Alapayevsk, Russia

Capital City

Living in one of Russia's oldest metallurgy centers comes with a sobering mix of industrial heritage and dark historical weight. This former powerhouse of Urals iron production, now home to 35,704 residents, has seen its population steadily decline since its Soviet-era peak of 50,060 in 1989.

Founded in 1781 around an iron factory established in 1704, Alapayevsk carries deep historical scars - most notably as the site where Bolsheviks murdered several Romanov family members in 1918 by throwing them down a mineshaft. Today, while still maintaining its industrial roots, the town operates the largest orphanage in the Urals region and is connected to surrounding communities via a narrow-gauge railway system. Its most positive historical footnote may be its brief connection to composer Tchaikovsky, who spent part of his childhood here.