Alexander Palace were the final home of Russia’s tsars and the favourite residence of the Russian royal family. Nicholas II was born here and also taken from here into exile, where he was ultimately shot and killed. The park started out as a so-called “menagerie,” which served as the hunting grounds for the spouses of Peter the Great and Catherine I. Following the empresses wishes, the grounds were home to a wide variety of birds and animals. The forest gradually transformed into a park and the royal residence where great princes and princesses were raised. A gothic tower, artificial medieval ruins and a small house on a “children’s island” were all built for the sake of the young royals’ education. Nowadays museum exhibits and recreated interiors help to portray the history of the Romanov dynasty - from the Golden Age of Catherine II until the beginning of the 20th century.