In many horror films, the action takes place in buildings built on the site of ancient graves. But how many viewers, following the plot and the misadventures of the characters, think about the fact that in real life there are a lot of different buildings standing on the ground that used to be occupied by cemeteries?
Of course, you can find such buildings in old cities, which are centuries old. And, of course, most of them are located in historical, central regions. However, the structure occupying the territory of ancient burials can be found among modern houses located on the outskirts. For example, Moscow is a city that is constantly expanding, occupying the lands of villages that have disappeared in time. But at each of the old villages there was once a church, and with it, respectively, there was a cemetery.
What is curious - not only village churchyards have become construction sites. There are many places in the capital that were once the city's public cemeteries. For example, Suschevsky Val Street partly passes through the territory occupied by burials at the beginning of the last century.
When did city cemeteries appear in Russia?
Until the XIV century, there were no public graveyards in our country. The dead found their last refuge on lands belonging to churches.
However, at the beginning of the century, the population began to grow steadily. This led to the development of cities. And, although new churches were being built, there was a catastrophic lack of places on the graveyards. In the old days, ancient burials, which no one looked after, were not "demolished" as they do now. Each church had a watchman, whose duties included the care of old graves.
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But even in the XIV century, city cemeteries began to appear far from everywhere. For example, in Moscow, the first public graveyard was created only in 1758. The massive appearance of large cemeteries on the outskirts of settlements dates back to 1771. At this time, a plague epidemic broke out in the country and a general need arose for such graveyards.
When and on what basis did they begin to destroy cemeteries?
On December 7, 1918, the Council of Commissars issued a Decree prescribing "new rules" for organizing burials. This act was called so - "On cemeteries and burials." According to this document, all morgues, crematoria, cemeteries existing in the country were transferred to the subordination of the Council of Deputies. He was also in charge of organizing funerals.
In the 20s of the last century, another legislative act was issued, regulating the location of cemeteries and establishing regulatory requirements for their condition. It was called like this - "Sanitary norms and rules for the arrangement and maintenance of cemeteries."
Both of these documents legalized the demolition of old graveyards located within the city limits. Moreover, they also provoked the beginning of a wave of destruction of old cemeteries. Prior to the appearance of these laws, questions about the use of land occupied by burials were not raised. After the publication of these documents, churchyards began to be demolished in all major cities, without making a distinction between church and public cemeteries. Thus, the Bolsheviks "cleared" the land in the cities, of course, immediately starting to build on them.
What was built on the site of the cemeteries?
Of course, it is difficult to list all the buildings erected at the burial sites in both capitals. For example, a small shopping pavilion that now stands on the site of an old church churchyard may simply not be included in any publicly accessible register. For example, near the Ostankino pond, opposite the Trinity Church, there is a bus stop. It stands right on the site of old burials.
As for large objects, the Lazarevsky Pogost became one of the first destroyed Moscow city cemeteries. This cemetery was located in Maryina Roshcha and was demolished in 1937. A children's Park of Culture appeared on the site of the graves, and in 1970 part of the territory was occupied by Suschevsky Val Street.
Many Muscovites love to spend their leisure time in the park located near the Sokol metro station. However, not all of the vacationers know that a beautiful park near the Leningradskoye highway was built in 1932 on the territory of the Bratsk churchyard.
Of course, not only parks have appeared on the site of old cemeteries. School No. 2056 is located on 2nd Yuzhnoportovy Proezd Street in Moscow. Its building and territory take the place of the Kozhukhovsky public churchyard.
The Salyut plant and the tram junction located in front of it appeared on the lands previously occupied by the Semenovsky city cemetery. And on the site of the Filevsky churchyard, the building of the State treasury of values rises.
In St. Petersburg, cemeteries were destroyed much more actively than in Moscow. Sometimes, in their place, nothing was immediately built, leaving wastelands that were overgrown with weeds. Such a fate befell the large Mitrofanievsky pogost, in the place of which there are now warehouse hangars and garages.
Other Russian cities tried to "keep up" with the example set by the capitals. In Novosibirsk, on the site of the city cemetery, there is the Central Park of Culture and Rest, and in Dnepropetrovsk there is a stadium.
Angelica Braldi