Donskoye Cemetery
Founded 16th century necropolis; the new cemetery from 1910 · about 12 hectares · Donskaya Ploshchad, beside Donskoy Monastery, southern central Moscow
How to get there: Metro Shabolovskaya, about 10 minutes on foot
Donskoye is two places with one name. The old necropolis lies inside the walls of Donskoy Monastery and holds graves of the Russian nobility, merchants and clergy going back centuries — one of the most complete pre-revolutionary burial grounds surviving in Moscow. The new cemetery, opened in 1910, lies immediately alongside it.
For descendants researching family history this is one of the most rewarding cemeteries in the city, and one of the most frustrating: many 18th- and 19th-century inscriptions are worn to the point of illegibility, and some monuments were moved during the Soviet period.
What grave care at Donskoye actually involves
The historic stone here is mostly limestone and white marble, and both are soft. A great deal of irreversible damage at Donskoye has been done by well-meaning relatives with wire brushes and household chemistry. We use only pH-neutral products and soft brushes, and on a badly eroded inscription we photograph it in raking light rather than trying to «bring it out» mechanically.
The site is shaded and damp, which favours moss and lichen. Lichen in particular must be removed patiently and repeatedly rather than in one aggressive treatment — pulling it off takes the stone surface with it.
Work inside the monastery necropolis is subject to the monastery’s own rules as well as the city’s, and heritage monuments cannot be altered. We check what is permitted for your specific plot and tell you before you commit to anything.
Services and prices at Donskoye
- Grave search by name — from ₽1,500 (about $17). Needed whenever the plot number has been lost.
- Standard clean-up — litter and old wreaths removed, weeding and grass cutting, headstone and fence washed, mound levelled. From ₽3,000 (about $34).
- Headstone cleaning — from ₽4,500 (about $50), gentle products only.
- Seasonal package — four scheduled visits a year with a photo report after each, ₽17,000 (about $135).
- Engraving — adding a name and dates to an existing monument, or restoring worn lettering. Layout sent for your approval before anything is cut.
- Monuments and granite complexes — a new headstone, plinth, kerb and paving, or resetting a monument that has started to lean. Quoted after we measure and photograph the plot.
Every order ends with a dated before/after photo report including the GPS position of the plot, and you pay after you receive it. Full price list — services & prices.
Questions we are asked about Donskoye
Can an 18th-century inscription be made readable again?
Sometimes, by careful cleaning and photography in low-angle light. Re-cutting a heritage inscription is not permitted and we will not do it. We are straightforward about which of the two your stone needs.
Do you help with genealogical research here?
We photograph what is physically there — the stone, the inscription, the neighbouring plots — which is often what a researcher abroad actually needs. Archive research beyond the cemetery records is a separate matter.
Is the old necropolis open to visitors?
The monastery grounds are open to visitors during daylight hours, with the usual restrictions of an active monastery.
Order care at Donskoye from anywhere
Write to us with the full name of the person buried and, if you have it, the section and plot number. If you do not have it, say so — locating the grave is a normal part of the job. We agree a payment method that works for your country when the order is confirmed, including payment through relatives in Russia, and payment is due after the photo report.
You can write in English — we reply in English.
Other Moscow cemeteries we serve
All Moscow cemeteries · Grave search by name · Order a monument · How it works
Русская версия — Donskoye Cemetery на русском
