Church on the Blood, Yekaterinburg

What is the Church on the Blood?

It’s the memorial church built on the exact spot where Russia’s last imperial family was murdered. In the spring of 1918 the Bolsheviks held Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra and their children Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and Alexei in a merchant’s mansion called the Ipatiev House. In the early hours of 17 July they were taken to the cellar and shot, together with their doctor and three servants.

“On the Blood” is a Russian tradition for churches built where someone was killed. The full name is the Church on the Blood in Honour of All Saints Resplendent in the Russian Land, and Wikipedia lists it as the Church of All Saints. Locals simply say Khram na Krovi.

Don’t confuse it with St Petersburg’s Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood — that one marks the assassination of Alexander II in 1881 and is run as a museum. The Yekaterinburg church is the newer one, and the one tied to the Romanovs.

What happened to the Ipatiev House?

The house no longer exists. People kept coming to it quietly for decades, and in September 1977 it was pulled down in a matter of days. The order came from Moscow; the man who carried it out was the then head of the Sverdlovsk regional party, Boris Yeltsin — later Russia’s first president, who called it a decision he regretted.

The first memorial service on the empty plot was held in 1989, and the foundation stone was laid in 1992. Work only started in 2000, the year the Church canonised the family, and the church was consecrated on 16 July 2003. The lower church follows the outline of the house’s foundations almost exactly.

One thing many visitors expect and won’t find: the remains. They were found in a forest outside the city and buried in 1998 in St Petersburg’s Peter and Paul Cathedral. This is a memorial to the place, not a tomb.

What to see inside and around

• The crypt in the lower church — a dim, low-vaulted space that recalls the cellar room where the family died. Most people come for this.
• The upper church — tall and bright, with a white marble iconostasis and murals of the family’s life; the altar sits above the murder site.
• The “Royal Passion-Bearers” sculpture by Konstantin Grünberg at the entrance, showing the family walking down to the cellar.
• The Museum of the Holy Royal Family in the building next door — the family’s belongings, documents from their exile and objects from the Ipatiev House.
• The view from Voznesenskaya Hill over the old centre and the City Pond.
• The Kharitonov-Rastorguev estate across the street — a mansion from the turn of the 19th century with a park and pond behind it, and the best spot to photograph the church whole.
• The Literary Quarter — wooden house-museums a few minutes’ walk away.

Is it free, and is the museum worth it?

The church itself is free, with no ticket and no fixed visiting hours beyond opening times. The Museum of the Holy Royal Family is in the Patriarchal Compound next door, run by the Tsarsky Centre, and needs a separate paid ticket. The centre doesn’t publish the price online, so ask at the desk.

Foreign Visa and Mastercard cards don’t work in Russia since March 2022, so bring roubles in cash for the museum ticket, candles and the church shop.

The museum is open Monday 10:00–17:00 and Tuesday to Sunday 10:00–19:00. Coats and large bags go to the cloakroom, and you wear shoe covers in the halls. Photos without flash are allowed. Labels and the centre’s own tours are in Russian, so if the Romanov story is why you came, a guide makes the museum far more rewarding.

Our honest take: the church is worth 45 minutes for anyone interested in 20th-century history. Add the museum only if the Romanovs really interest you — otherwise the building alone tells the story.

Church on the Blood opening hours

The church opens every day. Local guides agree on roughly 7:00 to 23:00, but the church doesn’t publish visitor hours and RUSSPASS lists a shorter day, so check Yandex Maps or 2GIS if you plan a late-evening visit.

Morning liturgy starts around 8:00 and the evening service around 17:00; at those times the church is full of worshippers and harder to look around. The quietest window for sightseeing is weekdays between 10:00 and 16:00.

On the night of 16–17 July, the anniversary of the murders, everything changes: an open-air night liturgy draws tens of thousands of pilgrims, and the church is hard to get into the day before.

Tsar’s Days and the night walk to Ganina Yama

Every year on the night of 16–17 July, a liturgy is held outside the church and then the Tsar’s Procession sets off — roughly 21 km on foot to the monastery at Ganina Yama, the forest site where the bodies were taken in 1918.

It’s the climax of the week-long Tsar’s Days festival. The centre fills with pilgrims, streets close and nearby hotels sell out early. Unless the procession is the reason for your trip, pick other dates.

Church on the Blood, Ganina Yama or Yeltsin Center

With one day in Yekaterinburg, YesGo puts the Church on the Blood first — it’s central and tells the story the city is known for. Pair Ganina Yama with it on a guided tour; the Yeltsin Center is a very different 20th century, 15 minutes’ walk away.

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How to do it right

• Go down to the lower church first while it’s quiet, then climb to the upper church.
• Weekdays between 10:00 and 16:00 are the calmest — no service and rarely a queue.
• If a visiting relic is on display, the queue can last hours; come back another day.
• For the classic photo of the whole church and bell tower, cross the street to the Kharitonov estate.
• Most signs are in Russian only — read up on the story before you go, or book a guide.
• Ganina Yama is outside the city; without a car, a tour starting at the church is the easiest way there.
• The Plotinka and the riverside are a 10-minute walk downhill — an easy way to continue.

Questions