Nikolsky Cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg: graves of celebrities

On the banks of the Neva, on the territory of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, there is one of the most interesting cemeteries of St. Petersburg, called Nikolsky. Founded almost a century and a half later than the monastery itself, it is inextricably linked with its history and is surrounded by a multitude of legends, built up in the long past times, and those that are still fresh in the memory of our contemporaries.

Blessed Prince - patron of the city

In 1710, in the midst of the war with the Swedes, Tsar Peter I, wishing to raise the morale of his army, ordered the laying of a monastery in honor of the Holy Prince Alexander Nevsky, who broke them 470 years ago. To this end, he personally chose a place where, according to the erroneous opinion prevailing in those years, a historic battle took place.

Thus was laid the famous Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg, which in those years was the capital of the Russian Empire. Its construction stretched almost to the entire XVIII century, and only in the middle of 1790, after the completion of works connected with the construction of the main architectural center - the Holy Trinity Cathedral, the laurels took the final look. Its name, as Peter the Great, the founder of St. Petersburg, wished, she received in honor of the legendary winner of the Swedes, who became the heavenly patron of the city, whose relics were transferred to her from Vladimir in 1724.

The first cemeteries of the new monastery

For more than two centuries the city on the Neva was the capital of the Russian Empire, and it is not surprising that it was his laurel that belonged to the highest status among other mansions of an ever growing and growing state. During the three-century history of the laurels, several cemeteries were formed on its territory that formed the famous Russian necropolis. The first of these was Lazarevskoye.

Burial places on it began to be produced from 1713, that is almost immediately after the foundation of the laurels. This necropolis, located on the territory of the largest in Russia monastery, by its status went beyond the ordinary cemetery. Suffice it to mention that for burial on it royal permission was required.

More than a century later, in 1823, the Tikhvin Cemetery, on which the Necropolis of Artists later appeared, was founded on the territory of the laurels. On its territory from other city cemeteries were buried graves of outstanding figures of Russian art.

The creation of the Nikolsky Cemetery

And, finally, the third in time basis was the Nikolskoye cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, opened in 1863 from the eastern side of the Holy Trinity Cathedral, which is why it was first named Zasoborny. Nikolsky began to refer to it only from 1871, when the St. Nicholas Church was built and consecrated nearby.

It is known that long before the founding of the cemetery, it was planned to break a vast park through which would run the way to the grand entrance to the monastery. But later the architects' plans changed. According to surviving records, the first burial was made here in May 1863. The name of the one who was destined to lie first in the land of the new churchyard is also known. It was the widow of the servant of the laurels of Sergei Afanasyevich Timofeev - Varvara Nikitichna.

Strict and thoughtful cemetery planning

The Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg from the day of its foundation was built according to a strictly established plan developed by the famous architect Domenico Trezzini. It is based on strict geometric constructions. They were also a characteristic feature of the new cemetery. The main gate connected with the St. Nicholas Church a straight alley, also called the Nikolskaya. It was the central longitudinal axis. On both sides of it there were parallel tracks, going westward. They, in turn, crossed the transverse alleys leading to the southern part of the necropolis.

Thought was the location of the artificially created pond. From its eastern side was a very picturesque view of the temple buildings of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. Standing on the shore, you could simultaneously admire the Trinity Cathedral, as well as the Fedorovskaya and the Annunciation churches.

Cemetery for the elect

From the very beginning, this cemetery became the most expensive and prestigious burial place in St. Petersburg. Accordingly, and it was contained in exemplary order, reminding by its appearance, rather, the park than the place of eternal rest. A quiet and picturesque pond only complemented this similarity. This status was maintained until the October Revolution.

Nikolskoe cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, where the burial of mostly wealthy people was made, was decorated at the end of the 19th century with numerous highly artistic chapels and crypts. Their projects were ordered by the best masters of the time, such as I. Schroeder, R. Bach, I. Podozyorov, and others. Most of the buildings were erected in the style typical of that era, the Old Russian style.

Luxury and refinement of graves

Another characteristic difference of the Nikolsky cemetery was always the abundance of sculptures that supplemented or replaced gravestones. Attention visitors cemeteries are also invariably attracted to tombstones made in the Art Nouveau style. Their specialty is the decoration, made using mosaics, majolica, and ceramics.

For more than half a century before the October coup, many famous people were buried here: the famous aviators LM Matsievich and SI Utochkin, the composer and conductor Rubinstein Anton Grigorievich, the publishers AS Suvorin and SN Shebinsky , As well as many others.

The place of repose of clergy

Since the beginning of the existence of the Nikolsky cemetery, a special site has been allocated on its territory for the burial of the monks of the monastery and the higher St. Petersburg clergy. It was named Bratsky, and from the main massif was separated by a path called the Bishops'.

This site was preserved in the Soviet period, and in 1979 he was buried by Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov). Due to its popularity among clergy and laymen who remained faithful to the church during the difficult years of atheistic persecution, its burial served as an impetus to the spontaneous restoration of the territory of the cemetery, which was in an extremely neglected state.

The harbor of homeless and thieves

Nikolsky Cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, despite being an integral part of the monastery Necropolis, does not have the status of a museum-preserve. With the advent of Soviet power, it was repeatedly planned to close, and the reason was not only that the new masters of the world saw neither ideological nor historical value in it.

Immediately after the revolution, when the criminogenic situation sharply deteriorated in the country, the cemetery attracted numerous robbers who tore up graves and cracked the crypts in search of jewelry. In general, its territory became a haven for homeless and fugitive criminals, who settled between graves and terrorized random passers-by. In order to restore order somehow, it was decided that all graves representing some interest should be moved to other places, and chapels and crypts, turned into thieves' dens, should be destroyed.

Reburial and projects of the twenties

The above decision was not fully implemented, and the Nikolsky Cemetery (St. Petersburg) continued to exist, but the remains of many outstanding figures of Russian culture were still transferred to the Necropolis of the masters of the arts. These were people whose names have forever entered our history. Among them outstanding musician Rubinstein Anton Grigorievich, artist Kustodiev, famous actress of the early XX century Vera Fedorovna Komissarzhevskaya and a number of other artists.

In the twenties, the city authorities had a project to create the first crematorium in the cemetery. To implement it, we wanted to appropriately re-equip the church that was closed by that time to St. Nicholas Church. Even the first experiments were even carried out, but without proper equipment they were unsuccessful, and, fortunately, they refused this idea. The crematorium in Leningrad was built only in 1973, and in connection with this in 1980, a columbarium was built at the Nikolsky cemetery.

Heroes of the new history

Among those who found here the last refuge, in the post-communist period there are people who rightfully entered the history of St. Petersburg. First of all, this is his first mayor Anatoly Sobchak. Being a graduate of the Leningrad State University, Anatoly Alexandrovich since 1973, engaged in teaching, defending in 1982 a doctoral dissertation and becoming a professor of one of his faculties. With the beginning of the nineties Anatoly Sobchak actively joins the political life of the city, and, interrupting his membership in the ranks of the CPSU, becomes one of the leaders of the perestroika movement.

In addition to him, Nikolay Starovoitova, Galina Vasilievna, who did much to overcome the consequences of the totalitarian regime and who died tragically at the hands of the killers in November 1998, was buried at Nikolskaya Cemetery. On her grave you can always see fresh flowers brought by Petersburgers who remember and appreciate her civil feat. Here is also buried the outstanding church figure Metropolitan John of St. Petersburg and Ladoga (Snychev), who went to the Lord in 1995 and left a memory of himself as one of the active participants in the revival of the religious consciousness of Russians.

Cemetery in the dashing nineties

A new impulse to its development Nikolskoe cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra was received in the nineties. It, like in the past, was the place of rest for those whose relatives could pay well. Very many "new Russians" and the authorities of the shadow business turned out to be his eternal lodgers after the bloody "showdowns" that were traditional in those years. It is curious that it was then that the numerous legends about the evil spirit that allegedly made Nikolsky Cemetery its haven revived.

Rumors and nonsense about the cemetery

The so-called yellow press widely discussed in those years rumors about underground catacombs discovered in its territory, arranged in ancient times by Vikings, and filled not only with ancient weapons, but also with objects of magic cult, which have not lost their force even in our days. There was much talk of Satanists who committed blasphemous and ungodly rites on fresh graves.

It even went so far as to say that under the altar of the main Lavra church - the Holy Trinity Cathedral - there is an altar for the celebration of the Black Mass. In general, the human imagination knew no boundaries, painting the most sinister colors of the Nikolskoye cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. The graves of celebrities as a result faded into the background, and many attracted there exactly these satanic stories.

The tourist object of increased demand

Nowadays one can rightly say that among the other necropolises of St. Petersburg Nikolsky cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra enjoys special interest among tourists and residents of the city. Opening hours: 9: 00-17: 00 (October to April) and 9: 00-19: 00 (from May to September). This is not always enough to give an opportunity to examine it all who wish, which is not surprising, given the interest that the citizens cause not only its history, but also the persons buried on it.

For more complete satisfaction of demand, the directorate of the Nikolsky cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra conducts tireless work along with excursion organizations. The services offered by them (both information-cognitive and purely practical, for example, the production of monuments) are very diverse.

Sinner Procopius

And in conclusion you can recall one of those stories, which have already been mentioned above. Especially popular was the legend in those years about a certain monk from Lavra named Prokopy. It was said that, having departed from the true faith, he became a healer and communicated with the evil spirit. Once, Satan himself suggested that he make a deal. Procopius was obliged on Christmas night to kill a sinner on one of the graves, and then curse God before the dawn 666 times. For this he was promised eternal life.

For the sinner was not up, the benefit of the hotel near the "Moscow", and they are there at night enough. But when, having killed her in the cemetery, the monk tried to pronounce the agreed number of curses, he could not keep up until sunrise. In the morning the first visitors discovered a half-decomposed body of a monk, one of whose legs turned into a cat's paw. It is very possible that all this is fiction, but only since then a huge furious cat appeared in the cemetery, whose hair, strangely, reminds the beard of the apostate Procopius. Those who do not believe can go and see.