Khodynka Cup of Sorrows
Encyclopedia
The Coronation cup, also known as Khodynka
Khodynka
Khodynka Field is a large open space in the north-west of Moscow, at the beginning of the present day Leningradsky Prospect. It takes its name from the small Khodynka River which used to cross the neighbourhood...

, The sorrow cup or The blood cup was made for the Coronation of Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna in 1896. The cup bears the cyphers of Nicholas and Alexandra surrounded by a geometric pattern with the Romanov
Romanov
The House of Romanov was the second and last imperial dynasty to rule over Russia, reigning from 1613 until the February Revolution abolished the crown in 1917...

 eagle on the opposite side.

The beaker is among many that were distributed along with food presents and commemorative scarves to celebrate the coronation of Nicholas II, as had been the long-standing tradition. On the morning of 18 May 1896, over half a million revelers gathered on the ragged Khodynka Field in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

 in anticipation of the presents and especially the commemorative cups (enameled tableware was still a great novelty at the time). That was way more than the field could safely accommodate, especially considering the many trenches and pits that dotted the plain in front of the Tsar's podium (the entire area was normally used as a military training ground). In the confusion and panic that ensued, over a thousand people were trampled to death. This tragic event was taken as the omen of things to come for the rest of Nicholas' reign. The coronation cup became known in Russia as the Cup of Sorrows and the Tsar himself got a nickname of "Bloody Nicholas" - despite his best efforts to compensate the families of the victims. See Khodynka Tragedy
Khodynka Tragedy
The Khodynka Tragedy was a mass panic that occurred on , on Khodynka Field in Moscow during the festivities following the coronation of the last Russian emperor Nicholas II, which resulted in the deaths of 1,389 people.- The events :...

.

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