Novodevichy Cemetery

The best known cemetery in Russia

Founded 1898 · about 7.5 hectares · Luzhnetsky Proezd 2, next to Novodevichy Convent, central Moscow

How to get there: Metro Sportivnaya, a 5–7 minute walk

Novodevichy is the cemetery foreigners have usually heard of before any other in Moscow. It grew up beside the Novodevichy Convent, whose own necropolis dates back centuries, and from the beginning of the 20th century it became the burial ground for writers, composers, scientists, generals and heads of state.

Because of that, it is also the cemetery where families abroad most often have an ancestor they have never visited. Sections here are compact and numbered, and the administration keeps good records — a grave can usually be located from a full name and an approximate year even when the family has lost the plot number.

Anton Chekhov, Nikolai Gogol, Mikhail Bulgakov, Sergei Prokofiev, Dmitri Shostakovich, Konstantin Stanislavski, Nikita Khrushchev and Boris Yeltsin are among those buried here.

What grave care at Novodevichy actually involves

Novodevichy is a protected heritage site, and that changes how work is done. Many monuments are sculptural — bronze, limestone, marble reliefs — and they must never be treated with acid, wire brushes or pressure washers. We wash them by hand with pH-neutral products and soft brushes, and on bronze we clean only the surface soiling, leaving the patina alone: removing it is irreversible damage, not restoration.

The cemetery is heavily shaded by old trees, so green biological film and moss return every season. Realistically this is a cemetery for scheduled care two to four times a year rather than a single visit — the difference is visible in the photo reports.

Any structural work here — resetting a leaning stone, a new plinth, new lettering — needs the administration’s approval first because of heritage status. We take that on and tell you in advance whether a specific job is permitted before you pay for anything.

Services and prices at Novodevichy

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 Novodevichy

Can you find a grave at Novodevichy if we only know the name?

Usually yes. We submit a written request to the cemetery administration with the full name and an approximate year of burial, and confirm the plot with photographs before any other work starts. Grave search starts at ₽1,500 (about $17).

Is photography allowed?

Yes, ordinary photography is allowed, and every order includes a dated before/after photo report with the GPS position of the plot.

Can you place flowers on a specific date?

Yes. Tell us the date — a birthday, an anniversary, Radonitsa — and we schedule the visit for that day and send the photos the same evening, Moscow time.

Order care at Novodevichy 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.

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