Whose graves are near the Kremlin wall. Necropolis near the Kremlin wall

There are still many rumors around the necropolis near the Kremlin wall. And that just does not say human rumor! They say that many of the remains were recently secretly transferred and buried in ordinary cemeteries ... They say that the ghosts of the deceased (including Stalin and Brezhnev) regularly appear here ... And they also say that representatives of science and culture are preparing an appeal to the president, in which they ask to return the tradition and again bury the most prominent personalities in the Kremlin wall or at its foot.

Like it or not, the MK correspondent found out, having been on duty at the main graveyard of the country.

Wake at the “teeth”

- There is no way here, - the guard blocked my way to the monuments. - By prior arrangement only.

- This place is under special state protection and protection of UNESCO, - employees of the commandant's office explain. - It is considered a historical monument. But it's not only that. You understand, it is impossible to allow burials, God forbid, to be defiled, as is sometimes the case in ordinary churchyards. And there are so many great people resting here! The constant duty of soldiers and officers, which is organized here, is also a tribute to them.

- Or maybe everything is under current here now and the alarm goes underground?

No one will reveal such secrets to you. In our memory, the cases when someone persistently wanted to break through to the graves can be counted on the fingers. In addition, access here is not at all prohibited, as many mistakenly think. Those who visit the Mausoleum can walk along the graves near the Kremlin wall. However, staying here, just like at the Mausoleum, is not recommended.

- And all these strictness apply to the relatives of the deceased?

- Not. They can come at any time, and not only during the days and hours of the Mausoleum (these are all days of the week, except Monday and Friday from 10.00 to 13.00). Although there are small restrictions for them - visits during daylight hours and except for those days when official events are held. But relatives, unlike the curious, can stand at the graves, lay flowers. But before that, they still have to warn about their visit. And in order to take a picture, they must also get a “go-ahead” here. Usually the application is considered only a couple of days.

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The first burials appeared on Red Square in November 1917. These were mass graves in which 238 revolutionaries were buried - soldiers, workers, sailors and nurses who fell in battles for the power of the Soviets. At the opening of the necropolis, Lenin delivered a speech, and the choir performed a cantata to poems by Sergei Yesenin “Sleep, beloved brothers, in the light of imperishable tombs.” In 1919, Yakov Sverdlov was buried on Red Square. Built in 1924, the Lenin Mausoleum became the center of the necropolis.

Looking ahead, I will say that on the day of my “duty” no one approached the graves near the Kremlin wall. The mausoleum was closed, relatives did not apply. In general, relatives rarely come here. Mostly for some holidays, birthdays or death days. Recently, for example, the grandson of Leonid Brezhnev came. Brought on November 10, the day of grandfather's death, a large bouquet of roses. He stood silent for a few minutes.

By the way, visitors cannot commemorate the legendary relatives by pouring a glass: drinking alcohol near the Kremlin wall is strictly prohibited. Food cannot be brought in.

And just recently the daughter of Marshal Biryuzov and the son of Marshal Zakharov came. In general, no records of visitors to burials are kept. And no one calls relatives who have not visited the ashes of their eminent fathers, grandfathers or great-grandfathers for many years. It is considered to be of no use. After all, any grave, even if none of the relatives have visited it for half a century (there are such), is looked after daily: there are no abandoned graves on Red Square and cannot be.

Inviolable graves

The longer I wander from monument to monument, the more I find out unexpected details. It turns out that some relatives (especially distant relatives) come with one goal - to take a couple of pictures as a keepsake. So that later you can brag to your friends.

For all the past years, not one of the bodies in the churchyard was moved.

“The bodies or ashes of all these people actually lie here,” says my escort Evgeny. And nobody touched them. Except for Stalin, who was moved from the Mausoleum here in 1961. Even if a person was posthumously condemned by the party, his burial in the Kremlin wall was not liquidated. They did not even touch the urns with the ashes of such odious people as Vyshinsky and Mekhlis. You can look at them. In total, there are 115 urns with ashes in the wall, and at its foot there are 12 graves. Between the graves and the wall there are two 75-meter mass graves, where the remains of 289 people are buried, including even a 12-year-old child. This boy died in a revolutionary battle in 1917.

Urns with ashes in the wall are not visible - they are hidden in niches cut in the Kremlin wall and covered with memorial plaques. This year, the plates have been restored by experts, returning them to their original luster. But the holes in the wall were not patched up.

“These are recesses for the flags of the republics of the USSR, which were hung here for every holiday in the Soviet years,” security officers enlighten me. - Since they are our history, and they are visible only at close range, it was decided not to touch them. You better pay attention to the fact that five plates are located separately from all. And the names on them are clearly non-Russian. These are the dead fighters of the International.

- Oh, there's a mistake! - I point to one of the plates with the name of Miron Vladimirov (in parentheses it is indicated that he is also Comrade Lev). - Look, it says “socialist”.

My guides just shrug their shoulders. They say that, perhaps, when it was made (it was 1925 in the yard), it was customary to write it that way. Or maybe they really made a mistake, and now experts consider it unacceptable to correct it - after all, this is also history.

BY THE WAY

Opponents of the burial on Red Square do not know that in tsarist times along the Kremlin wall, only between the Spassky and Nikolsky gates, there were fifteen small churchyards (according to the number of churches located there). In 1552, Tsar Ivan the Terrible, all the boyars and close associates were present at the solemn funeral of the holy fool Basil the Blessed on the graveyard of the Church of the Holy Trinity above the Kremlin moat. (Now in its place is St. Basil's Cathedral.) The remains of the holy fool John of Vologda are also buried under a bushel.

Flowers for Stalin

According to FSO employees, visitors to the Mausoleum, passing near the urns with ashes, invariably slow down at the tablets with the names of Gorky, Zhukov, Korolev, Grechko, Gagarin and Chkalov. And it is to them that flowers are often placed. As for the graves, here Stalin's grave is always strewn with live roses and carnations - it's a sin to hide, a good half of all visitors to the necropolis go to him. Sometimes they even let a tear at the grave. How to explain this love of the people for the one who shed so much of their blood? Personally, I decided to lay the flowers that I brought with me to Brezhnev - after all, he recently had a date.

- Do all 12 dead lie in one line? - I'm interested in my "guides".

- In general, yes. All of them are buried with their heads towards the Kremlin, and their feet towards Red Square. That's how they were originally laid - and no one has ever touched. So all the stories about the exhumation are fiction. Think for yourself: it is unlikely that one of the relatives would allow any manipulations with bodies (and such permission is required by law). And why is it necessary? In what state the remains are now, no one knows. But the coffins were probably preserved in their original form, since they were all made using a special technology from precious woods. Such in any soil can lie almost for centuries. And the ground near the Kremlin walls is not too wet, which allows the remains to be stored for a long time. As for the mass graves, at one time special large coffins were made for them from solid material. Here, for your information, mostly not bodies, but fragments of them. After all, some of the dead were victims of explosions and disasters. Some of the buried are not even identified. In 1974, these granite banners, wreaths on marble slabs and the inscription “Eternal memory to the heroes of the revolution who died in the struggle for Soviet power” appeared over their mass graves.

By the way, it is impossible to liquidate the necropolis (for political, religious or some other reasons) precisely because of mass graves. According to Russian law, they are not allowed to touch the remains without the permission of relatives. If it is not even known who lies here, then how to find these very relatives?

- And why do some of the buried, for example, Chernenko, have a black bust on the monument? - I continue to pester with questions. “Everyone else is brown, gray or red.

- There is no subtext here. Just at that time, they found a suitable stone (all busts are made of natural marble) of exactly this color. All monuments are in excellent condition and do not need restoration.

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The last to be buried at the Kremlin wall was the General Secretary of the CPSU KU Chernenko. He was buried in March 1985. And the last one whose ashes were placed in the Kremlin wall was Marshal Ustinov, who died in December 1984.

Not only the graves are in excellent condition here. A year and a half ago, employees of the State Unitary Enterprise “Kremlin Improvement” changed the soil, planted arborvitae and replaced most of the old blue fir trees. Gardeners cut all shrubs and Christmas trees almost daily, give them the correct shape. And for their freshness, they built a special watering system that turns on and off automatically.

So that during the rain it was not slippery to walk along the paths near the wall, they made special plums. So there are no puddles here at all. Since there is a lot of dust, dirt and smog in the city center, special cleaners wipe down monuments and memorial plaques every day at dawn. And already experts make sure that the flowers are always fresh - withered flowers have no place on Red Square. Near each grave and each urn, there must be 4 red carnations. Only by touching them, you understand that they are artificial. But still, they have to be changed quite often - after all, they lie under the snow and rain. I was very surprised to notice that only near one burial there were pink carnations - at Marshal Malinovsky. But there was no subtext in this either - just the flowers lying here deteriorated, and they were recently replaced with those that were in stock.

I look around the Kremlin wall from the Spasskaya Tower to the Senate Tower. The potential of the necropolis is great. According to rough estimates, fifty more urns can be buried on each side, and a dozen more graves at the foot. But there was no decree in this regard. And only the President of the Russian Federation can make such a decision.

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List of those buried in 12 separate graves (from right to left) Konstantin Chernenko, Semyon Budyonny, Kliment Voroshilov, Andrei Zhdanov, Mikhail Frunze, Yakov Sverdlov, Leonid Brezhnev, Felix Dzerzhinsky, Yuri Andropov, Mikhail Kalinin, Joseph Stalin, Mikhail Suslov.

The Kremlin wall and the territory adjacent to it in November 1917 became a memorial cemetery on Red Square. The graves of prominent political figures (and military) of the new Soviet state appeared near the wall. In addition, the wall itself became a columbarium for urns with ashes, the Moscow Kremlin. In the 1920s and 30s, foreign communists were also buried there (John Reed, Sen Katayama, Clara Zetkin, and others). The first graves that appeared on the Moscow necropolis were two mass graves of participants in the storming of the Kremlin. After the death of V.I. Lenin, in 1924, the Mausoleum was built, which became the center of the necropolis, and later, after the alteration of the mausoleum, into the stands of the political leaders of the USSR.

The necropolis was replenished with two types of burials:
In the first case, these were especially prominent members of the Communist Party and the Soviet government (Sverdlov, and then Frunze, Dzerzhinsky, Kalinin, Zhdanov, Voroshilov, Budyonny, Suslov, Brezhnev, Andropov and Chernenko) were interred near the Kremlin wall to the right of the Mausoleum without cremation , in the coffin and in the grave. JV Stalin was buried in the same grave in 1961, before that the body of JV Stalin was also in Lenin's mausoleum. Above them are monuments - sculptural portraits.

In the second case, from 1930 to 1980, most of the deceased persons were cremated, and the urns with their ashes were immured in the wall (on both sides of the Senate Tower) under commemorative plates on which the name and dates of life were engraved (114 people in total). Starting from 1925-1936, the ashes of the cremated were immured on the right side of the Necropolis, but in 1934, 1935 and 1936 Kirov, Kuibyshev and Gorky were buried on the left side; starting from 1937, the urns with the ashes of the dead completely moved to the left side and were produced only there until 1976 (the only exception is G.K. Zhukov, his urn with the ashes was immured in 1974 on the right side); and since 1977 urn burials resumed on the right side.

Politicians who were objectionable to the current regime were not buried near the Kremlin wall (for example, N. S. Khrushchev, A. I. Mikoyan and N. V. Podgorny rest at the Novodevichy cemetery). In the event that a particular person was posthumously condemned by the party, his burial in the Kremlin wall was not liquidated (for example, the urns with the ashes of S. S. Kamenev and A. Ya. Vyshinsky were not touched). In the Kremlin wall there are urns with the ashes of prominent pilots (1930s-1940s), dead cosmonauts (1960s-1970s), prominent scientists (A.P. Karpinsky, I.V. Kurchatov, S.P. Korolev, M. V. Keldysh).

Until 1976, military leaders with the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union were buried near the Kremlin wall, but later they began to bury them in other cemeteries as well. The last person buried at the Kremlin wall was K. U. Chernenko (March 1985). The last urn was immured in the Kremlin wall - belonged to D. F. Ustinov. (December 1984)

The fate of the burial was decided twice. For the first time in 1953, the Council of Ministers and the Central Committee of the CPSU decided to liquidate the necropolis and transfer the ashes of those resting near the wall, as well as the bodies of Lenin and Stalin, to the Pantheon being designed; however, this decision was not implemented. In the 1990s-2000s, the question of liquidating the necropolis was repeatedly raised (for political, religious or other reasons); However, opponents of this were motivated by the fact that such actions violate the current legislation, according to which reburial without the permission of relatives is prohibited. In addition, not all those buried in mass graves are known by name.
A lot of jokes were created about burials in the Kremlin wall, one of the most popular,
"The mother-in-law comes to her son-in-law and says
Dear son-in-law, as you wish, but I would be buried in the Kremlin wall.
The next day, the son-in-law comes to the mother-in-law and says
Dear mother-in-law, as you wish, and the funeral is tomorrow."

Necropolis near the Kremlin wall- a memorial cemetery on Moscow's Red Square, near the wall (and in the wall serving as a columbarium for urns with ashes) of the Moscow Kremlin. The burial place of prominent figures (mainly political and military) of the Soviet state;

in the 1920s-1930s, foreign communists were also buried there (John Reed, Sen Katayama, Clara Zetkin).

History of the necropolis

mass graves

The necropolis began to take shape in November 1917.

On November 5, 7 and 8, the Social Democrat newspaper published appeals to all organizations and individuals to provide information about those who fell during the October events of 1917 in Moscow, fighting on the side of the Bolsheviks.

On November 7, at a morning meeting, the Moscow Military Revolutionary Committee decided to arrange a mass grave on Red Square and scheduled a funeral for November 10.

On November 8, two mass graves were dug: between the Kremlin wall and the tram rails that lay parallel to it. One grave started from the Nikolsky Gate and stretched to the Senate Tower, then there was a small gap, and the second went to the Spassky Gate.

On November 9, newspapers published detailed routes of funeral processions in 11 city districts and the hours of their arrival on Red Square. Given the possibility of White Guard provocations, the Moscow Military Revolutionary Committee decided to arm all soldiers participating in the funeral with rifles.

On November 10, 238 coffins were lowered into mass graves. In total, 240 people were buried in 1917 (14.11 - Lisinova and 17.11 - Valdovsky) (the names of 57 people are known for sure).

Later, 15 more mass graves of revolution fighters appeared near the Kremlin wall, who died at different times of their own death and were later buried in common graves, or died together in catastrophes (for example, during the crash of an air car in which Artyom (Sergeev) and a number of other Bolsheviks died) .

After 1927 this practice ceased.

As a result, more than 300 people were buried in mass graves, the exact names of 110 people are known. In the book of Abramov, a martyrology is given, in which 122 more people are indicated, who, most likely, are also buried in mass graves.

In the early years of Soviet power, on November 7 and May 1, an honorary military guard was posted at the Mass Graves, and the regiments took the oath.

In 1919, Ya. M. Sverdlov was buried for the first time in a separate grave on Red Square.

In 1924, the Lenin Mausoleum was built, which became the center of the necropolis.

Burials in the 1920s-1980s

Subsequently, the necropolis was replenished with two types of burials:

especially prominent figures of the party and government (Sverdlov, and then Frunze, Dzerzhinsky, Kalinin, Zhdanov, Voroshilov, Budyonny, Suslov, Brezhnev, Andropov and Chernenko) are buried near the Kremlin wall to the right of the Mausoleum no cremation, in the coffin and in the grave. In the same grave, in 1961, the body of I.V. Stalin, taken out of the Mausoleum, was buried. Above them are monuments - sculptural portraits by S. D. Merkurov (busts at the first four burials in 1947 and Zhdanov in 1949), N. V. Tomsky (busts of Stalin, 1970, and Budyonny, 1975), N. I. Bratsuna (bust of Voroshilov, 1970), I. M. Rukavishnikov (busts of Suslov, 1983, and Brezhnev, 1983), V. A. Sonin (bust of Andropov, 1985), L. E. Kerbel (bust of Chernenko, 1986).
most of the people buried near the Kremlin wall in the 1930s-1980s were cremated, and the urns with their ashes were immured in the wall (on both sides of the Senate Tower) under the memorial plates, which indicate the name and dates of life (114 people in total) . In 1925-1936 (before S. S. Kamenev and A. P. Karpinsky), urns were mostly walled up on the right side of the Necropolis, but in 1934, 1935 and 1936 Kirov, Kuibyshev and Maxim Gorky were buried on the left side; starting from 1937 (Ordzhonikidze, Maria Ulyanova), burials completely moved to the left side and were carried out only there until 1976 (the only exception is G.K. Zhukov, whose ashes were buried in 1974 on the right side, next to S.S. Kamenev); from 1977 until the cessation of burials, they again “returned” to the right side.

Politicians who were in disgrace or retired at the time of death were not buried near the Kremlin wall (for example, N. S. Khrushchev, A. I. Mikoyan and N. V. Podgorny rest at the Novodevichy cemetery).

In the event that a particular person was posthumously condemned by the party, his burial in the Kremlin wall was not liquidated (for example, the urns with the ashes of S. S. Kamenev, A. Ya. Vyshinsky and L. Z. Mekhlis were not touched in any way).

In the necropolis near the Kremlin wall, in addition to the party and state leaders of the USSR, there are the ashes of outstanding pilots (1930s-1940s), dead cosmonauts (1960s-1970s), prominent scientists (A.P. Karpinsky, I.V. Kurchatov, S. P. Korolev, M. V. Keldysh).

Until 1976, all those who died with the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union were buried near the Kremlin wall, but, starting with P.K. Koshevoy, marshals were also buried in other cemeteries.

The last person buried at the Kremlin wall was K. U. Chernenko (March 1985). The last one whose ashes were placed in the Kremlin wall was D. F. Ustinov, who died in December 1984.

Registration

On June 28, 1918, the Presidium of the Moscow City Council approved a project according to which mass graves should be framed with three rows of lindens.

In the autumn of 1931, Blue Spruces were planted along the mass graves instead of lindens. On our land, under conditions of low temperatures, blue spruce does not take root well, it almost does not produce seeds. For more than 15 years, the scientist-breeder Kovtunenko, Ivan Porfiryevich (1891-1984) worked on this problem.

Until 1973, in addition to firs, mountain ash, lilac and hawthorn grew in the necropolis. And in the 1920s, the palm tree also grew, but subsequently the palm tree did not take root.

In 1973 - 1974, according to the project of architects G. M. Vulfson and V. P. Danilushkin and sculptor P. I. Bondarenko, the necropolis was reconstructed. Then banners made of granite, wreaths on marble slabs, flower vases appeared, new blue spruces were planted in groups of three (since the old ones, growing as a solid wall, blocked the view of the Kremlin wall and memorial plaques), the stands and granite of the Mausoleum were updated. Instead of four firs, one was planted behind each bust.

The fate of the necropolis

In 1953, a resolution was adopted by the Council of Ministers and the Central Committee of the CPSU on the liquidation of the necropolis and the transfer of the ashes of those resting near the wall, as well as the bodies of Lenin and Stalin, to the Pantheon being designed;

soon this project was forgotten.

Since 1974, the necropolis has been protected by the state as a monument. In the 1990s-2000s, the question of liquidating the necropolis was repeatedly raised (for political, religious or other reasons); however, this is contrary to the current legislation, which prohibits the transfer of ashes without the will of relatives (for most of those buried near the Kremlin wall, it is difficult to obtain such consent, not to mention the fact that not all those buried in mass graves are known by name).

List of those resting at the Kremlin wall

Separate graves

(from right to left)

Chernenko Konstantin Ustinovich (1911-1985)

Budyonny Semyon Mikhailovich (1883-1973)

Voroshilov Kliment Efremovich (1881-1969)

Zhdanov Andrey Alexandrovich (1896-1948)

Frunze Mikhail Vasilyevich (1885-1925)

Sverdlov Yakov Mikhailovich (1885-1919)

Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich (1906-1982)

Dzerzhinsky Felix Edmundovich (1877-1926)

Andropov Yuri Vladimirovich (1914-1984)

Kalinin Mikhail Ivanovich (1875-1946)

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich (1878/79-1953)

Suslov Mikhail Andreevich (1902-1982)

Mass graves of the fighters of the revolution

1917

Andreev Pavlik, Baskakov T. A., Valdovsky Ya. M., Vever O., Virzemnek O. K., Voytovich V. E..

« Dvintsy»

Sapunov E. N., Voronov A. P., Skvortsov G. A., Timofeev A. T., Zaporozhets A. P., Nazarov I. A., Usoltsev M. T.,

Trunov N. R., Gavrikov Ya. V., Vladimirov S. V., Inyushev A. A., Nedelkin T. F., Timofeev G..

"Kremlin"

Dudinskiy I. A., Agafoshin S., Goryunov S., Zvonov, Zimin I., Ivanov I., Kokorev S., Kosarev A., Kospyanik P., Krashenilnikov V., Leshchikov A., Lizenko F., Lysenkov F. ., Petukhov I., Romanov V., Ryzhev M., Smirnov A., Sologudinov F., Soplyakov, Fedorov S., Khokhlov S., Tsipliakov S., Shefarevich V..

Elagin G. L., Zvejnek Ya. E., Kireev A. A..

Lisinova L. A., Mikhailov L. F., Morozov V. E..

"Scooters"

Tomsky G.V., Drozdov F., Esaulov D..

Sakharov, Snegirev N. M., Stepachev I. G., Sukharev A. A., Shiryaev S. A., Shcherbakov P. P..

Vantorin A.I., Tyapkin P.G., Erov I.S.,

Barasevich F. K., Gadomsky A. V., Draudyn M., Zasukhin P. A., Kvardakov A. V., Kuchutenkov A. A., Pekalov S. M., Pryamikov N. N., Smilga I. I. ., Horak A., Shvyrkov E. P.,

Zveinek G. P., Zagorsky V. M., Volkova M., Ignatova I. M., Kvash A. L., Kolbin, Kropotov N. N., Nikolaeva A. F., Razorenov-Nikitin G. N., Safonov A. K., Titov G. V., Khaldina A. N., Mokryak M. I., Stankevich A. V..

Podbelsky V. N., Bocharov Ya. I., Khomyakov I. M., Yanyshev M. P., Osen A., Armand I. F., John Reed, Kovshov V. D..

Karpov L. Ya., Rusakov I. V.,

aircar accident

Abakovsky V. I., Artyom (Sergeev F. A.), Gelbrich O., Konstantinov I., Strupat O., Freeman D., Hewlett V. D..

Afonin E. L., Zhilin I. Ya..

Vorovskiy V.V., Vorovskaya D.M.

Nogin V.P., Likhachev V.M..

Narimanov N.

One of the main sights of the capital, by which even foreigners recognize Moscow, is the Kremlin wall. Initially created as a protective fortification, now it performs, rather, a decorative function and is an architectural monument. But besides this, in the last century the Kremlin wall also serves as a burial place for prominent people of the country. This necropolis is the most unusual cemetery in the world and has become one of the most important capitals and a place visited by thousands of tourists.

History of the Kremlin wall

It took its modern form only at the beginning of the 16th century. The Kremlin wall was built of red brick on the site of the ancient white stone, and only in the eastern direction the territory of the Kremlin was slightly expanded. It was built according to the project of Italian architects. The shape of the wall repeated the outlines of the Kremlin fortress and looked like an irregular triangle. Its length is more than two kilometers, and its height is from five to twenty meters. The highest walls were from the side of Red Square. From above, the Kremlin wall is decorated with battlements, which are shaped like there are more than a thousand of them, and almost all of them have narrow loopholes. The wall itself is wide, about six meters, it has many loopholes and passages. Outside, it is smooth, made of massive red brick. Over 20 different towers are built into the wall. The most famous of them is Spasskaya, on which the Kremlin chimes are located. In addition to its architectural and historical value, the Kremlin Wall now attracts tourists also with the necropolis created in the last century. It is a kind of cemetery, which has become a memorial.

Creation of the Kremlin Necropolis

The first two near the Kremlin wall appeared in November 1917. They were located on Red Square between the Nikolsky and Spassky gates. About 200 nameless fighters who died during the October Revolution were buried in them. In the next ten years, more than ten mass graves appeared next to the wall. And of the three hundred Bolsheviks buried in them, only 110 names are known. Many streets and squares in the capital and other cities were named after them. Until 1927, near the Kremlin wall, the dead and even the leaders of the revolution who died a natural death were buried. There were also single burials of famous people of that time.

Who is buried at the Kremlin wall in the early years?

The first single grave near the Kremlin wall appeared in 1919. Ya. M. Sverdlov was buried in it.
In the early 1920s, many famous party and government figures were buried in single graves: M. V. Frunze, F. E. Dzerzhinsky, M. V. Kalinin and others.
In the first years of the creation of the necropolis near the Kremlin wall, foreign communists were also buried. Clara Zetkin and Sam Katayama are buried here.
Since 1924, the Mausoleum, in which the body of V. I. Lenin rested, became the center of the Kremlin necropolis. This place later became a tribune for prominent statesmen.

Burials of the 30-80s

After 1927, it was decided to bury at the Kremlin wall only outstanding members of the party and government, as well as great scientists. Fraternal burials ceased, but until 1985 many famous people were buried in this necropolis.

members of the party and government: Budyonny, Suslov, Brezhnev, Andropov and Chernenko;
in the early 60s, the body of I.V. Stalin was taken out and buried near the Kremlin wall;
all those who died in the rank of marshal, for example, Zhukov;
outstanding pilots, such as Chkalov, cosmonaut Gagarin and many others;
famous scientists Karpinsky, Kurchatov and Korolyov;
visitors to the necropolis, who are interested in who else is buried near the Kremlin wall, can see the names of Lenin's mother, his wife, the writer M. Gorky, People's Commissar of Education Lunacharsky and many others.

How were they buried in the necropolis?

Until the early 80s, the Kremlin wall was used for the burial of famous people. Burials near it were of two types:

To the right of the Mausoleum near the Kremlin wall are the graves of especially prominent figures of the party and government. They are decorated with sculptural portraits - busts by famous sculptors Merkurov, Tomsky, Rukavishnikov and others. The last person buried near the Kremlin wall was K. U. Chernenko, who was buried there in 1985.
Most of those buried in the necropolis were cremated. The urns with their ashes are embedded in the Kremlin wall on both sides of the Senate Tower. Their names and dates of life are engraved on memorial plaques. In total, the ashes of 114 great people - scientists, military men, politicians and astronauts - rest in the wall. D. F. Ustinov was the last to be buried in this way.

What else is the Kremlin wall famous for?

Burials that attract tourists are not only on Red Square. The necropolis near the Kremlin wall includes the memorial "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier", located in the Alexander Garden. It was created in 1967 in honor of the 25th anniversary of the liberation of Moscow. The remains of an unknown soldier on a gun carriage as part of a funeral procession were brought from Zelenograd.

The modern form of the memorial did not immediately take. A tombstone with a cast bronze composition was installed on the soldier's grave. On the folds of the battle banner lies a soldier's helmet and a laurel branch. near the Kremlin wall completes the composition. Later, an alley with porphyry blocks was added, under which the land of ten hero cities is stored, and in 2010 a 10-meter granite stele appeared in the memorial. It also symbolizes the memory of hero cities. An important part of the entire composition of the memorial is the Kremlin wall itself. The photo of this place is known not only in Russia, but also abroad.

History of the necropolis

This kind of cemetery has existed for almost a hundred years. Its appearance changed several times, and in the 50s they even wanted to close it and transfer the ashes of those resting there to another place. They planned to create a special Pantheon for this, but this project was soon closed. The fate of the necropolis was not strongly reflected in the political events taking place in the country. Although politicians who were in disgrace were not buried near the wall, the already existing burials were not liquidated. Since 1974, the necropolis was included in the number of state monuments, and it began to be protected by the state. And part of it - the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier - has become the most popular place for tourists and visits of foreign statesmen. For many years now, there has been talk about the liquidation of the necropolis and the transfer of the ashes of those buried there to ordinary cemeteries. This is due not only to religious, but also to political considerations. But in accordance with the current legislation of Russia, for this you need to obtain the consent of relatives, which in most cases is impossible. Therefore, now the necropolis has become an architectural and historical monument. Many tourists tend to visit the Kremlin wall.

The value of the necropolis

From the first years of its creation, it became the place of the oath of the soldiers, parades were held in front of the Mausoleum. During holidays, wreaths are laid at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. And in recent years, a permanent guard of honor from the soldiers of the presidential regiment has been standing near it. This place is visited by foreign delegations and ordinary tourists not only on holidays, but also on ordinary days. Not everyone knows who is buried at the Kremlin wall, but the fact that such a memorial exists is known not only in Russia, but also abroad. This necropolis has become one of the most popular attractions in Moscow.

Today, coming to Red Square, people rarely remember that they are walking around the churchyard. And if they remember, they ask themselves the question: why are the famous dead not taken away to where they are supposed to lie - to a real cemetery?

Market or churchyard?

But, before arguing and indignant, let's go back a few centuries ago. Red Square was once almost the largest market in the capital - merchants from surrounding cities, villages, and villages came here. Wealthy merchants kept their shops here, but funerals traditionally took place at this place! According to Orthodox traditions, a person was buried in a cemetery next to the parish church. So, until the famous fire of 1493, when the fire ate almost all the buildings near the Kremlin wall, there were as many as 15 churchyards between the Spassky ➊ and Nikolsky ➋ gates, since it was there that the parish churches were located. And at that time, ordinary people were buried at the Kremlin wall not for any special merits, but “for registration”.

Reproduction of a photograph by A. I. Savelyev from the magazine "Niva" "Mushroom auction on Red Square", 1912 Photo: RIA Novosti

In October 1917, bloody battles unfolded on Red Square - revolutionary-minded citizens fought for the "red" idea with white soldiers and cadets. On November 3, the revolutionaries captured the Kremlin. And already on November 10, they decided to hold the first funeral on Red Square: two mass graves were dug between the Kremlin wall and the tram tracks that ran along Red Square. One pit stretched from the Nikolsky Gate to the Senate Tower ➌, the second - from the Senate Tower to the Spassky Gate. After a pompous funeral procession, 238 (!) coffins were lowered there.

Wall of the Communards

VI Lenin delivers a speech at the opening of a temporary monument to Stepan Razin. 1919 Photo: RIA Novosti / V. Gasparyants

From 1917 to 1927 another 15 mass graves were dug near the Kremlin. It was decided to allocate separate burials only to especially outstanding personalities. The first such person was Yakov Sverdlov, the second person in the state of the Soviets, who died in 1919, according to the official version, from a Spaniard. True, rumors circulated in Moscow that Sverdlov had been poisoned on the orders of Lenin himself. After him, next to the Kremlin, they went to sleep with eternal sleep Frunze, Dzerzhinsky, Stalin, Voroshilov, Budyonny, Brezhnev, Andropov, Chernenko- only 12 people. From the 1930s to the 1980s, those who slightly less distinguished themselves in the struggle for the revolution and the cause of communism were cremated, and the ashes were walled up in the Kremlin wall next to the Senate Tower, for which the columbarium was popularly nicknamed the “wall of the Communards” ➍. In total, 114 urns are stored in the wall today - with ashes Gorky, Kirov, Maria Ulyanova, Krupskaya, Kurchatov, Korolev, Chkalov and others. In addition to Soviet citizens, the writer was buried near the Kremlin John Reed, the revolutionary Clara Zetkin, the founder of the Japanese Communist Party Sen Katayama.

And when Lenin died (January 21, 1924), the Mausoleum ➎ was appointed the center of the necropolis. After a long debate at an emergency plenum of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, it was decided to save the body of Ilyich for posterity and place it in a crypt near the Kremlin - in the place where in 1918 there was a tribune with which the leader communicated with the people.

The first tomb of Lenin (designed by the architect Shchusev) was made of wood. For everything about everything, the workers had three days. And it's winter outside, the earth is hard as a stone. When they did excavations to install the foundation, they found ancient Russian buildings. There was no time to preserve the historical heritage - it was necessary to urgently bury the leader. Therefore, all the artifacts were blown up so as not to interfere with the construction.

Three months later, a new wooden Mausoleum was made. And only in -1930 a granite crypt was built, which to this day stands in the center of Red Square. The inscription "Lenin" was changed in 1953, when the deceased Iosif Vissarionovich was placed next to Vladimir Ilyich. The sarcophagus was signed - "LENIN Stalin". The old inscription returned in 1961, when the neighbor Ilyich was taken out and buried near the Kremlin wall.

The first to the right of the wreaths are Felix Dzerzhinsky and Nikolai Muralov at the first temporary wooden Mausoleum of V. I. Lenin. 1924 Photo: RIA Novosti

In 1941, with the beginning of the bombing, the Mausoleum was disguised - covered with a cloth with painted windows, a roof, a chimney, so that from above the crypt looked like an ordinary house. The golden domes of the temples were painted in a dark color. Even the bend of the Moscow River was draped.

And widows are against

In 1974, the necropolis near the Kremlin wall officially became a state-protected monument. Instead of overgrown blue firs, young growth was planted. Marble flower vases were erected near the graves, and granite banners were erected.

It is believed that the proposal to move the cemetery from the center of the capital was made only in the 1990s. In fact, this “anti-Soviet” idea originated as early as 1953. Then the decision of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers was officially adopted on the transfer of graves from the walls of the Kremlin, including the coffin of Vladimir Ilyich himself, to a special pantheon. But the decision remained on paper.

At the Kremlin wall on Red Square in Moscow. 1961 Photo: RIA Novosti / Mikhail Ozersky In the 1990s, they really talked a lot about the elimination of burials in a historical and tourist place, but it turned out that the law forbids touching graves without the consent of relatives. But the relatives did not agree. In 1999, twelve widows and descendants of the deceased wrote a statement, calling the necropolis “an honorable place of eternal rest for more than 400 people, many of whom are the glory and pride of Russia,” and recalled that “the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for punishment for desecration of the bodies of the dead and their burial places.

And now -UNE-SKO - has been protecting them since 1990. The mausoleum and graves near the Kremlin wall as part of the Red Square ensemble began to be considered world cultural heritage sites, so talk about moving the cemetery will most likely remain just talk, and well-read citizens will recite a poem Mayakovsky“Good!”: “And it seems to me that on the red graveyard of comrades, poison is tormented by anxiety ... “Tell me, will today’s resident complete the commune from the light and steel of your republic?” "Hush, comrades, sleep..."