The Feodorovskaya Icon of the Mother of God

In the 1930's people came from all over the world to see the Alexander Palace and the rooms where the last Tsar and his tragic family lived.  Tourists reported one of the 'must see' places in the palace was the icon wall in the Imperial bedroom.  Over 300 icons hung here, many covered with silver, pearls and gemstones.  There were rare, ancient ikons and others that were painted in the last years of the Empire.  Some were by famous Russian artists, others were painted by humble monks and nuns.  Two beautiful ikon lamps with hanging gemstones illuminated the icons.  These lamps were lit with rose-scented olive oil.  Twenty years after the Romanovs were sent into Siberian exile and death you could still smell roses in this room and this made the room feel haunted.

Alexandra had a small private chapel on the left side of the bed and here she kept more ikons, books and other religious items.  She would pray long, solitary hours on her knees pleading for the life of the Tsarevich Alexis and for God to protect of her husband and family from their many enemies.

In the time of the Romanovs there were far fewer ikons here.  After the Revolution museum workers tried to save ikons from other rooms in the palace, particularly the children's quarters, by moving them here.  During the 20s and 30s the Soviet goverment sold off hundreds of items belonging to the Imperial family to raise hard currency to finance foriegn communist parties and a network of international spies and agents.  Many of the Imperial family's icons were lost at this time.