Church on the Blood in Yekaterinburg

The Church of All Saints Resplendent in the Russian Land stands on the site of the Ipatiev House, where the family of the last Russian emperor was shot in July 1918.

The Ipatiev House

The house itself was demolished in 1977 by decision of the Politburo; the order was carried out by Boris Yeltsin, then first secretary of the regional committee, who later wrote about it in his memoirs. The empty lot remained for more than twenty years.

Construction

The cathedral was built between 2000 and 2003: white walls, gilded domes and a broad staircase at the main entrance. Work began soon after the church canonised the imperial family as passion-bearers in the summer of 2000, and it was consecrated three years later. The building is about sixty metres high.

Two levels

It has two levels: below, a memorial church with a chapel on the site of the execution room; above, a spacious upper church with wall paintings and a large iconostasis. A bronze group stands before the entrance, showing the imperial family descending the steps towards the cellar.

The procession

On the night of 16 to 17 July the Tsar's procession sets out from here to Ganina Yama, more than twenty kilometres on foot, drawing tens of thousands of people. In those days the church is crowded around the clock.

The surrounding quarter keeps its pre-revolutionary scale: the eighteenth-century Ascension Church and the Rastorguyev-Kharitonov mansion with its park stand nearby. Entry to the church is free.

Address

Tsarskaya Street 10, Yekaterinburg

Opening hours

Daily 7:00–23:00

Prices

Free

On the map