Ekaterinburg (Yekaterinburg, formerly Sverdlovsk)

Ekaterinburg, named by Tsar Peter I after his wife Empress Catherine I. Tsar Nicholas II and his family were held captive here by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Revolution and brutally executed in 1918. The house in which the executions took place was demolished by Boris Yeltsin when Governor to prevent it becoming a religious shrine. However now the site is marked by a simple memorial and small chapel that is visited regularly by pilgrims and a large church is being constructed next to the site. When we were here a bus arrived  with pilgrims who knelt in prayer and kissed the monument, showing a loyalty to the royal family even though they had been killed 84 years ago, probably before any of the pilgrims was born. (Note: The church/cathedral was completed and dedicated about July 2003)

There is also a memorial to Marshal Zhukov, famous as leader of the defence of Moscow during World War II and for leading the final attack of the Red Army on Berlin in 1944 who was "semi-exiled" here. Shortly after his triumphant return to Moscow in 1946, he was demoted to this regional post by Premier Joseph Stalin, who resented the marshal's prestige.

Our guide Yelena at the Zhukov memorial.	Pilgrims arriving and praying at the memorial and chapel at the site of the house where the Tsar and royal family were executed by the Bolsheviks in 1918.

At the house of Aleksander Pushkin (1799-1837), poet, novelist, dramatist, often considered Russia's greatest poet and founder of modern Russian literature.	Church under construction next to the site of the execution of the royal family. The pilgrims came in the bus.

Return

(1) Vladivostok  Photos from the 3 day train trip to Irkutsk

(2) Irkutsk  Eastern Siberia city close to Lake Baikal and exile location for dissidents, criminals

(3) Novosibirsk  The largest city in Siberia with a famous Opera House

(4) Ekaterinburg  Site of the execution of the royal family in 1918 and of the "exile" of Marshall Zhukov in 1946.

(5) Moscow  The usual tourist attractions.

(6) St Petersburg  and Petrodvorets