Cities of Russia: what to look in Ulyanovsk? A Simbirsk necropolis

Ulyanovsk – one of the cities most interesting to the tourist, and our travel on its sights proceeded. Having visited, apparently, untouched time memorial Lenin Street and memorial estate «V.I.Lenin’s Homeland», we went to one of sign places of the city – to the Simbirsk necropolis. Cities of Russia: what to look in Ulyanovsk? A Simbirsk necropolis
Blissful Andrey’s chapel Simbirsk V. Zhestkov, personal archive

We stopped nearby to the beautiful bright blue temple, got out of the car and on foot went to the park zone located near.

– We are now in the territory once the Pokrovsk monastery which was here, – Lyudmila Petrovna told us.

  • Cities of Russia: what to look in Ulyanovsk? A Simbirsk necropolis
    V. Zhestkov, personal archive
  • Cities of Russia: what to look in Ulyanovsk? A Simbirsk necropolis
    V. Zhestkov, personal archive
  • Cities of Russia: what to look in Ulyanovsk? A Simbirsk necropolis
    V. Zhestkov, personal archive
  • Cities of Russia: what to look in Ulyanovsk? A Simbirsk necropolis
    V. Zhestkov, personal archive
  • Cities of Russia: what to look in Ulyanovsk? A Simbirsk necropolis
    V. Zhestkov, personal archive
  • Cities of Russia: what to look in Ulyanovsk? A Simbirsk necropolis
    V. Zhestkov, personal archive
  • Cities of Russia: what to look in Ulyanovsk? A Simbirsk necropolis
    V. Zhestkov, personal archive
  • V. Zhestkov, personal archive

  • V. Zhestkov, personal archive

Here on the suburb of Simbirsk there was the man’s Blagoveshchensk monastery called so on wooden church for the sake of the Lady day of the Blessed Virgin, constructed in 1698 on money of one of the richest citizens of Simbirsk of Peter Muromtsev. Through couple of tens years Muromtsev instead of the wooden temple decided to construct a stone Blagoveshchensk cathedral. It also was erected in 1720.

It was one of the stone temples most ancient in the city. The Chetyrekhprestolny cathedral was under construction as «church under колоколы», that is instead of the central dome habitual to us over the temple the belltower towered. In 1724 the Blagoveshchensk monastery was incorporated with being slightly lower at the foot of a hill the Uspensky man’s monastery. The new monastery was called Pokrovsk.

In the territory of a monastery there was a cemetery on which originally buried only the monashestvuyushchy. Gradually there began to bury and inhabitants of surrounding villages. The city grew, and the monastery appeared in city line. In 1725 there was a decree according to which dead men, except notable persons, in the cities it was forbidden to bury. For this purpose it was necessary to use cemeteries at monasteries and parish churches out of the cities.

The first notable person in 1728 in one of side-altars of the Blagoveshchensk cathedral buried his builder Peter Muromtsev, nearby in 1730 his wife was buried also. By then in Simbirsk there was an exclusive cemetery for eminent citizens at the Spassky female monastery. However in connection with epidemic of the plague which has swept across Russia in the 70th years of the XVIII century, it was closed. Here the Pokrovsk monastery also turned into a place of burial of the Simbirsk nobility.

What only surnames were not registered in the mournful list of the people who have found the last rest on Pokrovsk a cemetery! Here prince Sergey Aleksandrovich Trubetskoy, the Simbirsk governor prince Sergey Nikolaevich Khovansky, the first Simbirsk governor count Tolstoy Alexander Vasilyevich, count Vasily Andriyovych Tolstoy and one more count – Alexander Vasilyevich Tolstoy, Simbirsk governors Nikolay Mikhaylovich Buldakov and baron Andrey Petrovitch Umyantsev and many other were buried the colonel.

Many burials on a cemetery were family and belonged to the well-known childbirth in Russia: princes Baratayev, Dadiani, Dolgoruky, Trubetsky, Ukhtomskys, Khovanskys, counts Tolstoys and others. Here the known blissful foolish Andrey Ilyich Ogorodnikov nowadays canonized by Orthodox church and recognized as the heavenly patron of Ulyanovsk was buried also.

In 1886 there it was buried and enjoying wide popularity not only in Simbirsk, but also known across all Russia, the teacher educator, the director of national schools of the Simbirsk province, the valid councilor of state Ilya Nikolaevich Ulyanov, father V.I.Lenin.

Monastery closed in 1923. The cemetery existed some more years, both all this time crypts and tombs injuriously plundered. But in 1937 the decision to immortalize memory of the father of «the leader of the people» Lenin was made. A cemetery decided to destroy, break there the square, to call Ilya Nikolaevich Ulyanov’s his name, having left there only one his grave. And arrived. The cemetery was taken down from a face of the earth, many gravestone monuments appeared broken and disappeared. Then the chapel put in honor of blissful Andrey Simbirskogo was destroyed also. The territory leveled, the former country churchyard set with trees and put there benches. Ilya Ulyanov’s grave became the composite center of the turned-out square.

On a cemetery there were many crypts. It appeared that at its elimination the roof of a crypt made the way, the monument was dumped inside and all space was filled up with garbage, the earth and the remains of the demolished Blagoveshchensk cathedral. Exactly thanks to it it was possible to find some of gravestones in an integrity and safety.

In precisely the same way arrived and with a grave of blissful foolish Andrey Simbirskogo. It was buried in a crypt where in 1991 and its relics being now within the precincts of the temple for the sake of All Sacred, located in neighbourhood were found.

So in Ulyanovsk there was I.N.Ulyanov’s square. It is thought, in the heads of the people, making such decision, the thought predominated that descendants cannot understand long ago occurring events and will consider that I.N.Ulyanov was such well-known that him even buried in the square called in his honor. Well, and considering that many monuments do not happen, in 1957 in the square put one more. On a pedestal Ulyanov’s bust, and at his foot – as though rising of the bottoms of Russia the boy in bast shoes with the book in hands is established. According to the author of a sculpture Matvei Manizer, the composition symbolizes the national education to which business V. Lenin’s father devoted the life. The monument is established on that place where once there were entrance gate in a monastery.

There were years, came it is time not to scatter, and to collect stones. The era of great restoration of the destroyed temples began. The decision on restoration in Ulyanovsk and the Cathedral Spaso-Voznesensky cathedral was made. To construct it on that place where it once stood, it appeared impossible. Chose for construction the waste ground nearby to Ulyanov’s square.

In 1994-97 the group not indifferent to history of our homeland of the people, headed by priest Alex Scala, made excavation in the territory of the former Pokrovsk cemetery. From the earth got a little well remained gravestones, all that remained from a huge country churchyard where many generations of eminent childbirth of Simbirsk were based. Надгробья cleaned, подреставрировали and established on a small site of the square. In 2008 this site enclosed with a fencing, having put there some again found gravestones of the most famous people of Simbirsk which were buried on Pokrovsk a cemetery.

By this time blissful Andrey Simbirskogo’s chapel was already restored. On it established memorial plates with the list of noble childbirth, whose representatives were buried on the former cemetery, and lists of names of the most known buried.

Here and the Simbirsk Pokrovsk necropolis, equal to which on value and safety of gravestones is not present in the Volga region was formed.

Having bowed to memory of all of those who was buried in this place, we went to church for the sake of All Sacred.

Updated: 12.10.2015 — 14:16