The Alexandria Park is near the Lower Park of the Peterhof Palace on the shore of the Gulf of Finland. It is less known than the Peterhof Park but it has many interesting sights and its nature landscapes are very beautiful.
The Alexandria Park occupies an area of 115 hectares cascading from the elevation to the shore of the gulf. When Peter I started the construction of the Peterhof Palace, he gave these lands to his confidants. History retained the names of their first owners: scrivener Alexander Yakovlev, lieutenant of the Guards Danila Chevkin, generals of the artillery (Feldzeugmeisters) Yakov Brus and Pyotr Moshkov. The lands changed hands and then these lands became the property of Anna Ioannovna. And she decided to turn them into a hunting area. A great number of animals was brought in the area called «Jagd Garten».
Under Empress Catherine Tsarskoye Selo was made the place of summer recreation, and the estates in the environs of Peterhof fall into complete neglect. The animals were no longer hunted and they became almost tame, and so the former hunting area was renamed Zverinets (a kind of a game reserve).
In 1825 Emperor Nicholas I became the owner of these lands. He gave them to his wife, Alexandra Fedorovna, and the Alexandria Park appeared.
The neo-Gothic Cottage Palace was built in the upper part of the park. It is much more modest than the nearby palaces. But it was just there that Nicholas I liked to spend summer with his family. The Cottage Palace was built on the slope of a high hill. You can have a very beautiful view of the Gulf of Finland from that hill.
The Cottage Palace is not far from the Farmer Palace, which was a favorite summer recreation place of Emperor Alexander II. At the Farmer Palace Alexander II considered the project of serfdom abolition. At the park you should see the Gothic Chapel. Although it was built in the medieval Gothic style, the religious services of the Orthodox Church are held there.
The Lower Dacha was the scene of even more important historical events. But unfortunately, it did not survive to our days. It was a small Italian-style palace on the shore of the Gulf of Finland. Because of its convenient location as well as remoteness from prying eyes Emperor Nicholas II and his family often visited the palace in summer. They long lived there during the warm months of the year. It was just at the Lower Dacha that their only son Alexey was born on July 30, 1904. In 1905 Nicholas II signed there the manifesto for the establishment of Russian State Duma. And in 1914 there was issued the manifesto on the entry of Russia into the war with Germany.
