Greetings from the Head of the Russian Imperial House, H.I.H. Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, Sent in Connection with the 150-th Anniversary of the Museum at the Palace of the Romanov Boyars in Moscow

One hundred fifty years ago, on the grounds of the ancient palace of Our boyar ancestors, Emperor Alexander II founded a museum to preserve the memory of the service to Russia of our Family before ascending the throne, and to preserve physical artifacts of the way of life of Russian society at the turn of the seventeenth century. Despite the destruction done to the building during the twentieth century, which almost obliterated it entirely, the Palace of the Romanov Boyars, now incorporated into the Russian Historical Museum, is today a thriving facility and a showcase of the accomplishment of archivists and museum specialists.

The walls of the palace call to mind many important events and personages. Inside these walls lived the “tsar’s brother-in-law,” Nikita Romanovich Zakharin-Iur’ev, who was greatly admired by the people of Moscow, and his son, Fedor Nikitich, the future Patriarch Filaret. Here, the first years of the first tsar of the Romanov Dynasty, Mikhail Romanov, were spent. The founder of the museum, Tsar-Liberator Alexander II, was present for the religious services during the dedication of the museum, services led by a large assembly of clergy, at the head of which was Metropolitan Filaret of Moscow, who had before this intervened to prevent the tearing down of the palace complex. Nicholas II and his August Family had visited the palace in 1613 during the celebrations of the 300-th anniversary of the Romanov Dynasty.

The restoration, preservation, and the collecting of the interior appointments of the palace are the job of the specialists working at the museum, who at all times selflessly concerned themselves with the preservation of the cultural and historical legacy of Russia. We should with gratitude remember the abbots and brothers of the Monastery of the Sign, who owned this property before it was converted into a museum; the group of historians, chiefly Prince M. Obolenskii, who was head of the Moscow State Archive of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, all of whom worked to establish the historical significance of this site; the restorator Academic F. Rikhter; the eminent specialists of the post-revolutionary period P. Baranovskii, Academic D. Sukhov, N. Pomerantsev, and A. Korin; and the officials and employees of the State Historical Museum. To all I offer my deep thanks for your efforts to preserve the birthplace of Our Dynasty and a small piece of ancient Muscovite daily life.

In these celebratory days, I sent my heartfelt congratulations to the Director of the State Historical Museum, A. I. Shkurko, to the Director of the Palace of the Romanov Boyars, G. K. Shchutskaia, and to all the employees and visitors to the museum.

May God keep and preserve you all!

On the original is affixed the signature of Her Imperial Highness in Her own hand:

Maria
H.I.H. Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna

Madrid, 1 September 2006