Ganina Yama (Yekaterinburg): how to get there. Site and excursions

Some key events of Russian history took place at a considerable distance from both capitals of the Russian Empire. The tragic end of the more than 300-year reign of the Romanov dynasty turned out to be connected with the Ural region. For most of her last generation, the road to the Urals was the last.

Unusual attraction

The place, located not far from the northwestern outskirts of Yekaterinburg and known as "Ganina Yama", is connected with one of the darkest pages in Russian history of the twentieth century. No one would ever have recognized the name of this unremarkable abandoned quarry, had it not been for him, by the will of circumstances, to be the grave of the last Russian Emperor and his family. Today this place has become one of the most significant city attractions. Many of those who first enter the capital of the Ural region are interested in where Ganin Yama is located, how to get to this remote place in the most rational way. Over the years, public interest in the tragic events of almost a century ago has only increased.

Not far from Ekaterinburg

Ganina Yama is a small abandoned quarry of the Isetsky mine, located four kilometers to the southeast of the settlement of Koptyaki. Once here they tried to find gold, but found only iron ore. It is this mineral that has been mined here for several years for the blast furnaces of the Upper Iset metallurgical plant. Here, charcoal was burned for this. By the beginning of the twentieth century, iron ore was depleted and the mine was abandoned. In July 1918, Ganin Yama, a small pit about the size of about 20 to 30 meters, seemed to the members of the Urals Revcom to be a suitable place to hide the traces of the crime they committed.

In the Ipatiev House

On the night of July 16-17, in the cellar of a house formerly owned by railway engineer Ipatiev, former Russian Emperor Nikolai Aleksandrovich Romanov, former Empress Alexandra Fedorovna and five of their children were shot - the Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and the heir to the throne Tsarevich Alexei. Together with them, four of those who voluntarily accompanied the royal family in exile in Tobolsk and then in Yekaterinburg were killed. As a place of burial of bodies and concealment of the committed crime, Ganin Yama was chosen - a solitary and uninhabited place outside the city.

In Ganina Yama

The murderers of the royal family did everything they could to ensure that in future times no one would have a question: "Ganin Yama ... How to get to her?" And the place for burial by them was chosen exactly this, from which there should not have been a history or a name or a mention. However, to put it in modern terms, they obviously went something wrong ... Hide the bodies of the dead and destroy the traces of the crime did not happen. The fact that Ganina Yama is not suitable for this purpose was revealed only by the end of the day on July 17, 1918. The abandoned mine could not hide the bodies of the dead from the outside view. The funeral team could neither flood it with water, nor blow up its walls with grenades. In addition, some residents of the neighboring village of Koptyaki saw the car with corpses in the back of the truck. Therefore, it was decided to rebury the dead in a deeper mine near the Moscow tract. To this end, the bodies were removed from the mine and re-immersed in the truck body.

On the Old Koptyakovskaya road

From Ganina Yama criminals managed to drive four and a half kilometers. After that, the car hopelessly stuck in the swamp near the beginning of the Old Koptyakovskaya road. This place for several long decades was destined to become the burial place of the last Russian Emperor and his family members. Resigned to the fact that quickly and unnoticeably pull the truck out of the swamp will not work, a member of the Ural Collegium Cheka Yakov Yurovsky ordered to dig a grave right on the road. It was this burial that was made on the Old Koptyakovsk road on the night of July 18, 1918. But the legend for many decades linked the burial of the remains of the royal family with the mine from which they had been ejected the day before. In Soviet times, such an interest in the place of concealment of the crime, to put it mildly, was not approved. But, in spite of this, there were pilgrims and simply curious people. They were constantly interested in local residents: "Where is Ganina pit? How can I get to her?" Mysterious and mysterious places around the world have a special attraction. Of course, Ganina Yama was one of them. Yekaterinburg in Soviet times was called Sverdlovsk, and in this city there were many people, not indifferent to the riddles of Russian history.

Sixty years later

The secret of the burial of Nikolai Aleksandrovich Romanov and his family members was uncovered only in the summer of 1979. Merit in this belongs mainly to two enthusiastic researchers - writer Helium Ryabov and geologist Alexander Avdonin. They managed to find a burial place of the royal family under the layer of railway sleepers on Staraya Koptyakovskaya Road. But what to do with this find - it was completely incomprehensible. The researchers acted solely on their own initiative, and such actions could have the most unpleasant consequences for them. Without the sanction of the state to engage in such investigations, they had no right. And the Soviet authorities did not need such finds at all. The researchers had no choice but to pretend that they had not made any historical discoveries. At the same time, pilgrims continued to reach the address known to them, mainly from oral legends, Ganina Yama, Yekaterinburg.

In the nineties and subsequent years

The situation radically changed during the flight of the Soviet historical era. In this historical period, interest in the dark spots of Russian history has ceased to be reprehensible. For many guests of the capital of the Ural region, the mandatory item of the program of stay was: Ganina Yama, excursion. In the summer of 1991, a pilgrimage to the burial place of the royal family acquired quite an official status: a cross cross was erected on the site of the former mine . This was the first step to perpetuate the memory of "royal great martyrs." The burial on the old Koptyakovskaya road has ceased to be a secret. The grave was uncovered, the remains of it were extracted and, after careful genetic investigation, were solemnly buried in the Cathedral of the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg. This is a traditional burial place for Russian Emperors and other high-ranking officials from the ruling Romanov dynasty.

Under the spiritual patronage of the Russian Orthodox Church

At present, pilgrims to Ganina Yama and ordinary tourists following the excursion are sent not to the forest wilderness to an abandoned mine, but to an Orthodox monastery in honor of the Holy Royal Passion-Bearers. The establishment of a commemorative cross on the site of an abandoned mine in 1991 was the first step towards its creation. Today here are located and receive parishioners as many as seven Orthodox churches, according to the number of killed members of the royal family. In its architectural style, the temple complex corresponds to the traditional Russian wooden architecture, characteristic of the northern provinces of the Russian Empire. The exterior decoration of the monastery is very restrained, without bright colors and unusual shapes. Those who are sent here on an excursion should not forget that this is a tragic landmark in Russian history - Ganin Yama. Photos for memory on the background of the architecture here is not done. People do not come here to have fun. The Orthodox monastery, in addition to prayer work, conducts a great educational activity aimed at perpetuating the memory of the Holy Royal Passion-bearers, whose ashes were once accepted by Ganin Yama. The site of the monastery contains detailed information about all the directions of its activity. You can find it by e-mail: www. Ganinayama.ru/.

Ganina Yama, Ekaterinburg: how to get to the monastery

The easiest way is to get to Ganina Pit in your own car. To do this, you must make a left turn on the fourth kilometer of the Serov tract and then follow the directions of the indicated signs. In the absence of a car, the monastery complex can be reached by train. To do this, you need to get off at Shuvaqish station and then walk past the territory of the "Steel Industry Company" along the fence to the left. This path will lead the shortest way to the old Koptyakovskaya road, on which events related to the death of the royal family unfolded. But the easiest way is to get to the monastery of the Holy Royal Passion-Bearers by a regular bus that leaves regularly at the Northern Bus Station in Yekaterinburg. It should be noted that on weekends and on traditional Orthodox holidays, the number of those wishing to visit the monastery is significantly increased. These days on the line comes an additional rolling stock. Additional buses in the direction of the monastery depart from the stop on the tram ring at the Seven keys.