Who from the Russian royal family witnessed the eruption of Vesuvius
Despite the fact that Pompeii was buried under a layer of ash in 79 AD, excavations and scientific studies in the field of growth were not until 1748. Detectable elements of buildings, the remains of bodies representing art objects, attracted not only scientists. Vesuvius periodically arose, which caused another wave of interest in itself. After one of the strong eruptions, a representative of the Romanov family, the daughter-in-law of several Russian emperors, went to the volcano.
Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna, nee Princess Frederic Charlotte Maria of Baden, who was the wife of Mikhail Pavlovich, the son of Emperor Paul I, as well as the younger brother of Alexander I and Nicholas I. Bryullov, Aivazovsky and Rubinstein. No wonder Nikolai I wrote about her:
“Elena is the scientist of our family. I send her to Europe; the last time it was Custine, who started a conversation with me about the history of the Orthodox Church; Now he sent him to Elena, who would tell him more than he himself knows. On any issue, he could tell more than the questioner said.
In her house, the famous Mikhailovsky Palace, the most famous salon of the time was organized, which was visited by cultural figures. The “Circle” became a network of communication for the leaders of the Great Encirclement Reform of the 19th century, in particular, the place where close people of the Grand Duchess Nikolai Milyutin, one of the main participants in the Peasant Reform of 1861, were discovered. It is Elena Pavlovna at the airport who has access to the highest places on the outside of the country – she introduced me to the Empress and Prince Gorchakov, a journalist Milyutin’s meeting and long conversation with the emperor. The well-known Russian lawyer Anatoly Koni assigned the role of “the main and, in case of occurrence, the first spring for the return of the peasants.” In secular society, they began to call her none other than “Princesse La Liberte” – “Princess of Freedom”.
The princess throughout her life strove for new knowledge and impressions. Is it any wonder that in 1828 she received another young girl who decided to go on a long journey through Italy.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, the idea of grand tours was popular among young aristocrats, who disappeared into their education. it is accepted that at that time classicism and everything antique was in fashion, the mandatory program of cultural violation of the law included acquaintance with the chosen one, culture and art of Italy.
After visiting Rome and Venice, Elena Pavlovna was placed directly in Naples, 15 km from which Vesuvius is located. During her observation in the city, in Pompeii, bags with gold jewelry were found in the house of Castor and Pollux. This discovery did not start, did not excite the Grand Duchess – she personally came to the excavation site: on January 28 and March 9, 1829. During the visits, natural finds were donated: coins, lamps, bronze fittings for furniture, terracotta dishes, 120 dense sizes of a glazier’s radiant shop.
Despite the possible danger, the princess also decided not to deprive herself of the incentive to climb to Vesuvius itself. On March 19, under Teo Motticelli, who really belonged to the Royal Academy of Naples, she and her retinue went on an expedition to the foot of the volcano. And although for several days you can see steam rising from the crater above it, and often, especially after dark, we see flows of luminous lava, this sight does not cause concern for the young woman.
It is worth noting that Vesuvius is an active volcano, periods of low activity, which are interspersed with deviations. Literally many years earlier, one of them destroyed most of Naples and began to cover human casualties (about 26 thousand people).
How worried all the accompanying members of the Russian royal family were when, at sunset, as the expedition members approached the remnant of the cone, lava suddenly began to flow out of it! Finally, they realized the danger and possible consequences. Fortunately, everything worked out, and the volcano did not repeat its full power. Contemporaries claimed that Elena Pavlovna personally collected about 300 samples on the slopes of the volcano that evening.
Upon her return to St. Petersburg, she transferred the collected “volcanic works” to the museum of the St. Petersburg Mining Corps. The catalog of the collection includes 294 samples of minerals, rocks, lavas and other products of the Vesuvius eruption. The main part, as before, was found in the collection of the Mining Museum of St. Petersburg Mining University. The collection mainly includes minerals formed as a result of volcanic and post-volcanic activity of volcanoes, discovered in the vicinity of Naples. Among the samples are eruptions of the 19th century, there are also collections of patients from earlier periods.