Preobrazhenskoye Cemetery (, lit. Transfiguration Cemetery) is a

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

in the eastern part of

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

long associated with

Old Believers Old Believers or Old Ritualists ( Russian: староверы, ''starovery'' or старообрядцы, ''staroobryadtsy'') is the common term for several religious groups, which maintain the old liturgical and ritual practices of the Russian ...

. It was inaugurated by a

Fedoseevtsy Fedoseevtsy, also Fedoseyans (федосеевцы, феодосиевцы in Russian), sometimes anglicised as Theodosians, comprise a dissident religious movement formed in Imperial Russia. They have become one of the denominations among the Bespo ...

merchant in 1777 as a plague

quarantine A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals, and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have bee ...

disguising the

Bespopovtsy Bespopovtsy ( rus, беспоповцы, p=bʲɪspɐˈpoftsɨ, t=priestless ones), often called Priestless Old Believers in English, are one of the two major groups of Old Believers. Unlike the Popovtsy ("priested"), the Bespopovtsy reject pries ...

monastery. At that time the territory of the cemetery was located outside Moscow, but near its border. The cemetery soon became the spiritual and administrative center of all the

in Russia (just like the

Rogozhskoe cemetery Rogozhskoe cemetery ( rus, Рогожское кладбище, Rogozhskoye kladbishche, p=rɐˈɡoʂskəjɪ ˈkladbʲɪɕːɪ) in Moscow, Russia, is the spiritual and administrative center of the largest Old Believers denomination, called the Ru ...

became an administrative and cultural centre for most

Popovtsy The Popovtsy ( rus, поповцы, p=pɐˈpoftsɨ, t=priested ones) or Popovschina () are a Christian group in Russia which originated in the 17th century. They were one of the two main factions of Old Believers, along with the Bezpopovtsy ("priest ...

Old Believers). The cloister consisted of two equal square areas, a monastery for men and a nunnery for women, separated by a road to the cemetery. Construction work was in progress throughout the 1790s and the first decade of the 19th century. At that time, the monastery asylum was home to 1,500 people, while the chapels were attended by as many as 10,000 Old Believers. Every church within the monastery was styled a chapel; like other

, the

reject priesthood, and so even their largest temples are called chapels rather than

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

es, since they have no

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

. The area was surrounded by brick walls with decorative pseudo-gothic towers. In the mid-19th century the "male" part of the monastery was confiscated from the

by the imperial administration to be transformed into the monastery of the

Edinovertsy Edinoverie ( rus, единове́рие, p=jɪdʲɪnɐˈvʲerʲɪjɪ, literally "coreligionism") is an arrangement between certain Russian Old Believer communities and the official Russian Orthodox Church, whereby such communities are treated as a ...

, the only legal denomination of

in Imperial Russia. The cloister, which came to be known as the St Nicholas Monastery of the Edinovertsy, boasted the largest collection of Old Believer literature (the Khludov bequest) and as many as 1,300 ancient icons. After the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

the St. Nicholas Monastery was occupied by the Obnovlentsy, while the icons and the books were taken to the

State Historical Museum The State Historical Museum () of Russia is a museum of History of Russia, Russian history located between Red Square and Manezhnaya Square, Moscow, Manege Square in Moscow. The museum's exhibitions range from relics of prehistoric tribes that li ...

and the

Tretyakov Gallery The State Tretyakov Gallery (; abbreviated ГТГ, ''GTG'') is an art gallery in Moscow, Russia, which is considered the foremost depository of Russian fine art in the world. The gallery's history starts in 1856 when the Muscovite merchant Pavel ...

. Later the monastery was divided between the

Pomortsy The Pomorian Old Orthodox Church (), also known as the Pomorian Church, Danilovtsy, Danilov's confession, or simply as Pomorians, is a branch of the priestless faction of the Old Believers, born of a schism within the Russian Orthodox Church at th ...

Old Believers and the nearby parish of the official

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

. The orthodox parish took a church above the gates with surrounding quarters, a bell-tower and a western part of the temple. The eastern part of the temple and several utilities in the western part of the territory belong to Pomortsy. The two parts of a single temple are currently separated by a thick brick wall, and compartments are occupied by different denominations. The women's part of Preobrazhenka avoided such a dissension, and still belongs to the

. The cemetery is also noted as a place where the first

Eternal flame An eternal flame is a flame, lamp or torch that burns for an indefinite time. Most eternal flames are ignited and tended intentionally, but some are natural phenomena caused by natural gas leaks, peat fires and coal seam fires, all of which ca ...

in Moscow was kindled in order to commemorate the World War II dead.

Notable people buried in the Preobrazhenskoye Cemetery

Vladimir Kuts Volodymyr Petrovych Kuts (, , 7 February 1927 – 16 August 1975) was a Soviet long-distance runner. He won the 5000 and 10000 m races at the 1956 Olympics, setting Olympic records in both events. Biography Kuts was born in Oleksyne, Ukrainia ...

Sergei Magnitsky Sergei Leonidovich Magnitsky (, ; ; 8 April 1972 – 16 November 2009) was a Russian tax advisor responsible for exposing corruption and misconduct by Russian government officials while representing client Hermitage Capital Management. His ...

Aleksey Batalov Aleksey Vladimirovich Batalov (20 November 192815 June 2017) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor, film director, screenwriter, and pedagogue acclaimed for his portrayal of noble and positive characters. He was named a People's Artist ...

Viktor Nikiforov Viktor Vasilievich Nikiforov (December 4, 1931 – March 4, 1989) was a Soviet ice hockey player. He won a gold medal at the 1956 Winter Olympics. He was born in Moscow, Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), co ...

Konstantin Loktev Konstantin Borisovich Loktev (April 16, 1933 – November 4, 1996) was a Soviet ice hockey player who played in the Soviet Hockey League. He played for HC CSKA Moscow. He was inducted into the Russian and Soviet Hockey Hall of Fame in 1964 ...

Yevgeny Feofanov Yevgeny Feofanov (29 April 1937 – 29 March 2000) was a boxer from the Soviet Union. He was born in Moscow, Russia. He competed for the Soviet Union in the 1960 Summer Olympics held in Rome, Italy Italy, officially the Italian ...

Ivan Zimin Ivan Nikitich Zimin (; 1818-1887) was a Russian industrialist who developed Drezna as a mill town. His sons, Sergei and Grigory Zimin inherited his business, but his wife, Evdokia Savvateevna, remained an active participant in the management o ...

References

External links

Preobrazhenskoe cemetery. Gallery – Russian Necropolis Gallery
{{Monasteries of Moscow Cemeteries in Moscow Christianity in Moscow Eastern Orthodox cemeteries in Russia Monasteries in Moscow Old Believer communities in Russia Cultural heritage monuments in Moscow