Yekaterinburg 

(phone area code is 3432.

From outside Russia dial +73432)

Yekaterinburg is 22 hours from Novosibirsk and 30 hours from Moscow.

Yekaterinburg’s role in shapping Russian history has been both immense and paradoxical: ushering in the Socialist era in 1918 with the murder of the Romanov family, providing the setting for the 1960’s “U2 Affair”, and giving the country Boris Yeltsin, who played a key role in dismantling the Soviet Union.

Its wealth of pre-Stalinist architecture makes a change from other Siberian cities, harking back to the days before the Revolution, when Yekaterinburg was already the centre of a rich mining region. From 1924 to 1992 the city was known as Sverdlovsk, the name that Russian Railways still uses for it on their timetables.

The city today is one of Russian’s most important industrial cities, with a population of nearly 1½ million. The city most famous son is, of course, Boris Yeltsin.

Industries include heavy engineering, chemical production, armaments research and munitions factories, including the vast “Pentagon” building in the eastern part of the town. This city was closed to foreigners during soviet times, due to its military industry.

What to see

The Romanov Memorial

The site of the murder of the Imperial family is 500m north of prospekt Glavny and currently marked by a white metal cross and a plaque inscribed with the names of the Romanov family. Yelsin had the original bulding (Ipatev House) demolished in 1976.

Military Museum

The remains of Gary Powers’ U2 aircraft are exhibited in the Military Museum at the House of Officers near the city center.

Other things to see in Yekaterinburg

The Ural Geology Museum at Kuibysheva 30 is good. In the square opposite the House of Officers is a powerful Afghan war memorial. The pose of the soldier is very different from most that you see at war memorials around Russia and is an interesting insight as to how people feel about the war.

Where to stay

• Hotel Eurasia (telf 578 028) on prospekt Lenina 40, has a wide variety of rooms starting from US$8-14.

• Hotel Sverdlovsk (telf 536 261) ul Chelyuskintsev 106, which is a conventional –partly renovated place. Rooms at US$30.

• Hotel Tsentralnaya (telf 224 205), ul Malisheva 74. I has singles for US$40 and doubles for $70. It’s very friendly and highly recommended.

Where to eat

• The Kosmos is a trendy restaurant with reasonable food.

• The Restaurant Teatralnoe (ul Mamin-Sibiryak opposite the Opera and Ballet Theatre) is recommended although it serves rather small portions.

• Kafe Pizza where you’ll get a pizza of sorts, ice-cream a shake for US$5.

• Astoria (telf 510 161) at Malyshev 28, is a small smart restaurant that is among the city’s best. Main dishes cost US$10-15.

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