Last Tsar's Execution Site Becomes a Shrine
AFP / April 6, 2000
EKATERINBURG, Russia, April 6 (AFP)
Many Russian Christians believe the the site here where the last tsar
of Russia, Nicolas II, was executed by the Bolsheviks is just as holy
as calvary in Jerusalem, the hill where Christ was crucified.
The house of engineer Ipatiyev, situated in the centre of Ekaterinburg,
in the Urals, was requisitioned by the revolutionaries to hold the imperial
family for 78 days before they were executed during the night of 16-17
July, 1918.
The house no longer exists. It was destroyed in 1977, when former president
Boris Yeltsin was first secretary of the city's Communist Party, and the
plot where it was built is today hidden from the street by panels of grey
cement.
But since the collapse of the Soviet Union, a religious service is staged
there every day in the presence of a few orthodox Christians, said Kulakov,
48-year-old head of a photography club in the town, and who often attends
the service.
"Miracles are starting to happen here," he said, referring to
rumours of the sudden healing of sick people who have come to pay homage
at the place where Nicolas II was killed.
Local authorities have frequently promised to build a cathedral on the
site, but for the moment there is only a floor of wooden boards, with
a roof surmounted by cupolas placed on pillars.
The wooden structure was privately paid for and erected by volunteers.
The wall-less edifice, described as "a temporary cathedral,"
was built around a cross of solid wood erected over the cellar where the
tsar, his wife, five of their children and three relations were killed.
Close by, there is a small wooden chapel that can hold up to 15 people.
"After the house was demolished, the site was dug up and the street
was re-made to try to hide the scene of the crime. But geologists managed
to localise the site of the cellar," said Lyubov Dmitrieva, 45, who
looks after the chapel.
Many people pay homage at the site, crossing themselves or kneeling before
the cross, but few are willing to talk about their feelings.
"Every time I have a look. What happened there was obviously horrible
for the children," said Galina Petrovna, 48, who however is not sure
whether the execution of the tsar was a good thing or bad.
"When I was in the Pioneers, they brought us here to show us where
the tsar was killed, saying it was a good thing. But with the tsar, Russia
is today on the bottom rung of the nations, while other countries, like
Britain have kept their queen and are prospering," she said.
"After the executions, the Ipatiyev house was turned into a museum
of the Bolshevik revolution, and the killers came in person to recount
what they had done," said Lyubov.
Recently, schools bring entire classes to visit the site. "There
has been a transformation of people's minds," she said.
She recalled that Christians from all over Russia, but also from Spain,
France and Canada had attended ceremonies marking the 80th anniversary
of the killings.