Church On Blood
This church is the very reason I stopped in Yekaterinburg. The Church On Blood was something that I remembered from high school. It is where the last Czar of Russia and his family were executed by the Bolsheviks. The site used to be a house that the Bolsheviks requisitioned to imprison the family. It was later torn down to prevent it from becoming a shrine. Inside, they have a Chapel (this may not be the correct term, but you get the concept) that is approximately the same size and in same spot as the original basement they were murdered in. I could not believe tiny this area was, implying a disturbing proximity between executioners and those executed. The execution ended up being uglier than planned because the Czar’s daughters had precious jewels hidden in their clothing which blunted many of the gun shots, requiring the executioners to resort to stabbing them. The Church also displays a photo gallery of the Czar’s family.
On a brighter note, Russian’s like the Beatles too!
Lenin is still standing!
This marker represents the continental divide between Asia and Europe.
This is another marker. This one has been here for a few decades. It was the one that prisoners would pass on their march across Siberia until they were placed in a gulag. Can you imagine walking 40 miles a day from prison to prison in chains until there was space for you to stay?
This is a memorial to 11,000 people executed during one of Stalin’s Purges. This site was found when the road was being expanded. It is believed their are still numerous sites such as this one waiting to be discovered.
Peter the Great had a Russian Statesman and German Engineer search for a place to build one of Russia’s first industrial cities. The dam behind is where Yekaterinburg began due to the ability to harness water energy.
War Memorial to commemorate the Russian war in Afghanistan. It has now expanded to commemorate other battles as well.
I want to give special thanks to my guide Luba from Yekaterinburg4u. She helped me get around from site to site while providing a well developed narrative to the historical sites we visited. I was particularly happy with her historical explanation of the Church on Blood. She also arranged for transportation to the continental divide while providing commentary on some Russian myths and fairy tales. I will use her services again on any future visit here.
// Oliver – Day 74 – Russia