Christmas in a royal way: how was the main winter holiday celebrated in the Romanov family
Nowadays, the elite spends New Year's holidays on a grand scale, renting concert halls and inviting stars. But in tsarist Russia everything was quite different - Christmas was a quiet family holiday, which was celebrated in the closest circle. An excellent example of the traditions of the Russian Empire can be the celebration of Christmas in the family of the last monarch – Nicholas II.
In tsarist Russia, just as now, they decorated Christmas trees, although they called them not New Year's, but Christmas. Gifts were not placed under a tree, as they are now, but laid out on a specially installed table, a little to the side. Rich Russians could have several Christmas trees – the main one in the living room and a smaller one in the children's rooms, for each child separately. They also put up several Christmas trees at the Romanovs', and members of the royal family took an active part in their decoration.
The Christmas holidays were always held among the aristocrats in the turmoil of balls and masquerades. The main events of the empire were held in the Winter Palace or in the Catherine Palace in Tsarskoye Selo. But the Romanovs never celebrated the holiday noisily and in a large company. In a family where there were five children, and Christmas could not be boring anyway.
The main winter holiday is impossible to imagine without gifts. The Romanov children received them from their parents, relatives and friends. There were many gifts, but they were not luxurious or expensive. The monarch's family did not teach children to excessive luxury. They were mostly toys and all kinds of sweets.
The only valuable gifts were given by parents. Nikolai Alexandrovich and Alexandra Fyodorovna presented their daughters with a pearl or a small diamond every year. This was done so that the Grand Duchesses could eventually collect a precious necklace for themselves.
Children also gave their parents gifts. To do this, they started collecting pocket money in advance. The Romanovs always had a table set, on which there were both exquisite and the simplest dishes. The main festive table was located near the main Christmas tree and was served with special dishes designed specifically for Christmas.
Not only the palace was being prepared for Christmas, but also gardens and parks. They also decorated Christmas trees and made decorations out of snow and ice. An indispensable attribute of large parks was a fortress made of snow. The Romanovs also took part in the construction of such a fortress, along with soldiers and officers of the guard regiment.
Huge ice mountains were erected on large squares, the very sight of which was breathtaking. Skating on these structures made of wood and ice, the height of a multi-storey building, tried to organize as safely as possible. At the top of each slide, wheelers with chairs on skids were on duty, who were responsible for the descent from the mountain.
Not only children, but also adults indulged in this daring entertainment. On such slides one could meet princes, counts and even high military ranks. Christmas markets with hot tea, pancakes, pastries and sweets were organized next to the slides. The stalls and kiosks were always full of not only children, but also homeless people. The vagabonds were not without reason counting on treats – during the Christmas holidays it was customary to treat and give gifts to those in need.
It remains to add that for the members of the royal family, the Christmas holidays were filled not only with joys, but also with worries. The head of the palace guard of Nicholas II, Alexander Spiridovich, wrote that in 1907 the tsar and the tsarina had to visit only 6 Christmas trees in Tsarskoye Selo. They visited a military hospital, a nanny school, a disabled home, and also took part in events for guards, officers and enlisted men.