Piskarevskoe Cemetery: how to get

St. Petersburg is beautiful in every way. However, not only the royal palaces, magnificent monuments, museums and other attractions attract tourists to their streets. No less interesting are its necropolises. And not even the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, nor the Novodevichye cemetery, where many famous people have found their last shelter. There is another mournful place in St. Petersburg, about which many heard. This Piskarevskoe cemetery. A pogost that does not impress visitors with an abundance of ancient or rich modern monuments and ornate epitaphs. Necropolis consisting of almost only long hills of mass graves, in which a huge number of those who died in the terrible days of the Leningrad blockade were buried. The names of many of them are still unknown, and their memory is memorialized only by modest monuments - granite slabs, on which the year of burial is stamped out. And instead of the epitaph, there is a sickle and a hammer for the townspeople who died from starvation, and the star for the defending soldiers.

To remember and know ...

Piskarevskoe cemetery is nothing more than a blockade necropolis. A mournful monument that has become for all the inhabitants of the world a kind of symbol of the courage, stamina and tremendous strength of the spirit of those who defended Leningrad, and those who worked there from the last forces for the sake of victory, freezing and dying of hunger. St. Petersburg. Piskarevskoe cemetery. This all - synonymous with the words of the blockade, death, hunger, honor and glory. And only here, at the Piskarevsky cemetery, you can literally feel the horror of those terrible nine hundred days, when death every second, angrily smirking, could take anyone, regardless of age, sex and position. And realize how many misfortunes and misfortunes the second world has brought, and not only to blockade workers, but to the whole world.

History

It must be said that today in school pupils receive not absolutely correct information concerning this necropolis. According to the materials of the textbook, the Piskarevskoye memorial cemetery is a large mass grave for those killed during the siege and war. The time of burial is from one thousand nine hundred and forty-one to one thousand nine hundred and forty-five.

But everything is a little different. Leningrad and in the pre-war time was a huge metropolis. Aspiring to the city of Petra, non-residents are no less than in the capital itself. In the late thirties, there were no fewer than three million inhabitants. People married, gave birth to children and died too. Therefore, in the thirty-seventh, in connection with the shortage of seats in the city churchyards, the city executive committee decided to open a new cemetery. The choice fell on Piskarevka - the northern outskirts of Leningrad. Thirty hectares of land began to be prepared for new burials, and the first graves appeared here in the thirty-ninth. And in the fortieth Piskarevskoye cemetery became the burial place of those killed during the Finnish war. Even today it is possible to find these individual graves in the north-western part of the churchyard.

It was like that ...

But who could have guessed then that such a terrible day would come when it would be urgent to dig a trench, no, not even digging, but hollowing through the frozen ground to bury ten thousand and forty-three people at once. This was the twentieth day of February of 1942. And, I must say, the dead were "lucky". Because sometimes on a huge snow-covered field, which everyone now knows as the Piskarevskoye memorial cemetery, for three or even four days lay dead in stacks of dead people. And the number of them sometimes "off scale" for twenty, or even twenty-five thousand. Terrible days, terrible time. Sometimes it happened that along with waiting for their turn the dead had to bury their gravediggers too - people died right at the cemetery. But someone had to do this job ...

For what?

How could it happen that a modest, almost rural cemetery yesterday, today - a monument of world significance? Why this rural pogost was prepared for such a terrible fate? And for whatever reason, after hearing the words of the Piskarevskoye memorial cemetery, I want to kneel. The reason for this is a terrible war. And those who started it. Moreover, the destiny of Leningrad was predetermined already on September twenty-ninth of the forty-first. The "top" of destinies - the "great" Führer - adopted on this day the directive, according to which the city was supposed to be simply wiped from the face of the earth. Everything is simple - a blockade, constant shelling, a massive bombing. The fascists, you see, believed that they were completely not interested in the existence of such a city as Petersburg. He had absolutely no value for them. However, what else could you expect from these inhuman ... Yes, and who are interested in their values ...

How many died ...

The history of the Leningrad blockade is far from what the Soviet propaganda talked about it. Yes, it's selfless courage, it's fighting with the enemy, it's boundless love for your native city and your homeland. But first of all it's horror, death, hunger, which sometimes pushed and for terrible crimes. And for someone, these desperate years became a time of recovery, someone could profit from the endless human grief, and someone lost everything that is possible - family, children, health. And some - and life. The last was 641 803 people. Of these, 420,000 found their last shelter in the communal graves of the Piskarevsky cemetery. And many were buried without documents. In addition, in this pogost rest and defenders of the inflexible city. There are 70,000 of them.

After the war

The most terrible years - the forty-first, and then the forty-second - were left behind. In the forty-third, already the Leningraders did not die in the thousands, then the blockade ended, and after it the war. Piskarevskoe cemetery was opened for individual burials up to the fiftieth year. In those days, as is known, all speeches about total graves were considered seditious. So, of course, the massive laying of wreaths at Piskarevsky Cemetery was by no means the most popular event. But people did not aspire to carry flowers to their graves and other people's relatives. They wore bread ... What was so lacking in the besieged Leningrad. What could save a life in its time to each of the remaining in Piskarevo land.

Construction of the memorial

Today, every resident of St. Petersburg knows what Piskarevsky Cemetery is like. How to get there? It is enough to ask such a question to anyone you meet to immediately get an exhaustive answer to it. In the post-war years, the situation was not so unambiguous. And it was only after Stalin's death that a decision was made to build a memorial on this mournful land. The project was developed by architects A. V. Vasiliev, E. A. Levinson. Officially, the memorial "Piskarevskoe Cemetery" was opened in the year one thousand nine hundred and sixty. The ceremony took place on the ninth of May, the day of the fifteenth anniversary of the victory over the hated fascism. In the necropolis, the Eternal Flame was lit , and from that moment on, the laying of flowers at Piskarevsky Cemetery became an official event, which is held in accordance with all the festive dates associated with those events that are actually related to the war and the siege days. The main ones are the Day of the lifting of the blockade and, of course, the Victory Day.

What a necropolis looks like today

In the center of it an unusually magnificent monument is erected: the Motherland towers over the granite ridge (granite sculpture, sponsored by Isaeva VV and Taurit RK). In her hands she holds a garland of oak leaves, braided with a mourning ribbon. From her figure to the Eternal Flame stretches mourning alley, the length of which is three hundred meters. All of it is seated with red roses. And on both sides of it are the mass graves, in which lie those who fought, lived, defended and died for Leningrad.

The same sculptors created all the images that are on the stele: human figures bent over mourning wreaths in grief, holding lowered banners in their hands. At the entrance to the memorial there are stone pavilions. There is a museum in them.

Museum exposition

In principle, the Piskarevskoye cemetery itself has the status of a museum. Excursions take place here every day. As for the exposition itself, located in the pavilions, unique archival documents are collected here, not only ours, but also German ones. There are also lists of people who are buried here, although, of course, they are far from complete. In addition, the museum exposition contains letters from sieges, their diaries, household items and many other interesting things. For those who would like to know if one of the dead in the siege of relatives or friends is at rest on the Piskaryov cemetery, an e-book has been specially set up, in which it is possible to enter the necessary data and obtain information. Which is very convenient, because, although many years have passed since then, the war is still reminiscent of itself, and not all those who suffered from it know exactly what grave to go to worship their untimely departed relatives.

What else is in the necropolis

In the depths of it there are walls with bas-reliefs. They are engraved on the lines that Olga Berggolts, a poet who survived all nine hundred days of the blockade, dedicated to her city. Behind the bas-reliefs is a marble pool, in which visitors throw coins. Probably, in order to return again and again here, pay tribute to those who died to prevent fascism from wiping out their native city from the face of the earth. A mournful and amazing place Piskarevskoe cemetery. How to get to it, you can find out at the end of the article. There we will provide all the necessary information for tourists. But before that, you need to say a few words about something completely different.

What the memorial lacks

If you listen to the reviews of visitors and residents of St. Petersburg, you can come to a disappointing conclusion. Yes, nothing is forgotten. And yes, no one is forgotten. But today, many who come to bow to the graves of the defenders of Leningrad and the dead blockade, note that they lack the atmosphere of tranquility and peace. And it is almost unanimous to say that it is necessary to erect a temple at the Piskarevsky cemetery. Yes, such as to pray for their own, and not only their deceased could in it people of any religion. While at Piskarevsky cemetery there is only a small chapel in the name of John the Baptist. To somehow overcome the spirit of despair, hovering over graves, there is not enough sculptures, monuments and fences.

Piskarevskoe Cemetery: how to reach

How to get to the memorial museum? The address is: St. Petersburg, Piskarevskoye cemetery, Nepokorennyh Avenue, 72. Bus No. 80, 123 and 128 run from Metro Muzhestva station. Bus No. 178 runs from the Akademicheskaya metro station. The final stop is Piskarevskoye Cemetery. How to get to the memorial on holidays? From the same station "Metro Muzhestva" these days there are special buses.

Information for tourists

• The memorial is equipped in such a way that people with disabilities can freely access both its territory and the museum exposition.
• Not far from the cemetery is a comfortable hotel.
• The museum pavilion is open from 9am to 6pm (daily).
• Excursions around the cemetery are also held daily. In winter and autumn from 9am to 6pm, in summer and spring, the time of their prolongation is extended to 21:00.
• It is necessary to make an appointment beforehand by calling one of the phone numbers that can be found on the official website of the memorial complex.
• On average, about half a million tourists visit the memorial a year.
• Mourning ceremonies are held four times a year.

Memorable dates (laying flowers)

• January 27 - the day of liberation of the city from the fascist blockade.
• May 8 - in honor of the anniversary of the Victory.
• June 22 - the day of the beginning of the war.
• September 8 - the day of the beginning of the blockade.