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Alexandr Nevsky Monastery

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Amanda
Amanda
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4 out of 5
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2
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Editor Pick

Lazarev and Tikhvin Cemeteries

  • August 6, 2007
  • Rated 4 of 5 by sararevell from London, United Kingdom
Lazarev and Tikhvin Cemeteries

On the Russian Orthodox Easter Sunday, the Alexandr Nevsky Monastery (or Lavra) was a busy place. We arrived toward the end of the day, as last minute visits were being paid by young families and elderly babushkas. We wandered into the one church that was open, feeling somewhat intrusive as it was filled with Russians going in prayer. We did a very quick circuit and headed back out to the entrance of the Lavra, where we arrived just in time to gain access to the famed Lazarev and Tikhvin Cemeteries, which close around 5.30pm.

The monastery was founded by Peter the Great in 1710 and on this particularly holy day I could sense an overwhelming sense of community and belonging from the tides of people flocking in to worship. Walking towards its location at the southern tip of Nevsky Prospekt we hadn’t seen much indication of the crowds until we came close to the monastery’s entrance. There’s no entrance fee for the grounds in general but there is a small ticket booth along the walled lane that permits access to the two cemeteries. The system (if there is one) is somewhat confusing as the booth looked deserted when we passed by so we took the liberty of entering the Lazarev cemetery without paying but were soon chased down by an unimpressed lady who shooed us back to the booth where an attendant had magically appeared to take our money after all. The fee was small, about $2.30 per person. This didn’t include a photo fee but we took a couple of surreptitious snaps of two star attractions, the tombstones of Dostoyevsky and Tchaikovsky, as we wandered around.

Temperamental clerks aside, the two cemeteries are actually very beautiful and soporific. With tall walls, dwarf pine trees and narrow paths winding through plots bordered by wrought iron fences, I felt as if I was walking through a secret garden rather than a graveyard. We had been given a small map which indicated who was lying in which area, but with the large number of people interred here, it was still hard to locate them. Even the most recognizable names don’t necessarily have the grandest tombs.

The two cemeteries are fairly modest in size. The Lazarev cemetery is visually more dramatic, as headstones are packed in tightly and overall seem more indicative of the site’s antiquity. On the opposite side, Tikhvin comes off as the more organized and presentable of the two cemeteries and also contains most of the famous graves. They both possess their own charm though and even at closing time on Easter Sunday, drew in a decent number of people.

The compound is located close to the Ploshchad Alexandra Nevskovo metro station and there was very little to see between there and the Moscow train station so I would definitely recommend catching the metro if you decide to make an independent trip out to the cemeteries.

From journal St. Petersburg in all its Faded Glory

Editor Pick

Alexandr Nevsky Monastery

  • September 14, 2000
  • Rated 4 of 5 by Amanda from London, United Kingdom
One of the few active monastic communities in Russia, this place is wonderful. As the sightseeing is predominantly outdoors, summer is a good time to come!

The things to see here are the graveyards, in which many important local and Russian citizens sleep the long sleep. The two best are called Lazarus and Tikhvin Cemetaries, and cost about £0.50 to enter. You can get, and pay for, an English tour, and this is worth it. Otherwise, there just seems to be a pile of stones. Tchaikovsy and Rossi are just two of the internationally famous artists buried here, and it's a very interesting place.

From journal Looking to Europe

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