Alapayevsk is a town on the eastern side of the Middle Ural, located at the confluence of the Neyva (the Ob River basin) and Alapaikha rivers, 180 km north-east of Ekaterinburg.

The town is a large railroad junction. The railways Ekaterinburg – Nizhny Tagil and Ekaterin-burg – Serov go through the town.

The freeway Alapayevsk – Murzinka – Petrokamenskoye connects the town with Nizhny Tagil.

Alapayevsk is considered to be the center of iron maiking and one of the oldest centers of ferrous metallurgy in the Ural.

According to historians, the town was founded in 1781 when a new Murzinskaya settlement of peasants appeared on the river Neyva, and village Alapaikha – on the Alapaikha river. Its founder, Andrey Buzhaninov, was a boyar’s son from the then famous town of Verkhoturye.

When iron-ore was discovered, an iron factory was founded on the river Alapaikha following the 1702 decree of Tsar Peter the Great.

The factory started to work in April 1704. After that village Alapaikha grew into an industrial town.

After the discovery of asbestos, new factories began to appear. In 1757, Peter the Great’s daughter, Empress Elisabeth, gave many state factories, including Nizhny-Alapaevsk and Sinyachikhensk factories, over to private owners. The first copper-smelting furnaces were built.

A house where the prominent Russian composer Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky used to live. Now it turned into a museum. Photo: Andrey Khutorskoy

In 1781, Alapayevsk mining district included factories and iron-ore mines. The district was under the jurisdiction of Perm government.

Later, in 1783, when Alapaevsk grew into a town, it received own coat of arms. Because of the poor living conditions of workers, a number of riots took place until the Emancipation Reform  Reform of 1861.

By the middle of XIX century, a metallurgic plant was built on the Neyva river. This plant produced iron, including famous Alapayevsk sheet iron that many times received grand prizes at the international exhibitions in Brussels and London.

After the Russian Revolution, all the members of the Royal Family were sent to Alapayevsk and were accommodated in a so-called Napolnaya School. When in summer 1918 the attack of Admiral Kolchak began, they were on horse cars to the Mezhnaya station and were thrown into a mineshaft. At the place of their death, the Monastery in the name of all the New Russian Martyrs was built.

The Holy Russian Martyrs Church in Alapaevsk

In Soviet times, the factories were reconstructed and started their work again. New plants opened – a woodworking plant, a mechanical plant, a bakery, a brick factory and a machine factory, many of which are still in operation.

Some landmarks remain in the town, for example, the Main office of Alapayevsk mining district.

Holy Trinity Church (former Alekseevsky Church) was built in 1702. The church and the bell tower were rebuilt a few times (at least one time by the prominent Russian architect Malachov). The burial ceremonies were held here at the funerals of the Royal Family. In Soviet epoch building of the church was turned into a bakery. Since then the church has been reconstructed and receives worshipers.

The Holy Trinity Church - one of the oldest churches in the Ural. The church was laid in 1702.

In spring 1849, the retired major-general Ilya Tchaikovsky was appointed the Head of the Alapayevsky mining district. He was accompanied by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, the future world-famous composer, who lived in Alapayevsk untill August 1850.

A hundred years later, in 1965, the Museum of Tchaikovsky opened. The museam boasts an ex-tensive collection of musical instruments, including unique miniature instreuments, of various ages and cultures.

Not far from Alapayevsk is a mud and climate cure resort “Samotsvet” (Gem).

How to get to Alapayevsk:

By bus: № № 516, 518, 528, 827 from the North Bus Terminal
By train: any suburban train that goes daily from the Railway Station to Serov direction.