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The story of Grigori Rasputin is well known. Sometimes termed "the mad monk", he was an advisor to the Russian royal family, the Romanovs, in the early part of the 20th century. A flamboyant and controversial figure, Rasputin was believed to have an excessive influence, particularly on the Czarina, and was the victim of a plot to murder him. He proved to be a tough man to kill, and was poisoned, shot, strangled and eventually drowned in the River Neva.

One of the assassins was Prince Felix Yusupov who lived in the ornate Moika Palace which is now a museum known as the Yusupov Palace on the Moika. Yusupov Palace is a spectacular building, containing artworks and beautiful furniture as well as tableaux showing Rasputin and those who lured him there to his death.