Alapayevsk (russian: Алапа́евск) is a
town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an o ...
in
Sverdlovsk Oblast
Sverdlovsk Oblast ( rus, Свердловская область, Sverdlovskaya oblast) is a federal subject (an oblast) of Russia located in the Ural Federal District. Its administrative center is the city of Yekaterinburg, formerly known as ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...
, located at the
confluence
In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...
of the
Neyva and Alapaikha rivers. Population: 44,263 (
2002 census);
50,060 (
1989 census);
49,000 (1968).
History
Alapayevsk is one of the oldest centers of
ferrous metallurgy
Ferrous metallurgy is the metallurgy of iron and its alloys. The earliest surviving prehistory, prehistoric iron artifacts, from the 4th millennium BC in Egypt, were made from meteorite, meteoritic Iron–nickel alloy, iron-nickel. It is not know ...
in the
Urals
The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western ...
with the first
factory
A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. ...
built in 1704. The town proper was founded in 1781.
Murder of Russian Imperial family members
On July 18, 1918, the day after the shooting at
Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg ( ; rus, Екатеринбург, p=jɪkətʲɪrʲɪnˈburk), alternatively romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( rus, Свердло́вск, , svʲɪrˈdlofsk, 1924–1991), is a city and the administra ...
of the last tsar,
Nicholas II and
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
, other members of the extended Russian royal family, the
Romanovs
The House of Romanov (also transcribed Romanoff; rus, Романовы, Románovy, rɐˈmanəvɨ) was the reigning imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after the Tsarina, Anastasia Romanova, was married to t ...
, including a
nun, and their servants, met a brutal death there being thrown down a mineshaft near Alapayevsk by the local
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
s on the orders of the Ural Soviet. All except
Grand Duke Sergey Mikhaylovich (who was the first one to die; he was shot before they could throw him in) survived the fall, hand-grenades were thrown down after them killing Grand Duke Sergey's secretary, Fyodor Remez. Other victims died a slow death including the
Prince Ioann Konstantinovich of Russia,
Prince Konstantin Konstantinovich of Russia,
Prince Igor Konstantinovich of Russia and
Prince Vladimir Pavlovich Paley, and
Grand Duchess Elizabeth Fyodorovna (born Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine), a granddaughter of
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...
. Grand Duchess Elizabeth was the sister of Empress Alexandra; when her husband, the Tsar's uncle, was murdered in 1905, she gave all her wealth to the poor and became a nun, but she was shown no mercy.
["Death at Ekaterinburg"](_blank)
''Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...
''. April 22, 1935. Archived fro
the original
June 4, 2008. Killed with her was a nun who had accompanied her -
Varvara Yakovleva
Varvara Alexeyevna Yakovleva (russian: Варвара Алексеевна Яковлева; c. 1880 - July 18, 1918), called Nun Barbara (russian: Инокиня Варвара), was a Russian Orthodox nun in the convent of Grand Duchess Eliza ...
.
The bodies were recovered from the mine by the
White Army
The White Army (russian: Белая армия, Belaya armiya) or White Guard (russian: Бѣлая гвардія/Белая гвардия, Belaya gvardiya, label=none), also referred to as the Whites or White Guardsmen (russian: Бѣлогв ...
in September 1918. The bodies were placed in coffins and despite the struggles between the Whites and the opposing
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...
, they were moved to the far east. Grand Duchess Elizabeth's remains were ultimately taken to
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, where they were laid to rest in the
Church of Maria Magdalene
The Church of Mary Magdalene ( he, כנסיית מריה מגדלנה, ar, كنيسة القديسة مريم المجدلية, russian: Церковь Святой Марии Магдалины) is an Orthodox Christian church located on th ...
, while the coffins of the others were interred in a former Russian Mission in
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...
, now beneath a parking area.
In 1981, Grand Duchess Elizabeth was canonized by the
Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia
The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (russian: Ру́сская Правосла́вная Це́рковь Заграни́цей, lit=Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, translit=Russkaya Pravoslavnaya Tserkov' Zagranitsey), also called Ru ...
, and in 1992 by the
Moscow Patriarchate
, native_name_lang = ru
, image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg
, imagewidth =
, alt =
, caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia
, abbreviation = ROC
, type ...
.
Alapayevsk is a place of pilgrimage to the memory of Grand Duchess Elizabeth.
[Life Orphomed Russia](_blank)
/ref>
Administrative and municipal status
Within the framework of the administrative divisions, it is, together with nine rural localities, incorporated as the Town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an o ...
of Alapayevskdistricts
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...
.[Law #30-OZ] As a municipal division, the Town of Alapayevsk is incorporated as Alapayevsk Urban Okrug.[Law #85-OZ]
Transport
The Alapayevsk narrow-gauge railway serves the communities around Alapayevsk
Miscellaneous
Local orphanage (Alapaevsk Family-Type Orphanage) proclaims itself as the largest in the Urals.
Notable people
The composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...
spent a part of his childhood in Alapayevsk.
References
Notes
Sources
*
*
External links
Official website of Alapayevsk
Directory of organizations in Alapayevsk
{{Authority control
Cities and towns in Sverdlovsk Oblast
Verkhotursky Uyezd