City of Angels, Memorial cemetery in Beslan, Russia.
City of Angels is a memorial cemetery on Kominterna Street, 99, on the northeastern outskirts of Beslan. It holds 266 burials, 186 of them children's graves. Each grave has a uniform reddish-brown polished stone headstone with a rounded top and a dark oval portrait, set in rows on a paved surface with small planted beds and narrow stone benches. The grounds also contain the Tree of Sorrow sculpture, a khachkar donated by children from Armenia, and a monument to spetsnaz soldiers.
In September 2004, armed militants stormed a school in Beslan and held more than twelve hundred students and teachers hostage for three days. The siege ended in tragedy when three hundred and thirty-four people died, more than half of them children.
The name City of Angels was adopted in public discourse because so many of the victims were children. Each year on the anniversary of 1–3 September 2004, relatives, survivors and officials gather here to lay flowers and observe moments of silence. The Armenian khachkar, a cross-stone donated by children from Armenia, carries a small drinking fountain whose base shows children holding out cups and the words "We beg you, give the children water".
The grounds lie about three kilometers from the center of Beslan and can be reached by a road leading to the entrance gate. Visitors may enter during daytime hours and should move quietly, as families often come here to grieve.
The Armenian khachkar on the grounds was donated by children from Armenia; to the left of its carved cross stands a small drinking fountain whose base bears sculptures of children holding out cups and the inscription "We beg you, give the children water".
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