Ekaterinburg

Area: more than 400,00 sq km

Population: approx 1,304,000

Climate: The climate here is continental. In Yekaterinburg winters are cold and long, and summers are quite warm.

Area code: 3432

Ekaterinburg is a major city in the central part of Russia and the administrative center of Sverdlovsk Region, the main industrial and cultural center of the Urals Federal District, the 4th largest city in Russia after Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk. Ekaterinburg forms a natural border between Europe and Asia at the crossroads of the two continents Siberian region and the European part of Russia and is called the "Gateway to Asia", which determined its political, economic and cultural peculiarities It was founded 1723 as the largest metallurgical plant in Russia of those times and named after Empress Yekaterina I, the wife of Peter the Great, and Great Martyr Saint Catherine, the patroness of mining.

Ekaterinburg lapidary factory was famous for supplying of semi-precious stones to Saint-Petersburg and European capitals. Siberian gold brought the wealth to the city, stimulated the developing of not only industry, but also the banking business and population growth. Remaining mining capital, Ekaterinburg became the center of machinery construction in the beginning of the 19th century. Mining schools and museums and many unique churches appeared on donation of local merchants then. By the 20th century it had become one of Russia's largest and most important financial, industrial and cultural centers.

Ekaterinburg was the center of the Bolshevik movement in the beginning of the 20th century. From 1924 to 1991 the city was named Sverdlovsk after the Bolshevik party leader and Soviet official Yakov Sverdlov.

In the 1930s, famous Uralmash, the biggest heavy machinery factory in Europe was built and Yekaterinburg became a large industrial center of Russia. When the World War II began many government technical institutions and whole factories were relocated to Ekaterinburg away from the occupied areas. Many of them in Ekaterinburg after the victory. Ekaterinburg also hosted evacuated Hermitage Museum until October 1945.

Nowadays Ekaterinbutg is one of the most developed and advanced regions in Russia, it is a is a beautiful city and rich in sights and a leading educational and scientific centre of the Ural. It is an important railway junction on the Trans-Siberian Railway and has two airports: international airport Koltsovo and the local one.

Famous natural sites are Kamenniye Palatki (Stone Tents), Shartash Lake, picturesque Ascension Hill ("Voznesenskaya Gorka") with its luxurious park; Verkh-Isetski Pont, popular as yachting and swimming site.

Ipatiev House - Romanov Memorial - Home

Ekaterinburg city map

Hotels of Ekaterinburg

Ekaterinburg Travel Guide