One of the oldest burial places is the Vagankovskoye cemetery in Moscow. It occupies an area of more than 48 hectares and is located in the Presnensky district of the Central District (north-west) of the capital.
Story
According to the ancient Christian tradition, necropolises in Russia arose around churches and were usually located within city limits. During epidemics, burying in such cemeteries was dangerous due to the risk of recurring outbreaks of the disease. Therefore, the victims of epidemics were buried outside the city limits. The history of the emergence of the Vagankovsky cemetery is connected with the plague epidemic in Moscow in 1771, which claimed thousands of lives. Panic reigned in the city, people were afraid to leave their houses, plague-stricken corpses were thrown directly into the street. They were collected with sticks with hooks by convicts brought in for this purpose, dressed in solid waxed robes with slits for the eyes.
Empress Catherine II sent Count G. Orlov to Moscow to fight the consequences of the epidemic. By his order, more than ten cemeteries outside the city were organized. One of them appeared in the village of Novoe Vagankovo. On its territory, the dead were buried in deep common graves. New Vagankovo was formed at the beginning of the 17th century in connection with the transfer of the sovereign's kennel outside the city limits. Prior to that, it was located in the village of Vagankovo along with the Poteshny Dvor. Since the 14th century, “amusing people” have lived there: buffoons, jesters, actors. They were distinguished by noisy behavior, revelry, fisticuffs, and drunkenness flourished.
By the 17th century, Moscow had grown, and Vagankovo was next to the boyar chambers not far from the Kremlin. It was located on the site of the current Library. Lenin. Since the Kennel Yard, consisting of 300 hounds, falconers and other servants, who were in charge of falcons and huge packs of dogs, could not be located in the city, they were moved to a nearby suburb to the west of Presnenskaya Zastava (5 km from Vagankovo). So in 1636, New Vagankovo appeared. It existed until 1695, until the Psarny yard moved. Now in its place is the Vagankovsky cemetery, which borrowed its name from the village. The official date of formation is 1771.
Until the 19th century, ordinary people were buried in the cemetery: philistines, peasants, vagabonds, petty officials. The erection of the majestic Church of the Resurrection of the Word in 1831 served as the beginning of the burial of nobles and celebrities. By this time, many Moscow graveyards were closed or moved outside the city due to overflow, and the Vagankovskoye cemetery moved from the outskirts to the city limits and was active. For 247 years of existence, about 500 thousand people were buried on it. Now there are 100 thousand graves in the memorial complex.
origin of name
There is no unequivocal version of the origin of the name. There are several of them. The most common hypothesis is related to the word “whack”, which, according to Dahl's dictionary, means: to laugh, joke, indulge. Since “funny people” lived in Vagankovo, this version is fully justified. Historians associate the name with the collection of a monetary fee for weighing goods on scales (wags).
It is assumed that this place was the intersection of important trade roads and a ford across the Moscow River. Nearby there was a customs outpost called “Vaganets”, and the tax itself was called “Vaganets”. According to another version, the name comes from the word “vagan”, which was called simple “uncouth” men.
celebrity graves
The Vagankovsky necropolis is known as the burial place of famous people of Russia. The first famous burials appeared in the middle of the 19th century. Here you can see the graves:
The place of eternal rest was found by artists of the 19th century:
Since the 20th century, actors, directors, writers, artists, politicians and artists have traditionally been buried at Vagankovo. Many prominent personalities found eternal rest here, including:
Military and historical graves
There are many mass graves and mass graves at the Vagankovsky memorial complex. Here are buried the heroes of the war of 1812, who fell in the Battle of Borodino, the defenders of Moscow in the Great Patriotic War, who did not let the Nazis into the capital, who died in battles and air raids in 1941-1942. Not far from the cemetery, in May 1896, the Khodynskaya tragedy occurred, when almost one and a half thousand people were crushed during the distribution of souvenirs in honor of the coronation of Nicholas II. Mutilated corpses were taken to Vagankovo and piled in the meadow. Those who could be recognized were buried in coffins by relatives.
According to the testimony of the publisher A. Suvorin, “all this was swollen, black, and the stench was such that it was done badly,” so most remained unrecognized, and were buried in mass graves in the 6th section. There is also the so-called “execution”: those buried according to the “hit lists” received by the cemetery commandant from the OGPU during the years of Stalinist repressions from 1926 to 1936. The exact number of “enemies of the people” is not known. Burials were made secretly at night in a remote area in a ravine near a stream. Monuments have been erected to the victims of political repressions and the Khodynka disaster.
Our contemporaries who died during the 1991 putsch and the tragedy that occurred in October 2002 as a result of gas poisoning during the capture of terrorists in the theater center on Dubrovka found eternal rest in the cemetery. The graves are located in different areas, only two young actors of the musical rest nearby.
Saints buried in the cemetery
Orthodox Muscovites keep the memory of the saints buried in the cemetery, although their graves were wiped off the face of the earth during the persecution of the Church. Despite this, many come here for help. Especially revered among believers is Valentin Amfiteatrov, rector of the Kremlin Archangel Church, who died in 1908. He does not have a separate burial place, his body rests in a mass grave among the soldiers of the Second World War. During the construction of the memorial, the godless authorities ordered the revered grave to be demolished with a bulldozer. But people remember and honor Father Valentine, go to him for healing, help and receive it.
Thanks to the efforts of grateful pilgrims, two crosses were erected at the site of the alleged burial. It is known that in 1927 a Moscow saint was buried on Vagankovo - Blessed Schema-nun Martha of Moscow from the John the Baptist Monastery, who died in 1638. To avoid desecration of the imperishable relics by the Bolsheviks, believers reburied them. However, the exact location is not known.
In the unknown graves lie those glorified as saints: Bishop Vasily (Zelentsov) of Priluksky, who went through the horror of the Solovetsky camps and was shot in 1930; Priest John Inyushin, Martyr Macarius (Morzhov), Bishop Maxim (Zhizhilenko), who were shot in June 1931.
Scheme of plots
The memorial complex is divided into 60 sections, the location of which can be seen on the diagram hanging at the entrance. In order not to get lost and quickly find the right grave, you need to know in which area it is located.
Opening hours
The cemetery is open daily:
Where is the cemetery and how to get to it
Vagankovsky necropolis is located at the address: Moscow, st. Sergei Makeev, 15.
You can get to it:
- By metro to the station “Ulitsa 1905 Goda” or “Begovaya” (the distance from both is the same). Further on the sign: “Vagankovsky cemetery” about 800 meters.
- Ground transport: by bus No. 6, 69, 64, 39,152, 706; trolleybus number 5k and 35.