Over the course of two centuries, almost all Russian emperors, from Peter I to Alexander III, were buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral.
The tombstones of the kings were repeatedly altered and replaced with new ones, due to their dilapidation and shabby appearance. Stone ones were replaced by marble ones, gray Karelian marble gave way to white Italian marble, etc. The royal tomb experienced two large-scale replacements of tombstones: in the 1770s (during the reconstruction of the Cathedral) and in 1865.
Initially, tombstones made of white alabaster stone were placed over burial places in the cathedral. In the 1770s, during the restoration of the cathedral, they were replaced with others made of gray Karelian marble.
In 1865, by decree of Alexander II, 15 tombstones were immediately replaced with new ones. Presumably, the tombstones of the last seven emperors and their wives were redone.
The tombstones on the graves of Alexander II and his wife were in turn replaced by Alexander III in 1887, less than a decade after their deaths.
Thus, all the royal tombstones in the Peter and Paul Cathedral are remakes from the second half of the 19th century.
There are no graves in the Peter and Paul Cathedral:
- Peter 2 (who died in Moscow and was buried in the Archangel Cathedral of the Kremlin)
- John VI Antonovich, killed in the Shlisselburg fortress.
In the fall of 1921, the then government once again needed gold and jewelry.
Orders, crosses, rings, gold buttons from uniforms, silver vessels in which the entrails of the deceased were kept - all this, in the eyes of the Bolsheviks, was subject to expropriation. Precious wreaths and ancient icons that once adorned the royal tombstones had already been taken away to an unknown destination by the Provisional Government.
Under the pretext of helping the starving people of the Volga region, the tombs of all Russian emperors and empresses, from Peter I to Alexander III, inclusive, were opened.
This action gave rise to many rumors about the fate of the remains. According to one version, the remains of the kings were placed in oak coffins and taken to the crematorium, which had been established shortly before and was soon closed.
Naturally, the exhumation was not carried out in the interests of historical science. Valuables were described and confiscated “for the benefit of the starving.”
The memoirs of eyewitnesses to this outrageous action contain some important details.
These memories - oral, passed on from other people's words - were collected at one time by L. Lyubimov and later supplemented by the historian N. Eidelman for his book “The First Decembrist”. The exhumation act, which was signed by all members of the commission, has still not been found.
Who did they find?
In the memoirs they report the discovery of the remains of all the kings and queens, except Alexander I. Alexander’s coffin is completely empty, only at the very bottom there is “a little dust.” Some of the members of the commission recall on this occasion the legend of Elder Fyodor Kuzmich, I have my own explanation for the disappearance of Alexander.
Others contain minimal bones and clothing. Paul's skull is allegedly split into several parts. Others report that Paul was embalmed, covered with a wax mask, which floated in places, and they even saw a grimace of horror on Paul’s face.
At the same time, all eyewitnesses, without exception, noted the perfect safety of Peter I.
The Emperor was dressed in a green uniform and leather boots and looked like himself, as he was depicted in the paintings.
These days, the opening of the grave of Alexander III is expected, carried out on the initiative of the church. Genetic testing will be carried out to identify the remains of his son, Nicholas II. It is not yet known whether it will come to an audit of all the royal remains.
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Peter and Paul Cathedral - the tomb of representatives of the Romanov dynasty
Imperial burials of the 18th century. are located in the southern nave of the cathedral in front of the iconostasis, where the icon of the Apostle Peter is placed in an icon case. They are located in two rows. In the first row, in addition to Peter I and his second wife, Empress Catherine I, their daughter Empress Elizabeth Petrovna was laid to rest. Empress Anna Ioannovna, Emperor Peter III and Empress Catherine II are buried in the second row. Thus, Peter I the Great and his grandson Peter III are buried in front of the icon of their patron saint, the Apostle Peter.
Imperial burials in the northern nave of the Peter and Paul Cathedral
In the northern nave, in the iconostasis, there is an icon depicting the Apostle Paul; Emperor Paul I, his wife Empress Maria Feodorovna, their eldest son Emperor Alexander I and his wife Empress Elizabeth Feodorovna are buried in front of it. In the first row there are three graves: Emperor Nicholas I, his wife Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and the eldest daughter of Peter I, Princess Anna Petrovna, Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp - the mother of Peter III. In the northern nave, in the same row as Emperor Alexander II and his wife Empress Maria Alexandrovna, their son Emperor Alexander III rests. On September 28, 2006, Empress Maria Feodorovna (nee Maria Sophia Frederica Dagmar of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, 11/14/1867–10/13/1928) was reburied in the Peter and Paul Cathedral next to her husband Emperor Alexander III. Maria Feodorovna died in Denmark and was buried in Roskilde Cathedral near Copenhagen.
All tombstones in the Peter and Paul Cathedral are made of white Carrara marble, except for two, created from semi-precious stones. The burial of Alexander II is decorated with a tombstone made of green Altai jasper, weighing about 5.5 tons. Above the grave of his wife, Empress Maria Alexandrovna, a tombstone made of rhodonite, weighing about 6.5 tons, was installed. These magnificent monolithic tombstones were made according to the design of A. L. Gun at the Peterhof Lapidary Factory near St. Petersburg and installed in 1906, when the 25th anniversary of the death of the Tsar-Liberator, who abolished serfdom, and the Tsar-Martyr, who died from a Narodnaya Volya bomb after multiple assassination attempts, were celebrated.
In addition to emperors and empresses, family members were also buried in the cathedral: at the beginning of the 18th century. Relatives of Peter I were buried here, and from 1831 the graves of grand dukes began to appear.
V. Reinhardt. Peter and Paul Cathedral. North nave. This is what the graves of Emperor Alexander II and Empress Maria Alexandrovna looked like before they were replaced in 1906.
In 1939, at the request of the Greek government, in the presence of representatives of the museum, both governments and the clergy, the grave of the nee Greek princess Alexandra Georgievna, wife of the son of Alexander II, Grand Duke Pavel Alexandrovich, was opened. Her remains were sent home for reburial. In 1994, the body of Tsarevich Georgy Alexandrovich was exhumed to identify the remains of his brother Nicholas II. After the necessary research, Georgy Alexandrovich was buried in the same coffin and crypt in the presence of clergy, and a memorial service was served.
During the restoration work in the cathedral after the fire of 1756, a wall was built that separated from the main hall of the temple three rooms located under the bell tower: the vestibule through which parishioners enter the temple, the sacristy and the chapel, consecrated in the name of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine. After this, the main building of the cathedral was often called the “Main Temple”, and the Catherine’s chapel was often called the “Small Temple”. Separate services were held here.
On July 17, 1998, in the Catherine's chapel of the Peter and Paul Cathedral, the remains of members of the family of Emperor Nicholas II, a servant and a doctor, who were shot in Yekaterinburg on July 17, 1918, were interred. The tombstone is made of three types of Italian marble, the tombstone is made of Carrara white marble. Under it is a two-tier crypt, on the lower tier of which are buried: doctor E. S. Botkin, maid A. S. Demidova, footman A. E. Trupp, cook I. M. Kharitonov.
On the upper tier of the crypt there are coffins with the remains of Emperor Nicholas II, his wife Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and three daughters: Olga, Tatiana and Anastasia. Memorial plaques on the walls of the Small Church contain information about all family members, but for Grand Duchess Maria and Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich, whose remains were not found, there is no indication of the burial place. The funeral was attended by: President of the Russian Federation B.N. Yeltsin, representatives of foreign states, and a large number of guests. The delegation of the Romanov family, consisting of 52 people, was headed by the great-great-grandson of Nicholas I, Nikolai Romanovich Romanov. More than 1,000 correspondents covered this event in the media. The funeral requiem service was celebrated by clergy of the St. Petersburg diocese, led by the rector of the cathedral, Archpriest Boris Glebov. During the burial, 19 shots were fired.
The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church believes that “...The decision to identify the remains as belonging to the family of Emperor Nicholas II raised serious doubts and even opposition in the Church and society. In this regard, the Holy Synod speaks out in favor of the immediate burial of these remains in a symbolic grave-monument.”
In August 2000, the Russian Orthodox Church canonized members of the family of Nicholas II, but did not change its attitude towards burial in the Catherine Chapel.
From the moment of the consecration of the stone Peter and Paul Cathedral, church and service life was largely determined by its use as an imperial tomb. Over time, funeral services for persons of the reigning house became the main activity of the clergy. The sacraments of baptism and weddings were never performed here.
In May 1919, by order of the commandant of the fortress, the cathedral was closed. Since the early 1990s. services have resumed here.
On the eve of the revolution, the large Romanov family numbered more than 60 people. 18 of them died during the years of revolutionary terror (four were shot in January 1919 in the Peter and Paul Fortress). The rest managed to leave their homeland. Their lives in exile developed differently. Now the Romanovs live in many countries of the world, have different professions. During their visits to our country and St. Petersburg, descendants of emperors visit the graves of their ancestors in the Peter and Paul Cathedral to venerate their memory.
Grand Ducal Tomb
By the end of the 19th century. There was practically no room left in the cathedral for new burials, so the building of the Grand Ducal Tomb was erected next to it according to the design of the architect D. I. Grimm, with the participation of A. O. Tomishko and L. N. Benois.
Combining features of various styles, the building fits well into the architectural ensemble of the Peter and Paul Fortress and forms a single ensemble with the Peter and Paul Cathedral, being its chapel, consecrated in 1908 in the name of the Holy Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky, one of the patrons of St. Petersburg.
The tomb is connected to the building of the Peter and Paul Cathedral by a gallery where rooms were provided - the Royal Rooms, intended for rest of members of the ruling family when visiting the graves of loved ones.
Grand-ducal tomb. Photo beginning XX century
Unlike the cathedral, sixty concrete crypts with a depth of 2.2 m, located in rows from east to west, were immediately prepared in the Grand Ducal Tomb. The grave was closed flush with the floor with a white marble slab, on which the title, name, places of birth and death, and the date of burial of the deceased were engraved. When they were buried in this building, the funeral service took place in the cathedral. By 1916 there were thirteen burials here, eight of which were moved from the Peter and Paul Cathedral. After the revolution, the tomb, like the cathedral, was closed and sealed. The bronze decorations and bars of the altar were sent for melting down. The building was subsequently used as a warehouse, at which time the tombstones were broken. In 1954, the tomb was transferred to the State Museum of the History of the City.
Funeral procession of Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna in the Peter and Paul Fortress. Photo 1911
Funeral of Vladimir Kirillovich Romanov. Photo 1992
Funeral of Leonida Georgievna. Farewell to the body in the Peter and Paul Cathedral. Photo 2010
Currently there are seventeen graves here. The burial in 1992 of the great-grandson of Emperor Alexander II, Vladimir Kirillovich Romanov (08/30/1917–04/21/1992), whom supporters considered a contender for the Russian throne, served as a precedent for subsequent burials. In 1995, the remains of Vladimir Kirillovich’s parents – Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich (30.09.1876–12.10.1938) and Grand Duchess Victoria Feodorovna (13.11.1876–2.03.1936) were reburied in the Grand Ducal Tomb from Coburg (Germany). On June 3, 2010, next to Vladimir Kirillovich in the Grand Ducal Tomb, his wife Leonida Georgievna (nee Princess Bagration-Mukhranskaya, 09.23.1914–05.23.2010, Madrid) was buried.
Church and parish life of the Peter and Paul Cathedral
The first wooden church in the Peter and Paul Fortress was consecrated on April 1, 1704 in the name of the apostles Peter and Paul. Little information has been preserved about the services in this church, but it is known that solemn services were held there in honor of the victories of Russian weapons, and trophies obtained in the Northern War were kept. . In 1712, when St. Petersburg became the capital of the state, construction of a new stone church began around the wooden church, which lasted 21 years. During the construction period, the clergy was preserved and services were held. Already in the first wooden church, the daughter of Peter I, Catherine, was buried; the burials of the Tsar’s relatives continued during the construction of the stone temple. When the remains of Peter I and Catherine I were interred in the cathedral in 1731, the temple became the imperial tomb. Indications that the cathedral was created by the cathedral decree of Anna Ioannovna in June 1731 are found in the chronicle of the Peter and Paul Fortress and in Bogdanov-Ruban, but no such decree was found in the Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire.
On June 29, 1733, the consecration of this unique and huge “notoriously built church” took place in the presence of Empress Anna Ioannovna. The re-consecration of the cathedral took place on June 23, 1757, after a fire that destroyed the bell tower a year earlier.
On July 6, 1737, Anna Ioannovna imposed a resolution on the report of the Synod on the staff of the clergy and clergy of the St. Petersburg Peter and Paul Cathedral. The Synod drew the empress's attention to the small number of priests and their inconsistency with the high status of the temple: they are “unlearned people,” while for such a “noble church” they rely on “worthy, learned, skillful and benevolent people” and “infinite numbers” as ministers. The staff was significantly expanded, and from that time on, regular episcopal services began in the cathedral, led in turn by the highest hierarchs of the Russian Church.
Before the establishment of the St. Petersburg diocese in 1742, the cathedral was considered synodal and subordinate to the Holy Synod. In the Peter and Paul Cathedral, as a cathedral, clergy were promoted to the rank of bishop and St. Petersburg metropolitans were ordained, and here the new metropolitan was to hold his first service.
Already from the first years of its existence, the Peter and Paul Cathedral was not the only place for bishops' services. It was quite difficult to get to the Peter and Paul Fortress, especially in spring and autumn due to the “danger of the Neva,” so increasingly such services began to be held in other churches, and the Peter and Paul Cathedral began to lose its importance as the main one. In addition to the territorial inconvenience, it was important that members of the imperial family were buried in the cathedral; it became a memorial place, in which funeral services began to play a leading role.
In 1858, St. Isaac's Cathedral became the cathedral church of the St. Petersburg Metropolis, which is confirmed by the “Highly approved Ceremony of the consecration of the St. Petersburg Cathedral in the name of St. Isaac of Dalmatia on May 30, 1858.”
In 1859, the Peter and Paul Cathedral was transferred from the jurisdiction of the diocese to the court construction office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and in 1883, together with the clergy, it was assigned to the Court Spiritual Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the cathedral received the status of a court, which was fully consistent with the historical situation, and retained it until 1917 In 2007, Metropolitan of St. Petersburg and Ladoga Vladimir (Kotlyarov) named the Peter and Paul Cathedral the first cathedral of St. Petersburg.
Due to the fact that the cathedral is the tomb of the House of Romanov, a special church and service life of the temple developed: funeral services and memorials were held here for the deceased members of the imperial family, and such ordinary services as baptism and weddings were not held. Cathedral members took part in all ceremonies of the monarchs' funerals and memorial services. Sometimes the funeral service was held in the cathedral for the commandants of the fortress, who were buried in the Commandant Cemetery. By the end of the 19th century. a “List of church and service activities of the Peter and Paul Cathedrals” was established, indicating the regular holding of divine services. Due to the location of the cathedral in the center of the Peter and Paul Fortress, the duties of the clergy included performing religious rites for those who made up the parish of the church: soldiers of the fortress garrison, prisoners held in the fortress, workers of the Mint. On the eve of holidays, Sundays and highly solemn days, all-night vigils were served, after each liturgy all persons buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral, starting with Peter I, were commemorated.
Another aspect of the activity of the cathedral clergy is the swearing in of Mint workers and young soldiers. The clergy of the cathedral taught the law of God to the young soldiers of the fortress bastion and oversaw the observance of penance (punishment) imposed on prisoners, soldiers and officers of the fortress garrison.
The temple holidays of the Peter and Paul Cathedral were: June 29 - the day of the patrons of the cathedral, the supreme apostles Peter and Paul; November 24 - Holy Great Martyr Catherine in memory of the patron saint of the small church - Catherine's chapel; August 30 (transfer of the relics to St. Petersburg) and November 23 (burial) are the days of the blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky, which began to be celebrated after the consecration of the Grand Ducal tomb in honor of this saint in 1908. Holidays were also dedicated to temple shrines, and religious processions were held.
After 1917, services continued for some time, but apparently stopped in 1919, when the temple was closed by order of the commandant of the fortress A.I. Poppel, however, the staff and income were maintained until 1922, after which the staff disintegrated.
In 1922, the Peter and Paul Cathedral and the Grand Ducal Tomb were assigned as museum objects to the Glavnauka, created under the People's Commissariat for Education. In 1924, the Trubetskoy Bastion Prison, and in 1926, the cathedral and tomb were transferred to the Museum of the Revolution. A new page of history opened for the Peter and Paul Cathedral in 1954, when it came under the jurisdiction of the State. Museum of the History of Leningrad (since 1991 - St. Petersburg).
One of the first and basic legal documents initiating the transfer of religious property to believers in post-Soviet times was the Order of the President of the Russian Federation of April 23, 1993, in which the Government of the Russian Federation was entrusted with the gradual transfer of property for religious purposes, which is in federal ownership, into ownership or use religious organizations. In 1997, Minister of Culture E. Yu. Sidorov determined the forms of contractual relations with the church regarding monuments: 1. Form of ownership (rarely used); 2. Free use (often used); 3. Sharing (rarely used). The third type of use includes such monuments as the Moscow Kremlin, Peter and Paul Cathedral, etc.
In the early 1990s. two parishes were registered: one for the Peter and Paul Cathedral, the other for the Grand Ducal Tomb with its rector, Archpriest Boris Glebov. In 2001, the current parish was registered, the chairman of the parish council (headman) of which is B. A. Almazov, and the treasurer is N. N. Valuysky. The rector of the cathedral is Abbot Alexander (Fedorov). There was no new consecration of the Peter and Paul Cathedral in post-Soviet times; after the registration of the parish before the celebration of the temple holiday on July 12, 2002, a new antimension was issued by Metropolitan of St. Petersburg and Ladoga Vladimir (Kotlyarov).
1992 can be considered the beginning of the resumption of services, mainly of a memorial nature; this became possible after the burial of Vladimir Kirillovich Romanov in the Grand Ducal Tomb. In 1997, the cathedral hosted the first all-night liturgy after the revolution; a year later, on July 17, 1998, Father Boris Glebov held a service for the innocent murdered, timed to coincide with the anniversary of the execution of the family of the last Russian emperor and the burial of Yekaterinburg remains in the Catherine Chapel. On July 12, 1999, on the day of the apostles Peter and Paul, the first all-night and metropolitan liturgy was held in the Peter and Paul Cathedral, which was conducted by Metropolitan Vladimir of St. Petersburg and Ladoga. From this time on, services became regular.
In 2007, the St. Petersburg Diocesan Administration of the Russian Orthodox Church turned to the Chairman of the Federation Council S. M. Mironov with a request to head the Board of Trustees of the Imperial Peter and Paul Cathedral, the result was the signing between the diocese and the museum of an agreement on the joint use of the cathedral and the organization of regular services from the beginning of 2008.
On the night of April 27, 2008, for the first time in the post-Soviet period, the rector of the cathedral, Abbot Alexander Fedorov, held an Easter service, and on July 12, 2009, Patriarch Kirill performed the Divine Liturgy in the cathedral, thus marking the city’s name day. This was the first patriarchal service in the entire history of the temple. Previously, even if the patriarchs visited the cathedral, but did not conduct divine services, there is no need to talk about the Russian Empire in this context due to the absence of the institution of patriarchy in it. The Patriarch presented the cathedral with a copy of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, which is now kept in the central nave on the salt to the left of the Royal Doors. Vicar Bishop Ambrose, on behalf of the diocese, presented the bishop with an icon of the apostles Peter and Paul as a gift. Patriarchal services have become a new tradition. On July 12, 2010, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church also celebrated the day of the apostles Peter and Paul.
On September 30, 2009, a historic agreement on services was reached between the metropolis and the museum; in accordance with it, excursion work is not conducted during services. Divine services are held on Saturdays - All-night vigil and on Sundays - liturgy. Services mark all the main twelfth holidays and Easter, memorial services are held for the deceased emperors, some empresses and members of the imperial family, temple holidays are traditionally celebrated: the days of the apostles Peter and Paul, the Great Martyr Catherine and the Holy Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky.
In the general list of churches of the St. Petersburg Metropolis, the cathedral is listed as the “Imperial Memorial Cathedral in the Name of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul” at No. 126.
In November 2010, President D. Medvedev signed the Federal Law of the Russian Federation on the transfer of state or municipal property for religious purposes to church organizations. The future will show how this law will affect the fate of the Peter and Paul Cathedral.
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From the moment Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich Romanov ascended the throne, an era of prosperity began in the history of the Novospassky Monastery. There were several reasons for this. Back in 1498, shortly before this, boyar Vasily Zakharyin, the ancestor of the Romanovs, the founder of the dynasty, was buried in the consecrated temple. In the 16th century, other representatives of this boyar family began to be buried in the monastery. False Dmitry I, as soon as he sat on the Moscow throne, ordered the burials of three Romanov boyars, exiled by Boris Godunov, to be transferred to the monastery from distant northern villages. In an effort to cancel all the decrees and decisions of Boris, whom he hated, False Dmitry, without knowing it, rendered a great service to the future royal House. Until the 18th century, the monastery remained the burial place of members of the reigning Romanov family.
The Novospassky Monastery, the final resting place of their famous ancestors and close relatives, became very dear to the Russian tsars. Here, to their graves, on certain days, solemn royal “exits” were made. In the New Place, the monastery continued to be a place of grand ducal and royal pilgrimage and was called “the royal, chamber, great, notorious, primary monastery.”
This second part will be dedicated to the Romanov dynasty, their tomb in the Holy Savior Cathedral, and the necropolis of the monastery. Also, I'm a little I’ll tell you, towards the end of this material, about the main shrine of the monastery - the miraculous Icon of the Mother of God “The Tsaritsa”.
Russian sovereigns throughout history have patronized the monastery. They donated precious church utensils, icons, vestments, liturgical books - everything that made up the richest sacristy of the monastery. During her lifetime, the great eldress Martha granted several ancient family estates to the monastery. Among them is the village of Domnino in Kostroma district, memorable to all Russians for the feat of the Domnino elder Ivan Susanin. This village was a gift from the Tsar’s mother to the All-Merciful God for saving not only her son, but also the entire Fatherland from the Time of Troubles. It was Elder Martha who placed “her prayer” in the cathedral church - the image of the Mother of God “Hodegetria” (“Guide”), decorated with precious stones and pearls. This icon of the Mother of God “Smolensk” is still in the local row of the iconostasis.
Elder Martha is the mother of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, the wife of Fyodor Nikitievich Romanov (Patriarch Philaret), who was called “the Great Empress” in her son’s letters.
02.
Thanks to royal grants and benefits, by the end of the 17th century the monastery became one of the richest in Moscow. According to the “ruzhnaya book” of 1681, behind him there were “peasants of 2257 households”, and a total of 14 thousand serfs.
Only with the transfer of the state capital from Moscow to St. Petersburg did the Novospassky Monastery gradually begin to decline. In 1737-1747, the monastery suffered greatly due to numerous fires. Many monastery buildings burned down. Empress Elizaveta Petrovna had favor with the Novospassky Monastery, which she often visited. In 1764, under Catherine II, a certain secularization of church property followed; the monastery lost all its estates, and therefore its income. The number of inhabitants of the monastery has noticeably decreased. During the plague epidemic in 1771, the Novospassky Monastery became a quarantine area, where residents from all over Moscow flocked.
03.
A difficult test for the monastery, as well as for the whole of Moscow, was the invasion of Napoleon. The monastery was destroyed by the enemy and suffered from a fire that broke out. It is known that before fleeing, the French dug holes under the cathedral to blow it up. But we didn’t have time. By 1820, all buildings damaged during the Patriotic War of 1812 were eventually repaired. A new two-story building rose along the western part of the fortress wall, where cells, a kitchen and other utility rooms were located. A new one was cast from the large bell of Peter I that was broken in a fire. In the 30-40s of the 19th century, the monastery churches were renovated.
During his reign, the last Sovereign, Emperor Nicholas II, visited the Novospassky Monastery three times. In 1900, during a visit to the monastery, the Sovereign Emperor decided to build a temple in honor of the Venerable Roman the Sweet Singer in the Tomb of the Romanov Boyars. The temple was built at the expense of the monastery. In 1902, the temple was consecrated in the presence of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich Romanov and Grand Duchess Elisaveta Feodorovna. The consecration was then performed by Metropolitan Vladimir (Epiphany) of Moscow.
It was in our time that the Romanov tomb received the remains of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich (1857-1905), who was killed by the terrorist Kalyaev in the Kremlin. On February 10, the day of the funeral service of the Grand Duke, all of Moscow, and with it all of Russia, said goodbye to him. The Grand Duke was buried in the Kremlin, in the Chudov Monastery on July 4, 1906, in the crypt of a specially built tomb church in honor of St. Sergius of Radonezh, the Heavenly Patron of the Grand Duke.
04.
The crypt of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich Romanov in the Chudov Monastery.
05.
At the site of the martyrdom of Sergei Alexandrovich, his 5th Grenadier Regiment erected a white memorial cross. People began to put money at the foot of the cross, and Grand Duchess Elisaveta Feodorovna, appointed chief of the regiment after the death of the Grand Duke, expressed a desire that a new cross-monument be built with these funds. On April 2, 1908, after the liturgy, the consecration of the cross, made according to the design of V.M., took place in the tomb church. Vasnetsova.
06.
And this is an old photo of the Worship Cross in the Kremlin
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At the foot of the cross was inscribed: “Father, let them go, for they do not know what they are doing,” and along the entire cross there was an inscription: “If we live, we live by the Lord; if we die, we die by the Lord; if we live, if we die, we are the Lord.” Eternal memory to Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, killed on February 4, 1905. Remember us, Lord, when you come into Your Kingdom.”
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This cross stood for ten years . And was demolished, according to recollections V.D. Bonch-Bruevich , with the personal participation of the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars V.I. Lenin on May 1, 1918. However, Sergei Alexandrovich’s grave in the Chudov Monastery remained untouched - fortunately, it simply turned out to be lost for many years. The Miracle Monastery was demolished in 1929, and the burial of the Grand Duke was forgotten.Only many years later, in 1985, “during the repair of the paving stones in front of the building from the 30s. XX century (architect I. Rerberg) on Ivanovskaya Square,” the crypt of Grand Duke Sergius Alexandrovich was accidentally discovered in a hole.In it they found the relics of the deceased in a perfectly preserved military uniform... The tomb was then quickly completely covered with sand without any respect for the remains of the Grand Duke. Lonly on September 17, 1995, with the blessing of Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy IIand the ashes of Sergei Alexandrovich was moved with a large crowd of people, which houses the tomb of the Romanov boyars - the ancestors of the royal House. On the territory of the Novospassky Monastery, this cross has been restored to its original form.
Cross-monument to Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich in the Novospassky Monastery. Sculptor N. Orlov, author of the project D. Grishin.Recreated and installed in 1998.
In 1918, the Novospassky Monastery was closed. By the fall, a concentration camp was already operating here. The holy place became a place of imprisonment and death. In the early years there was a women's prison here, then a forced labor camp for criminals and political prisoners. In the 1930s, a new stage of destruction of the ancient monastery began. The once famous monastery necropolis, which occupied two-thirds of the monastery’s territory, where prominent figures of the Russian State and the Church rested, was destroyed. That's what we've lost. Judging by these rare photos, the necropolis of the Novospassky Monastery was no less impressive than, say, Donskoy.
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Monument to Major General Andrei Zinovievich Durasov at the cemetery of the Novospassky Monastery. 1838. According to some information, this monument is located in the Donskoy Monastery. It was decided to return him to the Novospassky Monastery. The only issue is ensuring the transportation of this monument.
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According to some reports, the Bolsheviks staged an unprecedented large-scale trade in expensive stone tombstones. However, it is reported that some of the tombstones were moved to the Donskoy Monastery. In 1935, the territory of the monastery was transferred to the economic administration of the NKVD. The archives of the NKVD of the Moscow region were placed in the cathedral church, in Nikolskoye there was a warehouse for confiscated furniture and a potato storage facility, the remaining suitable premises were converted and occupied.
In the 1950s, without any external influence, a shield with the slogan “Houses of Culture instead of Monasteries,” hanging above the entrance to the tomb of the Romanov boyars, collapsed. As a result, a wonderful mosaic image of the Savior Not Made by Hands was revealed... Ten years later, the eviction of residents and various institutions from the monastery premises began. In 1967, thanks to an open letter from Pavel Korin, the sobering-up center in the Znamensky Church was closed. In 1968, the “Museum of History and Modern Practice of Restoration in the USSR” was created on the territory of the monastery. At the same time, restoration work began, which lasted more than 20 years. They mainly concerned the external appearance of some buildings. Inside are the associations “Soyuzrestavratsiya” and the All-Russian Research Institute of Restoration with their artistic and production workshops.
On December 4, 1990, the Novospassky Monastery was returned to the Moscow Patriarchate. This decision was made on the day of the celebration of the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the temple - exactly 500 years after the foundation of the stone Transfiguration Cathedral.
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The churches were gradually restored, the monastery was restored, and work was carried out to restore the ancient tomb of the Romanov boyars in the Church of Roman the Sweet Singer. Here the outstanding abbots of the monastery also found their final resting place, including the ascetic Archimandrite Agapit (Vvedensky), the scientist and collector of Christian antiquities Bishop Porfiry (Uspensky), the theologian Bishop Peter (Catherine). All their burials were repeatedly plundered; not a single gravestone survived.
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The main historical entrance to the tomb is always closed, because it opens directly into the altar of the lower church of Roman the Sweet Singer...
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Chapel in memory of the 300th anniversary of the House of Romanov.
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Graves of archimandrites and abbots of the Novospassky Monastery.
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Now we are going to the ancient tomb of the Romanov boyars...
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It is located on the south side of the Transfiguration Cathedral.
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And here is the current entrance.
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We descend into the basement of the Transfiguration Cathedral. The Romanov crypt is already visible through the open door. To the left and right there are icon shops...
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We are in the Holy of Holies of the Transfiguration Cathedral.
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There are very few people. It’s quiet and peaceful here... You feel complete awe...
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This is what the cathedral crypt looked like before the revolution.
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These are the small royal doors of the Church of Roman the Sweet Singer. This is an early Christian saint, to whom, through his prayer, the Mother of God gave the gift of a singer and, subsequently, a famous writer of church hymns.
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And here is the resting place of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich.
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Let's look at other graves.
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In some places there are gravestones on display that miraculously survived.
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This is an unnamed ark. There are no explanatory inscriptions next to it.
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In the center of the cathedral basement there are museum display cases with found artifacts from the Romanov burials...
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Part of the coffin plaque from the burial of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich... and not only...
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And these are funeral crowns from the burials of the Romanov family.
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Tombstone of Princess Irina. Irina Mikhailovna (April 22, 1627 - April 8, 1679) - the eldest daughter of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich and his second wife, Tsarina Evdokia Lukyanovna.
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The icon of the Feodorovskaya Mother of God is considered the ancestral icon of the Romanov family.
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Well, that’s probably all in this place - we examined, as far as possible, the tomb of the Romanov boyars. Now it’s your turn to see what remains of the once richest necropolis of the Novospassky Monastery. To the left of the monastery's candle workshop, near the bell tower, there is a chapel erected at the burial site of the nun Dosithea (better known as Princess Tarakanova).
Princess Tarakanova (called herself Princess Elizaveta Vladimirskaya) is an unknown person who pretended to be the daughter of Empress Elizaveta Petrovna and Count Alexei Razumovsky. In 1774, she declared her claims to the Russian throne and for some time found support from supporters of the Bar Confederation. Kidnapped by order of Catherine II in Livorno by Alexei Orlov and brought to St. Petersburg. During the investigation, she did not admit guilt and did not reveal her origin. She died in custody in the Peter and Paul Fortress, according to legend, during the flood on the Neva, when her cell was flooded with water... The plot was used by the artist Konstantin Flavitsky - this is his most famous painting.
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According to some information, the “princess” still remained alive - a certain “Augusta Matveevna” (or Timofeevna, patronymic is considered fictitious) under the monastic name Dosifeya lived for 25 years in the Moscow Ivanovo Monastery and died in 1810. Obviously, she is discussed in the memorial tablet that is fixed on the wall of the chapel - “The remains of the nun Dosithea (d. 1810) (Princess Tarakanova) rest in the church of St. Roman the Sweet Singer in the crypt of the Transfiguration Monastery.”
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Next to the bell tower there is a memorial plaque about the location of the future monument to the artist Fyodor Rokotov. Fyodor Stepanovich Rokotov is a Russian painter, master of portraiture, representative of the Rococo and Classicism styles. The artist's biography is shrouded in mystery. For a long time, the origin of Rokotov - the founder of the English Club, the owner of a luxurious house in the center of Moscow - was considered noble. But the documents found confirmed that the artist was born in 1735 into a serf family. Thanks to the head of the Academy of Arts I.I. Shuvalov, who noticed the young talent, Rokotov received an excellent education from French artists and devoted his work to creating ceremonial portraits. Rokotov taught at the Academy for a long time. releasing more than a dozen portrait artists from his creative workshop. F.S. died Rokotov in 1808 and was buried in the cemetery of the Novospassky Monastery.
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On the southern and western sides, in the arches of the fortress walls, rare, apparently found by chance, gravestones and cast iron slabs are collected.
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