Yekaterinburg

PLACES OF INTEREST

Yekaterinburg is not very old. But over the course of its 279-year history, it has proven itself to be a special and even unique city. Yekaterinburg enjoys not only a special geographical location but a role as one of the founders of Russian industry. It has a unique mixture of different architectural, historical, and cultural rarities, which may never repeated. That is why Yekaterinburg can claim to be granted formal status as Russia's most historical city.

More than 60 monuments of history and culture are located in the city, and 43 of them are considered to be national monuments because of their special significance.

The heart of Yekaterinburg is its dam, which permitted the initial development of the city's industrial base. The dam was erected in 1723 and survived by two later reconstructions.

At present it is an impressive industrial monument of the 18th century. Unfortunately, very few buildings of the old factory area have been preserved. Now they house the Museum of History, Architecture, and Technology of the Urals, and the Natural Museum, both of which are located in the so-called Historical Park. The oldest building of Yekaterinburg, which dates from 1764 and recently was reconstructed, is also situated here. At present this is the Fine Arts Museum. Yekaterinburg of the 18th century was a wooden city. However, the city's first stone-constructed buildings also appeared here during this period. At most these were administrative buildings - for example, the Main Board of the mining factories, where the Urals Conservatory is located now.

In the late 18th and the early 19th centuries a new architectural style -classicism - influenced Yekaterinburg landscapes. The palace on Voznesenskaya Hill, with its luxurious park, is the most famous example of this style. Many churches and chapels made the city's panorama very beautiful and picturesque. In the beginning of the 20th century there were about 50 churches, of which only 6 still stand today.

There are quite a few buildings in the constructivist style within the city. Typical of this style are such examples as the Main Post Office, the "Ural'skyi Rabochyi" printing house, the movie studio, the famous White Tower, the "Dinamo" Recreational Center, etc.

The Soviet period brought new trends to Yekaterinburg's architecture: luxury and rationalism, which reflected the influence both of ideology and asceticism. New tendencies in the development of world architecture have also affected the city. Some of the most well known structures of this time include the Military Headquarters, the Urals Polytechnical Institute, the Railroad Administrative Building, and the Philharmony. The style of the famous Ural's architect K.Bykov is found there.

The city's history is full of events. Many expeditions to Siberia, Central Asia and the Far East passed through Yekaterinburg. The city was visited by Russian tzars and members of their families. Here also occurred a tragedy - the assassination of thelast Russian emperor Nicolas II and all his family members - which took place in the basement of Ipatiev's house during the night of July 16 and 17, 1918. New Memorial Church will be built there soon to become a symbol of national reconciliation and repentance.

First Russian President Boris Yeltsin lived and worked in the city in 1960s and 1970s.

There are many monuments in Yekaterinburg. Among them are the monument to revolutioner Malyshev and "The Black Tulip". Russian soldiers during the Afghan campaign named "The Black Tulips" airplanes which deliver coffin with the dead Russian solders back to Russia.

There are many remarkable places in 279-year-old Yekaterinburg, all of which can not possibly be described in this small web site. This brief information is intended to provoke the interest of all Yekaterinburg's inhabitants and guests of the Ural's to the history of our remarkable city.