Yekaterinburg is a big, confident city on the eastern side of the Ural Mountains, at the point where Europe is supposed to end and Asia to begin, and it behaves as if it knew its own importance. It was founded in 1723 as an ironworking fortress by two engineers sent by Peter the Great, and named after his wife, later Empress Catherine I. The Iset river, dammed in the middle of the city to power the original factory, still forms a pond called the Plotinka in the city centre.
Wealth from iron, copper and gemstones built the city. The Urals are rich in minerals, and the mines nearby produced malachite, emeralds, amethysts and gold, and the city's stonecutting and jewellery traditions continue. The famous Demidov family built a fortune on the ironworks of this region, and their route from here north toward Nizhny Tagil follows the old industrial centres.
The history is not only about industry. In July 1918, the last Tsar, Nicholas II, and his family were executed in the cellar of a merchant's house here, and the Church on the Blood now stands on the spot, a large, ornate building with golden domes. The site draws a stream of visitors, and the story remains emotional for many Russians. The city also has some excellent constructivist architecture from the 1920s and 1930s, with bold geometric buildings that remain striking.
The border between Europe and Asia is marked by an obelisk on the old Siberian road, west of the city, where visitors pose with one foot in each continent. The geography here is gentler than the symbolism: the Urals are old, eroded mountains, only a thousand metres or so high, and in this latitude they look like forested hills.
The roads around Yekaterinburg are mixed. The ring road and main highways are busy with trucks, and the city's traffic can be heavy and aggressive, with slow rush hours. Beyond, the lanes through the hills are pleasant, with lakes, pine woods and granite outcrops, though surfaces can be broken, and frost heaves are common after the long winter.
Fuel, food and every service are available in the city, and it is a good place to restock before the Urals or Siberia. The local food includes pelmeni, small dumplings served with sour cream and vinegar, which the region claims as its own. Summer is warm and short, autumn is bright, and winter is long and cold.