History

Bialowieza Forest for centuries served the Polish Kings for hunting. However the biggest impact on her was the penultimate emperor of the Russian Empire-Alexander III, who sat on the throne in the years1881-1894. It was he who changed the ownership of the Forest from the state to private ownership and in April 1889 he made the decision to build a magnificent 120 room palace. Tsar Alexander III visited the Forest only once. He was there, despite severe health, for hunting from August 21 to September 3 1894- two months before his death. His successor, Tsar Nicholas II visited Bialowieza as much as sixfold. For the first time, still as the heir to the throne, along with his father but later he also visited Bialowieza in 1897, 1900, 1903 and 1912 with the entire family. The last time he came alone on 22nd June 1915. For the purposes of the handling of visits of Tsar Nicholas II, in 1903 a wooden complex "Bialowieza Towarowa" was built. This structure happily survived World War Ist and IInd and functioned through 1992 supporting regular mergers. This year the railway line was left out of the movement, and the building started yielding to gradual devastation. In 2003, exactly one century of its existence, the complex changed its purpose - after a thorough renovation of the station, the Tsar Restaurant was created with the name emphasizing the role of the Tsar, from which the inspiration of the station had originated.