Day 5 : Ekaterinenburg

Day 5 Ekaterinenburg

The Trans-Siberian Express Route

Punctual arrival in Ekaterinenburg at 7.59. 

Ekaterinenburg is the 4^thlargest city in Russia and historically and still today one of its industrial power houses. Many factories relocated to the city during World War II, out of reach of the German invaders. Nowadays it is also a popular pilgrimage site for Russian monarchists  as it is here that the last Tsar of Russia, Nikolai II, and his family drew their last breath, executed by the Soviets in 1918. Boris Yeltsin, Russia’s first president, was born in Ekaterinenburg.

Ekaterinenburg was founded in 1672 as a settlement called Shartash initially populated by ‘Old Believers’ who disagreed with the reforms of the Orthodox Church introduced by Ivan III. It quickly developed with the exploitation of the rich Ural mining region, its iron ore reserves in particular.
At the beginning of the 18^thcentury Peter the Great encouraged the search for new sources of iron ore to fuel Russia’s war machine in the conflict against Sweden. The first ironworks were established in 1721 and the town was re-named Ekaterinenburg in honour of Peter the Great’s wife. Since then Ekaterinenburg has been an important industrial hub, straddling Europe and Asia and considered the border between the two. Such was the importance of its defence industry in Soviet days that foreigners weren’t allowed in the city until the early 1990s… 

We spend the morning with Dimitri, a 25-year old history Phd student, on a walk visiting the main sites of this dynamic, modern, yet rich in history, city.

We stroll along the promenade of the Iset river as we learn from Dimitri about the key role played in Russian history by his home town.

Turning to modern day Russia he explains how a majority of the population supports Putin for the stability he has brought to the country following many years of frequent, dramatic turmoil, the hardship of the Communist era and the economic roller coaster ride of the 1990s. Most Russians, he explains, also support the annexation of Crimea and the efforts of Russia in Eastern Ukraine for nationalistic reasons, protecting Russian speakers who see their future with Russia rather than with the Ukraine.

Most Russians see Putin as having also returned Russia to the club of world powers influencing international affairs.

Dimitri explains, that Russians are quite detached from what is happening in Syria, as Russia has to date avoided putting ‘boots on the ground’ and Russian life at risk. 

The promenade joins a wide esplanade surrounded by beautiful, colourful flower beds and a big Russia 2018 World Cup sign. Everybody we speak to tells us about their joy at hosting a part of this event and meeting and getting to know fans from France, Sweden, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay.

River Promenade and Main Esplanade

We carry on walking past the blue and white 19^thcentury mansion of the industrialist Sebastianov, an eclectic mixture of styles. The building is also used by Putin as his pied-a-terre when he visits Ekaterinenburg once or twice a year.

The contrast between this ornate building and the small, byzantine style orthodox church opposite it when compared with some of the Soviet era constructions, such as the post office, sharing this intersection is quite striking.

Sebastianov Mansion

We are now approaching the Church of the Blood, but not before walking down what is nowadays known as the Literary Quarter and its restored old timber houses.

When the Soviets took over, the Tsar and his family were moved to Ekaterinenburg in the home of Ipatyev, a local engineer, where the Soviets killed them and disposed of their bodies outside of the city.

Boris Yeltsin, fearing a revival of royalism, had the house, that was fast becoming a pilgrimage destination, destroyed in 1977. The Church of the Blood now stands on the site, a modern but beautiful church on 2 levels. A lower level with darker, vaulted rooms and Byzantine style mosaics and wall paintings, and an upper level with exquisite, airy high vaults with religious paintings in light watercolours.

Old Literary Quarter

Church of the Blood

We walk down Karl Liebknecht Street making a brief stop to admire the 19^thcentury façade of the Metenkov House, a famous local photographer, and passing by the home of the local philharmonic orchestra.

We thank Dimitri for the introduction to Ekaterinenburg and head for the Vysotsky tower to admire the view of the city from the 52^ndfloor and enjoy a bite to eat in the upmarket Vertikal restaurant on the 51^stfloor.

Views from the Vysotski Tower

Sights and People of Ekaterinenburg on a Sunday Afternoon

At the end of the promenade we find the ultra-modern Boris Yeltsin museum, a recent addition, and well worth a visit, covering Soviet propaganda posters, art and film in a first section and an overview of Boris Yeltsin’s early life and career in Ekaterinenburg in a second section. The  last section is dedicated to seven key days in Yeltsin’s later political life before and after becoming president, in the first decade of Russian economic liberalisation, with a focus on his young team of liberal economists such as Gaidar, Chubais and Nemtsov, and the economic boom and bust of the first decade following the end of Soviet rule. 

Yeltsin Museum

We have dinner at an excellent Russian restaurant called Pashtet specialising in Russian pate’, its interior decorated in the style of a typical ‘dacha’ (a countryside summer cottage).