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| Novodevichy Cemetery | |
|---|---|
Новодевичье кладбище | |
 | |
Interactive map of Novodevichy Cemetery | |
| Details | |
| Established | 1898 |
| Location | |
| Country | Russia |
| Coordinates | 55°43′29″N 37°33′15″E / 55.72472°N 37.55417°E / 55.72472; 37.55417 |
| Size | 7.5 hectares (19 acres) |
| No. of interments | 26,000 |
Novodevichy Cemetery (Russian: Новодевичье кладбище, romanized: Novodevichye kladbishche) is a cemetery in Moscow, Russia. It lies next to the southern wall of the 16th-century Novodevichy Convent.
History
The cemetery was designed by Ivan Mashkov and inaugurated in 1898.[1] Its importance dates from the 1930s, when the necropolises of the medieval Muscovite monasteries (Simonov, Danilov, Donskoy) were scheduled for demolition. Only the Donskoy survived the Joseph Stalin era relatively intact. The remains of many famous Russians buried in other abbeys, such as Nikolai Gogol and Sergey Aksakov, were disinterred and reburied at the Novodevichy. The 19th-century necropolis within the walls of the Novodevichy convent, which contained the graves of about 2000 Russian noblemen and university professors, also underwent reconstruction. The vast majority of graves were destroyed.
During the Soviet Union, burial in the Novodevichy Cemetery was second in prestige only to burial in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis.[citation needed] Among the Soviet leaders, Nikita Khrushchev and Mikhail Gorbachev would be buried there.[2] Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the Kremlin Wall is no longer used for burials and the Novodevichy Cemetery is used for only the most symbolically significant burials. In 1997, former premier Nikolai Tikhonov was buried in the cemetery at state expense (since he didn't have any money of his own).[3] In April 2007, within one week both the first President of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin and cellist Mstislav Rostropovich were buried there.[4]
Today, the cemetery holds the tombs of Russian authors, musicians, playwrights, and poets, as well as famous actors, political leaders, and scientists.[5][6] Notable burials include Dmitry Shostakovich, Sergei Prokofiev and Anton Chekhov.[2] More than 27,000 are buried at Novodevichy. There is scant space for more burials. A new national cemetery has been opened in Mytishchi north of Moscow.
The cemetery has a park-like ambience, dotted with small chapels and large sculpted monuments. It is divided into the old (Divisions 1–4), new (Divisions 5–8) and newest (Divisions 9–11) sections; maps are available at the cemetery office.[7]
Monuments
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Sergei Prokofiev and his wife Mira Mendelson
See also
- Burials at the Novodevichy Cemetery
- Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois Russian Cemetery
- Federal Military Memorial Cemetery
- Kremlin Wall Necropolis
References
- ^ "Novodevichy Cemetery". Passport Magazine. April 2008. Archived from the original on 26 April 2014. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
- ^ a b Heintz, Jim (3 September 2022). "Gorbachev buried in Moscow in funeral snubbed by Putin". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 3 September 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
- ^ "Министр СССР: о реформах Брежнев говорил — "не дергайте людей, дайте людям отдохнуть"". ТАСС. Archived from the original on 2019-08-11. Retrieved 2021-03-30.
- ^ Kishkovsky, Sophia (April 30, 2007). "Rostropovich Is Laid to Rest Near Another Russian Titan". New York Times. Archived from the original on September 3, 2022. Retrieved September 3, 2022.
- ^ Roskies, David G. (1999). The Jewish search for a usable past. Indiana University Press. p. 217. ISBN 978-0-253-33505-0.
- ^ Brooke, Caroline (2006). Moscow: a cultural history. Oxford University Press. p. 268. ISBN 978-0-19-530952-2.
- ^ Gilbert, Hillary (2009). Frommer's Moscow Day by Day. Frommer's. p. 192. ISBN 978-0-470-72304-3.
External links
- Unofficial site. Hi-resolution photos
- Famous and picturesque (24) memorials photographed June 2005
- Novodevichii Cemetery – article from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia
- Novodevichy Cemetery: Where History sleeps (video)
