Alexander Palace

The Alexander Palace (Russian Александровский дворец) was the preferred residence of the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II. It is located in Pushkin not far from Saint Petersburg. The palace was built by Catherine the Great for her favorite grandson, the future Emperor Alexander I, for his marriage in 1793 to Louise of Baden, in the immediate vicinity of the Catherine Palace. The classical wing building with 10 mighty representative Corinthian columns in front of the courtyard of honour and as a connection between the wings as well as with the high round arches of the wing fronts flanked by columns, crowned by a circumferential balustrade on the flat roof, was planned by Giacomo Quarenghi and built in 1792-96.

Since Alexander left the Alexander Palace to his brother, the future Emperor Nicholas I, it served as a summer residence for the heirs to the throne. Between 1830 and 1850, the palace was remodeled and adapted to contemporary taste. The plans for this were drawn up by D. Cerfolio, A. Thon, D. Yefimov and Andrei Stakenschneider, among others. The wife of Nicholas I, Empress Alexandra (Charlotte of Prussia), died in the Alexander Palace in 1860.

The last Emperor Nicholas II, with his wife Alexandra (Alix of Hesse-Darmstadt), greatly appreciated the palace. After the St. Petersburg Bloody Sunday in 1905, the Tsar moved his permanent residence from the Winter Palace to the Alexander Palace. Alexandra had the palace refurbished in Art Nouveau style. After his abdication on 2 Marchjul/15 March 1917greg, Nicholas II and his family were placed under house arrest at the Alexander Palace until their deportation^.

Until the Second World War, the Alexander Palace served as a museum. The German military leadership used the palace, which was not destroyed during the war, as a command center and laid out a cemetery for fallen SS soldiers in the garden. After the war, art treasures were stored in the Alexander Palace, and after it was handed over to the Soviet Navy, it was also used as an orphanage.

Since 1997 the palace can be visited again.