Graves in Novodevichy Convent, Historical cemetery in Khamovniki District, Russia.

The necropolis of the Novodevichy Convent lies inside the monastery walls in Khamovniki District, Moscow. About a hundred tombstones survive from the noble burial ground, among them the grave of the first abbess Yelena Devochkina (d. 1547) and the 1955 monument to poet Denis Davydov. In the crypt of the Smolensk Cathedral are the tombs of Tsarevna Sophia Alekseyevna and Tsaritsa Evdokia Fyodorovna.

Burials within the monastery walls are documented from at least the early 19th century, and by the early 20th century the enclosed necropolis held 2,811 tombstones of nobles, professors and other estates. Because it was full, a new Novodevichy cemetery was laid out south of the monastery in 1898. During the mass destruction of Moscow monastery necropolises in the 1930s most monuments were demolished; about one twentieth of the noble graves, roughly a hundred tombstones, survive, mainly of major pre-revolutionary cultural figures and Decembrists.

The necropolis holds the grave of the first abbess, Elena Devochkina (d. 1547), and in the Smolensk Cathedral's lower church lie Tsarevna Sophia Alekseyevna and Tsaritsa Evdokia Fyodorovna, Peter I's first wife. The black plaque on the boulder in the photograph reads "Решина ЕРБ", marking a family plot. Many crosses on surviving noble tombstones were struck off in the 1930s.

The monastery necropolis lies inside the convent walls in Khamovniki District, separate from the newer Novodevichy cemetery laid out south of the monastery in 1898. Only about a hundred of the old noble tombstones survive, many with crosses struck off, so look for the black plaque reading "РЕШИНА ЕРБ" on a boulder beside a flared cross marker. The Smolensk Cathedral crypt holds 53 burials, including Tsarevna Sophia Alekseyevna and Tsarina Evdokia Fyodorovna.

Of the noble necropolis that counted 2,811 monuments by the early 20th century, only about one twentieth survives, roughly a hundred tombstones; most crosses were struck off the graves during the 1930s. The black plaque on the boulder in the photograph reads "РЕШИНА ЕРБ".