St. Petersburg Part II

Yusupov Palace

The life of a noble must have been rough.  Yusupov Palace, belonging to the family of the same name, was built along the Moika River in the mid-1700s. The very wealthy Yusupovs were close to the Russian royal family and later played a very important part in the history of the family and their eventual demise.  The palace itself is beautiful. Our evening began with a tour of the interiors and the cellar.

It was at Yusupov Palace that the infamous Rasputin was murdered.  After our tour of the main palace, we walked down to the cellar of the palace, where the room was staged as it had been the evening Rasputin was murdered.  The Yusupovs brought him to the cellar where he was expecting the company of many women and a feast, and served him wine to start off the evening.  The wine was laced with poison. After the failed attempt to kill him with poison, they then pulled a gun on him. To ensure that would die (because somehow he kept avoiding death), they threw him in the nearby Moika River where he was sure to either drown or freeze to death.  That finally did the trick.  The cellar is very small, dark, and dank. Even the wax figure of Rasputin gives you chills.

After the tour of the cellar and the interiors, we were ushered into a gala hall where we enjoyed champagne, caviar and a string quartet.  The music was lovely, but I was expecting more Russian music; they played Mozart. After the performance we moved from the gala hall into the palace's small, yet three story theater.  When you're nobility, the opera comes to you, you don't go to the opera.  We heard some great opera, but again, not Russian, some Italian. Overall though, it was a fun experience. 

Our evening ended around 11pm, and it was still light outside with the White Nights of Summer. Here's a picture with my other half in front of the palace.

St. Petersburg Part III to come shortly...

Yusupov Palace (listed under Nobleman's Nest in the book)
Date of Completion: June 2010