Ekaterinburg, July 17, 2020
The Royal Martyrs, depicted in the basement of the Ipatiev House where they were slain. Photo: yandex.net
The Ekaterinburg Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church supports the idea of renaming the Sverdlovsk Province, as it believes the revolutionary Yakov Sverdlov should not be a reference point for society, Angela Tambova, the head of the diocesan press service, told RIA-Novosti yesterday.
Earlier, Anna Gromova, a representative of the Elizabeth-Sergei Educational Society for the revival of traditions of mercy and charity, said that the Ural region and city streets should not bear the name of the Sverdlov, who played an important role in planning the October Revolution and is widely believed to have participated in the slaying of the Royal Martyrs.
“From the first days of his accession to the Ekaterinburg cathedra, Metropolitan Kirill has been talking about how the names of villains should not be landmarks now. It is extremely unjust that our province bears the name of a man who is up to his elbows in blood. Also that the names of some streets still perpetuate the names of revolutionaries and terrorists. Is such an example really necessary for modern society? The region should have a name worthy of it,” the diocesan representative said.
Tambova also noted that local organizations have already taken such an initiative. The diocese believes that serious educational work with the residents of the province is needed on the issue.
Several names have been suggested for the province, including Ekaterinburg Province, named after the capital city, and returning to the name Ural Province, Tambova said. It has also been proposed to return streets named after communist murderers to their historical pre-revolutionary names.
The idea of renaming the Sverdlovsk Province has been raised several times in recent years. In March 2019, Russian state deputies proposed renaming it as the Romanov Province, in honor of the Holy Royal Martyrs.
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Ekaterinburg (the administrative center of the Sverdlovsk Province) was founded in 1723 and named after the wife of Emperor Peter I, Catherine I. In 1923, it became the center of the Ural Province, and in 1924, the city was renamed Sverdlovsk in honor of the revolutionary Yakov Sverdlov. The Ural Province was divided, and Sverdlovsk became the capital of a separate Sverdlovsk Province. In 1991, the city again became known as Ekaterinburg, while the Province was not renamed.
