Alexander II
was the first Romanov Tsar to visit Bialowieza in person.
He came to Bialowieza in 1860 to hunt (left), staying in a wooden manor house built by
the Governor of Grodno Province in 1845 (below right, with the imperial standard flying as crowds gather to greet the Emperor). On the banks of an ornamental lake, the stone memorial to
Augustus III
evoked the specter of the former palace.
Alexander was generous in the preserve: he doled out vodka, dinners, and
presents for the hunters, and left a statue of a bison, manufactured in St.
Petersburg and erected in the town of Hajnowka,
as a reminder of his visit. The manor
house on the old estate became a museum in his honour, with hunting trophies
and photographs. Today, still standing, it is known today as the "Swiss House." and features an exhibition on the forest's native mushrooms.
Most significantly,
Alexander gave the forest protected status, placing the bison under special
care and ordering the killing of such predators as wolves and lynxes.
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