander writes to us.
S. AMELEKHINA - Yes, yes, I do not even undertake to list the number. I just call my loved ones. And as far as I know, it was forbidden to take photographs in the Assumption Cathedral, so sketches and paintings were left from this ceremony. But the process, as it were, of the passage of the coronation procession remained in the photographs.
K. LARINA - Is there anything in the diaries of Nicholas II, by the way, here is the detail about the coronation ceremony itself? Or not?
S. AMELEKHINA - Well, not in detail. In the diaries of the great dukes. I strongly advise, they are now published, not so long ago. The more you read them, the more you will learn, because they are ... in the diaries of foreign envoys who were present ...
K. LARINA - Were invited.
S. AMELEKHINA - A huge number of foreign guests were invited, and, of course, the reviews there are the most delighted, because, well ... "like a wonderful dream" they took it, that ... well, something like this.
K. LARINA - Tell me, please, did the tradition of giving gifts exist at that time?
S. AMELEKHINA - It has always existed. Giving gifts, but if ...
K. LARINA - On this particular day?
S. AMELEKHINA - Yes. No, not on this day. A few days after the coronation - I think one or two - the emperor and empress were received in the Throne Room - again, here, all the coronation regalia were laid out on the table - they received deputations, foreign and Russian deputations ...
K.LARINA - It was here that they brought gifts, right?
S. AMELEKHINA - Yes, they brought gifts. But by the end of the 19th century, there was already a strictly established regulation of what can be brought.
K. LARINA - Well, for example?
S. AMELEKHINA - No, not for example. Quite simply, specifically, what is possible. And nothing more.
K. LARINA - Ie. say now?
S. AMELEKHINA - It was possible to bring icons and bread and salt. But, naturally, all the deputies tried to be as sophisticated as they could. Well, in the icons - there you will not be very sophisticated ... of course, in the frames you can. But bread and salt - it means that each province embroidered a special towel - the best craftswomen worked on this. A luxurious dish, either porcelain or silver, gilded, with stones, carved from wood, was laid on a towel. Next is bread, and on top is a salt shaker, also decoratively decorated. After the coronation, such a number accumulated that Nicholas II ordered an entire gallery to be taken away for an exhibition in the Grand Kremlin Palace. Now some of them are kept in our museum, some, unfortunately, were melted down after the revolution, because there was a lot of gold and silver there. But some are kept, there are both in the Hermitage and in the Ethnographic Museum in St. Petersburg - wherever not.
K. LARINA - And what did the foreign envoys give? They have no icons, no bread and salt?
S. AMELEKHINA - Honestly, I don’t know.
K. LARINA - Oh, how! Well, thank you very much! Svetlana Amelekhina, senior researcher at the Moscow Kremlin museums. Today we remembered, together with our guest and you, the coronation of Nicholas II. It was the program "Kremlin Chambers", we say goodbye for a week and thank our guest. And Ksenia Basilashvili too.
The coronation of kings was an important event of national importance. The upcoming event was announced by a manifesto signed by the future Tsar Nicholas II.
Manifesto
« On the forthcoming Sacred Crowning of Their Imperial Majesties. "
“We declare to all our loyal subjects:
With the help of God, We set out, in the month of May of this year, in the First Throne City of Moscow, following the example of the Pious Sovereigns, Our Ancestors, to entrust the Crown and receive, according to the established order, Holy Confirmation, introducing to this the Beloved Spouse of Our Emperor, the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna.
We call on all our faithful subjects, on the upcoming solemn day of Crowning, to share Our joy and together with Us to offer a fervent prayer to the Giver of all blessings, may He pour out the Gifts of His Holy Spirit on Us, may He strengthen Our Power and may He direct Us in the footsteps of Our Unforgettable Parent Whose life and work for the benefit of the dear Fatherland will remain for Us forever a bright example. "
"NIKOLAI"
Historians note that the coronation of Nikolai Alexandrovich (the Second), which took place on May 26, 1896, was one of the most magnificent during the reign of the Romanovs. We prepared for the event in advance and carefully. Only one tableware was sent to Moscow from the northern capital of 8 thousand poods. Of these, 1500 poods were services. A telegraph network with 150 wires was deployed in the Kremlin to communicate with foreign ambassadors.
A coronation commission and a separate office were created, which was responsible for carrying out all protocol events. Representatives of the nobility from all regions of the Russian Empire were invited to the coronation, which was to take place in Moscow.
Government officials, whose activities had nothing to do with the upcoming event, were given 3 days off to be able to "share the joy" of the imperial family, and "offer a fervent prayer to the Giver of all blessings" on such an important event.
In honor of the coronation, a medal and a coin were being prepared. The execution of the sketches was entrusted to well-known artists - Ilya Repin, Anton Vasyutinsky and the sculptor Mark Antakolsky. The future emperor personally posed for the artists.
The Senate was also instructed to leave for the capital. On May 11-13, the heralds rode around Moscow on horseback, and reported on the upcoming event, which was scheduled for May 14.
The coronation in the cathedral was attended by many foreign guests. Among them were the Emir of Bukhara, Queen of Greece Olga Konstantinovna, 12 crown princes, including:
- prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria,
- prince Nikolay from Montenegro,
- brother of William II, Prince Henry of Prussia,
- english Duke Arthur of Connaught,
- duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha,
- prince of Siam,
- brother of the Persian shah,
- japanese prince with a delegation,
- pope's representative,
- representatives of China.
In his diary, Nicholas II wrote about the coronation:
“Great, solemn, but difficult, in the moral sense, for Alix, Mom and me, day. From 8 o'clock in the morning they were on their feet; and our procession started only at 1/2 10. The weather was fortunately wonderful; The Red Porch was a radiant sight. All this happened in the Assumption Cathedral, although it seems like a real dream, but it is not forgotten all my life !!!
We returned to our place at half past one. At 3 o'clock we went again in the same procession to the Faceted Chamber for the meal. At 4 o'clock everything ended quite well; with a soul filled with gratitude to God, I rested completely afterwards. We dined with Mom, who fortunately passed the whole long test perfectly. At 9 o'clock. went to the upper balcony, from where Alix lit an electric illumination on Ivan the Great and then the towers and walls of the Kremlin, as well as the opposite embankment and Zamoskvorechye, were illuminated in succession.
The Emperor is restrained in emotion. This can be seen from his other notes. Fortunately, the record of Count Sergei Dmitrievich Sheremetev, a Russian public figure, historian, collector who attended the event in the Cathedral, has survived.
“… Gos [strike] and Im [peratritsa] approached the Royal Doors. Confirmation ... The Tsar enters the Royal Doors into the altar, while the Empress stands at the image of Vladimir's] B [ozhina] M [ateri) ... A great sacrament is performed, and its power for believers is immense. This silence is apocalyptic ... But then the gates opened, and the Sovereign came out and stood with his head bowed before the image of the Savior, and the mitr [opolit], addressing the Empress, reads “I believe, Lord, and I confess ...” The king and queen returned to their places ... I I stare at him intently. Wearing a crown and purple, he bowed his head and with an unsteady gait, in great humility, but enlightened, he goes straight to the Empress Maria Feodorovna ... She takes several steps towards him, and so they met and looked into each other's eyes; this look was long; his expression was such as happens once in a lifetime. He expressed his sons' love and humility, and the tenderness of an enlightened soul, and the Tsar clung to the hand of the Empress-mother and kissed her long and hard, then he kissed her long and hard three times ...
This meeting and this kiss of the son and mother, of course, were the strongest impression of the day, strong and deeply gratifying. "
Receptions of congratulations, which were held in the Throne Room. The Emperor was congratulated:
- Higher clergy;
- State Council,
- Senate,
- ministers,
- governors and other upper-class officials;
- Foreign ambassadors;
- A separate day was set aside for congratulations by women. This reception was attended by Ladies of the diplomatic corps, courtiers, representatives from other states.
Along with the receptions, the protocol of the celebrations included a number of other events. Were arranged:
- lunch for the higher clergy and Persons of the first two classes;
- A festive performance at the Bolshoi Theater;
- Gala dinner in the Alexander Hall of the Kremlin Palace;
- Musical concert at the German Ambassador.
- Several balls.
The balls were organized by:
- Big Ball in the Alexander Hall;
- at the French embassy,
- at the Austrian embassy,
- from His Imperial Highness the Moscow Governor-General Sergei Alexandrovich, brother of the Emperor.
- in the noble assembly.
On May 20 Petrov post began. In this regard, a solemn liturgy was held at the Chudov Monastery.
Purely family events of the imperial family were also intertwined with the festive events. This is the birthday of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (May 25). In her honor, a dinner was given for foreign ambassadors in the St. George Hall. And another event that took place a few days earlier. More precisely, the memorable date May 22 is the Day of death of the grandmother of Nicholas II, Empress Maria Alexandrovna, whom the imperial family honored with a trip to the Sergius Lavra.
The festivities were completed by the highest review of the troops, which took place on May 26 at the Khodynskoye field. In conclusion, let us give the floor to His Imperial Majesty, again looking at his diary.
“Thank God, the last day has come! .. The parade was brilliant in all respects, and I was delighted that all the troops seemed so good in front of the foreigners. Returning to Petrovskoe, they sat down to breakfast, after which they said goodbye to all other people's retinues. On the way to the Kremlin we met a daughter, a cat. were taken to Ilyinskoe. Again they received the emergency embassies to take them away. At 7 o'clock there was a big dinner for the Moscow authorities and representatives of different classes.
Having changed clothes, we went to the station. and said goodbye to Mom; she went to Gatchino, and we immediately went in the opposite direction along Moscow-Brest. g. d. to st. Odintsovo, from where the carriages drove to Ilyinsky. An indescribable joy to get to this nice quiet place! And the main consolation is to know that all these celebrations and ceremonies are over! "
