The Yussoupov Palace
on the Moika River Embankment


Mauritanian Parlor


Theatre


Felix Yussupov and
Princess Irina Alexandrovna of Russia,
1913


Assassination of Gregory Rasputin
exposition

    The Yussoupov Palace on the Moika is a unique historical landmark, reflecting architectural trends from 18th through 20th centuries, often nicknamed as 'St.Petersburg aristocratic life encyclopedia'.

    The history of the palace and surrounding estate dates back to the epoch of Peter the Great, who founded St. Petersburg as his brave new Russian capital. The palace and estate took nearly 200 years to acquire its present shape, a number of world-famous talented architects and artists (such as J.-B. Vallain de la Motte, A. Mikhailov 2nd, B. Simone, H. Monigetti, W. Kennel, A. Stepanov, A, Vaitens, A. Beloborodov, etc.) made contributions to the exterior and interior design

    Five generations of Russia's elite aristocratic dynasty, the Yussoupovs, owned the palace between 1830 and 1917. Many of Russia's and St. Petersburg's historical highlights were associated with the Yussoupov family nest on the Moika.

    The Yusupovs are an ancient Moslem dynasty with roots going as far back as the Baghdad Caliphate in the 10th century AD. Family legends and ancient chronicles at the Russian National Archive of Ancient Deeds in Moscow bear ample evidence to the Yusupovs' family history. For a long time, historians had named the legendary Abu Baqar (572-634), a friend and father-in-law of the Prophet Mohammed, as the Yusupov paterfamilias. In the late 16th century the ancient Middle Eastern family put deep roots in Russia.     By the beginning of the 20th century the Yussoupovs became one of the wealthiest families in Russia, and the question often arise: "Were the Yussoupovs wealthier then the Romanovs?"

    The palace went down in Russian history as the place where the mysterious monk Gregory Rasputin was assassinated, a Siberian peasant who became the spiritual mentor and friend of Nicholas II and the Royal Family in the early 20th century.

    The Assassination of Grigory Yusupov exhibit was created in 1993-1996 in the chambers of the younger Yusupovs, where the events portrayed had actually taken place. After the wedding of Prince Felix and Princess Irina in 1914, this part of the palace's left-hand wing was redesigned for the newlyweds. Here, a few small rooms partitioned from the rest of the chambers by a small lobby, form an area of the house knows as "Garconierre", the young prince's private quarters. A semicircular hall, octangular mirrored bathroom, study and bedroom are on the first floor. A wooden spiral staircase right underneath the study.

    There are a number of interesting photographs around, including those of Rasputin himself, the family of Nicholas II, and other House of Romanov dignitaries directly or consequentially involved in the anti-Rasputin conspiracy. The display also features some rare and illuminating documents shedding light on the mysterious monk's life and personality, his relations with top Russian Orthodox clerics, the St. Petersburg Bon Monde and the Royal Family, as well as books, articles, and memoirs on the subject, published abroad, some of which give contradictory accounts of the tragedy at the Yusupov Palace. The tragic night of December 16-17, 1916 is recreated by the wax figures of Grigory Rasputin, Felix Yusupov, and four other co-conspirators.

    Following the assassination of Grigory Rasputin, the mysterious monk credited with supernatural powers who had become very close to the Royal Family, Felix Yusupov was exiled to his country estate Rakitnoe in the Kursk Province. At the end of March 1917, the Yusupovs returned to St. Petersburg, which had already been renamed Petrograd. Tensions were running high in the capital and soon both the older and younger Yusupov couples left Petrograd for their Crimean estate. The Red Army came too close for comfort to the Crimea in 1919. On April 13 that year, the widowed Empress Maria and her closest friends, including Irina, Felix, their four year-old daughter, Zinaida and Felix Yusupov Senior left Russia for good. The long years of exile began which Felix Yusupov would describe as "the vicissitudes and suffering of our life in a foreign land". Felix Yusupov began writing his memoirs at the beginning of the 1950s. His first book, The End of Rasputin, had been published in 1927. His memoirs came in two volumes: Before Exile. 1887-1919, and In Exile.

    The Yussoupov Palace is one of the few aristocratic mansions still in existence in St. Petersburg that have retained both their bold facade suites, and their less glamorous premises: an art gallery, private mini-theater, and luxurious private chambers of the Yussoupovs, where the warmth and charm of their erstwhile owners still glows.

    After the revolution of 1917 the palace was converted into a museum. In 1925, the Yussoupov Palace was handed over to the city's pedagogical intelligentsia. The palace is still officially called the Palace of Culture for Educators, which in the 1990s opened its doors as a diversified historical and cultural center promoting museum activities, theater performances, music concerts, cultural and educational events.