PHOTO: the Cathedral of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Verkhneuralsk

A new equestrian monument to Emperor Nicholas II will be installed and consecrated later this year, in the Ural city of Verkhneuralsk. The city is located on the left bank of the Ural River, 230 km south of Chelyabinsk and 450 km south of Ekaterinburg.

The monument will be installed in front of the Cathedral of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker – the only Orthodox church in Verkhneuralsk which survived the years of Soviet power. The grounds around the church are currently being developed. The monument will be installed and consecrated here upon completion of the landscaping and gardens.

PHOTO: a plaque marks the visit of Tsesarevich and Grand Duke Nicholas Alexandrovich [future Emperor Nicholas II] to the Cathedral of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Verkhneuralsk, on 4th August (O.S. 23rd July) 1891.

The monument is in memory of Nicholas II’s visit to Verkhneuralsk on 4th August (O.S. 23rd July) 1891, during a trip across the Russian Empire following his Eastern Journey. The Eastern Journey (1890-1891) of Tsesearvich Nicholas Alexandrovich took him to Egypt, India, Ceylon, Siam, China, and Japan – where an assassination attempt was made on his life. The total length of the journey exceeded 51,000 kilometres, including 15,000 km of railway and 22,000 km of sea routes.

The Cathedral of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was built in the Russian-Byzantine Style in 1870, and consecrated on 5th May 1875. The money for it’s construction was allocated by a local merchant Nikolai Petrovich Rytov (1818-1879), cost 6100 rubles. The church was erected according to the project of the famous Russian architect Konstantin Ton (1794-1881), who challenged classicism and established the Russian Style, which included outstanding palace and church architecture.

PHOTO: the grounds around the Cathedral of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker are currently being developed. The monument to Nicholas II, will be installed and consecrated here upon completion of the landscaping and gardens.

The northern altar of this cathedral – in the name of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos – was built on benevolent donations in memory of the salvation of Tsesarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich, following an assassination attempt on his life in Otsu, Japan. The altar was consecrated on 18th November 1897.

In the 1930s, the church was closed and used as a grain warehouse, reopened in 1942. In the early 20th century, there were 7 Orthodox churches in Verkhneuralsk, however the Cathedral of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, is the only one to have survived the years of Soviet power, the rest were destroyed.

It is interesting to note that in 1904, Emperor Nicholas II visited a number of Ural cities including Verkhneuralsk. He was accompanied by his brother Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich.

© Paul Gilbert. 7 May 2025