PHOTO: Pakistani Ambassador Muhammad Khalid Jamali and members of his delegation, in the Patriarchal Compound of the Church on the Blood. Note the bust of Nicholas II on a pedestal at the top of the stairs

On 31st July 2025, a delegation headed by the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to the Russian Federation Muhammad Khalid Jamali visited the Church on the Blood and the Museum of the Holy Royal Family in Ekaterinburg.

Representatives of the delegation were given a tour of the museum, which is situated in the Patriarchal Compound of the Church on the Blood. While being shown exhibits, they were told about the life and work of Emperor Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, Tsesarevich Alexei Nikolaevich and the Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia.

“Particular attention was paid to the last period of their lives, during which the Imperial Family were being held under house arrest in Tsarskoye Selo, Tobolsk and Ekaterinburg, where they subsequently met their death and martyrdom in the Ipatiev House, on 17th July 1918.” said the head of the Museum of the Holy Royal Family, Victoria Mikhailovna Kalmykova.

PHOTO: the icon of the Holy Royal Passion-Bearers. A capsule on the Heir’s chest contains a baby tooth of Tsesarevich Alexei Nikolaevich, preserved by his Swiss tutor Pierre Gilliard

According to the head of the museum, the members of the delegation reacted with great respect to the shrines of the Church-on-the-Blood – the icon of the Mother of God “Three-handed”, which belonged to the Imperial Family and was with them in the Ipatiev House, the icon of the Holy Royal Passion-Bearers containing a tooth of Tsesarevich Alexei, to the reliquary containing the relics of St. Seraphim of Sarov, glorified during the reign of His Majesty Emperor Nicholas II, were previously kept.

The members of the delegation were very interested in the personal items belonging to members of the Imperial Family: a fragment of a children’s blanket made by the Grand Duchesses for the birth of Tsesarevich Alexei Nikolaevich in 1904; a children’s summer openwork glove that belonged to the Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna; a dinner napkin of Emperor Nicholas II, among other items belonging to His Majesty of that time.

At the end of the visit, the members of the delegation expressed gratitude for getting acquainted with the shrines of the Church on the Blood, and for the memorable and interesting tour of the museum.

© Paul Gilbert. 1 August 2025