04.06 How to Be Crowned Like a Russian Tsar
June 4 (by Suleiman Wali for RIA Novosti) The last Russian emperor (tsar), Nicholas II, was crowned 117 years ago. Although more than a century has passed since that event, the pomp and circumstance surrounding Russian coronation ceremoniesno matter the erahave awed people worldwide.
At Washingtons Hillwood Museum & Gardens, a special exhibition titled Pageant of the Tsars: The Romanov Coronation Albums, has attracted thousands of visitors since it debuted in February. The museum is marking the 400th anniversary of the founding of the Romanov dynasty, putting on display the coronation albums created over the course of the familys reign.
Here are 70 images, some from the Hillwood exhibit, that bring back the splendor of the bygone Russian coronation ceremonies.
1. Tsar Nicholas II and Tsaritsa Alexandra were the last monarchs to be crowned in Russia in May 1896. Not only did their assassinations in 1917 mark the end of the Romanov dynasty, but they also concluded centuries of royal rule.
