"WHITE MOTHER MOSCOW."

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 10580, 8 October 1910, Page 3 (Supplement)

"WHITE MOTHER MOSCOW."

Though St. Petersburg-is nominally the capital of Russia and serves it: purpose in being "a window througl which the Russians can look into civi' 1 lised Europe," the true capital is "White Mother Moscow," as the moujik affectionately styles the venerable city. What the Acropolis was t-c Athens and the Capitol to Rome the Kiemlin is to Moscow, says the Rosary Magazine. '; li is a city with walls -which measure 72S0ft., enclose three cathedrals, seven churches, a convent, a.monastery, three Imperial palaces, the Senate House, the i Synodal buildings, and the Tower i f Ivan the Terrible. Owing to the curious Russian custom of constantly renewing with whitewash, •paint,' or gold even' the most ancient and sacred of their buildings, the first glimjJSe of Moscow's snow white walls, above which rises an efflorescence «>{ bulbous cupolas, spires, pinnacles, and pyramids colored bright blue or green or gilt with gold, astounds the traveller, who associates ago with greyness and decay. At the Same time, one cannot but feel attracted by the striking individuality of this city, which, scorning the conventions of modern Europe, glitters proudly in barbaric splendor. Within tho Kremlin the Czars receive their crown "from God and the Fatherland," and here they come subsequently to speak and act in all tho most decisive moments of their reigns. Hence it has caused wonder that Nicholas. 11. did not go to Moscow to proclaim war with Japan. The Russian court is said to. be the richest in Europe, the minimum revenue of the- Czar being estimated at ,£7,500,000. Besides the Grand Palace [in the Kremlin, with its magnificent throne room, the Czar has twelve resi■dences in or near St. Petersburg, including the Winter Palace, where six thousand people can be entertained, one of the most spacious and striking homes of European Royalty, and the Herrai- ' tage, which cantains one of the best art eofleetions iiv tlie world:

At Peterhof there is a group of royal [residences and parks, with, gardens rivalling those at Versailles, and at Tsars-koe-Sek>, about-twelve miles from St. Petersburg, there are several palaces, on One of which. Catherine the. Great lavished wealth, decorating the facade with figures gilded with gold leaf, a method of oi'iiamentation which cost her subjects more than three million ducats.

The interiors of the palaces arc still more magnificent; walls are oncrustcd with rare lapis lazuli; ebony floors are inlaid with floral designs in mother of pearl, ceilings are lined with amber, one room in the Kremelin shines with the purest gold, and everywhere precious marbles and exquisite mosaics are to be seen.

The splendor of .the-, Russian jewels exceeds all powers of description: we know that Catherine the Great's coronation robe was so heavily laden with gems that it took twelve chamberlains to support it. The Czar's throne, which belonged to the last Emperor of Constantinople, is of finest ivory studded with precious stones, and -that of the Czarina contains 1223 rubies and, 876 diamonds, besides pearls and turquoises. Splendid fetes are given in the Winter Palace during the season, and one is almost weary of traversing the many gorgeous halls which lead-'to the state ballroom, where the towering white marble pillars are mirroweel by the polished floor, where a soft light is diffused by lamps concealed by tropical plants and ferns rising in banks against the walls and where, mingling with th? strains of the orchestra, one hoars the warbling of birds hanging in gold eag::s under tall palm trees. The present sovereigns have simple tastes, however. Even in the great Winter Palace the private rooms belonging to the Czar and Czarina' are simply 'decorated and furnished in the English style, the hangings being of pretty cretonne and the furniture of light oak. - ■..-■■ It is interesting to know that of all the thousands of her wedding gifts th? Czarina brought only three to Peterhof, and that two of these were presented by the Japanese, soon to be at war with Russia. One is an enormous sea eagle, larger than life, in beaiitifnl carved ivory. The other gift is of equal artistic value, being a threefold screen representing a foam-flecked, stormy sea, wonderfully worked in gray and greenish white silks.