Where to find the ghosts of Romanovs past.
The story is tragic: how the handsome tsar Nicholas II, his wife tsarina Alexandra, and their five beautiful children, got caught up in Russia’s national affairs of the late 1910s that resulted in their executions. Intrigue verging on the obsessive has swirled around their demise ever since. Maybe it’s the couple’s undying love for one another (hello, Fabergé eggs), the struggles with their hemophiliac son and heir to the throne, the influence of the Mad Monk Rasputin, or the rumors of at least one child, Anastasia, surviving. Whatever it is, there are still remnants of their lives in St. Petersburg that entice us with glimpses into the life and times of this ill-fated family. It’s enough to send chills down your spine.