Since I often travel alone I usually don’t worry too much about what I see and when. This sometimes backfires, but usually it works well, allowing me to stay in places that catch my interest and forgoing those that don’t. Unfortunately, when I was in St. Petersburg I got really sick Continue reading “Site 48: Helsinki’s Hietaniemi Cemetery”
Some of Stockholm’s most well-known sites are located on the island of Djurgården: especially museums: the Vasa Museum, the Nordic Museum, the Spirit Museum, the ABBA Museum, and Skansen, the world’s first living history museum. But unbeknownst to me (and probably most Continue reading “Site 47: Stockholm’s Galärvarvskyrkogården”
For all you taphophiles out there, how many cemeteries do think are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site? Well, I’ll give you a hint: Skogskyrkogården is one of them*. It was inscribed on the list in 1994, yet, I have to admit that I had never heard of it until I started doing my research for Continue reading “Site 46: Stockholm’s Skogskyrkogården”
I had a couple of days in Turku, Finland, before heading off to Stockholm. I hadn’t planned on visiting any cemetery here, but when looking at the maps of the city it was clear that there was a large cemetery to be visited on the outskirts of town. Despite arriving in the city early in the morning, Continue reading “Site 45: Turku Cemetery”
Peter and Paul Fortress is of course one of the main tourist sites of St. Petersburg. It was established by Peter the Great in 1703 on a small island in the Neva River, and over the years it had many roles from military base to political prison. Some of the famous people who were imprisoned Continue reading “Site 44: Peter and Paul Fortress”
This cemetery is the newest of the four at the Alexander Nevsky Monastery in St. Petersburg, Russia. The first burials here were in 1917, and included those who participated in Bolshevik demonstrations, the Civil War, and, as so named, for Cossacks. Eventually it got renamed Continue reading “Site 43: St. Petersburg’s Cossack Cemetery”
As I’ve mentioned previously, there are four cemeteries at Alexander Nevsky Monastery. The Tikhvin and Lazarus Cemeteries are located outside the official gates, but the other two are located inside the monastery grounds. Even though Nikolskoe is clearly the largest of the four, I only found it Continue reading “Site 42: St. Petersburg’s Nikolskoe Cemetery”
The twin to Alexander Nevsky’s Lazarus Cemetery is the Tikhvin Cemetery, which is literally right next door. However, I’ll call it a fraternal twin as the two cemeteries are actually quite different. As Lazarus Cemetery became more and more crowded, the need for another Continue reading “Site 41: St. Petersburg’s Tikhvin Cemetery”
Twelve years after the founding of St. Petersburg, in 1710, Saint Alexander Nevsky Lavra monastery was founded by Peter the Great. It was built in the spot that was thought to be the place where Alexander Nevsky (13 May 1221 – 14 November 1263), grandson of Vsevolod Continue reading “Site 40: St. Petersburg’s Lazarus Cemetery”
In St. Petersburg, just north of the iconic Church of the Spilled Blood, is a large park known as the Field of Mars. This park has been used in St. Petersburg for centuries, for everything from military parades and troop inspections to parades and just regular Continue reading “Site 39: St. Petersburg’s Eternal Flame”
Here’s a little cemetery that I just happened to come across. After debating again and again whether or not to go see the Kremlin, I finally gave in, only to give up once I arrived and saw how long the lines were. So instead I went to the open air park/ Continue reading “Site 38: Moscow’s Kolomenskoe Cemetery”
I still hadn’t been inside the Kremlin, but, as with previous days, I couldn’t bear the crowds, so I opted for the Donskoy Monastery and it’s old cemetery. There are actually two cemeteries here – the old necropolis, within the monastery walls, Continue reading “Site 37: Moscow’s Old Donskoy Necropolis”
If Moscow has one go-to cemetery, this is it. Novodevichy Cemetery lies just to the south of the UNESCO World Heritage site Novodevichy Convent, which was established in the 16th century (1524 to be exact). Both cemetery and convent are Continue reading “Site 36: Moscow’s Novodevichy Cemetery”
Or…Lenin’s Mausoleum, the Kremlin Wall Necropolis, and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. I have to admit it: I have this strange fascination for embalmed Communist leaders. Well, maybe fascination is too strong a word, but there’s Continue reading “Site 35: Moscow’s Kremlin Memorials”
Now here’s a cemetery I had never heard of, until I thought to research cemeteries in Tallinn (actually, that’s pretty common to all the cemeteries on this trip). There were actually a few cemeteries that sounded quite interesting to visit, but I only had time Continue reading “Site 34: Tallinn’s Siselinna Cemetery”
stone and dust 