Alapayevsk (Russian: Алапа́евск) is a town in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Neyva and Alapaikha rivers. Population: 38,192 (2010 Census); 44,263 (2002 census); 50,060 (1989 census); 49,000 (1968).
History
Alapayevsk is one of the oldest centers of ferrous metallurgy in the Urals with the first factory 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 of the last tsar, Nicholas II and family, other members of the extended Russian royal family, the Romanovs, including a nun, and their servants, met a brutal death there being thrown down a mineshaft near Alapayevsk by the local Bolsheviks 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). 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. Killed with her was a nun who had accompanied her - Varvara Yakovleva.
The bodies were recovered from the mine by the White Army in September 1918. The bodies were placed in coffins and despite the struggles between the Whites and the opposing Red Army, they were moved to the far east. Grand Duchess Elizabeth's remains were ultimately taken to Jerusalem, where they were laid to rest in the Church of Maria Magdalene, while the coffins of the others were interred in a former Russian Mission in Beijing, now beneath a parking area.
In 1981, Grand Duchess Elizabeth was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, and in 1992 by the Moscow Patriarchate.
Alapayevsk is a place of pilgrimage to the memory of Grand Duchess Elizabeth.
Administrative and municipal status
Within the framework of the administrative divisions, it is, together with nine rural localities, incorporated as the Town of Alapayevsk—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts. As a municipal division, the Town of Alapayevsk is incorporated as Alapayevsk Urban Okrug.
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 spent a part of his childhood in Alapayevsk.
References
Notes
Sources
- Областная Дума Законодательного Собрания Свердловской области. Областной закон №30-ОЗ от 20 мая 1997 г. «Об административно-территориальном устройстве Свердловской области», в ред. Закона №32-ОЗ от 25 апреля 2012 г. «О внесении изменений в Областной закон "Об административно-территориальном устройстве Свердловской области"». Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования за исключением отдельных положений, вступающих в силу в иные сроки. Опубликован: "Областная газета", №81, 3 июня 1997 г. (Oblast Duma of the Legislative Assembly of Sverdlovsk Oblast. Oblast Law #30-OZ of May 20, 1997 On the Administrative-Territorial Structure of Sverdlovsk Oblast, as amended by the Law #32-OZ of April 25, 2012 On Amending the Oblast Law "On the Administrative-Territorial Structure of Sverdlovsk Oblast". Effective as of the day of the official publication with the exception of several clauses which take effect on a different date.).
- Областная Дума Законодательного Собрания Свердловской области. Закон №85-ОЗ от 12 июля 2007 г. «О границах муниципальных образований, расположенных на территории Свердловской области», в ред. Закона №107-ОЗ от 29 октября 2013 г. «Об упразднении отдельных населённых пунктов, расположенных на территории города Ивделя, и о внесении изменений в Приложение 39 к Закону Свердловской области "О границах муниципальных образований, расположенных на территории Свердловской области"». Вступил в силу через 10 дней после официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Областная газета", №232–249, 17 июля 2007 г. (Oblast Duma of the Legislative Assembly of Sverdlovsk Oblast. Law #85-OZ of July 12, 2007 On the Borders of the Municipal Formations on the Territory of Sverdlovsk Oblast, as amended by the Law #107-OZ of October 29, 2013 On Abolishing Several Inhabited Localities on the Territory of the Town of Ivdul and on Amending the Law of Sverdlovsk Oblast "On the Borders of the Municipal Formations on the Territory of Sverdlovsk Oblast". Effective as of the day which is 10 days after the official publication.).
External links
- Official website of Alapayevsk (in Russian)
- Directory of organizations in Alapayevsk (in Russian)
