Russia Remembers

Photo Sources here, here, here and here

Last week Russia marked the 90th anniversary of the murder of Tsar Nicholas II and the rest of the royal family.

Nicholas, along with his wife Alexandra, and their five children: Olga, Tatiana, Anastasia, Maria and the Crown-Prince Alexei were executed by firing squad on July 17, 1918 in the city of Yekaterinburg.

Tens of thousands of people made a pilgrimage to the Cathedral "On The Blood" (built on the spot of the old Ipatiev house where the Romanov family was executed) and the nearby area where their bodies were originally disposed of.

The remains of Nicholas, Alexandra, Olga, Tatiana and Anastasia were discovered in 1991 and were reburied in Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg. The remains of Maria and Alexei were discovered last summer in a location not far from where the other remains were found.

In 1981 the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia canonized all of the family members as martyrs and in 2000 the Russian Orthodox Church canonized the family as Royal Passion-Bearers.

This article from the International Herald Tribune has more details on the anniversary observances.

A video clip featuring footage of some of the services marking the anniversary can be seen here.

An Epistle from Patriarch Alexei II on the anniversary can be read here.

More information on the Romanov family can be found here and here.