Alapaevsk Monastery of New Martyrs of Russia

The town of Alapaevsk of Sverdlovsk Oblast is situated on the Neiva River, at the place of its confluence with the Alapaikha River. The settlement emerged in 1702 around the Neivo-Alapaevsky Ironworks being under construction.

Now the plant is abandoned, but it retained a very archaic appearance. Alapaevsk is known by the largest narrow-gauge railway in Russia. It is the oldest factory town of the Urals, many architectural monuments of different epochs have preserved here.

One of the oldest buildings is the fire station of the late 19th century. Interestingly, it hosts the town’s administration now. The town is divided by a bridge with the magnificent Trinity Cathedral rising behind it, the cathedral was built in 1702-1704 and was the first stone cathedral in Sverdlovsk Oblast.

P. Tchaikovsky spent a part of his childhood here; and Alapaevsk has a Museum of his name – it is the most well-kept building in the entire town. The second part of the Museum has a collection of musical instruments occupying three halls. The town’s surroundings are more well-known than the town itself: in addition to the narrow-gauge railway, there are the following things: a very colorful factory in the village of Vekhnyaya (“Upper”) Sinyachikha, the Museum of Wooden Architecture in Nizhnyaya (“Lower”) Sinyachikha, the Monastery of New Martyrs (the members of the imperial family of Romanovs were executed here in 1918), as well as genuine peasants’ houses of the 17th century.