One of the cemeteries of the Central Administrative District of Moscow and one of the most famous cemeteries of the capital is called Kalitnikovsky. What it is famous for and what its features are will be discussed below.
General information
The state unitary enterprise "Ritual" manages most of the capital's places intended for burials. Kalitnikovskoe cemetery is no exception. It was opened in 1771 during the plague. At the same time, Rogozhskoye, Vagankovskoye, Danilovskoye and Vvedenskoye cemeteries were opened in Moscow. All of them owe their appearance to this terrible disease, which claimed many lives in the capital. However, at that time the area where the Kalitnikovskoe cemetery is located today was not, in fact, Moscow, that is, an urban territory. Then the village of Kalitniki was located there. The cemetery was named after him.
Church in the cemetery
Once upon a time there was a beautiful wooden church on its territory. But it so happened that it was completely destroyed by the fire of a sudden outbreak of fire. In its place in 1838 another was erected. Orthodox church. This time the church was built of stone, and it still exists. The throne was consecrated in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All Who Sorrow".
The project of this building was developed and prepared by the architect N. I. Kozlovsky. Then, at the end of the 19th century, the church was rebuilt, its interior decoration was modified. The interior and decor of the temple were re-made in accordance with the project of the architect I. T. Baryutin in the 1890s. Among other things, the sacristy and the iconostasis were reworked.
Burials in the cemetery
Before the revolution of 1917, the Kalitnikovskoe cemetery served as a resting place mainly for peasants from nearby villages. Also, merchants and entrepreneurs who came out of the peasant class were often buried there. However, with the advent of Soviet power, representatives of the capital's intelligentsia were often buried at the Kalitnikovsky cemetery. Among them were both scientists and people of art - artists and actors.
There are a lot of buried Orthodox clergy and monks in this cemetery. Some of them are worth mentioning separately.
Firstly, behind the altar of the Sorrowful Church in the family burial complex is the grave of the well-known ideologist of the Renovation Orthodox Church in the USSR, Metropolitan Alexander Vvedensky. He died in 1946 of paralysis and was buried here next to his mother Zinaida Savvichna. In 1963, the wife of the First Hierarch, Olga Fyodorovna Vvedenskaya, was also buried here. And in the 80s the lasttwo sons of the Metropolitan also found shelter near the grave of their father.
Secondly, the grave of one of the nuns enjoys great reverence here. Believers call her the blessed old woman Olga. During her lifetime, this woman was a schema nun and was distinguished by a peculiar way of life. Today, her admirers gather at the Kalitnikovsky cemetery to honor the memory of their patroness and pray. Nun Olga died at the age of 103.
The territory of the complex
As for the size, today the Kalitnikovskoye cemetery occupies an area of 19 hectares of land, divided into two parts by a ravine. Both halves of the cemetery complex are divided into thirty sections. Some of them are still buried today. In particular, there are territories set aside for tribal and family burials. They are located to the left of the main entrance in the depths of the cemetery. In addition, at present, an open columbarium is functioning on the territory of the burial complex, intended for burial of ashes in an urn. If for some reason there is no desire to use the columbarium, the urn can also be buried in the ground. Such a service is provided at the Kalitnikovsky cemetery.
If, upon entering the territory of the Kalitnikovsky cemetery, turn right, you can go to the memorial dedicated to the soldiers who fell during the battles in the Great Patriotic War.
In order for visitors to have the opportunity to take care of the graves, there is an inventory rental point at the cemetery. This allows you not to carry bulky tools around with you.city from home.
Kalitnikovskoe cemetery: how to get there
Many people, coming to Moscow, want to visit the Kalitnikovsky burial complex. This is not surprising, given how many honored figures rest there. A natural question arises for those intending to visit the Kalitnikovskoye cemetery - how to get to this place? Since the cemetery is located within the city today, this is very easy to do. There are three metro stations in close proximity to the cemetery: Volgogradsky Prospekt, Krestyanskaya Zastava and Proletarskaya. You can walk to the cemetery from any of them.
Kalitnikovskoe cemetery: opening hours
You can visit the burial complex in Kalitniki daily from 9:00 am. It closes depending on the season: from October to April at 17:00, and from May to September at 19:00. Burials take place daily from opening until 5:00 pm throughout the year.
