Ekaterinburg

  The city of Ekaterinburg is considered the economic and cultural capital of the Urals region of Russia. It is situated on the River Iset approximately 1600 kms east from Moscow in the eastern foothills of the Middle Urals. Peter the Great founded Ekaterinburg city and named it after his wife Ekaterina. During the 1720s, he developed the region's facilities for production and heavy industry, focusing on cannons and other military products. In Soviet times, Ekaterinburg was closed to foreigners and became an "open" city in December 1991. It is probably most famous as the site where the last Tsar, Nicholas II and his family were murdered by the Bolsheviks in 1918. Worth visiting is The Military Museum, where some of the weaponry designed and produced in Ekaterinburg, including the famous T-34 tank, and the "Katyusha" ("little Katie") Rocket Launcher are presented.
Being the geographical centre of the boundless country, the city is situated on the borderline of two continents, Europe and Asia. A lot of people from all over the world come to see an interesting obelisk (25 miles from Ekaterinburg) with a sign “Europe” on the one side and “Asia” on the other.