On 4th November 2026, on the feast of the Kazan Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos and the Day of National Unity – a grandiose 50-foot mural depicting the Holy Tsar Passion-Bearer Nicholas II was consecrated in Ekaterinburg.

In the center of the composition is the image of Nicholas II in a ceremonial officer’s uniform, set against the background of a collage of six thematic scenes reflecting the achievements of the Russian Empire during his reign: military reforms, the development of agriculture, railway transport, factory production and mechanical engineering.

The mural is the work of the artist Sergey Khramov. The project was created on the initiative of the Spas TV channel. The total size of the mural measures 7 meters [23 ft.] wide and 16 meters [52 ft.] high – the height of a 5-storey building.

The solemn event began in the city’s Holy Trinity Cathedral, where a Divine Liturgy was served. This was followed by the traditional Cross Procession in honour of the Day of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, through the streets of the Ural capital.

PHOTO: Cross Procession in honour of the Kazan Icon of the
Most Holy Theotokos through the streets of Ekaterinburg

PHOTO: more than 5,000 people took part in the Cross Procession

The Procession of the Cross was led by Metropolitan Evgeny of Yekaterinburg and Verkhoturye. The column started from the Holy Trinity Cathedral, then passed through Rosa Luxemburg Street – Kuibyshev Street – Gogol Street – Pushkin Street – Lenin Street – Tolmachev Street – to the Church on the Blook on Tsarskaya Street.

According to the organizers, more than 5 thousand people participated in the procession. Among them were parishioners, the clergy, military personnel, Cossacks, representatives of law enforcement agencies, students of theological educational institutions, students of military-patriotic clubs and representatives of the diocesan youth movement.

The procession stopped at the Office of the Federal State Statistics Service on Tolmacheva Street, where the mural is depicted on the facade of the Soviet-era building.

It was here, that the ceremony of consecration of the mural was performed by Metropolitan Evgeny of Yekaterinburg and Verkhoturye, and co-served by the senior priest of the Church on the Blood in Ekaterinburg, Archpriest Maxim Minyailo.

PHOTO: Metropolitan Evgeny performs the act of consecration of the mural

PHOTO: Metropolitan Evgeny addresses the more than
5,000 people who attended the consecration ceremony

PHOTO: thousands attended the consecration of
the mural to the Holy Passion-Bearer Nicholas II

Among the honoured guests who took part in both the Cross Procession and the consecration of the mural were the Vice-Governor of the Sverdlovsk Region Vasiliy V. Kozlov and Boris Korchevnikov, General Director of the First Public Orthodox TV Channel “Spas”. The latter is the initiator of more than 20 bust-monuments to the Holy Tsar Passion-Bearer Nicholas II in Russia this year.

Also attending was historian and authr Petr Valentinovich Multatuli – who is regarded as Russia’s foremost authority on the life and reign of Emperor Nicholas II. He is the great-grandson of Ivan Mikhailovich Kharitonov (1872-1918), who served as the Head Cook of the Imperial family. He followed the tsar and his family into exile, and was murdered along with them in the Ipatiev House on 17th July 1918.

Following the consecration ceremony, Metropolitan Evgeny said: “The mixing of colours in a certain sequence becomes a place of the presence of the power of God and the place of presence of the person who is depicted in this mural.”

It is interesting to note, that the mural depicting the Holy Passion-Bearer Nicholas II is not the first to be depicted on a building in the Ural capital. On 10th November 2023, a 3D image – measuring 8 storeys – of St. Catherine of Alexandria – the heavenly patroness of the city of Ekaterinburg – was created on the building of the Ural Federal University.

Metropolitan Evgeny referred to the mural depicting Nicholas II, as the largest icon in the city. TV presenter Boris Korchevnikov, went further and stated that this is “the largest icon of the Holy Tsar Nicholas II in all of Russia and the world!”

“Now the tsar”, according to Metropolitan Yevgeny, “will be able to watch over the people of Ekaterinburg”. He prays that people will stop and gaze up at the face of the Holy Tsar Passion-Bearer, make the sign of the cross, bow, pray for repentance in the city where he and his family met their death and martyrdom on 17th July 1918.

In addition, the mural will be a visual reminder of Russia’s achievements during the reign of Nicholas II: the flourishing of science, record population growth, military reforms, the construction of cities, schools and railways, the development of energy, as well as world championships in industry, agriculture and innovation – from bombers to the periodic table.

“May God save all those who make this effective repentance and transfiguration of Russia, return to us our memory and the truth about our history,” Boris Korchevnikov said.

In the afternoon, a lecture “Emperor Nicholas II: The Era of Economic Achievements and Reforms“, was held. Speakers included:

– Pyotr Valentinovich Multatuli, Professor of the Department of History, Moscow State University of Technology and Management named after K.G. Razumovsky;

– Andrey Anatolyevich Borisyuk, author of a series of books about the era of Emperor Nicholas II;

– Natalia Fedorova, Senior Lecturer at the Russian State University for the Humanities.

In the evening was the premiere screening of the historical documentary film “Holy Entrepreneurs“, hosted by the Spas TV channel, in the Assembly Hall of the Church-on-the-Blood. The film will be presented by the general director of the TV channel Boris Vyacheslavovich Korchevnikov.

The world’s largest icon of the Holy St. Tsar-Passion Bearer Nicholas II

On a more personl note . . . as many of my readers and followers already know, I was received and baptized into the Russian Orthodox Church (ROCOR) in September of this year. For many years now, I have believed that the Holy St. Tsar Nicholas II guided me to Orthodoxy. He is now my patron saint.

The installation of this incredibly beautiful mural in the Ural capital is of particular importance to me personally, and one more reason “WHY” . . . Ekaterinburg is my favorite Russian city.

© Paul Gilbert. 4 November 2026