The Vagankovskoye cemetery in Moscow was opened in 1771 near the village of Vagankovo. The graveyard was originally where the deceased were buried by residents of the surrounding villages, and later of the Moscow outskirts. Over time, the status of the Vagankovsky cemetery increased. Such famous personalities as the artist Vasily Surikov and the physiologist Kliment Timiryazev, the poet Sergei Yesenin and the bard Vladimir Vysotsky, the famous goalkeeper Lev Yashin and television journalist Vlad Listyev, as well as everyone’s favorite actor Andrei Mironov are buried here. The necropolis has the status of an active, closed one and occupies an area of 50 hectares, on which over 100 thousand burials are located.
Regarding the organization of burial at the Vagankovskoye cemetery, it is best to contact a reliable funeral agency. The employees of the City Ritual Service “Loss” have the required experience and qualifications.
Funeral arrangements
at the Vagankovskoye cemetery
How to get to the necropolis
A bus to the Vagankovskoe cemetery is not required. To get to the territory of the famous necropolis, you need to take the metro to the station. “Street 1905” and walk according to the directions. "Vagankovskoye Cemetery" on the street. Bolshaya Dekabrskaya (500 m). Continue to the street. Sergei Makeev and there follow the sign to the cemetery. You can get there by your own transport in two ways:
- Along Leningradskoe Highway, turn onto Begovaya Street, then onto Krasnopresnensky Overpass and S. Makeev Street.
- From the center: along Tverskaya to 1st Tverskaya-Yamskaya, enter Leningradsky Prospekt-understudy, along Begovaya Street to the Third Transport Ring, then onto S. Makeev Street.
Columbarium of the Vagankovskoye Cemetery
The necropolis has both a wall and a columbarium located in the building, the niches in which are intended for storing urns with ashes. The walls of grief of the open columbarium are located at the entrance and in the depths of the necropolis.
Temple at Vagankovskoye Cemetery
There are two functioning temples at the necropolis. The main one is the Church of the Resurrection of the Word, built at the beginning of the 19th century. It is named so in memory of the consecration of the Church of the Resurrection of the Lord in Jerusalem in 335. Near the main entrance to the churchyard rise the domes of the Church of St. Andrew the First-Called.
How to find the right grave at the Vagankovskoye cemetery
The necropolis is large in area, finding the necessary burial can take a lot of time. A diagram of the Vagankovskoe cemetery with plot numbers will help you navigate. It marks 60 sites, two churches, military graves, toilets, water sources, and waste collection sites.
On the diagram of old and new Vagankovo, 60 plots are allocated, which are separated by alleys. The names of some of them: Yeseninskaya, Central, Surikovskaya, Lipovaya, Savrasovskaya, Pisatelskaya. The areas are separated by paths - Prokhorovskaya, Tropininskaya, Verstovsky, Paninskaya.
Opposite is the old Armenian cemetery, part of Vagankovsky, located on Makeev Street.
To find the grave, you can use the map-scheme on the information steles. Steles in the form of open books are installed at the entrance to the necropolis. There are signs at the sites to help you navigate.
Need expert advice?
Get expert advice online. Ask your question right now!
Ask a free question View all questions
You can find a grave in the cemetery known as Vagankovo like this:
- determine the number of the plot where the person is buried;
- find a site on a plan or diagram;
- if we are talking about a celebrity, it is easier to find the grave - you can follow the instructions on the information signs;
- An alternative option is to use a guide to the necropolis or book a sightseeing tour.
Celebrity graves
The Vagankovsky necropolis is known as the burial place of famous people of Russia. The first famous burials appeared in the middle of the 19th century. Here you can see the graves:
- Decembrists, including: M.A. Bestuzheva, P.S. Bobrishcheva-Pushkina, I.N. Khotyaintseva.
- Composer A.N. Verestovsky, author of the immortal opera “Askold’s Grave”.
- Compiler of the explanatory dictionary V.I. Dahl
19th century artists found their eternal resting place:
- Outstanding portrait painter V. A. Tropinin, author of more than 3 thousand paintings, incl. famous portrait of A.S. Pushkin.
- V. I. Surikov, famous for his historical paintings: “Boyaryna Morozova”, “Morning of the Streltsy Execution”, “Suvorov’s Crossing of the Alps”.
- V.V Pukirev, who painted the immortal painting “Unequal Marriage”.
- A.K. Savrasov, author of the works “The Rooks Have Arrived” and “Barge Haulers on the Volga” and many others.
Since the 20th century, actors, directors, writers, artists, politicians and artists have traditionally been buried at Vagankovo. Many outstanding personalities found eternal rest here, including:
- Poets – S. Yesenin, V. Vysotsky, B. Okudzhava, M. Tanich
- Writers – V. Aksenov, G. Gorin, V. Dragunsky, V. Kaverin, V. Rozov
- Directors – V. Pluchek, S. Rostotsky, G. Chukhrai, A. Alov, P. Fomenko
- Actors - A. Abdulov, G. Burkov, Yu. Bogatyrev, G. Vitsin, E. Garin, V. Glagoleva, M. Gluzsky, O. Dal, M. Liepa, A. Mironov, S. Mishulin, T. Nosova, M. Pugovkin, Z. Reich (wife of S. Yesenin), N. Rumyantseva, V. Solomin, L. Sukharevskaya, Z. Fedorova, L. Filatov, M. Tsarev, G. Yumatov.
- Other famous figures are natural scientist K. Timiryazev, academician A. Speransky, journalist and TV presenter V. Listyev, singer I. Talkov, football goalkeeper L. Yashin, figure skater L. Pakhomova.
Vagankovskoe cemetery in Moscow on the map
- 3 star hotels in Samui
- Tours to Cyprus for 9-11 nights, 3-5* hotels, breakfasts + dinners from 57,907 rubles for TWO – October
- How to get to Portugal
- Basilica of San Lorenzo in Florence
- Fruits of Thailand: photos and descriptions
- Batumi hotels 4 stars 1 coastline all inclusive
- Mystery Spot in the USA
- 9 best museums in Girona
- Sights of Paris
- Barcelona Cathedral
- 25 best museums in Brussels
- Useful information about the Vatican for tourists
Layout of plots
Today, the area of the Vagankovsky cemetery occupies about 50 hectares (including its branch - the Armenian Necropolis). Over the entire history of its existence, more than half a million people were buried there! All burials are located in 60 plots, separated by alleys and paths. Due to the large number of graves and the huge area on the territory of the necropolis, it is almost impossible to find the desired monument for a grave without using a diagram or reference book.
Opening hours of Vagankovskoye Cemetery
Summer time (May 1-September 30): from 9.00 to 19.00, daily.
Winter time (October 1-April 30): from 9.00 to 17.00, daily.
Burials: daily from 9.00 to 17.00, daily.
Famous burials
Since the 19th century, representatives of the upper strata of society, as well as the theatrical and artistic intelligentsia, began to be buried at Vagankovo. But only in Soviet times the cemetery became elite.
Among those who lie in the necropolis, it is worth noting:
- Landscape artist Alexey Savrasov.
- Portrait painter Vasily Tropinin.
- Monumental artist Vasily Surikov.
- Participants in the August 1991 putsch Ilya Krichevsky, Vladimir Usov, Dmitry Komar. They were posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the USSR.
- Poet Sergei Yesenin.
- Journalist Vlad Listyev.
- Actor Pavel Mochalov (performed romantic roles in the theater in the 19th century).
- Directed by Vsevolod Meyerhold (the body was cremated and the ashes were buried among the unclaimed ashes at the Donskoy Monastery, the monument was erected after rehabilitation, but the remains were never moved).
- People's Artist of the RSFSR Andrei Mironov, who died while playing in the play The Marriage of Figaro.
- Actors Oleg Dal, Georgy Vitsin.
- Performer Bulat Okudzhava.
- Musician Igor Talkov, who predicted his death; he was shot, the killer was never found.
- Young actors Arseny Kurylenko and Kristina Kurbatova, who performed roles in the musical “Nord-Ost” and died during the storming of Dubrovka.
- Actor Alexander Abdulov, who died at 54 from an incurable disease.
- Actor and singer-songwriter Vladimir Vysotsky.
- Thief Sonya Golden Hand.
Vysotsky’s grave is marked by a sculpture created by Alexander Rukavishnikov. He was able to very accurately convey what Vladimir Semenovich was like during his lifetime. The monument was chosen by a relative, although his wife Marina Vladi and the actor’s colleagues at the Taganka Theater wanted to stage something abstract.
Burial is very popular among poets, musicians, and actors. There is a belief that all the creators who visited Vysotsky’s grave do not live long.
The burial place of TV presenter, journalist and entrepreneur Vladislav Listyev, who created and hosted the “Vzglyad” program, also becomes a place of worship. He was shot dead in the entrance of the house; the investigation was unable to find the perpetrators, so the case was closed.
A monument was made of light gray and dark granite at the grave of the cult poet Sergei Yesenin. Near the pedestal of the monument there is a tombstone of the poet’s mother, Galina Benislavskaya. She committed suicide at her son's grave in December 1926. Her act was repeated several times by the poet’s fans, who chose Yesenin’s grave as the site of their suicide.
The adventurer Sonya Zolotaya Ruchka received the name Sofya Bluvshtein at birth. She was known for her fiction and stories, so it is not known exactly who is buried at the Vagankovskoye cemetery. Criminal circles in Moscow believe that Sonya is able to pass on her knowledge to them and teach them life, give happiness to the Zhigan and pacify law enforcement agencies. Therefore, representatives of the lads regularly cover the monument with notes and signs.
People also come to her grave to get luck in cards and to protect themselves from a knife and a bullet.
Sonya Zolotaya Ruchka is not the only one from the criminal world who has found refuge in Vagankovo. Here lie Otari Kvantrishvili and Mishka Yaponchik (Vyacheslav Ivankovich), two crime bosses in Moscow and Russia.
Military and historical burials
There are many mass graves and mass graves at the Vagankovsky memorial complex. The heroes of the War of 1812, who fell in the Battle of Borodino, the defenders of Moscow in the Great Patriotic War, who did not allow the Nazis to enter the capital, who died in battles and air raids in 1941-1942, are buried here. Not far from the cemetery in May 1896, the Khodynka tragedy occurred, when almost one and a half thousand people were crushed during the distribution of souvenirs in honor of the coronation of Nicholas II. The mutilated corpses were taken to Vagankovo and piled in the meadow. Those who could be recognized were buried by relatives in coffins.
According to the publisher A. Suvorin, “all of this was inflated, black, and the stench was such that it was done badly,” so most remained unrecognized and were buried in common graves at site 6. Here is also the so-called “execution”: those buried according to the “execution lists” received by the cemetery commandant from the OGPU during the years of Stalin’s repressions from 1926 to 1936. The exact number of “enemies of the people” is not known. Burials were made secretly at night in a remote area in a ravine near a stream. Monuments have been erected to the victims of political repression and the Khodynka disaster.
Our contemporaries who died during the 1991 coup and the tragedy that occurred in October 2002 as a result of gas poisoning during the terrorist capture in the theater center on Dubrovka found eternal rest in the cemetery. The graves are located in different areas, only two young actors from the musical rest nearby.
Which celebrities are buried
At the Vagankovskoe cemetery there are excursions for those interested, during which tourists will see the graves of famous personalities of our country - poets Bulat Okudzhava, Vladimir Vysotsky, Sergei Yesenin, artist Alexei Savrasov, actors Alexander Abdulov, Andrei Mironov, TV presenters Vladimir Voroshilov and Vladislav Listyev, and many others .
Grave of Vladimir Vysotsky
Vladimir Semyonovich was buried at the Vagankovskoye cemetery in 1980. His grave is located next to the entrance to the cemetery, on the right side.
Its site, number 1, still remains one of the most visited. His mother, Nina Maksimovna Vysotskaya, is buried next to Vysotsky.
The grave of Alexander Abdulov
A. A. Abdulov was born on May 29, 1953. The artist died on January 3, 2008. A few months before his death, he was diagnosed with lung cancer.
Alexander Gavrilovich was a famous theater and film actor. Worked at the Lenkom Theater. We have lost count of the number of films in which Abdulov has starred. The quantity varies from 100 to 150 paintings. He was buried at the Vagankovskoye cemetery in plot number 2.
Grave of Georgy Vitsin
G. M. Vitsin was born on April 5, 1917. Due to chronic liver and heart diseases, Vitsin passed away on October 22, 2001. Georgy Mikhailovich was a theater and film actor. He worked at the Ermolova Theater. Was involved in more than 300 works.
People know him from such films as “Prisoner of the Caucasus” and “Gentlemen of Fortune”. Unfortunately, in the last years of his life his work was no longer in demand. He was buried on October 25, 2001 at the Vagankovskoye cemetery on plot 12A.
Igor Talkov's grave
I.V. Talkov was born on November 4, 1956. He was a singer, actor, poet. Took part in 18 projects. During a concert at the Yubileiny Sports Complex in St. Petersburg, Talkov was shot. It was as if he had a presentiment of his death and knew how he would be killed.
He said that they would shoot at him in front of a large number of people, but the shooter would never be found. And so it happened. The killer of Igor Vladimirovich hid in Israel for a long time. The singer's funeral took place on October 9; he was buried at the Vagankovskoye cemetery, plot number 25.
Sergei Yesenin's grave
How to find the grave of a famous poet? In order for everyone to honor the memory of Sergei Yesenin, guide signs have been installed at the Vagankovskoye cemetery near the entrance. Near the poet’s grave is the grave of Galina Benislavskaya, a girl in love with the poet.
S. A. Yesenin was born on September 21, 1895. On December 28, 1925, Yesenin was found hanged in his room at the Angeleter Hotel in St. Petersburg. He was an outstanding poet of the Silver Age. His poems have always been in demand and loved. His poems are still read and taught in schools.
The grave of Sergei Alexandrovich is the most visited at the Vagankovskoye cemetery. There are always fresh flowers on it. Yesenin's grave is constantly visited by fans of his work.
Grave of Vladislav Listyev
V. N. Listyev was born on May 10, 1956. He was a TV presenter and TV journalist. He was also the first general director of ORT. Before that, he was the host of numerous popular TV shows, such as “Field of Miracles,” “Guess the Melody,” and “Rush Hour.”
On March 1, 1995, Listyev was shot dead in the front door of his house. He served as director of ORT for a little over a month. The investigation into Listyev's murder is still ongoing. His grave and tombstone are located on plot number 1.
Grave of Vyacheslav Ivankov (Yaponchik)
V.K. Ivankov was born on January 2, 1940. He was a crime boss and thief in law. He created his own criminal group. Groups, under the guise of a police search, entered the apartments of those who, in their opinion, earned money through unclean labor. Some were taken to the forest and tortured. Gangs operated throughout the USSR.
On July 28, 2009, Yaponchik was attacked. He received several gunshot wounds and was taken to the hospital, where he was put into an induced coma. From September 13 to 14, Ivankov experienced clinical death, and on October 9 he died in the oncology center from peritonitis.
Yaponchik's grave arouses great interest, so excursions are conducted to it from time to time. Vyacheslav Ivankov is buried in plot number 55.
Grave of Andrei Mironov
A. A. Mironov was born on March 7, 1941. He was an Honored Artist of the RSFSR. Was involved in more than 80 projects. His work is admired to this day. He gave all of himself to the theater. As they say, he spent his entire life on stage. Death also found him on stage.
At the play “The Marriage of Figaro,” where he played the main role, he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage. Later, the actor was diagnosed with a congenital aneurysm. Andrei Aleksandrovich Mironov is buried in plot number 40.
Saints buried in the cemetery
Orthodox Muscovites preserve the memory of the saints buried in the cemetery, although their graves were wiped off the face of the earth during the persecution of the Church. Despite this, many people come here for help. Especially revered among believers is Valentin Amfitheatrov, rector of the Kremlin Archangel Church, who died in 1908. He does not have a separate burial place; his body rests in a mass grave among WWII soldiers. During the construction of the memorial, the godless authorities ordered the bulldozer to demolish the revered grave. But people remember and honor Father Valentin, they go to him for healing, help and receive it.
Thanks to the efforts of grateful pilgrims, two crosses were erected at the site of the supposed burial. It is known that a Moscow saint, Blessed Schema-nun Martha of Moscow from the St. John the Baptist Monastery, who died in 1638, was buried at Vagankovo in 1927. To avoid desecration of the incorruptible relics by the Bolsheviks, believers reburied them. However, the exact location is not known.
In unknown graves lie glorified saints: Bishop Vasily (Zelentsov) of Priluki, who went through the horror of the Solovetsky camps and was shot in 1930; priest John Inyushin, venerable martyr Macarius (Morzhov), bishop Maxim (Zhizhilenko), executed in June 1931.
