- An active closed cemetery.
- Located within walking distance from the Sportivnaya metro station.
- The total number of burials is about 26,000.
- An active outdoor columbarium.
- Urn burials in an open columbarium are available: more details here >>
- Cemetery area: 7-8 hectares.
- Coordinates 55.724758,37.554268.
Included in the list of “One Hundred Most Important Necropolises in the World” according to UNESCO and the most famous necropolis in Moscow is the Novodevichy Cemetery.
Thousands of people who left a noticeable mark on the history of the country are buried here. This makes the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow (along with the Kremlin Wall) the main national pantheon of glory. The words “buried at Novodevichy” say a lot to a resident of Russia. And at the moment, burials of famous figures of the country occasionally continue on the territory of this ancient necropolis - on August 2, 2021, the writer and poet Fazil Iskander was buried here. Why do you need an agent RITUAL.RU?
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Novodevichy Cemetery. Official site.
There is no official website for the Novodevichy Cemetery.
Opening hours of Novodevichy Cemetery:
Summer period (from May 1 to September 30): every day of the week from 9-00 to 19-00.
Winter period (from October 1 to April 30): every day of the week from 9-00 to 17-00.
Burials can be performed every day from 9-00 to 17-00.
Graves of famous people
As has already been said, initially the monastery walls received the deceased from royal and noble families, and by the mid-19th century and until today, the Novodevichy cemetery became the final resting place of outstanding figures of Russia, regardless of their origin.
The architects of the obelisks sought to reflect the activities of the deceased in marble and stone, so many ensembles deserve special attention.
Monument at the grave of Raisa Gorbacheva
Thus, the monument to the first president of the Russian Federation, Boris Yeltsin, is a Russian tricolor fluttering from gusts of wind. To create it, red porphyry, blue mosaic and white marble were used. The burial place of the First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Nikita Khrushchev is marked by a tall obelisk, which consists of two parts - the politician’s face and the white and black chain framing it, symbolizing the bright future of communism and its black past of repression.
Monuments to scientists are extremely simple and minimalistic, for example, the grave of Vernadsky, an outstanding biologist, is marked by a tall stone made of white marble, at the very top of which is a bust of the academician. The grave of the theoretical physics genius Lev Landau is decorated with a dark metal column with his portrait at the top. The bas-relief plane is engraved on the stele of the famous aircraft designer Tupolev.
The necropolis also contains the graves of prominent writers, for example, Gogol rests here under a black granite mountain with a cross on top. And the simple and humane Anton Chekhov found his last refuge under a white stele in the New Russian style. The ashes of the futurist Mayakovsky were placed under a gray granite slab, and the favorite of the Soviet regime, Alexei Tolstoy, was buried under a medallion with his image and sketches of figures from his works. In addition to them, in the necropolis you can find the following graves:
Ilya Ilf; Mikhail Bulgakov; Samuil Marshak; Vasily Shukshin; Valery Bryusov.
Tomb of M. Bulgakov
A red granite slab with the Moscow Art Theater emblem marks the resting place of Stanislavsky, and for his follower Evgeniy Vakhtangov he created a sculpture of a woman in a mourning veil. A statue of Nikulin sits wearing his signature hat at his grave, and the figure of Lyudmila Gurchenko stands frozen on a bas-relief nearby. The sculpture of Chaliapin is located as impressively as the singer himself, who is buried here. The Novodevichy Cemetery also welcomed other artists under its shadow. Among them:
Evgeny Evstigneev; Sergey Eisenstein; Oleg Yankovsky; Eldar Ryazanov; Lyudmila Zykina; Evgeny Leonov; Sergey Bondarchuk; Maxim Bernes; Sergey Prokofiev; Yuri Levitan.
Monument to Yuri Nikulin
For example, the graves of celebrities at the Novodevichy Cemetery are located throughout the territory; in some places there are separate alleys for them.
Advice! When visiting the necropolis, it is best to take a guided tour to visit all the significant places. In addition, the guide will be able not only to show the burial places of prominent people, but also tell interesting facts about them.
Vasily Shukshin is buried here despite the protests of his mother (she wanted to take her son to Siberia to his homeland), and Khrushchev is buried as a disgraced ruler.
How to get to Novodevichy Cemetery:
Metro:
From the Sportivnaya metro station you can get there by buses No. 64, 132, trolleybuses No. 5, 15 or on foot. If you decide to get there on foot, from the metro (exit to 10th Anniversary of October Street and Novodevichy Convent) you need to turn right and walk along the street. From the 10th Anniversary of the October Revolution to the Novodevichy Convent, before the square and the pedestrian crossing, you need to turn left and walk along the monastery wall to the cemetery gate.
Other types of transport to Novodevichy Cemetery:
How to get there by public transport: metro station "Sportivnaya", buses routes 132 and 64, trolleybuses routes 5 and 15.
How to get there by car:
From the center - along Novodevichyaya embankment. across Krasnopresnenskaya embankment, turn towards the monastery.
From the 3rd transport ring take the exit to Luzhnetsky Prospekt, then drive around the Novodevichy Necropolis complex and drive up to the entrance.
Novodevichy Cemetery on the map
History of the necropolis
This necropolis was formed near the Novodevichy Convent - previously people were buried on the territory or near church and monastic farmsteads. The official founding date is considered to be 1898, although the first burials (according to historical data, these were the graves of nuns) on this site date back to the 16th century.
Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow
The monastery was founded in 1524 by Prince Vasily III in the area of the bend of the Moscow River (this area was then called the Maiden Field) as a monument to the capture of Smolensk. That is why the icon of the same name of the Mother of God was kept in the monastery. The monastery became a place of service for girls from rich and prominent Russian families, and sometimes tonsure was forced for political reasons.
Initially, the dead nuns were buried in the basement of the monastery church; later, women of boyar and noble origin began to find their final refuge there. The graves of women from royal families were found there, for example:
Anna, daughter of Ivan the Terrible; Evdokia Lopukhina, wife of Peter I; daughters of Alexei Mikhailovich; sister of Peter I.
After a while, the tomb under the Smolensk Cathedral could no longer accommodate the deceased and it was decided to move the cemetery outside the courtyard. For this purpose, they chose a place to the east of the monastery, in the territory of a small pine grove. It was there that men were buried for the first time, one of the first was N. Efimov, the author of the architectural ensemble of the Novodevichy Convent.
By the middle of the 19th century, the cost of burial in the necropolis was very expensive and only wealthy merchant and noble families could afford it, and after the revolution the cost decreased until the 20s. of the last century, the graves of nuns and ordinary Muscovites were located here. In the mid-30s. The country's leadership decided to make the cemetery a privileged one and bury only prominent political, scientific and cultural figures there.
Monument at the grave of Academician Shchusev
Despite the closed status, people continue to be buried there today (the number of graves is more than 26,000), and the total area of the burial ground reaches 7 hectares. The entire necropolis is divided into three parts: Old, New and New, and the management even organized a number of excursions around the territory in order to show and tell about the prominent figures buried here.
Place at Novodevichy Cemetery is free
You can get a place in the cemetery for free:
- If there is a related grave (and direct relationship with those buried in it);
- If the deceased had services to the state or Moscow (awards, titles, regalia).
A free place for citizens with merit must be requested and processed in a special manner through the Department of Trade and Services. This can be done by relatives of the deceased or a ritual agent on behalf of the family. In a number of particularly important cases, the decision to allocate a site is made at the government level.
Registration takes place at the “one-stop service” of the Moscow Department of Trade and Services at 1st Krasnogvardeisky Proezd, 21с1. Consultation on the possibility of providing a free cemetery plot can be obtained on the official website of the Department of Trade and Services or from the Central Dispatch Service Ritual.ru by calling +7 (495) 100-3-100.
Order the production of a monument at the Novodevichy Cemetery
Cemetery with a double history
Novodevichy Cemetery has a long and controversial history. The funeral site was created back in 1525 at the monastery of the same name. However, it is customary to begin the chronology of the cemetery only from the 4th year of the 21st century.
There are 26 thousand graves on an area of seven and a half hectares. Moreover, at the Novodevichy Cemetery, in addition to traditional burial in the ground, they practice placing urns with ashes in special cells - a columbarium.
Initially, the Novodevichy Mother of God-Smolensk Convent was located on this site. Near the refuge of pilgrims, ordinary nuns and women from wealthy families were buried, who, for political or other reasons, were sent there to serve God.
When the revolution ended, “persons of social standing” were buried here. That is, the same important persons.
And then the Bolsheviks opened museums and studios for creative people in the premises of the now closed convent. For example, futurist artist Vladimir Tatlin.
Cemetery information
The most famous churchyard in Moscow, located under the walls of the Novodevichy Convent, is included in the UNESCO list of “One Hundred Most Important Necropolises in the World”. The cemetery is located in the capital's Khamovniki district (Central District) and currently occupies an area of about 8 hectares.
The first burials at the monastery took place in the 16th century. At that time, local nuns, rich merchants and prominent citizens were interred here. The churchyard acquired official status in 1898, after which its territory was expanded several times. Since then, Novodevichye has been divided into three main parts:
- old necropolis (sections 1 to 4);
- new (sections 5-8);
- the newest (sections 9-11).
At the same time, a tradition arose here to arrange the burials of poets, artists and other prominent cultural figures. At the moment, Novodevichye is an active closed cemetery (you can purchase a plot here only for a related burial or if the deceased had undeniable services to the Fatherland). Often decisions about the next burial in this necropolis are made at the state level.
At the moment, more than 25 thousand people are buried here. The columbarium of the Novodevichy Cemetery is open and operational. Not long ago, the most important necropolis of the country acquired branches:
- Kuntsevo Cemetery;
- Federal War Memorial Cemetery in Mytishchi.
At the end of the last century, Novodevichye was included in the list of architectural monuments of federal significance of the Russian Federation, as well as in the UNESCO List of Cultural Heritage. Now it is under the jurisdiction of the Moscow State Budgetary Institution “Ritual”. Work is being actively carried out here to improve the territory and restore ancient monuments, and there is a tour desk.
Gurchenko L.G. and Nikulin Yu.V.
Tombstone at the grave of Lyudmila Gurchenko
The most decorated with flowers in vases is the grave of People's Artist of the USSR Lyudmila Georgievna Gurchenko. The most extraordinary (in my opinion) is the grave of the circus clown and comedian Yuri Vladimirovich Nikulin. Nikulin sits with a cigarette in his hands, and a huge dog lies next to him.
Alilueva N.S. and others
Tombstone of Nadezhda Alliluyeva
Two graves with fences were remembered: Stalin’s wife - N.S. Aliluyeva and the great Russian writer - N.V. Gogol. I remember the graves of N.S. Khrushchev, L.G. Zykina, M.A. Ulyanov, E.A. Furtseva. and many famous people. In general, the situation in the cemetery will make a good impression.
Yeltsin B.N.
The monument to B.N. is not very clear. Yeltsin - a huge boulder painted in the colors of the national flag. You notice it from a distance, but it was very difficult to imagine that it was a tombstone.
Strange tombstone at the grave of Boris Yeltsin
If next time I have to visit Moscow with my grandson, I will definitely return with him here again. I hope that his walk through the Novodevichy cemetery will be remembered for a long time.
