Romanov Dynasty: Legacy of an Empire

Things by Fabergé are still popular in Russia. Photo by the author

One important anniversary coming up in 2023 may go completely unnoticed: 410 years ago the Romanov dynasty came to power in Russia. When Mikhail Romanov was placed on the throne of Russia in 1613, becoming the first Romanov Tsar, the Russian state was already a vast but sparsely populated country, encompassing some 2.3 million square miles. The new monarch was only a 16-year-old teenager, a fearful boy who never dreamed of running a state. However, his lack of political experience was compensated for by wisdom in public affairs, his youthful inquisitiveness, and high moral principles. Tsar Mikhail and his descendants laid the new vector of the country’s growth, which led us to what we call today a modern Russian state.

Situated near the Red Square in the city’s ancient Zaryadye district, the Romanov Chambers were once owned by Nikita Romanovich Zakharjin-Yuriev, a famous boyar and the grandfather of Mikhail Romanov, the first ruler of the Romanov Dynasty. Photo by the author

By the time Nicholas II ascended the throne in 1894, becoming the last Tsar, the Russian Empire covered some 8.5 million square miles with a population of 128 million. At its height, the Russian Empire stretched from Poland to Alaska and into California, encircling two-thirds of the globe, and encompassing the hereditary lands of scores of ethnic groups. The empire conferred on the Romanovs vast power and riches. It also confronted them with crushing logistic, demographic and administrative…