St. Nicholas, Alexandra, and Companions

Last Romanov rulers of Russia and martyrs. Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra are considered martyrs for the Russian people and were canonized soon after the Russian Orthodox Church was established in exile, following the Russian Revolution and the assassination of the Tsar and his family. Joining the Tsar and Tsarina as saints were their children, Alexis, Tatiana, Olga, Marie, and the famed Anastasia, along with a large number of monks, nuns, and priests who died because of their direct associations with the imperial family. The veneration of the last of the Romanov rulers of Russia has been especially heightened in the last decade, given the collapse of the Soviet Union and the lifting of the oppression against the Orthodox and Catholic Churches in Russia.