Alexander II of Russia

Alexander II (1818-1881) was Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Poland and Grand Duke of Finland from 2 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881. Alexander's most significant reform as emperor was the emancipation of Russia's serfs in 1861, for which he is known as Alexander the Liberator. (Wikipedia)

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Site Rationale Link
Great Spa Towns of Europe Bad Ems was the summer residence for Tsar Alexander II. The Russian church in Bad Ems "was initiated in 1857 by the locals of Bad Ems but only realised in 1876 with the financial support of Tsar Alexander II (the Tsar was at the opening)." "Tsar Alexander II of Russia signed the Ems Ukaz at the Haus der vier Türme. This decree, which banned the use of the Ukrainian language in literature and writing, is even now considered a symbol of Russian repression by Ukrainians." (Nomination File, p. 200, 205)
Kremlin and Red Square Alexander II's coronation was in the Dormition Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. (wiki)
Nice Alexander II's son, Nicholas Alexandrovich, died in Nice in 1865 at the age of 21. A chapel, inaugurated in 1868, was constructed in his honour on the order of Alexander II on the site of his son's death. Alexander II also authorised the construction of the Orthodox Cathedral of Saint-Nicholas on the grounds of his private property, the Villa Bermond. (Nomination file, p. 163)
Paris, Banks of the Seine "During the 1867 World's Fair in Paris, Polish immigrant Antoni Berezowski attacked the carriage containing Alexander, his two sons and Napoleon III. His self-modified double-barreled pistol misfired and struck the horse of an escorting cavalryman." (the World Fair was held at the Champ de Mars) (Wikipedia)
St. Petersburg "On 13 March [O.S. 1 March] 1881, Alexander II, the Emperor of Russia, was assassinated in Saint Petersburg, Russia while returning to the Winter Palace from Mikhailovsky Manège in a closed carriage." "Alexander was carried by sleigh to his study in the Winter Palace, where almost the same day twenty years earlier, he had signed the Emancipation Edict freeing the serfs. Members of the Romanov family came rushing to the scene. The dying emperor was given Communion and Last rites." (Wikipedia)

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