Novodevichy Cemetery Moscow

Novodevichy Cemetery

When we first read about Novodevichy Cemetery online we knew we had to visit it, if for nothing else but for it’s artistic value…

But first a bit of history, Novodevichy Cemetery opened in 1898 and designed by Ivan Mashkov who is famous for his restoration of  the Dormition Cathedral of Moscow Kremlin, Novodevichy Convent and other medieval buildings.

Burial in the Novodevichy Cemetery was second only to burial in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Novodevichy Cemetery was used for the most symbolically significant burials this includes Boris Yeltsin and Anton Chekhov (a writer) to name a few. Sadly due to our lack of Russian language and a lack of any signage we did not manage to actually link any of the graves we saw at the time however since then we have managed to research who some of them were.

Don’t think our visit was a waste though what we did find was one of the graves we saw to anyone in particular most bizarre but interesting places to visit part memorial, part art gallery it really gives you an insight into some cultural differences of how we deal with death.

Uniquely  almost every plot has a life-size statue of the interred person on it, most relating to their life career career so you have ballet dancers, obstetricians and even tank commanders, all going about their daily life but frozen in time.

As you can see some really are artworks left for us all to appreciate…. if you ever get to Moscow make sure you check Novodevichy Cemetery out. It is well worth a visit.

Vitaly Popkov
Vitaly Popkov- Pilot

Novodevichy Cemetery

Sergei Gerasimov
Sergei Gerasimov – Film Director and Screen Write

Novodevichy Cemetery 2 Novodevichy Cemetery 4

 

Arkadii Sivkov
Arkadii Sivkov – WWII LT General
Klavdia Afonina
Klavdia Afonina – Tank Commander?
Igor Moiseyev
Igor Moiseyev 20th-century choreographer of folk dance
Galina Ulanova
Galina Ulanova

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Yuri Nikulin
Yuri Nikulin – famous Russian Clown and actor
Leonid Persianinov
Leonid Persianinov Obstetrician
Pavel Belyayev
Pavel Belyayev Cosmonaut
Vasily Tikhomirov
Vasily Tikhomirov ? Dancer and Choreographer
Vladamir Durov
Vladamir Durov – Animal Trainer
Remembered as always on the phone? (there were a few of these)
Remembered as always on the phone? (there were a few of these)
Ulia Reznichenko
Ulia Reznichenko- Design Engineer
Alexander Lebed
Alexander Lebed – Army General and Politician
Kirill Moskalenko
Kirill Moskalenko General
Sergey Anokhin
Sergey Anokhin- test pilot
Viktor Pollyanichko
Right Grave- Viktor Pollyanichko-Politician Assassinated

 

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Amet-Khan Sultan
Amet-Khan Sultan- Fighter and Test Pilot
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6 thoughts on “Novodevichy Cemetery Moscow

  1. I have to say I would totally make a statue of my dog when she passes… never seen a cemetery that actually made statues of everyone who died. Wonder what the backstory is to it

    1. I am not sure we visited another one in St Petersburg and they had a couple of statues but nothing like this on. I plan to research it a bit more when I have some time.

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