Ekaterinburg was found as a factory-fort in 18th century as part of Peter the Great’s push to exploit the Ural region’s mineral riches. Later military equipment factories were set up here, as the raw material to cast these products lays in the Ural. Up to today Ekaterinburg is a major military city.
The city was closed to foreigners until 1990 because of the many defence plants. I enjoyed strolling through this lovely city with its many outdoor eateries.
After eating cucumbers and tomatos in all different variations throughout Siberia, I was pleased to find fruit boothes along the streets. It’s a small city which can be explored by foot within one day.
Ekaterinburg is also known as the place where the murder of the royal Romanov family took place in the early 20th century. On my second day, I went out of the town to the monastry, where their bodies were discovered. For Russians this is a pilgrim place deep in a peaceful birch forest.
Still on the Asian continent, I took the chance to cross over to Europe at the Asia-Europe border; one foot in Asia and one in Europe! This is a symbolic meeting of East and West where clash of continents is the real deal.
Tomorrow I will definitely cross over to the Europe continent as I will board the train to Moscow.
