The Kazan cemetery of Pushkin is active, located on the southern city outskirts, on Gusarskaya street. An area of about thirty-five hectares. The layout is regular. Historians connect the appearance of the Kazan cemetery in Tsarskoye Selo with the emergence in 1780 of the city of Sofia. However, it is possible that this place was previously used by residents of neighboring villages to bury the dead.
Kazan cemetery of the city of Pushkin (Tsarskoye Selo)
From historical documents it follows that in the 18th century in Tsarskoye Selo there was an equipped burial place. It was located at the Wangazi stream. On this territory stood the Church of the Assumption of the Mother of God, which was transported in the fall of 1742 from the Catherine Palace. However, the location of the cemetery did not suit Catherine II. She was constantly irritated by the sounds of crying for the deceased during burial. This was the reason for the closure of the cemetery in 1747. The church was again moved to the village. Kuzmino, where they began to bury the dead in Tsarskoye Selo. The cemetery territory itself was leveled. Then, a Reserve Palace was built on this place.
The emergence of the Kazan cemetery
The first information about the Kazan cemetery dates back to 1781. It was included in the enumeration of the constructions of the district town of Sofia. This city was founded at the beginning of 1779, located from the empress’s palace to the southwest. But it was in 1781, when the number of inhabitants from the servants of the royal residence exceeded a thousand, the main cemetery of Tsarskoye Selo called Kazan was established.
The Pushkin Kazan cemetery (Tsarskoye Selo) belongs to architectural monuments as a part of the cultural and historical heritage of Russia. Famous and famous people found peace on its territory. Tombstones, monuments at many graves are of significant artistic value.
The historical legend of the Kazan cemetery
According to historical narratives associated with the reign of Catherine II, the Kazan cemetery was originally called Lansky. This is due to the fact that in 1784 the empress's favorite, the adjutant general Count A. D. Lanskoy, was buried here. He died at age 26, suddenly. His death is shrouded in secrets and speculation. According to one version, Lanskoy on a hunt fell from a horse, which was frightened by a hare jumping out of the bushes. From the bruises he received during the fall, he died. Other sources claim that the empress’s favorite died from taking an excessive amount of stimulant drugs, one of which was Aphrodiesiacum, known among physicians of that time.
However, contemporaries claim that according to the symptoms of the disease, he died from bilateral pneumonia.
Catherine II ordered to erect a stone church at the burial place of the favorite, which was laid September 25, 1784 and consecrated in the name of the icon of the Kazan Mother of God. Subsequently, a temple was built here, consecrated on March 8, 1790, which the people called the Lansky Mausoleum. The structure, reminiscent of its appearance as a mausoleum from ancient times, was erected according to the project of the world famous architect Giacomo Kvarnegi.
By decree of the President of the Russian Federation of March 20, 1995, the Kazan Church Cemetery (Lansky Mausoleum) was listed as a cultural and historical heritage site as an architectural monument at the federal level.
Other historical burials
At the Kazan cemetery in Pushkin (St. Petersburg), there are other burials in which famous personalities who left their mark in the history of Russia are buried. So, Yuryev’s Most Holy Princes, Meshchersky and Baratinsky Princes, Count AA Orlov-Davydov found peace here.
Then A.I. Galich, a teacher of the lyceum, about whom A.S. Pushkin spoke of himself as a special person, a good comrade who dissolved his life in his students, rested.
At the Kazan cemetery of Pushkin, the famous poet I.F. Annensky is buried. Academician of painting P. P. Chistyakov is a teacher and inspirer of the works of artists Surikov, Vasnetsov, Serov, Vrubel, Nesterov.
Other famous personalities buried at the Kazan cemetery of the city of Pushkin include:
- V. I. Goeste, who built suspension bridges throughout Europe (his works include Red, Green, Kisses, Blue, Theater and Konyushenny bridges of St. Petersburg);
- the famous painter N. G. Schilder;
- generals of the tsarist army, including the participant of the Patriotic War of 1812 I.K. Arnoldi;
- V.F. Bely is the hero of defense of Port Arthur.
Chapels in the territory of the Kazan cemetery
Several chapels were built in the cemetery, some of which are noteworthy structures.
The Grave family chapel is a two-story building, the second floor of which (according to the nameplate) was intended for the construction of the temple.
There is a chapel erected by engineer Pokotilov for his wife. This is an original red brick building. Initially, it was crowned with a marble cross, and the walls were lined with white iron.
Of interest is the chapel erected at the burial place of the Minister of Justice, Senator Manasein. She was kept in good condition. Above her gate there is an image of Nicholas the Wonderworker. The icon of the Resurrection of Christ remained intact in the chapel. Until 1988, it was the only place to visit in the city. Believers who visited Pushkin’s Kazan cemetery said prayers in it.
The modern history of the Kazan cemetery
Over time, the territory of the cemetery expanded. Within its borders, burial sites of Jews, Lutherans, and Muslims appeared. There are places of mass graves of soldiers and officers who died in the First World War. In the summer and autumn of 1921, sailors who took part in the Kronstadt rebellion were shot and buried in the cemetery.
In October 1930, the Kazan Church was closed. The iconostasis was dismantled and disposed of. Tombstones from the tomb disappeared. Burials were looted and abused.
During the German occupation, the temple tomb was used as a bomb shelter. After the war, tombstones were made here and household property was stored.
At the end of 1948, residents of Pushkin sent an appeal to the local metropolitan to open the Kazan Church, but the decision to restore it was made only in 1967, but no restoration work was started.
Only in 1995 the temple returned to the possession of the Russian Orthodox Church. On May 2 of the same year, the first prayer service was held in it.
Kazan Church was attributed to the St. Sophia Cathedral in Pushkin, and in 1997 restoration began in it.
The address of the location of the Kazan cemetery. Public transport routes
The cemetery is open around the clock. Address of the Kazan cemetery in Pushkin: Leningrad region, Pushkin, st. Hussar. Administration phones and a cemetery site are available online.
How to get to the Pushkin Kazan cemetery by public transport? You need to get to the train station. From there, you can travel by fixed-route taxis No. K519 and K382 or by buses of routes No. 375, 382.
