Some key events in Russian history took place at a considerable distance from both capitals of the Russian Empire. The tragic end of the more than three hundred year reign of the Romanov dynasty turned out to be connected with the Ural region. For most of its last generation, the journey to the Urals was the last.
Unusual sight
A place located near the northwestern outskirts of Yekaterinburg and known as "Ganina Yama" is associated with one of the darkest pages in Russian history of the twentieth century. No one would ever have known the name of this unremarkable abandoned quarry if he had not been fated to become the grave of the last Russian Emperor and his family. Today this place has become one of the most significant city attractions. Many of those who first get to the capital of the Ural region are interested in where Ganina Yama is located, how to get to this remote place in the most rational way. Over the years, public interest in the tragic events of almost a century ago is only growing.
Near Yekaterinburg
Ganina Yama is a small abandoned quarry of Iset mine, located four kilometers southeast of the village of Koptyaki. Once they tried to find gold here, but found only iron ore. It is this mineral that has been mined for several years here for blast furnaces of the Verkh-Isetsk Metallurgical Plant. Here charcoal was burned for this. By the beginning of the twentieth century, iron ore reserves were exhausted, and the mine was abandoned. In July 1918, Ganina Yama - a small pit about 20 by 30 meters in size - seemed to the members of the Ural Revolutionary Committee a suitable place to hide the traces of their crime.
In the Ipatiev House
On the night of July 16-17, in Yekaterinburg, in the basement of a house formerly owned by railway engineer Ipatiev, the former Russian Emperor Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov, the former Empress Alexandra Fedorovna and five of their children - Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatyana, Maria, Anastasia and the heir to the throne were shot Tsesarevich Alexey. Four of those who were voluntarily accompanied by the imperial family in exile in Tobolsk and then in Yekaterinburg were killed along with them. Ganina Yama, a secluded and uninhabited place outside the city, was chosen as the place of burial of bodies and concealment of the crime.
In Ganina Pit
The murderers of the imperial family did everything in their power so that in future times no one would have a question: "Ganina Yama ... How to get to her?" And the place for burial by them was chosen just that, from which there should not have remained in history either a name or a mention. However, in modern terms, something obviously went wrong with them ... It was not possible to hide the bodies of the dead and destroy the traces of the crime. The fact that Ganina Yama is not suitable for this purpose was revealed only by the end of the day on July 17, 1918. The abandoned mine could not hide the bodies of those killed from prying eyes. The funeral team was unable to flood it with water, nor to blow up its walls with grenades. In addition, some residents of the neighboring village of Koptyaki saw a car with corpses in the back. Therefore, it was decided to rebury the dead in a deeper mine near the Moscow highway. For this purpose, the bodies were removed from the mine and reloaded into the truck body.
On Old Koptyakovskaya Road
The criminals managed to drive away from Ganina Yama for four and a half kilometers. After that, the car was hopelessly stuck in a swamp at the beginning of the Old Koptyakovskaya Road. This place was destined for several long decades to become the burial place of the last Russian Emperor and members of his family. Resigned to the fact that it would not be possible to quickly and quietly pull the truck out of the swamp, a member of the Ural Collegium of the Cheka, Yakov Yurovsky, ordered the digging of the grave right on the road. It was this burial that was made on the Old Koptyakovskaya Road on the night of July 18, 1918. But the legend for many decades connected the burial of the remains of the royal family with the mine from where they had been extracted the day before. In Soviet times, such an interest in the place of concealment of the crime, to put it mildly, was not approved. But, despite this, pilgrims and simply curious ones were drawn to him. They were constantly interested in the locals: "Where is Ganina's pit? How to get to her?" Mysterious and mysterious places around the world have a special attractive force. Of course, Ganina Yama also belonged to them. In Soviet times, Yekaterinburg was called Sverdlovsk, and many people were drawn to this city who were not indifferent to the mysteries of Russian history.
Sixty years later
The secret of the burial of Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov and his family members was revealed only in the summer of 1979. The merit in this belongs mainly to two research enthusiasts - the writer Geli Ryabov and the geologist Alexander Avdonin. It was they who managed to find the burial place of the royal family under a layer of railway sleepers on Old Koptyakovskaya Road. But what to do with this find was completely incomprehensible. Researchers acted solely on their own initiative, and such actions could entail the most unpleasant consequences for them. Without the sanction of the state, they had no right to engage in such research. But the Soviet authorities did not need such finds at all. Researchers had no choice but to pretend that they did not make any historical finds. At the same time, the pilgrims continued to reach the address known to them, mainly from oral legends, - Ganina Yama, Yekaterinburg.
In the nineties and subsequent years
The situation radically changed at the end of the Soviet historical era. In this historical period, interest in the dark spots of Russian history ceased to be reprehensible. For many guests of the capital of the Ural region, a mandatory point of the stay program was: Ganina Yama, excursion. In the summer of 1991, a pilgrimage to the burial place of the imperial family acquired an official status: a worship cross was erected on the site of the former mine. This was the first step in perpetuating the memory of the "royal great martyrs." Burial on the old Koptyakovskaya road is no longer a secret. The grave was opened, the remains were removed from it, and after careful genetic research, they were solemnly buried in the Cathedral of the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg. This is the traditional burial place of the Russian Emperors and other dignitaries from the ruling Romanov dynasty.
Under the spiritual patronage of the Russian Orthodox Church
Currently, pilgrims to Ganina Pit and ordinary tourists following the excursion are sent not to the wilderness to an abandoned mine, but to an Orthodox monastery in honor of the Holy Royal Martyrs. The establishment of a memorial worship cross at the site of an abandoned mine in 1991 was the first step towards its creation. Today, as many as seven Orthodox churches are located and receive parishioners, according to the number of killed members of the royal family. In its architectural style, the temple complex corresponds to the traditional Russian wooden architecture, characteristic of the northern provinces of the Russian Empire. The exterior design of the monastery is very restrained, without bright colors and unusual shapes. Those who are going here on an excursion should not forget that this is a tragic landmark of Russian history - Ganina Yama. A memory photo against the background of architecture is not accepted here. People come here not to have fun. The Orthodox monastery, in addition to prayer works, conducts a large educational activity aimed at perpetuating the memory of the Holy Royal Martyrs, the ashes of which were once accepted by Ganina Yama. The site of the monastery contains detailed information about all areas of its activities. You can find it by e-mail: www. ganinayama.ru/.
Ganina Yama, Yekaterinburg: how to get to the monastery
The easiest way to get to Ganina Yama by car. To do this, make a left turn on the fourth kilometer of the Serov tract and then follow according to the directions of the established signs. In the absence of a car, the monastery complex can also be reached by train. To do this, go to Shuvakish station and then walk past the territory of the Steel Industrial Company along the fence to the left. This path will lead in the shortest possible way to the very Old Koptyakovskaya road, on which events unfolding related to the death of the royal family took place. But the easiest way is to get to the monastery of the Holy Royal Martyrs by regular bus, which regularly leaves from the Northern bus station of Yekaterinburg. It should be noted that on weekends and on days of traditional Orthodox holidays, the number of people wishing to visit the monastery is significantly increasing. These days, additional rolling stock enters the line. Additional regular buses to the monastery depart from a stop on the tram ring at Seven Keys.