A religious procession pays tribute to last Russian Czar Nicholas II and his family members

A religious procession pays tribute to last Russian Czar Nicholas II and his family members The 21-km vigil cross-bearing procession has been held annually since late 1990s. Believers march from the downtown Church on the Blood in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg to the Ganina Yama district, the initial burial site of the slain family members. Czar Nicholas II, who abdicated the throne on March 2, 1917, and his family were executed by a firing squad in the basement of the Ipatyev House in Yekaterinburg overnight to July 17, 1918. The Russian Orthodox Church canonized the Czar, the Czarina and their five children as holy regal martyrs for faith in 2000. Donat Sorokin/TASS Source: TASS Russian news agency