Novodevichy Cemetery

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Categories: Cemeteries in Moscow | Cemeteries in Russia | 1898 establishments

Novodevichy Cemetery in winter

Novodevichy Cemetery (Russian: Новоде́вичье кла́дбище, Novodevichye kladbishche) is the most famous cemetery in Moscow, Russia, situated next to the World Heritage Site, the 16th-century Novodevichy Convent, which is the city's third most popular tourist site. It should not be confused with the Novodevichy Cemetery in Saint Petersburg.

The cemetery was inaugurated in 1898, when it was judged that there were too many burials within monastery walls. One of the first notables to be buried there was Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, whose gilded tomb is the work of Fyodor Shekhtel. Today, the cemetery holds the tombs of Russian authors, musicians, playwrights, and poets, as well as famous actors, political leaders, and scientists. More than 27,000 are buried at Novodevichy. It has a park-like ambience, dotted with small chapels and large sculpted monuments. It is divided into an eastern and western section; maps are available at the cemetery office.

Under Soviet rule, burial in the Novodevichy Cemetery was second in prestige only to burial in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the Kremlin Wall is no longer used for burials and the Novodevichy Cemetery is used for only the most symbolically significant burials. For example, in April 2007, within one week both the first President of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin and world renowned cellist Mstislav Rostropovich were buried there.

The monument of Nadezhda Alliluyeva-Stalin (Russian: Надежда Сергеевна Аллилуева) who was the second wife of Joseph Stalin. Vandals broke the nose from the face of the monument. Seen here under protective tent.

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The grave of Aleksandr Bakulev (Russian: Александр Николаевич Бакулев) who was a Soviet surgeon.

The grave of Pavel Ivanovich Belyayev (Russian: Павел Иванович Беляев), who was a cosmonaut and flew on the historic Voskhod 2 mission.

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The grave of Artyom Borovik who was a pioneer of investigative journalism in the Soviet Union during the beginning of glasnost.

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Mikhail Bulgakov (Russian: Михаил Афанасьевич Булгаков, Ukrainian: Михайло Опанасович Булгаков) was a Russian-language novelist and playwright. His grave incorporates a stone taken from Gogol's grave during his 1931 reburial.

Grave of Anton Chekhov (Russian: Анто́н Па́влович Че́хов,) was a Russian short story writer and playwright.

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Grave of Nikolai Gogol whose grave was moved in 1931 during the planned destruction of Danilov Monastery.

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The grave of Raisa Maksimovna Gorbachyova (Russian: Раиса Макси́мовна Горбачёва) wife of Mikhail Gorbachev

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Nikita Khrushchev(Russian: Ники́та Серге́евич Хрущёв). His grave at the Novodevichy Cemetery was designed by Ernst Neizvestny, a sculptor he had denounced for promoting "degenerate art".

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Grave of Artem Mikoyan (Russian: Артём Ива́нович Микоя́н). In partnership with Mikhail Iosifovich Gurevich he designed many of the famous MiG military aircraft.

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Grave of Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky (Russian: Влади́мир Влади́мирович Маяко́вский) who was a Russian poet and playwright, among the foremost representatives of early-20th century Russian Futurism.

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Grave of Nikolai Rubinstein who was a Russian pianist and composer. He was the younger brother of Anton Rubinstein and a close friend of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.