Mysterious burials (5 photos). Legends about the secret burial place of Queen Tamara
None of the people living on earth knows what awaits us after death. The grave puts an end to a person’s earthly life, however, in some cases, even in it the deceased cannot find peace. Next you will find the most mysterious burial places in the world, around which there is a lot of speculation. mystical legends.
Rosalia Lombardo (1918 - 1920, Capuchin catacombs in Italy)
At the age of 2 years, this girl died of pneumonia. The inconsolable father could not part with his daughter’s body and turned to Alfredo Salafia to embalm the child’s body. Salafia did colossal work(dried the skin with a mixture of alcohol and glycerin, replaced the blood with formaldehyde and used salicylic acid to prevent the fungus from spreading throughout the body). As a result, the girl's body, located in a sealed coffin with nitrogen, looks as if she had fallen asleep.
Cages for the Dead (Victorian era)
During the Victorian era, metal cages were built over graves. Their purpose is not exactly known. Some believe that this was how the graves were protected from destroyers, others think that this was done to ensure that the dead did not leave their graves.
Taira no Masakado (940, Japan)
This man was a samurai and during the Heian era he became the leader of one of the largest uprisings against the rule of Kyoto. The uprising was suppressed and in 940 Masakado was beheaded. According to historical chronicles, the samurai's head did not rot for three months and all this time he quickly rolled his eyes. Then the head was buried, and later the city of Tokyo was built on the burial site. Tair's grave is still preserved, as the Japanese believe that if it is disturbed, it can bring disaster to Tokyo and the whole country. Now this grave is the oldest burial place in the world, which is kept perfectly clean.
Lilly Gray (1881-1958, Salt Lake City Cemetery, USA)
The inscription on the tombstone reads "Sacrifice of the Beast 666." Lilly's husband Elmer Gray called the US government that way, which he blamed for the death of his wife.
Chase Family Crypt (Barbados)
The family crypt of this couple is one of the most mysterious places on Caribbean Islands. IN early XIX centuries, it was discovered several times that coffins were moved after they were placed in the crypt, and it was established that no one entered the crypt. Some coffins stood upright, others were on the steps near the entrance. In 1820, by order of the governor, the coffins were transported to another place, and the entrance to the crypt was closed forever.
Mary Shelley (1797 - 1851, St Peter's Chapel, Dorset, England)
In 1822, Mary Shelley cremated the body of her husband Percy Bysshe Shelley, who died in an accident in Italy. After cremation, the man’s intact heart was discovered among the ashes; his woman took it home to England and kept it until her death. In 1851, Mary died and was buried with her husband’s heart, which she kept in the manuscript “Adonai: Elegy of Death.”
Russian mafia (Ekaterinburg, Russia)
Monuments in full height, installed on the graves of representatives of the criminal world, many of us have seen. At some monuments you can even find video cameras protecting them from vandals.
Inez Clark (1873 - 1880, Chicago, USA)
In 1880, 7-year-old Inez died from a lightning strike. By order of her parents, a sculpture-monument in a plexiglass cube was installed on her grave. The sculpture is made in the height of a girl, depicting her sitting on a bench with a flower and an umbrella in her hands.
Kitty Jay (Devon, England)
The nondescript hill overgrown with grass is called Jay's grave by locals. At the end of the 18th century, Kitty Jay committed suicide, and her grave became a cult site for ghost hunters. Since suicides could not be buried outside the cemetery, Kitty was buried at a crossroads so that her soul could not find a way to the afterlife. To this day, fresh flowers constantly appear on her grave.
Elizaveta Demidova (1779 - 1818, Père Lachaise cemetery, Paris, France)
At the age of 14, Elizaveta Demidova was married to the first prince of San Donato, whom she did not love. The unfortunate woman was one of the richest women of her time, and she bequeathed her entire fortune to the person who could spend a week in her crypt without food. Until now, no one has done this, and therefore her fortune remains unclaimed.
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For centuries, historians and treasure hunters have sought to find the burial place of history's most famous conqueror. The new results offer compelling evidence that it has finally been discovered.
Genghis Khan, the 13th century conqueror and ruler, created the largest empire in terms of territory, which at the time of his death extended from the Caspian Sea to Pacific Ocean. Since then, for 800 years they have been searching unsuccessfully for his burial place. Having conquered most Central Asia and China, its army brought death and ruin, but at the same time new connections emerged between East and West. One of the most brilliant and ruthless leaders in world history, Genghis Khan reshaped the world.
The life of the conqueror became legendary, and his death is shrouded in the fog of myth. Some historians believe that he died from wounds received in battle. According to others - as a result of a fall from a horse or illness. But the place of his burial was never found. The greatest precautions were taken at that time to protect against grave robbers. The tomb seekers had nothing to cling to due to the paucity of the original historical sources. According to legend, as Genghis Khan's funeral cortege advanced, anyone who got in the way was killed in order to hide the conqueror's burial place. The builders of the tomb were also killed, as were the soldiers who killed them. According to one source, 10,000 cavalry compacted the grave, leveling it to the ground; in another way, a forest was planted in this place and the river bed was changed.
Scholars continue to argue over fact and fiction because the records are falsified and distorted. But many historians are confident that Genghis Khan was not the only one buried: it is assumed that his loved ones were buried with him in a vast necropolis, and possibly with the treasures and trophies of his many conquests.
The Germans, Japanese, Americans, Russians and British organized expeditions to find his grave, spending millions of dollars on them. All to no avail. The location of the tomb remained one of the most insoluble mysteries.
Interdisciplinary research project, bringing together US and Mongolian scientists and archaeologists, has obtained the first encouraging evidence of the location of Genghis Khan's burial site and necropolis of the emperor's family in a remote mountainous area in northwestern Mongolia.
The team discovered the foundations of large structures dating from the 13th and 14th centuries in an area historically associated with the burial site. Scientists also found big number artifacts, including arrowheads, pottery and a variety of building materials.
“The chain is being built very convincingly,” said the exclusive interview Newsweek researcher and chief expert of the National Geographic project Albert Lin.
For 800 years, the Khentei mountain range, where this place is located, was a forbidden area - this is what Genghis Khan himself decided during his lifetime. If the find is confirmed, it will almost become the main event for areology over the years. Using drones and ground-penetrating radar, and the efforts of thousands of people carefully checking satellite data and photographs, the team surveyed the mountain range, a detailed map of 4,000 square miles of terrain.
In search of clues to the mystery of Genghis Khan's burial site, Lin and his team carefully sifted through large volumes of high-resolution satellite imagery and created 3-D reconstructions of the radar scans in a laboratory at the California Institute of Telecommunications and Information Technology at the University of California, San Diego. In an unprecedented open-source project, thousands of online volunteers combed through 85,000-resolution satellite imagery in an attempt to identify structures or unusual formations that were invisible to the naked eye.
“It is impossible to deny that Genghis Khan changed the course of history. “And yet I can’t think of another historical figure of this magnitude about whom we know so little,” says Lin, who is still not fully disclosing the team’s findings because peer review is pending. And yet, behind the academic reserve, one cannot help but feel emotional excitement. “Any archaeological results on this topic will shed light on an important segment of our common historical heritage, from which the veil of secrecy has now been lifted."
To get to the Khentei Mountains, you need to go east from the capital of the country - Ulaanbaatar, passing the dazzling equestrian statue Genghis Khan, to the mining town of Baganur. The crumbling city appears in all the glory of a post-Soviet Dickensian nightmare: 10-mile-long waste dumps indicate that the largest open development coal owned by the Mongolian government. To the north of the city are the ruins of a Soviet military base, evoking post-apocalyptic associations from horror films. But after leaving the city, you find yourself in the valley of the Kherlen River, the homeland of the Mongols, and a wonderful panorama appears before your eyes. It lies on one of the main steppe routes of Central Asia, connecting east and west - from the Caspian Sea to Japan and northern China - bypassing the Gobi Desert, which terrified Marco Polo and other travelers.
This location and acceptable climate contributed to the steppe becoming an attractive place for nomads to live. Unlike other regions of the country, where temperatures can plummet to -40 degrees Celsius and reach +38 in the summer, the climate in these valleys is generally mild. Ritual monuments and burial sites are found throughout the territory. Archaeologists find burial grounds on top of burial grounds of other tribes that used the same ritual sites in other eras.
Mongolian families still live in yurts, traditional local tents, maintaining the nomadic lifestyle. The blue sky merges with the horizon, and the white spots of yurts in the vast landscape look like sailboats in the middle of a green sea.
From the outside it may seem that the pastoral picture of pastures has changed little since the time of Genghis Khan. However, for nomads the changes are noticeable. A decade of harsh winters followed by dry summers has undermined the livelihoods of herders who depend on their herds and make up a third of the country's population. Tens of thousands of people moved into urban slums, while thousands of others turned to illegal gold mining in search of a livelihood. Here they are called ninjas because, with their large green flushing trays on their backs, they resemble the cartoon Ninja Turtles. At the same time, Mongolia's economy is the fastest growing in the world, and the state is seeking to build its wealth on the basis of coal, copper and gold, the reserves of which are estimated at $1.3 trillion.
Taking a closer look, you notice that the remote valley has not been spared the changes. On the yurt, where we went for advice, there was a satellite dish, and next to it a motorbike and a Chinese truck.
53-year-old shepherd and hunter Altan Khuyag, showing traditional Mongolian hospitality, offered us a cup of milk tea and insisted that we stay the night. Among nomads, hospitality is a vital feature of the steppe lifestyle. When I asked about Genghis Khan, he dipped his finger with a ring into a bowl of vodka and flicked a drop into the sky - as a sign of worship of Tengri, the god blue skies. Two more dips and clicks, like a kind of ritual offering. In Mongolia, the name of Genghis Khan is surrounded by superstitions, and the topic of searching for his burial place often leads to heated debate. Here many people revere him on a par with God.
“He's watching us. Thanks to him, we live well today,” says Altan, drawing his head into his shoulders, as if sensing attention from above. He, like many locals, believes that Genghis Khan is buried in the Khentei Mountains - an opinion shared by both ancient and modern historians, but until now there was no physical confirmation - until Lin and his Mongol partners made their discovery.
Altan indicated the coordinates twice, but he is sure that the conqueror’s grave must be left alone. "I don't think people should look for his tomb because if it's discovered, it will be the end of the world."
This could, at a minimum, lead to geopolitical tension, since many Chinese consider Genghis Khan to be theirs and China to be their property. In fact, China built a huge mausoleum to house a replica of Genghis Khan's empty tomb, and the monument is popular among the Chinese, some of whom revere him as their semi-divine ancestor.
“If Genghis Khan's tomb is found in Mongolia, it will have a huge geopolitical resonance,” says John Man, author of Genghis Khan: Life, Death and Rebirth. – Many in China believe that Mongolia, like Tibet, should be part of China, as it was under Kublai Khan ( mongol khan, founder of the Mongolian state of Yuan, which included China - Wikipedia). If China succeeds in gaining mining rights in Mongolia and taking over the industry, then Genghis Khan's tomb could be at the center of political ambitions the likes of which the world has never seen."
Born into a noble family, Genghis Khan - or Temujin, as he was later known - lived a life that became legendary. As a child, he became an outcast after the murder of his father and the exile of his family. But he survived and became an outstanding warrior and tactician who managed to unite the warring tribes and become a conqueror in the then world. At the same time, he changed society, introduced the alphabet and a single currency, becoming one of the most influential people last millennium.
During his campaigns of conquest, his soldiers robbed and raped, and Genghis Khan had many descendants, although only legitimate sons were considered them. His son Jochi is said to have had 40 sons, and his grandson Khubilai 22. A 2003 genetic study found the same Y chromosome in 16 million men, which belonged to a man who lived a thousand years ago. From which many conclude that this is probably the DNA of Genghis Khan, although, of course, there is no reliable confirmation of this, since his remains have not yet been discovered.
However, Genghis Khan's influence is unparalleled. In less than 20 years, he conquered thousands of miles of territory from the Pacific Ocean to the Caspian Sea, and brought the wealth looted from his campaigns to Mongolia. Trophies were divided among the soldiers as rewards. It is believed that after the death of noble people, luxury items were placed with them in their graves, since, according to legend, they needed them in the afterlife. But few of these treasures were ever discovered. It was as if they had entered Mongolia and disappeared.
“People think that [Genghis Khan’s] tomb is filled to the brim with gold and silver, treasures, wealth, the spoils of his great conquests,” said Professor Ulambayar Erdenebat during our meeting at the National University of Ulaanbaatar, where he heads the archeology department . Between us on the table lies a transparent crystal belt, and Erdenebat carefully straightens each fold of the black cloth underneath.
“This is a unique exhibit. There is nothing like this anywhere else in the world. We found it in a tomb belonging to to a noble person 13th century, probably from the tribe of Genghis Khan,” explains Erdenebat. Then he opens a small jewelry box and carefully lays out a gold ornament, intricately engraved with thread-thin elements and covered with rubies and turquoise. He slowly opens the cabinet with other valuables: we see a pure silver bowl, gold rings, clasps and earrings - all items dating from the time of Genghis Khan.
For decades, expeditions were frustrated due to the inaccessibility of the country. After the fall of the Qing dynasty, Mongolia declared independence in 1911, although China still considers it part of its territory. Having become a close ally of the Soviet Union, Mongolia, with the support of Moscow, again declared its independence in 1924. Friendship with Moscow, however, hindered archaeological research, since Soviet authorities persecuted and punished scholars for studying the history of Genghis Khan out of fear that his figure might become a symbol of the opposition, which sought greater independence from Moscow.
In the early 1960s, an East German-Mongolian expedition discovered shards, nails, tiles, bricks and what they believed to be the foundations of a temple in a sacred mountain area. Hundreds of stone mounds were found at the summit, and at the highest point - iron armor, arrowheads, sacrifices, but no traces of burial.
After the collapse of the Soviet Empire, a Japanese-led expedition funded by the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper landed by helicopter on the top of this mountain. The event was heavily advertised, but the results were zero. In 2001, an expedition led by former Chicago consumer goods salesman Maury Kravitz explored the area, but authorities prohibited anyone from approaching the mountain itself. The grave of a 10th-century outpost soldier was discovered at a site called Almsgiver's Wall, but the expedition had to be called back after a series of incidents, prompting one newspaper to report that the "curse" of Genghis Khan's tomb was "revealing itself again."
Some archaeologists have suggested that hundreds of cairns discovered in the 1960s are actually graves. But Lin and his Mongolian partners conducted geophysical research and found that this theory was of no scientific value.
Using modern innovative technologies, unavailable to researchers of the past, the team decided to sift fact from fiction. This is somewhat reminiscent of a Hollywood epic, combining the high-tech world of Jason Bourne with Technicolor technology in Indiana Jones.
Lin, whose admiration for Genghis Khan began during his own expedition to Mongolia in 2005 to study his legacy, fortunately turned out to be the technical scientist in this ongoing adventure. “I was lucky. “I am a scientist and engineer who has encountered this extraordinary 800-year-old mystery,” he says. — It seemed to me that rapidly developing technologies could open a new scientific chapter in lost world world history."
Lin contacted the International Association of Mongolian Studies and the Mongolian Academy of Sciences. Three years ago, an expedition supported by the University of California, San Diego and the National Geographic Society received permission to explore the mountain range and valley in the year Genghis Khan was born. Lin emphasizes that their approach is based on preserving the area intact ancestral burials through the use of non-invasive technologies.
“We hope that in searching for fresh data we will discover new chapter in the ongoing process of recognizing the merits of our past,” said Professor Tsogt-Ochirin Ishdorj, the principal investigator of the project.
While searching for man-made objects or materials ancient era The participants' enthusiasm increased when the outline of the foundation of a large building appeared on the radar. Small teams of field scientists and archaeologists were then sent to the area to examine the find on site using high-tech equipment - radar, magnetometers and drones.
Their efforts were rewarded when they discovered arrowheads, pottery, roofing tiles and bricks, suggesting human activity in this remote desert area. All this caused excitement among researchers. “When we expanded the search area and looked closely, we saw hundreds of artifacts throughout the area. It became clear that there was something very important here,” says archaeologist Fred Hiebert, full member National Geographic and the project's other principal investigator.
The results of radiocarbon dating inspired everyone and turned out to be very encouraging, they indicated the time of life and death of Genghis Khan. “The dating of the materials for a number of the samples points to the 13th and 14th centuries, although full analysis has not yet been completed,” says Hiebert.
If the initial and intriguing results are confirmed, it will be the first scientific evidence in 800 years of speculation about the location of Genghis Khan's tomb, one of history's oldest mysteries.
“Thanks to science, we must fill gaps in historical knowledge - this is very important for understanding our past and preserving the future,” says Professor Shagdaryn Bira, a world-renowned expert on the topic and a participant in the project.
“We found something that probably confirms the legend. And that’s extremely important,” Lin adds.
It is too early to declare any discoveries. The next steps will not be so simple. Movement within the area is highly restricted and it is under close government control. The team is now working closely with authorities regarding all findings.
“We're not going to excavate the site,” Lin says. – We believe that he should be taken under protection as an object world heritage UNESCO. Then there will be confidence that it will not be looted or destroyed.” This opinion is shared by other scientists of the project, as well as the Mongolian authorities.
“In everyone’s soul, this site is already considered the most important site of Mongolian heritage,” says Oyungerel Tsedevdamba, Mongolia’s minister of culture.
The authorities are concerned for good reason, since the looting of burial grounds is a growing problem - intermediaries travel around the country and pay local residents to excavate burial sites. The stolen artefacts are then taken out of the country and sold in markets in Hong Kong and China, says Professor Erdenebat from the National University of Ulaanbaatar.
Returning to the cabinet, Erdenebat takes out a worn cardboard lid, on which a bone can be seen. “This is all that remains of a burial site that was recently devastated in Bayankhongor province. They took everything they thought was valuable, but left bones, shoes and clothing,” he says, laying out a wrinkled 13th-century leather boot next to its owner’s shin bone.
“It is impossible to estimate how many graves have been robbed, but the number could be in the thousands. It is clear that the situation is getting worse,” says Erdenebat. – This is the province of Bayangol. There were several difficult winters and drought in the summer, and the herds began to die out. The shepherds have no choice but to dig up graves in search of gold. It's a matter of survival."
On the streets of Ulaanbaatar, it is especially clear that Mongolia is still in the grip of Chinggisomania, which began with the fall of the Soviet Union, when the Mongols began to recreate their own identity. Many Mongols see Genghis Khan as the father of modern Mongolia, and most importantly, a symbol of their independence. The international airport in the capital is named after Genghis Khan, and there is also a hotel named after him. The university and a number of popular energy drinks, as well as a dozen brands of vodka - all have the name of the conqueror on them.
A visit to several antiquities shops confirms that the authorities are right about black diggers. The owners of the establishments are too intrusive in their desire to sell relics obtained through dubious means. In one of the shops, nestled on the aptly named Tourist Street in the center of Ulaanbaatar, the owner offers a gold object of finer workmanship than from the Erdenebat collection. The price on the tag is 35 thousand dollars. The seller claims that it was recovered from a grave in Khentei Province. There is also an elegant stirrup engraved with dragons - it may have belonged to Genghis Khan's general. Estimated at 10 thousand dollars. A bronze water jug from the same era worth $30,000. The most expensive item, at $180,000, is a three-inch engraving of a horse from the nomadic Xiongnu culture, recovered from the Kherlen Valley, the homeland of the Mongols.
“Our main customers are the Chinese,” explains the owner. “They send Mongols from Inner Mongolia to acquire things for their new museums. Last week, someone offered $80,000 for a Xiongnu horse, but I refused.” Then, on his own initiative, he gave advice on how to smuggle this thing out: “If you want to buy this horse, hang it around your neck like a necklace, and no customs will stop you.”
In the center of the capital, Genghis Khan sits like Abraham Lincoln next to the seat of government. Outside the city, a steel statue weighing 250 tons depicts him riding a warhorse, as if he had decided to ride across the steppe again. Tourists can take the elevator inside the statue and go out onto the platform between the legs to look around his domain. “Every state has a hero-symbol. “He is a symbol of our nation,” says Battulga Khaltmaa, a former world judo champion and now minister of industry and agriculture, who erected this glittering monument. “I erected this statue to commemorate the 800th anniversary of the Mongol state and to pass on the history of Genghis Khan... to younger generations and make them proud of their past.”
Oliver Steeds
There is something mystical about death. And where people find last refuge, always a special, slightly creepy atmosphere. It excites the imagination, frightens and at the same time attracts. This is how superstitions, legends appear, and ridiculous rumors spread. The most interesting and unusual of them are collected here.
Graves of witches and wizards
If there was a bad rumor about a person during his lifetime, he was buried in a special way. The body could be burned, nailed to the ground, tied with belts, chopped up, tendons cut, or “sealed” with silver. Many peoples believed that a witch should be buried without a coffin, face down. Graves were often placed behind the fences of cemeteries, in forests, and at crossroads. They threw stones on top and planted thorny bushes.
If this is not done, the dead man will be able to get out. There is a belief that over time, holes and cracks appear on the graves of witches and sorcerers, through which they come to the surface. A large number of ants, bleeding grass and strange sounds from underground also indicate the place where the witch is buried. Without knowing these signs, it will be difficult to find him. But there are also well-known facts:
This cemetery is located in the town of Salem, Massachusetts. Well, I think many people have heard about the famous Salem witch trials of 1692. Then about 200 people were arrested on charges of witchcraft. Some were executed outright (hanged or crushed with stones), others died in prison.
True, in 1702 the authorities officially declared the process illegal, in 1957 all sentences were overturned, and in 1992 the cemetery became a memorial to the victims. By the way, in fact, those convicted of witchcraft were not buried there. There is not a single witch grave in Salem. But the legend attracts tourists there.
And in the forests of Michigan lies a witch who, according to legend, destroyed an entire city. If in 1874 there were about 1,500 residents in Pere Cheney, then by the beginning of the 20th century there were only 25 of them left. Two diphtheria epidemics wiped out most of the population, the rest left. And the disease, of course, was caused by a local witch.
They say she gave birth to a child out of wedlock and was banished. The baby died, and then the woman cursed the city. In the end, the witch was caught, hanged, and her body was buried. In that forest, dark figures and ghostly lights still appear, and children’s laughter can be heard. But get real photos of ghosts So far it hasn't been possible.
Graves of vampires and ghouls
Almost all nations have legends about the dead who drink living blood. Usually such a fate awaited suicides, sorcerers, excommunications... and many others. And, of course, those who have been bitten by a vampire. Naturally, people were afraid of these creatures and took measures to ensure that the deceased did not leave his grave after death. And for this it is important to properly bury someone who can become a vampire.
The body should be burned or at least pierced with an aspen stake and laid so that it is oriented from east to west. It is advisable to separate the head and place it between the feet. To prevent the corpse from eating its shroud, you need to slip something under the chin (stone, iron). You can also pour sawdust or grains into the coffin so that the vampire begins to count them and does not have time to get out before dawn. Here are the most famous burials:
In north London there is the old Highgate Cemetery. It has been attracting attention for a long time. Reports of vampires often appear, and suspicious graves are marked with the letter V. Visitors find dug up and headless corpses, empty coffins. Several bodies were exhumed, and they looked strange.
Plump, well-fed... not completely dead... Exist real photos of vampires, they look exactly like this. But everything is explained more simply. The corpse always swells, this is one of the stages of decomposition. There is blood on the lips. If a stake is pierced through the body, it may groan as the accumulated gases are forced past the vocal cords.
The Père Lachaise cemetery in France is also considered a haven for vampires. It all started in 1848, when some madman dug up several graves, pulled out bodies and badly damaged them. He believed that he had to do this. Since then, rumors have spread. However, appearance some of the tombstones are suggestive.
The symbolism of the burials looks ominous. Skulls and bats, which are considered the visual embodiment of vampires, fatalistic inscriptions... However, in the 19th century Western Europe it was accepted. According to another version, the image bat with outstretched wings served as protection from evil.
Wandering graves and restless crypts
There is a belief that the earth will not accept the ashes of a person if they have not been buried properly. Horrific stories of graves being moved have flooded the Internet. In general, this phenomenon has been known for a long time, but the evidence is poor. Everyone rewrites the same texts, which mention non-existent cities and people. None real photos and there are no documents.
Normal explanations too. Perhaps there are forces and energies at work here that we don’t yet know anything about. For example, when it exploded, strange things also happened... negative pressure and much more... But in the case of the graves there was something different. If they moved anywhere at all. Here are a couple of more or less plausible stories:
This event took place even before the revolution in a remote Russian village. At night, a mound of earth with a half-rotten cross appeared in one hut. They tried to remove the grave, but it turned out that there was also a lot of earth under the floor. When they took her out, human remains were found there.
The cross was similar to those installed in an abandoned cemetery near the village. How all this ended up in the hut, no one understood. The grave was removed and the bones were reburied. But the house had to be abandoned. Since then, people have avoided the terrible place.
The Chase family crypt is located in Barbados. It is carved out of the rock and covered with a marble slab. Every time it was opened, the coffins located there turned out to be turned on their sides, standing upright, scattered... They seemed to be crawling around the room. This was repeated from 1812 to 1820.
Various versions have been put forward, from Voodoo magic and Masonic rites to floods and shifts in the earth's crust. In the mid-20th century, researcher Eric Russell identified a number of patterns in these phenomena. He believed that metal coffins were moved by water under the influence of gravity and a magnetic field.
So what is it? True or just gossip? I don’t know.. But here the materials are collected all over the Internet, I couldn’t even identify the original sources. And the dead cannot confirm or deny the rumors that circulate about them. Waiting for better times, they will keep their ancient secrets.
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In 1524, Moscow Prince Vasily III, in memory of the liberation from the Polish-Lithuanian invaders and the annexation of Smolensk to To the Russian state founded in the west of Moscow, in Luzhniki, right on the road leading to Smolensk, and then to Lithuania, Novodevichy convent. It became one of the links in the defensive ring of Moscow guardian monasteries.
From the history of the monastery
In 1922, the monastery was closed, replaced by the Museum of the Emancipation of Women, and then - the Historical and Household and Art Museum"Novodevichy Convent". Currently, the ancient monument has become operational again. On its territory lie the poet Alexei Pleshcheev, the creator of the orphanage Nikolai Rukavishnikov, scientist Sergei Solovyov and his son - philosopher Vladimir Solovyov, historian Count Uvarov, commander of the Southwestern Front since 1916, General Brusilov, father of Alexander Herzen, director of the Department of the Main Directorate of Spiritual Affairs of Foreign Denominations - Alexander Turgenev, who played last role in the fate of Pushkin... And three years ago, one of the last to be buried here was the first abbess of the monastery, Mother Seraphim.
The monument to sculptor Merkurov is the most “thoughtful” in the cemetery.
By the beginning of the 20th century, the territory of the monastery necropolis was completely filled, and in 1889 it was expanded for the first time - a cemetery appeared behind the southern wall of the monastery, officially opened in 1904, and after the October Revolution it was popularly called “Novodevichye”. The cemetery was supervised by the Khamovnichesky District Council, and it gradually turned into a burial place for ordinary Muscovites. But already 10 years later, by decision of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, only “persons with social status" - actors and writers, military men and scientists, lawyers and political workers. The cemetery again became elite, and everyone considered it an honor to be buried there. In the 30s, during the period of violent destruction of monastery necropolises, the remains and monuments of a number of outstanding cultural figures, scientists, and military leaders were transferred to the Novodevichy cemetery. In the mid-50s, the cemetery was expanded even further to the south - the New Territory was formed, and after another expansion in the late 70s - the Newest Territory. Now the cemetery area is more than 7.5 hectares, where the bodies of 26,000 buried people found their final resting place. The graves of most of them are decorated with tombstones with high artistic value, - works by sculptors Shadr, Andreev, Konenkov, Mukhina, Merkurov, Anikushin, Vuchetich, Kerbel.
Old territory
A mystical story about a woman who took time off from work to visit a grave is very popular among residents of nearby houses. close relative at the Novodevichy cemetery. While she was buying flowers and driving through all of Moscow, dusk deepened. She showed the document and went to the grave... and got lost. A citizen came towards her. She asked him for directions. He explained, but confusingly. She asked him to take her to the grave: “It’s already a little dark, but I’m afraid of the dead.” He kindly led her along paths and dead ends and suddenly, over his shoulder, asked: “Can you explain to me why people are afraid of us?”
Professional tour guide Alexander Yakovlev.
“People make up these stories out of ignorance,” says professional cemetery guide (!) Alexander Yakovlev. - Previously, it was allocated for cemeteries special place, which was necessarily sanctified, fenced, and a gate was made in the fence for living people (gates have long been intended only for removing the dead). A prominent figures The USSR, being atheists, were buried not inside the territory of the Novodevichy Convent, but nearby, in an area not consecrated by the church. However, we also have enough mysticism...
The most mystical graveyard is Gogol's grave.
As is known, frequent, prolonged fainting aroused in Gogol’s morbid mind the fear of being mistaken for the dead and being buried alive. As a Christian who sincerely believes in the immortality of the soul, Gogol was not afraid to die. Perhaps that is why he refused to follow the advice of doctors, did not take medications, exhausted himself with food restrictions... A council of doctors, having diagnosed meningitis, decided to treat Gogol by force. But on the night of February 20-21 (old style), 1852, the writer died. His last words were “How sweet it is to die!..” He asked to be buried only if there were obvious signs of decomposition, the appearance of which no one, of course, waited for. Gogol was buried in the cemetery of the St. Daniel's Monastery in Moscow, and in 1931, due to the authorities' decision to liquidate this necropolis, the writer's remains were transferred to the Novodevichy cemetery. A description of the opening of Gogol's grave and coffin has been preserved. Everyone present was amazed: Gogol was lying in a coffin... on his side! At the same time, the writer’s head was missing, and the lining of the coffin was scratched from the inside... Naturally, rumors immediately spread throughout Moscow that Gogol was buried in a state of lethargic sleep, and when he woke up, he tried to free himself and turned over in the coffin. As for the missing skull, everything was even stranger. It was assumed that the writer's skull was stolen from the tomb on the order of some collector. Even names were named, but these accusations were not confirmed by anything. Then a rumor spread that the writer’s skull had somehow ended up in Italy. According to legend, this skull was transported from Russia by train. And on the way, the entire train... disappeared without a trace, literally disappeared into thin air. And supposedly, even in our time, the ghost of this train appears once a year on the stretch between Kharkov and Poltava. Some people are still sure that this was the revenge of those disturbed by the writer." otherworldly forces", perhaps his famous Viy. And here’s what I.S. wrote about it. Turgenev: “Since I can remember, nothing has made such an impression on me as the death of Gogol... This terrible death - historical event, it is not immediately clear: this is a secret, a heavy, formidable secret... but the one who solves it will not find anything pleasant in it...”
However, these rumors were refuted by the sculptor Anikushin, who said that during the manufacture death mask a special solution is poured over the entire face, and even if the person was in a lethargic sleep, he will suffocate. The coffin lid bends under the influence of time and the gravity of the earth, and the skull can spontaneously turn in the other direction.
In summer, Novodevichye is especially visited.
However, mysticism really has something to do with the remains of the great writer, and one such secret has not yet been revealed. In 1931, in Moscow, the remains of famous Russians were transferred along with granite sarcophagi (including Khomyakov and Yazykov) from the necropolis of the St. Danilovsky Monastery, where a reception center for juvenile offenders was established, to the Novodevichy cemetery. When opening the coffin of N.V. Gogol, it turned out that the skull of the author of “Dead Souls” was missing! “They opened Gogol’s grave for almost the whole day,” recalled writer Vladimir Lidin, a participant in the reburial, in his work “Transferring Gogol’s Ashes” (he now rests next door to Gogol). - It turned out to be at a much greater depth than ordinary burials... Having started to dig it out, they came across a brick crypt of unusual strength, but did not find a walled up hole in it; Then they began to dig in a transverse direction so that the excavation would be to the east. By evening, a side aisle of the crypt was discovered, through which the coffin had been pushed into the main crypt. The work of opening the crypt took a long time. It was dusk when the grave was finally opened. The top boards of the coffin were rotten, but the side boards with preserved foil, metal corners, handles and partially surviving bluish-purple braid were intact. There was no skull in the coffin. True, when opening the grave, at a shallow depth, much higher than the crypt with a walled coffin, a skull was discovered, but archaeologists recognized it as belonging to young man... And Gogol’s remains began with the cervical vertebrae: the entire skeleton of the skeleton was enclosed in a well-preserved tobacco-colored frock coat; Even underwear with bone buttons survived under the frock coat; On his feet there were high-heeled shoes, approximately 4 - 5 centimeters, this gives reason to assume that Gogol was of short stature. The next morning, the remains were transported on a simple cart, in the rain, to the cemetery of the Novodevichy Convent, where they were interred...” 
Who needed Gogol's skull and why? According to one version, the playwright’s skull was stolen on the order of a Russian theater fan, the founder of the current theater museum, merchant Alexei Aleksandrovich Bakhrushin, whose collection, according to rumors, already contained the skull of the artist Shchepkin. In 1909, during the installation of a monument to Gogol on Prechistensky Boulevard in Moscow (in honor of the 100th anniversary of the great writer’s birth), his grave was being restored, and Bakhrushin allegedly incited two guards of the monastery necropolis to commit this blasphemy. However, this version never received official confirmation, as did the rumors that the writers who were present at the reburial of Gogol’s ashes each took a “souvenir” as a souvenir: Vladimir Lidin - a piece of a frock coat (as a bookmark for a home volume of “The Dead” shower"), Vsevolod Ivanov - a fragment of the writer's rib, Malyshkin - foil from the coffin, and the director of the cemetery, Komsomol member Arakcheev allegedly appropriated the shoes taken from the corpse.
The monument to A.P. Chekhov exactly corresponds to the height of the writer.
Buried opposite, Anton Pavlovich Chekhov died of tuberculosis on July 2 (15), 1904 in the German resort town of Baden-Weyler. The body was transported to Moscow in a carriage designed for transporting oysters a few days later and buried next to the grave of his father Pavel Georgievich. Later, the writer’s wife, the Moscow Art Theater actress Olga Leonardovna Knipper-Chekhova, was buried here. The monument (the work of the architect Brylovsky) exactly corresponding, according to the restorers, to the height of the writer, is crowned with 3 spears (some researchers believe that this is a symbol of the “Three Sisters”, others identify the spears with the three pillars of life - Faith, Hope, Love, inherent in Chekhov). At the foot of the monument there is a Scandinavian mark - ancient graphic image Christian cross...
The sculptor Vera Mukhina (she is also the author of “The Worker and the Collective Farm Woman”), as well as her husband, the surgeon Zamkov, are also buried in the Old Cemetery. On the monument to Zamkov there is an inscription: “I gave everything to the people.” When Mukhina died, Vera Ilyinichna’s student Zelinskaya wrote on her monument: “...And me too.”
Mkhatovskaya Alley.
A little further is the famous “Mkhatovsky Alley”. Here lie the elders of the performing arts, many of whom have long been forgotten. Some graves are looked after by creative unions, while others are looked after by surviving relatives. According to a Moscow government decree issued in 1995, only relatives should clean graves. What to do if there are none? The grave of the famous director and storyteller Ptushko has long been in an unsightly state. Meanwhile, filmmakers have enough money to hold numerous forums, while the one-time cost of cleaning a grave costs only 100 rubles, and complete restoration costs 1,400. It is over such abandoned graves that the actor of the Sovremennik Theater Avangard Leontyev voluntarily took patronage. Almost every week he comes to visit the churchyards that have become family to him. Thanks to this man, modest granite slabs have already appeared on many of them, three of which (including on the grave of one of the founders of the Moscow Art Theater - non-professional actor Alexander Artyom) were financially supported by Oleg Tabakov.
Yuri Nikulin's grave is surrounded by flowers all year round.
At Yuri Nikulin’s funeral there were a lot of artists, people who knew him personally, and a huge crowd of admirers of his talent was cut off by security at the entrance to the cemetery. The composition of the monument also depicts Nikulin’s favorite dog, the first Giant Schnauzer dog that the artist brought to the USSR from abroad. After each artist’s birthday on December 19, the grave is literally buried in flowers! Foreigners also like to come here, but “neighbor” Boris Brunov’s wife and close relatives often come...
- It is not customary to talk about deceased relatives here. Unless, of course, the guests themselves start talking,” says guide Alexander Yakovlev. “Then one day a woman came up to me and asked: “Do you remember my dad?” I told her: “No, sorry...” It turned out that I physically could not remember him - he was one of the 26 Baku commissars who died during the civil war...
Vandals on Alliluyev Alley
Ironically, at the Novodevichy cemetery, executioners and their victims are buried nearby. Hundreds of those who went through all the circles of the Gulag hell, prisons and camps are buried here - Air Chief Marshal Novikov, Artillery Marshal Yakovlev, academicians Tarle, Tupolev, Landau, doctors Zelenin, Kogan, Vinogradov, Yudin, artists Ruslanova, Dikiy, poets Zabolotsky, Smelyakov . And here lie those who carried out the will of the leaders. For example, Stalin's comrade-in-arms Lazar Kaganovich. The permission to rest on Novodevichy should have been signed automatically for him, since the party membership of the deceased had exceeded 50 years, but by the time of his death he had lost his party card, having lost the battle for power in 1957 along with Molotov and Malenkov. The daughter of the deceased in her letter to the authorities did not list all her father’s regalia, she only asked permission to bury the elderly man in the same grave with his wife.
Alliluyev Alley. Once upon a time, Stalin himself cried here.
Everyone who visits the Novodevichye cemetery for the first time certainly comes to the grave of Stalin’s wife, Nadezhda Alliluyeva. Above the last refuge of this woman, who took the secret of the fatal shot with her to the grave, stands a monument with an equally tragic fate. The sculptor Shadr made the bust of Alliluyeva from Italian white marble, which is highly susceptible to the elements. To preserve the original, the Tretyakov Gallery acquired it for its collection, and for the tombstone they ordered a copy from the sculptor Tsigal. In the mid-70s, some vandal “dropped” the monument, knocked off a piece of the statue’s nose, and two cast-iron roses disappeared from the pedestal... The monument was restored and placed in a plastic cube, as local residents joke, “bulletproof” (After this, the only one on Novodevichy, an act of vandalism, entry to the cemetery is no longer free. Now only those who have a certificate of a related burial come here. For everyone else, daily excursions are provided for an additional bribe of 100 rubles. - Author's note).
They say that after the funeral of Nadezhda Alliluyeva, Stalin himself often came to her grave at night to “cry.” The leader’s associates, fearing the publicity of this “weakness” of his, as well as possible attempts on the life of the father of nations, even kicked him out of his own workshop, located in the bell tower of the Novodevichy Convent. famous artist Vladimir Tatlin, author of the Letatlin model. Only in 1953 did the artist return to the old half of the cemetery - forever...
One of the most visited graves is that of Nikita Khrushchev.
The path to Khrushchev’s grave is not overgrown either. Over time, the monument became covered with patina - a special film. Sculptor Ernst Neizvestny, using black and white colors and broken lines, wanted to emphasize the complexity and ambiguity of the nature of the deceased. Now the grave is visited by Nikita Sergeevich’s daughter Rada and his namesake grandson.
The grave of Vasily Shukshin is no less visited. The monument was made by sculptors Elagina and Zhutovsky in the form of a cube (eternity) and an arrow without a tip passing through it - a symbol of a life cut short. At first they wanted to bury the body in the writer’s homeland in Siberia, the mother demanded that her son’s remains be transported to the village of Srostki, the Moscow Soviet allocated a place at the Vvedensky cemetery, but there was still a whole galaxy famous people- Mikhalkov, Sholokhov, Kobzon, Furtseva, Kosygin insisted on Novodevichy... And finally, Leonid Brezhnev, who was in the GDR at that moment, gave his verdict in favor of Novodevichy: “I really love “Kalina Krasnaya” and “Stoves-Benches.” Shukshin should be buried at Novodevichy.”
Another attraction of the cemetery is the only surviving crypt - the grave of the elder brother of the composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky, railway engineer Nikolai Ilyich.
Monument to the clown Durov. The largest one in the cemetery.
Nearby lie the famous trainer Durov and his daughter Anna Vladimirovna Durova-Sadovskaya, who before her death was artistic director"animal corner" The sculptor Shadr depicted the clown Durov in the prime of his life together with his partner the monkey Nyusha. This is one of the largest monuments (1940).
Monument to Leonid Kogan in the form of a key.
Opposite is the grave of the outstanding violinist, the only Soviet musician who received the great honor of playing Paganini’s violin, Leonid Kogan with a monument in the form treble clef works by Yuri Orekhov. His son often visits the grave.