Serafimovskoe cemetery - a memory of the past

Probably, in each city there are such memorable places that it is not customary to demonstrate to all guests of the city, there do not lead excursionists. However, they have a rich history and are of great importance for the past and the present. Serafimovskoe cemetery (St. Petersburg) refers precisely to such sights of the city. It is located in an area that was once one of the poor outskirts of St. Petersburg. At the end of the 19th century, peasants from the surrounding villages settle here, or those who decided to try their luck in the big city, came to work. By that time, two cemeteries were already working in the district: Blagoveshchenskoe and Novodeverevskoe. But the number of inhabitants grew and, sadly enough, all people are mortal. So, in time, these St. Petersburg cemeteries could not simply accept the new dead.

The question arose about the allocation of land and the construction of a new churchyard. The Diocese acquired a site near the Primorsky Railway. This became the site of a new necropolis. Here, in 1906, the church was laid, and by the beginning of 1907 it was consecrated by the name of St. Seraphim of Sarov, one of the most revered Orthodox saints. And the graveyard was called "Serafimovskoe cemetery". And the burial began even before the church was laid, in 1905.

Serafimovskoe cemetery served as the last shelter for poor peasants, soldiers of the First World War who died at the front or in hospitals. For a long time it was one of the main urban necropolises. A huge number of "guests" found peace here during the Great Patriotic War - more than one hundred thousand soldiers and civilians.

The lion's share from their number fell during the siege of Leningrad. Trucks daily brought here mountains of corpses found on the streets of the city, people who were grief-stricken came here to bury friends and relatives. After a while after the blockade began, it became clear that Serafimovskoe cemetery simply could not accommodate all those who met their end in the besieged city. Mass graves were transferred to the Piskarevskoye cemetery. As soon as the blockade was lifted, the church of Seraphim of Sarov filled the city with a two-day bell ringing, for the first time since in 1933 the temples and cathedrals were banned from it. By the way, throughout the war the church worked, inspiring hope in the souls of believers. An exception was only in 1942, when she replaced the morgue.

After the war, the territory of the cemetery was expanded. Nowadays mass graves are no longer carried out on it. It remained the only one among the three: the Novodezhvenskoe and the Annunciation cemeteries were destroyed during the high-rise development of the district. Now the Serafimovskoe cemetery can be called a military memorial complex. In recent decades, here are buried the military, who died in the performance of duty. Many famous people - military, scientists, cultural figures - found the last refuge here.

Memorials serve as a tribute to the memory of the heroes of our country. This memorial ensemble in memory of the victims of the besieged Leningrad and the eternal fire in front of him, the memorial of the soldiers who died in Afghanistan, a monument to the dead members of the crew of the submarine Kursk, installed on the site of their burial.