The Romanovs, Russia's last Royal Family, were murdered by the Bolsheviks in Yekaterinburg, Russia on the night of July 17, 1918. The Bolsheviks shot, bayoneted, and burned the family and their loyal staff of four at the Ipatiev House where the family had been imprisoned their last 78 days.
Due to the reluctance of some of the perpetrators to shoot the daughters, and the need to bring in fresh troops to finish them off, the crime took much longer than expected. When at last the deed was completed, the killers hauled the bodies almost ten miles away to an abandoned ditch where they pitched the dead.
Now the ditch and the surrounding area are a holy place, Ganina Yama and the home of the Monastery of the Holy Royal Martyrs. There visitors are invited to come, pay respects, and wonder why the Bolsheviks also murdered the children, a crime the killers tried to hide for as long as possible to avoid a world outcry and to be able to use the family in death to negotiate for the release of prisoners.
These photographs were taken on July 25, 2018, a week after the centennial of the murders.
To see the second site where the bodies were moved on July 19, 1918, go here.
The family and their servants were canonized on November 1, 1981. Except for the children, Alexei and Maria whose bones were found elsewhere and are still in Russian archives, the family and staff were buried on July 17, 1998 at Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg where most czars since Peter the Great are buried.
The ditch at Ganina Yama. Yama means "mine."/Photo by Patricia Leslie, July 25, 2018
A covered wooden semi-circle walkway surrounds the Romanov burial ditch at Ganina Yama. A cross is at right center and pictured below/Photo by Patricia Leslie, July 25, 2018
A cross flanked by fresh flowers at Ganina Yama/Photo by Patricia Leslie, July 25, 2018
Large photographs of the seven murdered Romanovs hang at the memorial site, each picture bordered by cascades of fresh flowers/Photo by Patricia Leslie, July 25, 2018
To the left is a photograph of Czar Nicholas II/Photo by Patricia Leslie, July 25, 2018
Photographs of the Romanovs bordered by fresh flowers on a wooden walkway form a semi-circle around the burial site/Photo by Patricia Leslie, July 25, 2018
Adjacent to the burial site is a chapel with 17 cupolas to commemorate the 17th day of July, 1918 when the family and their staff of four were murdered and brought here. The monastery was built in 2001 and includes seven chapels, one for each family member/Photo by Patricia Leslie, July 25, 2018
The adjacent chapel with its 17 domes, 17 to commemorate the day of the tragedy, July 17, 1918/Photo by Patricia Leslie, July 25, 2018
The semi-circular wooden walkway with photographs of the Romanovs surrounds the depression in the ground, the site where the bodies were thrown/Photo by Patricia Leslie, July 25, 2018
The chapel with 17 domes adjacent to the burial site/Photo by Patricia Leslie, July 25, 2018
A statue of the five children, Olga, Alexei, Anastasia, Maria, and Tatiana near the burial site at Ganina Yama/Photo by Patricia Leslie, July 25, 2018
A chapel at Ganina Yama/Photo by Patricia Leslie, July 17, 2018
Another chapel at Ganina Yama/Photo by Patricia Leslie, July 25, 2018
A chapel at Ganina Yama/Photo by Patricia Leslie, July 25, 2018
A chapel at Ganina Yama and a woman wearing apparel and head covering which the monastery provides to visitors who are not properly clothed/Photo by Veronica, July 25, 2018
The bust of Empress Alexandra at Ganina Yama/Photo by Patricia Leslie, July 25, 2018
The back of a bust of Nicholas II at Ganina Yama/Photo by Patricia Leslie, July 25, 2018
Apparel to cover bare legs for men and women is distributed at the entrance to Ganina Yama, with head coverings for women available, as well/Photo by Patricia Leslie, July 25, 2018
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