Russia Reopens the Last Czar’s Palace, a Century After His Execution
The New York Times
The last home of Nicholas II has been restored and opened to the public as a museum outside of St. Petersburg.
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — Maria Ryadova recalled being in a dusty room inside the Alexander Palace, hopping from one floor beam to another and peering into the dark chasm beneath, on the day she and her team of workers made a momentous discovery.
A pile of broken blue tiles had been hiding in the darkness. These shards, Ms. Ryadova knew from archival black-and-white photos, were the remains of tiles that had once adorned the walls of that room, which used to be czar Nicholas II’s private pool and bathroom in the early 1900s. But before they were uncovered, she had never known their color.
The discovery of these glossy pieces of cobalt and turquoise completed another piece of the puzzle that has been reconstructing this imperial mansion, which was once the home of the last czar of Russia and his family.
