PHOTO: early 20th century view of the Novo-Tikhvin Convent Cemetery in Ekaterinburg

Among the many shameful acts committed by the Bolsheviks and later the Soviets, was the desecration and later destruction of the Novo-Tikhvin Convent Cemetery in Ekaterinburg during the 1920s and 1950s.

In the 1780s, an Orthodox churchyard was created in the south-western part of Ekaterinburg. During the 19th century it became part of the cemetery at the Novo-Tikhvin Convent. It consisted of a city cemetery (Green Grove), and a necropolis members of the nobility. The gravestones were works of stone-cutting and foundry art, thus making it the finest cemetery in the city at that time.

It is believed that the last burial in the Novo-Tikhvin Convent Cemetery took place in 1924. The local Soviet began to appropriate the land and began building on the grounds of the cemetery. In 1926 there was even talk about building the Sverdlovsk Zoo here! By 1929 nearly all the graves had been removed.

By 1930 the convent was closed. In 1932 the church archives, which included the burial records and other important information were ordered burned by the local Soviet. Bulldozers were used to demolish the last above ground grave stones and monuments in 1948-1950.

PHOTO: General Ilya Leonidovich Tatishchev (left) and Prince Vasili Alexandrovich Dolgorukov (right)

The local Soviet used some of the grave stone monuments to build foundations and roads, while iron and cast iron parts were used as scrap metal. The desecration of the cemetery did not stop there. Local military training units, which settled in the convent, dug a number of garbage pits, buried two large tanks for fuel and lubricants in the cemetery.

Most of the cemetery was transferred to the administration of the Ural Military District, who continued to build on the graves of those who died before the 1917 Revolution. The last house constructed on the cemetery, complete with a marble front staircase and a sauna was built for Soviet generals.

The convent was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church in the early 1990s. Restoration began and continues to this day. Excavations on the grounds of the Novo-Tikhvin Convent were carried out from 2002 to 2012, which resulted in the recovery of more than 400 graves (some were completely destroyed). Efforts were made to recover some of the graves, identify the remains, and rebury them in other cemeteries. Additional bodies have since been recovered, as recently as 2018.

It is interesting to note that two faithful servants to Emperor Nicholas II – General Ilya Leonidovich Tatishchev (1859 – 1918) and Prince Vasili Alexandrovich Dolgorukov (1868 – 1918), who followed the Imperial Family into exile, and murdered by the Bolsheviks were buried in this cemetery, however, their graves have not been found.

© Paul Gilbert. 21 November 2023