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Recreated in 3D: the basement room where the Russian royals were murdered

By 0 and 0 and 0
17 July 2017

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The house in Yekaterinburg had been their home as captives of the Bolsheviks for 78 days. Picture: PINA

It was here in a cellar room with striped wallpaper that abdicated Tsar Nicholas II, his empress Alexandra and their five children were shot dead on the night of 16-17 July 1918. 

The house in Yekaterinburg had been their home as captives of the Bolsheviks for 78 days after a period when they were held in Siberia after the two revolutions of 1917. 

In 1977 the house was razed on the orders of Boris Yeltsin, then the local Communist Party head, who would later be the first president of the Russian Federation after the fall of the Soviet Union; Mocow had become concerned that it was seen as a place of pilgrimage for Soviet citizens. 

3D model


Real interior

Visitors can see the rooms where the royals lived in their final weeks. Picture: PINA, N. Vvedensky

But now it has been brought back in minute detail with a 3-dimensional computer mock-up on a 50-inch screen which lets you walk around the historic building.

Their medic Dr Botkin had been ordered by Soviet guards to wake the royals, and they were told - falsely - that they were to be evacuated from the city because the White forces were nearing Yekaterinburg. 

99 years since execution of the Romanov family

Room of Princesses


Room of Nicholas

Room of Princesses and room where Nicholas, Alexandra and Alexei lived. Pictures: PINA

The Romanovs, Botkin and the three servants were led down a flight of stairs, into the courtyard of the Ipatiev House - which belonged to a railway merchant before the revolution -  and then through a ground-floor entrance to the small semi-basement room at the rear of the building. 

Chairs were brought for Nicholas and Alexandra at the latter's request. 

The remainder of the party stood behind and to one side of the seated couple, except for the frail former crown prince Alexei who sat on his father's lap.

Commander Yakov Yurovsky, a senior member of the Ural Soviet, and a party of armed men entered the basement room through the double doors.

Execution room


Execution room

Execution room. Picture: Vitaly Shytov, PINA

Yurovsky told them that their relatives had attempted to save the Imperial family, that this attempt had failed and that the Soviets were now obliged to shoot them all. 

He and his squad then opened fire with pistols on the prisoners. In chaotic scenes, bullets bounced off the princesses who had diamonds and jewellery sewn into their clothing. 

Astonishingly it took up to 30 minutes to kill the group group. 

Today the Church-on-the-Blood was built on the spot where the Ipatiev House once stood.

Ipatiev House


Demolition


Cathedral

Today the Church-on-the-Blood was built on the spot where the Ipatiev House once stood. Pictures: Vitaly Shytov, Ivan Pshenichny

Nikolai Neuymin, head of the Romanov history department of the Sverdlovsk regional local history museum, said: 'The employees of our museum developed the 3D reconstruction of the house of engineer Ipatiev. This is where the Church-on-the-Blood is built now.

'A particular feature of the project is that we've used real photos from the investigation of [Nikolai] Sokolov that is kept at Russia's State Archive.

'We recreated the interiors of the rooms, and you can walk through all of them including the gloomy room where the tsar family were shot dead.'

Comments (24)

sad, yes, very horrific, but not much has changed in this world, young, old, male or female, but my faith in a just god continues, may he have mercy on all who seek it.
starlight, usa
10/01/2023 11:44
3
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You are incorrect about where Nicholas was located before the shooting started. He was standing the whole time. Alexei was sitting in the chair by himself.
Adam, Florida,USA
23/05/2021 00:58
10
2
this is what the communists were/are doing.Identify those speaking Socialism ( a Virus, a desease) and make them public. The moment they make a move should be summarely shot like viruses or bacteria. Soros and the gang are ploting this for a long time. WFUP.
Norman Reddix, NYC
31/12/2020 16:18
11
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Their only crime was that they had lost touch with what was really happening. Someone said Russia was released from the feudal monarchy but released to what!? Only more oppression.

They did not deserve what happened to them. It was a great tragedy that has never been forgotten. May they rest in peace.
Cybele Moon, Canada
07/12/2020 06:01
19
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Vile and disgusting what happened to this family. The daughters didn't deserve anything that happened to them. Filthy communist scum.
Lee, Britain
28/09/2020 19:22
24
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Weird to call it a horrific crime when it liberated an entire nation from an oppressive feudal monarchy, but sure.
Y'all the same kinda folks who will look at the French and American Revolutions as super dope and justify the bloodshed, huh?
Lol.,
25/09/2020 11:53
10
55
History class left out pieces of this as I watched and read More about it. It's disturbing and horrible what happened to his family. I literally had a dream about traveling to Russia and speaking with the family after watching the movie The Last Czar. My heart goes out to them. I'm a empath really sensitive. I sure hope they are at peace on the other side. The kids in this are innocent. Communists are pure unadulterated evil who did this to them. He even said he didn't want to have the title he was born into. It's seriously horrible. This is one of the parts of history that left me feeling so sad.
Laura Little, United States
04/02/2020 15:48
33
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To Brian from Middletown - hi, neighbor. I once lived on Washington Street in Middletown.
Lynn, Berlin, Connecticut USA
29/09/2019 09:54
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Jeg er bløder. Den samme genetiske sykdommen som den russiske tsar slekten hadde. Det er den samme. Men legene påstår noe annet. Jeg leser om 3 grader mild middels og alvorlig. Jeg ble behandlet med blodplasma fordi blodplatene var så lave. Det er en alvorlig grad av denne sykdommen. Jeg tror at tsar familien ble spredt for alle vinder. Å endte på flukt. Jeg gransker min far far.
Tove Jensen, Norge
29/09/2019 01:00
4
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LOL... LH from Naples takes the cake. No wonder we have Trump for our very own national embarrassment!
helars, Miami USA
25/07/2019 06:26
14
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I was really disturbed after discovering that innocent children were killed in cold blood - no one specially children deserves this. May god grant their souls peace.
Sameer, India
13/07/2019 11:47
35
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Alexandra & their children should have been saved. This was the childrens father's war not theirs. Very sad indeed for his children.
Helena Gill, Australia
08/07/2019 20:29
25
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Hi my name is Brian I took a dna test about 5 years ago with National Geographic Genographic 2.0 anyways to get to the point I’m in lineage with Nicholas the 2nd or we share a blood line I also found a few other things and again I think I resemble some of the facial structures as him !
Brian William Shea, Middletown, Connecticut USA07/01/2019 09:4522

I also took dna test and i am in lineage with Nicholas too.
Jack, Moscow,Russia
16/02/2019 03:05
7
14
Hi my name is Brian I took a dna test about 5 years ago with National Geographic Genographic 2.0 anyways to get to the point I’m in lineage with Nicholas the 2nd or we share a blood line I also found a few other things and again I think I resemble some of the facial structures as him !
Brian William Shea, Middletown, Connecticut USA
07/01/2019 09:45
8
15
Hi my name is Brian I took a dna test about 5 years ago with National Geographic Genographic 2.0 anyways to get to the point I’m in lineage with Nicholas the 2nd or we share a blood line I also found a few other things and again I think I resemble some of the facial structures as him !
Brian William Shea , Middletown, Connecticut USA
07/01/2019 09:00
4
18
12

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