Published on: 2026-08-31
Source: Moscow Government – Правительства Москвы –
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76 historical gravesites in Moscow cemeteries have been included in the Unified State Register of Cultural Heritage Sites. 72 of them are related to the Great Patriotic War, and four more are connected to the Patriotic War of 1812.
The inclusion of burial sites in the state register allows preserving their historical appearance. Work can only be carried out according to projects approved by the capital city authorities. Department of Cultural Heritage, and based on the issued permits. Additionally, the agency monitors all stages of the restoration.
All state-protected cultural heritage sites are located in 11 Moscow cemeteries. There are 34 burials at Novodevichy and Vagankovo cemeteries, 27 at Kuntsevo and Vostryakovo, and 10 at Kuzminsky, Rogozhsky, and Vvedensky. Two more are located at Pyatnitskoye Cemetery, and one each at Izvarinskoe, Golovinsky, and Danilov cemeteries.
Memory of the heroes: The Patriotic War of 1812
A special group among the objects included in the registry consists of four burials of participants in the Patriotic War of 1812. One of them is the grave of Cavalry General Pavel Palen. The tomb monument was created by the sculptor Vasily Demut-Malinovsky. On the pedestal stands a bronze statue of a kneeling woman at a crucifix, with a sword, shield, and ribbon of orders placed at the foot.
Pavel Palen came from a family of Baltic barons. His father was involved in the conspiracy against Pavel I and was the governor of Saint Petersburg. In 1782, Pavel Palen was enrolled in the Horse Life Guards Regiment. Later, he served in other units and took part in the Russo-Persian War of 1796. In 1799, he was granted the title of count, and a year later he became a major general and the chief of the His Majesty’s Life Guards Cuirassier Regiment. During the Russo-Turkish War of 1806–1812, he was awarded orders and weapons, including a gold saber with diamonds “For Bravery.” In 1812, Pavel Palen fought in the battles at Vladimir-Volynsky, Kladno, Lyuboml, and Nemantsi, and also held the crossing over the Berezina River near the town of Borisov. In 1828, he was promoted to general of cavalry.
The grave of Lieutenant General Vicenty Deban-Skorotetsky, a participant in the Patriotic War of 1812 and commandant of Moscow from 1844 to 1855, is now under state protection. At the request of his widow, a monument was erected on the grave in the form of a stone base with a marble bas-relief and inscriptions. On the reverse side of the stele, the words remain: “The sorrowful widow erected this monument; may it be an eternal witness to her grief and dedication to her husband.”
Vikenty Deban-Skorotetsky served in the Grenadier Regiment of Count Alexey Arakcheyev, and then in the Life Guards Semenovsky Regiment. In 1825, he participated in suppressing the Decembrist uprising, after which he became a wing adjutant. In 1826, he was promoted to colonel and transferred to the Preobrazhensky Regiment. In 1830–1831, he took part in suppressing the uprising in the Kingdom of Poland, and in 1834 he was promoted to major general. In 1844, at the rank of lieutenant general, Vikenty Deban-Skorotetsky was appointed the second Moscow commandant, and from 1853 he held the position of the first commandant. Vikenty Deban-Skorotetsky was awarded the Orders of Saint Anna, Saint Vladimir, and Saint George, as well as the Polish military distinction.
The burial site of Cavalry General Karl Stal has also been included in the state register. His grave features a tombstone, presumably created in the 1850s — a stone stele with a marble portrait bas-relief and commemorative inscriptions on the front and side.
Karls Stahl was enrolled in the Preobrazhensky Regiment as a child. Later, he served in the Horse Grenadier and Dragoon regiments under the command of Alexander Suvorov. He participated in wars against the French: in 1799 — in Austria and Switzerland, in 1805 — at Austerlitz and Friedland, in 1807 — at Preussisch-Eylau. In 1810, he was transferred to the Life Guard Dragoon Regiment and promoted to lieutenant colonel, and in 1811 he became a colonel and aide-de-camp to Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich. Karl Stahl distinguished himself in the Patriotic War of 1812 and the foreign campaigns of 1813–1814. He fought at Lützen, Dresden, Kulm, and Leipzig, and took part in the capture of Paris.
The grave of the adjutant of Pyotr Bagration, participant in the Patriotic War of 1812, Prince Nikolai Menshikov at the Vagankovo Cemetery represents memorial and architectural value. The 19th-century tombstone is made in the form of a marble pedestal with an applied crucifix on the front side and a profiled top (‘Golgotha’). A commemorative inscription with the prince’s name and the dates of his birth and death is engraved on the pedestal.
Nikolai Menshikov began his service in 1808 as a cornet in the Belarusian Hussar Regiment. In 1809, he became an adjutant to the commander-in-chief of the Moldavian army, then he was transferred to the Life Guards Hussar Regiment. For distinctions in battles against the Turks, he was awarded the Orders of Saint Anna and Saint Vladimir. In 1811, Nikolai Menshikov became an adjutant to Peter Bagration. During the Patriotic War of 1812, he distinguished himself in rear-guard battles near Mir and Saltanovka. In the Battle of Borodino, he relayed the commander’s orders and saved the wounded Bagration, for which he received the Order of Saint Anna, second class. After the death of the commander, Nikolai Menshikov delivered the news to Alexander I and then became an aide-de-camp to the emperor. He participated in the foreign campaigns of 1813–1814, including the capture of Paris, and received diamond insignia of the order and foreign awards. In 1815, due to illness, he left the service with the rank of rotmistr.
Memory of the heroes: The Great Patriotic War
Among the sites taken under state protection is the mass grave of Soviet soldiers at the Izvarino cemetery. It is located in the northeastern part of the necropolis, near the Church of Elijah the Prophet. Here rest the defenders of Moscow who died in the battles for the capital from October to December 1941.
The original tombstone was designed in 1963–1966 and solemnly unveiled in 1966. During the 2010 reconstruction, a symbolic elevation was created at the burial site, faced with black and brown granite slabs. In the center stands a pedestal with a memorial inscription: “Mass grave of soldiers and officers who died in battles during the defense of Moscow in October — December 1941. Your feat is immortal!”. Today, people — from youth to veterans — come to the mass grave to honor the memory of the capital’s defenders.
At the Danilovskoye Cemetery, the grave of polar pilot Hero of the Soviet Union Ilya Kotov was placed under state protection. Since 1941, he served in the Navy, fought as part of the White Sea Military Flotilla from November of that year until May 1942, and was then transferred to the Main Directorate of the Northern Sea Route. There, the pilot carried out more than 30 special flights.
Ilya Kotov took part in many Arctic expeditions. In 1946 he discovered a huge ice island north of Wrangel Island, and in 1948–1949 participated in the “Sever-2” and “Sever-4” expeditions. The pilot made landings on drifting ice floes, including rescuing the crew and scientists when the ice platform collapsed in April 1948. For his displayed heroism, by decree dated December 6, 1949, he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. In 1950, Ilya Kotov took part in the “Sever-5” expedition, organizing landings on drifting ice for the work of scientific stations. During his service, he flew over one million kilometers.
The register also included the grave of Captain First Rank, Hero of the Soviet Union Alexander Tripolsky at the Novodevichy Cemetery. The submariner began his service in the Navy in 1924. During the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939–1940, he commanded the submarine S-1 of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet. Its crew sank the transport ship Bolkheim near the port of Rauma with artillery fire, after which Alexander Tripolsky was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.
During the Great Patriotic War, the submariner continued his service. In March 1942, he was appointed commander of the third division of S-type submarines in the Pacific Fleet. Alexander Tripolsky became one of the organizers and leaders of the world’s first transit of four submarines — S-51, S-54, S-55, and S-56 — from Vladivostok to Polyarny through the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and the Panama Canal.
At the Vagankovo Cemetery, the grave of test pilot Major of Aviation, Hero of the Soviet Union Alexey Perelet has been placed under state protection. He served in the Soviet Army since 1939, participated in the Great Patriotic War, and trained pilots at the Balashov and Omsk aviation schools. On May 11, 1953, during a test flight of the Tu-95/1 aircraft, an engine fire broke out. Alexey Perelet ordered the crew to leave the aircraft and tried to bring the machine to the airfield himself. Due to wing damage, the plane crashed into a forest and exploded. On June 4, 1954, the pilot was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.
The register also includes other burials of Heroes of the Soviet Union. At the Kuzminsky Cemetery lies the grave of the polar explorer Colonel Grigory Boyarinov. At Novodevichy Cemetery are buried Soviet pilot, navigator of the ANT-25 crew, Lieutenant General of Aviation Alexander Belyakov, as well as Major engineer-meteorologist Evgeny Tolstikov and Soviet polar explorer, scientist, and organizer of science, Academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences Evgeny Fedorov.
Moscow pays great attention to the preservation of historical necropolises. Specialists monitor the condition of tombstones, and volunteer campaigns for their preventive care are regularly conducted. More than 1700 graves, artistic tombstones, and mausoleums are under state protection.
Moreover, since 2011, thanks to a large-scale restoration program, more than 700 objects in the capital’s necropolises have been restored. Over 250 of them were put in order in the last five years at the behest of the Moscow Government.
Photographs and additional information about Moscow’s cultural heritage are available in the section “Cultural Heritage” city media bank “Mosfoto”.
Moscow Projects
A large-scale project has appeared on the mos.ru portal special project, dedicated to the development of key areas of Moscow. These include transport, industry, healthcare, education, sports, and the construction sector. The special project helps to understand how the capital has changed over the past years, which initiatives aimed at making city life even more comfortable are currently being implemented, and what awaits Moscow and its residents in the near future.
On the project page “Culture, Heritage, and Leisure Industry” one can learn about how architectural monuments are preserved in the capital.
Moscow is the center of the country’s cultural life and ranks among the leading megacities in terms of the number of museums and exhibition halls. The city has established a film cluster that includes the Moskino film factory on Ryazansky Prospekt, the Gorky Film Studio, and the Moskino film park.
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