The Church on Blood in Honour of All Saints Resplendent in the Russian Land (Russian: Храм-на-Крови́ во и́мя Всех святы́х, в земле́ Росси́йской просия́вших) is a Russian Orthodox church in Yekaterinburg built in 2000-2003 on the site where the former Emperor Nicholas II of Russia and several members of his family and household were executed following the Bolshevik Revolution. The church commemorates the Romanov sainthood and its name is identical with that of the Ipatiev Monastery in Kostroma, whence the Romanovs came to the Russian throne.
After the February Revolution, Tsar Nicholas II and his family were taken captive and held as prisoners during the Russian Civil War. The Tsar and his family were at first kept at the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoe Selo outside St. Petersburg. Kerensky, leader of the provisional government feared for their safety and moved them to the former Governor's mansion in Tobolsk. Later they were transferred to the Ipatiev House in Ekaterinburg. Fears of a potential attempt to liberate them grew. The Soviet revolutionaries holding them captive decided to execute the imperial family. In the early hours of July 17, 1918, the entire imperial family, Tsar Nicholas II, Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna, Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich of Russia were taken to the cellar of the Ipatiev House and executed.
The Ipatiev House, built in the 1880s, was a spacious and modern home owned by a man named Nicholas Ipatiev. The Ural Soviet gave him two days' notice to leave; after Ipatiev's departure, the Soviet built high walls around the house. On April 30th, the Romanov family were moved into what became their final residence, where they lived for 78 days. In 1974, the mansion was designated a "national monument"; but three years later, on September 22, 1977, the Soviet government demolished the house, probably to prevent its attracting crowds of foreign visitors.
's "Church on the Blood," built on the spot where the last Tsar and his family were executed.]] On September 20, 1990, the Sverdlovsk Soviet handed the plot to the Russian Orthodox Church for construction of a memorial chapel. After the last Tsar's canonisation, the Church planned to build an impressive memorial complex dedicated to the Romanov family. A state commission was gathered and architectural as well as funding plans were developed. Construction began in 2000.
The completed complex comprises two churches, a belfry, a patriarchal annex, and a museum dedicated to the imperial family. It covers a total of 29,700 square feet. The main church was consecrated by patriarchs from all over Russia on 16 June 2003, 85 years after the execution of the Tsar and his family.
