Shooting tsars: See the Romanovs as never before (PHOTOS)

The reign of Nicholas II started badly and ended worse — but no one can say it wasn’t interesting. An exhibition center in St. Petersburg has gathered 150 rare and mesmerizing archive photos of the early 20th century taken by royal photographers and the Romanov family themselves. Some of these photos you’ve never seen before, trust us.  

1. Crown Prince Alexei Nikolaevich, 1911. 

2. Grand duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia. Tsarskoye Selo, 1903. 

3. Emperor Nicholas II and grand dukes carry a casket with the holy relics of Seraphim of Sarov,

July 17–20, 1903. 

4. Crown Prince Nicholas Alexandrovich with fiancee Princess Alice of Hesse-Darmstadt

Coburg, April 20 , 1894. 

5. Empress Maria Feodorovna with children, St. Petersburg, early 1890. 

6. Imperial family and their inner circle on the bridge deck of the yacht Standart watch the crew sail racing. Finnish skerries, [1907]. 

7. Imperial cutter Peterhof with Emperor Nicholas II and his family on board at the Palace Pier. Nicholas receives a report from Naval Minister I. K. Grigorovich, 1914. 

8. Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna on the rooftop of the Grand Kremlin Palace

Moscow, 1903.

9. Playing Fox and Geese, Finnish skerries, 1911.  

10. Rope pulling. Finnish skerries, 1911.  

11. Nicholas II in his study, 1900.  

12. Moscow garrison military parade, Moscow, 1903.  

13. Outdoor rest. Finnish skerries, 1911.  

14. Emperor Nicholas II, 1900s. 

See more rare photos of the Romanov family at the Rosphoto Exhibition Center in St. Petersburg. The pictures will be on display until mid-September.