Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, more than 100 monuments, busts and memorials have been installed in cities and towns across in Russia – six of which have been installed in Ekaterinburg. Recall that it was here, in the Ural capital, where the last Tsar and his family were held under house arrest and subsequently murdered.

Once a bastion of Bolshevism, Ekaterinburg has slowly shed its status as the “capital of atheism”. Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Urals has experienced a revival of faith, with Ekaterinburg as the center of Orthodox Russia in the region.

It is important to add, that Ekaterinburg has done more to honour Russia’s last Tsar and his family than any other city in Russia. It is home to the Church on the Blood [built on the site of the Ipatiev House, where the Imperial Family were murdered]; the Monastery of the Holy Royal Martyrs at Ganina Yama; the Romanov Memorial at Porosenkov Log; three museums and no less than six monuments, dedicated to the Imperial Family.

Church on the Blood, Ekaterinburg

The Church on the Blood in Ekaterinburg, was built in 2000-2003m on the site of the Ipatiev House, where the Imperial family and their faithful retainers were all brutally murdered by members of the Ural Soviet on 17th July 1918.

The monument to Emperor Nicholas II and his family, created by the sculptor Konstantin Vasilievich Grunberg was installed in 2003 on the grounds of the Church on the Blood in Ekaterinburg. The Tsar is depicted carrying the invalid Tsesarevich Alexei in his arms.

The staircase on the left represents the 23 steps the Imperial Family and their four faithful retainers descended to their death and martyrdom in the Ipatiev House in the early morning hours of 17th July 1918.

The door seen in the lower right is the entrance to the Lower Church, sanctified in honour of the Holy Royal Martyrs in the Church, where the Imperial Room – built on the site of the murder room.

Several years back, a bronze bust on a marble pedestal of Emperor Nicholas II was installed at the top of the staircase leading to the Museum of the Holy Royal Family in the Tsarsky Cultural and Educational Center, situated in the Patriarchal Compound of the Church on the Blood.

In July 2023, the bust was replaced with a similar bust of the Tsar’s son and heir Tsesarevich Alexei Nikolaevich. The bust of the Emperor was moved to the new permanent exhibition The Romanovs in the Urals, located at the Poklevsky-Kozell House Museum of the Sverdlovsk Regional Museum of Local Lore in Ekaterinburg.

Monastery of the Holy Royal Martyrs, Ganina Yama

Ganina Yama is the site of the Four Brothers mine situated near the village of Koptyaki, 15 km north from Ekaterinburg. It was here that in the early morning hours of 17th July 1918 the bodies of Tsar Nicholas II, his family and four servants were secretly transported to Ganina Yama and thrown into a 9′ deep pit. The murderers returned the following day, exhumed the remains and reburied them in two unmarked graves at Porosenkov Log, which is situated 3.8 km away.

In 2001, the Russian Orthodox Church constructed the Monastery of the Holy Royal Martyrs at the site in 2001. Between 2008-2011, three monuments to the Holy Royal Martyrs were installed on the grounds of the monastery:

The bronze bust of Emperor Nicholas II was installed and consecrated on 19th (O.S. 6th) May 2008, the day marking the sovereign’s 90th birthday.

Bronze monument to Empress Alexandra Feodorovna was installed and consecrated in 2011.

Bronze monument of Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and Tsesarevich Alexei, was installed and consecrated on the grounds of the Monastery of the Holy Royal Martyrs at Ganina Yama in 2011.

Sredneuralsk, Sverdlovsk Oblast

The Sredneuralsky Convent in Honour of the Icon of the Mother of God “The Conqueror of Bread”, is an Orthodox convent located on the outskirts of the city of Sredneuralsk, 15 km northwest of Ekaterinburg.

In 2014, the Trinity Church was consecrated in the monastery, which was built based on the ancient Russian architecture of the era of the formation of the Moscow kingdom. It is dedicated to the family of the last Russian Tsar Nicholas II. The basement of the Ipatiev House – where the Imperial Family were shot – was recreated in the lower part of the church. A large Poklonny cross dedicated to the Imperial Family, and a bust of Tsar Nicholas II were installed on the grounds of the monastery.

© Paul Gilbert. 13 October 2023