St. Catherine Chapel, the final resting place of the last Romanovs, Peter and Paul Cathedral, St. Petersburg, Russia
The story of the last Romanovs, the cold-blooded murder of Nicholas II and his entire family in the basement of a house in which they had been imprisoned for two and a half months in the city of Yakaterinburg on July 17, 1918, is well known and has been told and retold over and over again. What is not so well known is the fascinating story of what happened to the bodies after the executions, and where, when and how the remains were discovered and identified, because all this came to light relatively recently, after the fall of the Soviet Union. The Soviets did everything they could to prevent the site of the murders to become a shrine. In 1977, they even had the house where the executions took place, known as Ipatiev House (see below), demolished because it was becoming a popular pilgrimage site for an increasing number of Russians wanting to honor the memory of the imperial family. This, of course, went contrary to the Soviet ideology so they had the place torn down. Thus disappeared forever an important historical landmark that today would have great value as a tourist attraction in this remote and seldom visited part of Russia. They built a church nearby, but the actual site remains unoccupied to this day; it is a patch of grass full of weeds and a few crosses (see second below).
The executions took place on July 17, 1918, but it wasn't until 1979 – some 60 years later – that a geologist and amateur archeologist named Alexander Avdonin, using information obtained from the son of one of the executioners, was able to locate the graves and began exhuming the bodies. The site where the remains were discovered is located some 10 km northwest of where the murders took place. Since I cannot possibly write it all here, I invite those who might be interested in reading a full account of what happened (and where, when and how) to click here for a captivating read . This excellent record – do go through the entire site; there are several pages – does not, however, mention a second option of where the bodies were disposed of, an option that the Russian Orthodox Church believes is the true version. For an account of that version, please click here .
Now, about the photo above. After the discovery and positive DNA identification of the remains – including those of the two children that were missing initially, Alexei and his sister Maria Nikolaevna (not Anastasia as it was long believed) – the bodies of Nicholas II and of his immediate family were transported to St. Petersburg and laid to rest in St. Catherine Chapel (seen here), which is a side chapel in Peter and Paul Cathedral. In 2000, all were canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church, a move that was controversial especially within the church itself.
St. Catherine Chapel, the final resting place of the last Romanovs, Peter and Paul Cathedral, St. Petersburg, Russia
The story of the last Romanovs, the cold-blooded murder of Nicholas II and his entire family in the basement of a house in which they had been imprisoned for two and a half months in the city of Yakaterinburg on July 17, 1918, is well known and has been told and retold over and over again. What is not so well known is the fascinating story of what happened to the bodies after the executions, and where, when and how the remains were discovered and identified, because all this came to light relatively recently, after the fall of the Soviet Union. The Soviets did everything they could to prevent the site of the murders to become a shrine. In 1977, they even had the house where the executions took place, known as Ipatiev House (see below), demolished because it was becoming a popular pilgrimage site for an increasing number of Russians wanting to honor the memory of the imperial family. This, of course, went contrary to the Soviet ideology so they had the place torn down. Thus disappeared forever an important historical landmark that today would have great value as a tourist attraction in this remote and seldom visited part of Russia. They built a church nearby, but the actual site remains unoccupied to this day; it is a patch of grass full of weeds and a few crosses (see second below).
The executions took place on July 17, 1918, but it wasn't until 1979 – some 60 years later – that a geologist and amateur archeologist named Alexander Avdonin, using information obtained from the son of one of the executioners, was able to locate the graves and began exhuming the bodies. The site where the remains were discovered is located some 10 km northwest of where the murders took place. Since I cannot possibly write it all here, I invite those who might be interested in reading a full account of what happened (and where, when and how) to click here for a captivating read . This excellent record – do go through the entire site; there are several pages – does not, however, mention a second option of where the bodies were disposed of, an option that the Russian Orthodox Church believes is the true version. For an account of that version, please click here .
Now, about the photo above. After the discovery and positive DNA identification of the remains – including those of the two children that were missing initially, Alexei and his sister Maria Nikolaevna (not Anastasia as it was long believed) – the bodies of Nicholas II and of his immediate family were transported to St. Petersburg and laid to rest in St. Catherine Chapel (seen here), which is a side chapel in Peter and Paul Cathedral. In 2000, all were canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church, a move that was controversial especially within the church itself.