WhereIsAtlas · Romanov

Where Are the Romanov Bones?

Russia's last royal family was executed in 1918 and their bodies hidden for decades — until DNA solved the mystery of the Romanov remains.

The Romanov family was executed by Bolsheviks on 17 July 1918 in Yekaterinburg. Their remains were hidden until 1979 and identified through DNA, resolving one of history's greatest mysteries. They now rest in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

The execution

On 17 July 1918, in the basement of a house in Yekaterinburg, Russia, the entire Romanov family — Tsar Nicholas II, Tsarina Alexandra, their four daughters and son Alexei — was executed by Bolshevik revolutionaries. The Bolsheviks, fearing a rescue attempt by the White Army, had moved the family east and finally ended the three-hundred-year Romanov dynasty.

The bodies were hidden, and the fate of the last imperial family became a mystery.

The decades of mystery

For much of the 20th century, rumors and impostors kept the Romanov story alive. Women claimed to be the Grand Duchess Anastasia, said to have survived the execution, and the question of whether any family member escaped consumed the public imagination. But the real answer lay buried in the earth outside Yekaterinburg.

The discovery

In 1979, a man named Alexander Avdonin discovered what he believed were the family's remains at a site called Ganina Yama — but the Soviet authorities kept the find secret. After the fall of the Soviet Union, he exhumed the remains in 1991. What he had found were the bones of the Tsar, the Tsarina and three of their daughters.

DNA solves the mystery

The identification was confirmed through DNA testing, matching the remains to known Romanov relatives. In 2007, the remains of the heir Alexei and one of the daughters were found at a nearby site, completing the picture. One of the most enduring mysteries of the 20th century was finally solved.

Where the Romanov bones are now

All of the identified Romanov remains were buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg, the traditional resting place of Russian emperors. The mystery is resolved: the last Tsar and his family did not escape, but their remains were found and finally laid to rest, closing a tragic chapter of Russian and world history.

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