Novodevichy Cemetery, Historic cemetery in Khamovniki District, Moscow, Russia.
Novodevichy Cemetery is a burial ground in Khamovniki District, Moscow, Russia, stretching along the southern wall of the Novodevichy Convent. The site divides into several sections with different layout patterns and pathways.
The cemetery was laid out by architects Sergei Rodionov and Ivan Mashkov on two hectares of former vegetable gardens south of the convent and opened in 1904; its official age is counted from that year, though the convent necropolis began in the 16th century. In the 1930s it became the burial ground of the national elite, and remains such as Nikolai Gogol's were moved here from demolished monasteries.
Many graves display portrait reliefs that depict the deceased in characteristic poses or during their work. These representations turn a walk through the grounds into an encounter with faces and life stories from literature, music, and science.
A map at the entrance gate helps with orientation between older and newer sections. Pathways are mostly paved, but winter snow can obscure inscriptions and gravestones.
The first grave in the 1898 extension belongs to Sergei Gavrilovich Vavilov, a Moscow townsman of the Goncharnaya sloboda, who died on 26 February 1904 at the age of 48. His gravestone carries this inscription, and the cemetery's official age is counted from that year.
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