Anastasia (15 page)

An undated photograph of Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov, youngest daughter of
Tsar Nicholas II.

An undated photograph of Russia’s last tsar, Nicholas II, and Alexandra Feodorovna at the time of their engagement.

Tsar Nicholas II and the imperial family. From top row: Olga, Tatiana, Maria, the tsaritsa, the tsar, Anastasia, and Alexei.

Tsar Nicholas II and the tsarevitch, Alexei.

A very rare and undated photograph of the eerie-looking Grigory Efimovitch Rasputin, trusted counselor to Tsaritsa Alexandra.

An aerial view of the expansive 800-acre compound Tsarskoe Selo (the Tsar’s Village) near St. Petersburg. On site are the great and lavish Catherine Palace (named after Catherine I) and the smaller, less grandiose Alexander Palace (100 rooms), which was the main residence of the Romanov family and Nicholas’s birthplace. The sprawling grounds included immaculately manicured lawns, gardens with elaborate fountains and statues, a man-made lake, and a park.

Peterhof
Palace was built by Tsar Peter the Great, in imitation of the Palace of
V
ersailles in France.

A view of the Winter Palace, former home of Russian emperors, including the imperial family of Tsar Nicholas II. Built between 1754 and 1762, the palace, where the wedding of Nicholas II and Alexandra took place, is now part of the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg.

Interior view of the tsar’s library in the Winter Palace.

Livadia in the Crimea overlooks the Black Sea. The favorite summer home of the Romanov family was built by Nicholas and Alexandra soon after their marriage.

Olga and Tatiana with tutor, Pierre Gilliard, on the terrace of Livadia, circa 1910.

Tsar Nicholas II and the imperial family aboard the luxurious royal yacht
Standart
, pictured above.

Thousands of soldiers marched off to the war traveling down this popular shopping boulevard, Nevsky Prospect, in St. Petersburg. Pictured circa 1900.