NICHOLAS I AND ALEXANDRA FEODOROVNA IN OREANDA: FICTIONS AND FACTS

Recently, contradictory information about the visit of Oreanda by Nicholas I and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna has appeared in local history literature. As is known, the emperor presented this estate to his wife during a visit to the Crimea in the autumn of 1837. Some publications describe in detail the rest of the imperial couple in the new Oreanda palace in the autumn of 1852. However, according to documentary data, the royal family did not visit the palace that year, since its arrangement was completed only in the spring of 1853. In October 1852, Nicholas I made a short visit to Sevastopol to inspect the Black Sea Fleet, but he did not call in Oreanda, as he did during a previous similar trip in 1845. Further travel to the Crimea was prevented by the Crimean War, and in 1855 Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich died. The palace in Oreanda, which was damaged by a storm in November 1854, was restored in a short time and in the autumn of 1856 was ready to receive its mistress. However, the Empress Dowager, despite her desire to visit Oreanda, every year went to improve her health at European resorts. Firstly, the court doctors opposed the trip to the Crimea, for whom the Crimea was terra incognita. Secondly, Alexandra Feodorovna’s trips to Europe were of great importance within the framework of dynastic diplomacy and helped Russia overcome its foreign political isolation after the Crimean War.