Alexander Palace

Tsar Nicholas II's favourite residence (built 1796), neoclassical palace at Tsarskoye Selo.

The Alexander Palace at Tsarskoye Selo was the favoured residence of the last Russian Tsar Nicholas II and his family. Built 1792-1796 by Giacomo Quarenghi for Catherine the Great in neoclassical style, it is distinguished by a colonnade of ten Corinthian columns before the honour court. Nicholas II governed from here, and the family lived under house arrest in the palace after the February Revolution of 1917 before being deported to Siberia. Following extensive restoration, the palace reopened to visitors in 2024.