Sixteen hours by train divide Kazan from Yekaterinburg, the third stop of my trip from Moscow to Beijing. We are now over 1500 km from Moscow.
Yekaterinburg is a young city, it was founded in 1700, and represents the geographical border between European Russia and Asian Russia (the natural border are the Ural Mountains). It is the place where the last Tsar Nicholas II and his family were killed in 1918.
Table of Contents
Yekaterinburg in a nutshell
The following is an interactive map. The main points of interest are marked with blue pins and some restaurants with yellow pins. We stopped at Mamulya for my usual Georgian menu, my favorite cuisine in Russia! Finally, the central station is marked with a black pin, it was the starting and ending point of the tour.
Must-sees
I arrived in Yekaterinburg around 8 in the morning and immediately walked along the Ulitsa Sverdlova Street. It leads directly to the center and to all the main attractions. From here you can proceed almost in a circular way, passing through the main points of interest and returning in the end, to the central station.
In front of the Youth Theater, there is a miniature of the Ascension Cathedral located just about a hundred meters ahead.
Ascension Cathedral – Miniature
Rastorguyev-Kharitonov Palace
It is an ensemble of neoclassical buildings with a park. The complex is the largest palatial residence in the Urals.
Rastorguyev-Kharitonov Palace
Cathedral on the Blood
It is a nearly new building, opened in 2003 and built on the site where the revolutionaries killed the last Tsar of Russia Nicholas II and his family.
Cathedral on the Blood
The whole area is very beautiful because around the cathedral, there are theaters, museums, the Tsar Monument, and a park.
Ascension Cathedral
Built in the late Baroque style, it is one of the oldest buildings in the city.
Ascension Cathedral
Square of the Soviet Army and Black Tulip
Some significant buildings surround this square, such as the Military Museum and the Ministry of State Property Management. But this place is mostly known for the Black Tulip, a monument to fallen soldiers of the Afghan war (1979-1989).
Black Tulip
Academic Opera and Ballet Theater
It wasn’t on my to-do list, I simply passed by on my way from the Black Tulip to the Vysotsky skyscraper. It is worth going through this square as there is another historic building in front of the Opera: the Ural State University. As you can see from the photo below, the skyscraper is located right behind the Opera.
Academic Opera and Ballet Theater
Vysotsky Skyscraper
It is one of the tallest buildings in Russia, and you can go up to the 52nd floor (you need a ticket) to enjoy the city from above.
Yekaterinburg from the Vysotsky Skyscraper
1905 Square
It is one of Yekaterinburg’s central squares, dominated by the Duma and the statue of Lenin.
Yekaterinburg Duma
Sevastyanov’s House
It takes its name from its owner and is considered by many to be the most beautiful house in Yekaterinburg. Eclectic and colorful, it shows a mix of styles ranging from Gothic to Moorish and is located almost directly on the bank of the Iset River.
Sevastyanov’s House
Near Savestyanov’s House, there are several restaurants, bars, street artists, and sellers.
Street Life – Yekaterinburg
Other buildings and places of interest
A couple of other things to see in Yekaterinburg:
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Maximus of Ephesus Church
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Monument to Lumière Brothers
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Beatles Monument
Beatles Monument
We made, at the end of the day, the traditional supermarket stop, along the Ulitsa Sverdlova street, which brought us back to the central station.
We arrived at 8 in the morning and left at 8 in the evening. It was an exciting day, and although Yekaterinburg was not the most impressive city visited so far, it was a good idea to stop here.
24 hours by train await us: from Yekaterinburg to Novosibirsk.
Trans-Siberian and Trans-Mongolian Railway – All you need to know
Travel arrangements: General Information
Departure station: Moscow
First stop: Nizhny Novgorod
Second stop: Kazan
Third stop: Yekaterinburg
Fourth Stop: Novosibirsk
Fifth stop: Krasnoyarsk and Stolby Nature Sanctuary
Sixth stop: Lake Baikal
Seventh stop: Irkutsk
Eighth stop: Ulan-Ude
Ninth stop: Ulaanbaatar
Tenth stop: Datong
Arrival station: Beijing
