CATHEDRAL-ON-THE-BLOOD-VENTED

Originally, and until 1977, Ipatiev's house was located here. It was in the cellar of this house that Tsar Nicholas II and his family were murdered on the night of 16-17 July 1918. The assassination was ordered by the man who was to become a communist hero and give his name to the city: Yakov Sverdlovsk. The house no longer exists. It had become a place of pilgrimage in memory of the Romanovs. This exasperated the Soviet power so much that in June 1975, Yuri Andropov, then head of the KGB, ordered its destruction. In 2000, construction began on the site of the former house of Ipatiev to build a cathedral in honour of the murdered royal family. It is called "khram na Krovi", i.e. the Cathedral on the Bloodshed. The name is evocative of the worship given to the royal family. The cathedral houses a funerary monument dedicated to the royal family. On 16 July 2003, the anniversary of the assassination of the last Russian Tsarist family, the official opening ceremony of the Cathedral took place.

Visit of the Church on the Blood-Verse. The visit starts with the lower chapel. A small lower ceiling chamber reconstructs the setting in which the arrest of the royal family took place. Pilgrims pray at length in front of the icon representing the family of the tsar. The chandelier reproduces the royal crown. It shows the last portraits and photos of the Ipatiev house. Upstairs, on the right, is the iconostasis in front of which the tsarina was praying when she was shot. There is also the icon of St. Seraphim of Sarov, who had predicted 75 years earlier the death of the imperial family and the destruction of Russia. The staircase leading to the church is called the "Golgotha Staircase" because it has as many steps as the royal family had to climb to reach the place of their torment. It therefore represents the ordeal endured by the royal family and symbolizes their ascent to the state of holiness. Thus the church above represents the triumph of the family over the massacre that was perpetrated. The whole symbolism of the temple recalls the march of the royal family towards the kingdom of heaven and holiness. Pilgrimages and weddings are frequent. Interest in this tragedy remains high and there is much discussion about the authenticity or not of the remains of royal remains found in the vicinity of the city, even though DNA tests have suggested that they are authentic.