Butovo firing range

Butovo is a mass execution site in the Moscow region, spread across six acres where remains from the Stalinist era lie beneath the surface. Thirteen separate burial areas mark the grounds, surrounded by a memorial park and a small chapel for quiet reflection.

Soviet security forces carried out more than 20,000 executions here between August 1937 and October 1938. The killings followed a wave of political purges during the great terror period.

The Orthodox Church built the New Martyrs chapel after receiving the grounds in 1995, creating a place where families can honor the dead. Services held in the church remember those buried beneath the soil, giving voice to names once erased from official records.

The museum displays photographs from security archives and personal belongings recovered from the site, along with eight volumes listing the names. Visitors should expect quiet pathways through the grounds, where information panels explain the history of the area.

Authorities planted apple trees over the graves after the war, and local residents noticed the fruit grew unusually large. The orchards remained for decades before the site was revealed as a memorial.