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Novodevichy cemetery Review
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Novodevichy cemetery
- Address: Luzhnetsky proyezd, Krasnaya Presnya, Moscow
- Phone: 495/246-6614; 495/246-7527
- Category: Cemeteries
- Location: Krasnaya Presnya
Fodor's Review:
The Novodevichy cemetery (kladbishche) contains a fascinating collection of memorial art, but it's difficult for non-Russian speakers to identify the graves. You may wonder how a cemetery could be controversial, but this one was. For more than a generation, the cemetery was closed to the general public in large part because the controversial Nikita Khrushchev (1894-1971) is buried here, rather than on Red Square, like other Soviet leaders. Thanks to glasnost, the cemetery was reopened in 1987, and now anyone is welcome to visit its grounds, the final resting place for national luminaries from all walks of life.
Khrushchev's grave is near the rear of the cemetery, at the end of a long tree-lined walkway. If you can't find it, any of the babushki (a colloquial term used throughout Russia to refer to museum caretakers, often hearty grandmothers who wear babushka head coverings of the same name) will point out the way. (They almost certainly will not speak English, but you can often figure out their opinion of him in the way they gesture.) Krushchev was deposed in 1964 and lived his next and last seven years in disgrace, under virtual house arrest. The memorial consists of a stark black-and-white slab, with a curvilinear border marking the separation of the two colors. The contrast of black and white symbolizes the contradictions of his reign. The memorial caused a great furor of objection among the Soviet hierarchy when it was unveiled. It was designed by the artist Ernst Neizvestny, himself a controversial figure. In the 1960s Khrushchev visited an exhibit of contemporary art that included some of Neizvestny's works. Khrushchev dismissed Neizvestny's contributions as "filth," and asked the name of their artist. When Neizvestny (which means "Unknown") answered, Khrushchev scornfully said that the USSR had no need for artists with such names. To this the artist replied, "In front of my work, I am the premier." Considering the times, it was a brave thing to say to the leader of the Soviet Union. Neizvestny eventually joined the ranks of the émigré artists; he now lives in the United States.
Many of those buried in the cemetery were war casualties in 1941 and 1942. The memorials often include a lifelike portrait or a photograph of the person remembered, or convey a scene from that person's life. Flowers and photographs of the dead are at almost all the graves. Among the memorials you might want to look for are those to the composers Prokofiev and Scriabin and the writers Chekhov, Gogol, Bulgakov, and Mayakovsky. Chekhov's grave is decorated with the trademark seagull of the Moscow Art Theater, the first to successfully produce his plays. Along the right-hand wall (the southwest wall of the monastery) is a memorial where all the crew members from a huge Soviet aircraft that crashed are interred. The grave of Stalin's wife, Nadezhda Aliluyeva, is marked by a simple tombstone and her bust. She supposedly committed suicide, and many hold Stalin responsible for her death. Fyodor Chaliapin, the opera singer who was stripped of his Soviet citizenship while on tour in France in the 1920s, is also buried here. His remains were transferred here in 1984. His grave is marked by a marvelous lifelike representation of him that conveys the fervor and passion that characterized his singing. You can request a tour in English from the cemetery's excursion bureau; it's best to call and reserve ahead. In light of the bountiful history and scant English translations, these tours can be very rewarding.
- Cost: Free
- Open: Daily 10-6
- Metro: Sportivnaya
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