Glad I could be of help, Rodney_G. :-) In the FOTR photo, the cathedral appears to dominate the skyline. Today, sadly, it's somewhat hidden as you're going up the ulitsa. I hope the family might have drawn inspiration from it as well.
If you look at the old photos posted by Sarushka here:
http://forum.alexanderpalace.org/index.php?topic=9591.msg263251#msg263251The third shot (apparently taken from the cathedral bell tower) shows the area between the cathedral and the Ipatiev House.
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y285/sarahelizabethii/Romanov/Arrest%20and%20Exile/Ipatiev_House_56.jpgAt that time the gradually-descending natural slope of the hill was still intact. Voznesensky Prospect intersects Voznesensky Square, running from left (south) to right (north) in the picture, with the Ipatiev House across the street, in the background.
In more recent times, the level of the street was cut lower, slicing into the hillside, which is now supported by a retaining wall that runs parallel to the street (not visible in the modern photos above).
Thus the continuity of the square and the Prospect has been sundered.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y141/trsny/P1060434.jpgAnd it's a shame that it's almost impossible to take a good photograph of the east side of the new Cathedral without also capturing that statue of the "Komsomol Couple"!
As for the sight of the church comforting the Imperial family in its captivity, no doubt it did — and hearing the bells ringing too.
However, because of the two palisades and the whitewashed windows, all that they could see were the shining crosses on the cupolas.
In her letter of April 18 / May 1, 1918, from Ekaterinburg, Grand Duchess Maria Nicholaevna writes to her sister G. D. Olga, back in Tobolsk:
"A wooden fence surrounds it; we see only the crosses on the cupolas of the church on the square."
PS: As for Voznesensky Lane (which ran perpendicular to Voznesensky Prospect, and which descended further down the slope towards the pond) — it was eliminated when the area's street grid was redesigned years ago.
