Ekaterinburg

History:

The city was founded as a fortified factory in 1723 by declaration of Peter the Great and was named after two Yekaterinas – Peter’s wife (later Empress
Catherine I), and the Russian patron saint of mining. Within a short time the city received the status of - Administrative Center for all of the Ural and Siberian metal and mining works. 

The 19th century was a time of prosperity, gold had been discovered and with investment from local merchants this led to an expansion of mining in both the Ekaterinburg region and further into Siberia. The 'pioneers', mostly the so called old-believers, tried to distance themselves from the official capitals of Central Russia so as to allow the new wealth to remain as much as possible in this new region. The region claims the first ‘Gold Rush’, after the first goldfield discovery in 1814. then in 1831 saw the export of emeralds followed by the discovery and mining of malachite.

The city of Ekaterinburg, which in Soviet times was known as Sverdlovsk, played a key role in the history of Russia in the twentieth century. The Revolution and Civil War started here with the brutal murder of the last Russian Tsar, Nickolay Romanov and his family in 1918. Stalin’s struggle against the “class enemies” in the 1930’s turned the city into the largest transshipment point for prisoners of the GULAG (system of exploitation of prisoner workforce) who were sent to work on the development of the vast lands of Siberia. In the tragic years of World War II, it was here in hundreds of factories which had been relocated from all over Russia, that the Russian military weaponry was kept alive.  Ekaterinburg was where (after WW2) that the greatest Russian military leader of World War II, Marshal Georgy Zhoukov, spent the years of his “exile”. this was imposed by Stalin who saw him as a threat.   On the 1st of May 1960 the city attracted the attention of the world when Garry Powers, the pilot of an American U-2 spy plane was shot down a few kilometers from the city. And then at the dawn of the new Russia (1990's)Ekaterinburg’s most famous politician, Boris Yeltsin, became the first president of the new Russia. He played a key role in dismantling the Party structure and opening up the Soviet myth. Until 1991, due to military secrecy, the city had been closed to foreign visitors.   

Ekaterinburg now is one the fastest developing Russian cities. Some locals consider the city as a good example of new economical reforms. There are 26 museums for the museum junkies and a good range of cafes and restaurants. You can absorb some of the Romanoff history of this important city and of course stand with one foot in Asia and the other in Europe! A new obelisk on “Europe-Asia” borderline (17 km. drive from the city) was built in 2004 as a first stage of a project to cement the cities place in the world as, “Ekaterinburg the Euro-Asian Russian Capital”. 

Asia Europe Boundary Monument	Yekateringburg Church	Chusovaya River

Accommodation Ekaterinburg.

From 01/03/2007 we will no longer be offering home stay accommodation in Ekaterinburg. And the reason for this..?
To quote our local coordinator, "People in central Ekateringburg have become more rich and so no one will do homestay, also their apartments are worth much more now".  We have tried using homestays further out from the centre, but the quality and diminished reliable public transport has made us stop. Unlike Moscow and St Petersburg the outlying public transport of this city is not as reliable, or comprehensive.

therefore, our standard train packages now include accommodation in some apartment style hotels we have secured. This is what is happening to a lot of the apartments previously used for homestays - owner sells to a developer. This is the most secure and clean type of budget accommodation in the central areas, over which we can have some influence.