page_title: Assassination of Alexander II of Russia
section_title: Aftermath
hierarchical_section_title: Assassination of Alexander II of Russia / Aftermath
context_page_description: The assassination of Tsar Alexander II of Russia took place on 13 March [1 March, Old Style], 1881 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Alexander II was killed while returning to the Winter Palace from Mikhailovsky Manège in a closed carriage.
  The assassination was planned by the Executive Committee of Narodnaya Volya, chiefly by Andrei Zhelyabov. Of the four assassins coordinated by Sophia Perovskaya, two of them actually committed the deed. One assassin, Nikolai Rysakov, threw a bomb which damaged the carriage, prompting the Tsar to dismount. At this point a second assassin, Ignacy Hryniewiecki, threw a bomb that fatally wounded Alexander II.
  Alexander II had previously survived several attempts on his life, including the attempts by Dmitry Karakozov and Alexander Soloviev, the attempt to dynamite the imperial train in Zaporizhia, and the bombing of the Winter Palace in February 1880. The assassination is popularly considered to be the most successful action by the Russian nihilist movement of the 19th century.
context_section_description: A temporary shrine was erected on the site of the attack while plans and fundraising for a more permanent memorial were undertaken. In order to build a permanent shrine on the exact spot where the assassination took place, it was decided to narrow the canal so that the section of road on which the tsar had been driving could be included within the walls of the church. The permanent memorial took the form of the Church of the Savior on Blood. Construction began in 1883 under Alexander III, and was completed in 1907 under Nicholas II. An elaborate shrine, in the form of a ciborium, was constructed at the end of the church opposite the altar, on the exact place of Alexander's assassination. It is embellished with topaz, lazurite, and other semi-precious stones, making a striking contrast with the simple cobblestones of the old road, which are exposed in the floor of the shrine.
caption: The Church of the Savior on Blood was erected on the site of the assassination.
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