Yekaterinburg

Located on the eastern side of the Ural Mountains, Yekaterinburg was founded in 1723 by the prominent statesmen Vasily Tatischev and Georg Wilhelm de Gennin. It was named for Tsar Peter the Great's wife, Catherine, and the settlement was granted the status of a town in 1796. Easily the most famous episode in Yekaterinburg's history occurred in July 1918, when the Imperial family of Romanov was executed by the Bolsheviks at Ipatiev House.

Tsar Nicholas II had abdicated the previous year, and was being held under house arrest in the city. When it was discovered that Tsarist forces were approaching Yekaterinburg, the decision was made to kill the Tsar, his wife, their four daughters and only son, to prevent them from becoming figureheads for rebellion. Their remains were finally given a proper burial in 1998. Ipatiev House was never used after these events, and was demolished in 1977.

In later years it was decided that a more fitting tribute to the Romanov family was needed. With the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, it was also reckoned that the new building had to be less of a focal point. The Cathedral of the Blood was completed in 2000, and is a magnificent symbol of peace and worship.