What did the Bolsheviks find when they opened the tomb of Russian tsars. Burials in the Peter and Paul Fortress

The final conclusion of the commission on the opening of four burials in the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin

The opening of the tombs of Ivan IV the Terrible, his sons: Fyodor Ivanovich and Ivan Ivanovich, Prince Mikhail Vasilievich Skopin-Shuisky, which was carried out in April-May 1963, was preceded by work to strengthen the supporting structures of the chapel of John the Baptist (walls and arches), as well as strengthening the eastern walls (apses) of the Archangel Cathedral. In the process of these works, it became obvious that without lowering the modern level of the floor in the aisle of John the Baptist and the deacon of the cathedral, it was impossible to eliminate the significant deformations that existed in the walls of this part of the cathedral.

After lowering the floor, it turned out that with the arrangement of the tombs of Ivan the Terrible and his two sons here, alterations of the eastern wall began. Initially, a large niche was hewn in it from the side of the cathedral, forming the so-called “higher place” behind the throne of the chapel of John the Baptist established in the deacon’s room. “When, by order of Ivan the Terrible, the chapel was transferred to a special annex, adjoining the deacon’s office from the east, a white stone plinth was hewn off this wall along its outer perimeter. Load bearing capacity The wall was finally broken when a new doorway was installed in it and calorific heating channels were laid in the middle of the 19th century. As a result, the thickness of the wall in most of its part was brought to half a brick, i.e. up to 15 cm (from the level of the white stone floor to the height of the altar niche) and partially, to a height of 60 cm, is covered with a modern floor of granite slabs.

With such a thickness of the base of the eastern wall of the diakonnik, hidden by a later floor, it was impossible to immediately establish the cause of the constant appearance of cracks in its upper part. In accordance with decision about the strengthening of this wall, a doorway of the 19th century was laid, which made it possible to restore the northern part of the niche of the 16th century destroyed by him, intended for a mountainous place. An ancient doorway, which was made in the 16th century, was revealed. for passage from the deacon’s office to the chapel of John the Baptist attached to it. The original forms of the white stone plinth were restored along the outer outline of the wall. In the place where the burial of M.V. Skopin-Shuisky adjoins it, the basement has not been restored. The floor was lowered to the level of a brick floor of the 17th century.

The completed set of works ensured the structural strength of the structure and eliminated the causes that caused the deformation of the structures. Somewhat earlier, the walls and vaults of the chapel of John the Baptist were strengthened. This work was carried out in the following sequence: Small cracks were embroidered and caulked with a complex solution. Large cracks were sealed by restoring the dressing in the brickwork. Three window openings and a crowning cornice have been restored in their original forms dating back to the second half of the 17th century. Semi-circular completions, which were present on three sides along the facade at the base of the vaults, have been dismantled, since they belonged to the first half of the 18th century. The vault, which consisted of two shells (rifts) in places of the greatest deformations, was partially redone with the restoration of its original outline. In the course of these works, data were obtained that the walls and vault in the chapel of John the Baptist have come down to us in the forms that they received during restructuring in the second half of the 17th century.

The surviving base of the walls of the chapel built in XVI century, protruded less to the east and was somewhat shifted to the north. On the facade, the socle of the wall of the 16th century. It was also unfastened with the bases of the blades that adorned the facade, which, apparently, was repeated during the rebuilding of the walls in the second half of the 17th century. The floor in the aisle was made of large-sized bricks (dimensions 29 x 14 x 8), laid flat in a herringbone pattern. In the diakonnik, the floor level changed four times, including two times in the 16th century. The original floor was made of glazed ceramic plates(yellow, green and Brown color) of a triangular shape, laid in the shape of a star and fastened together with metal pins. Above this floor (60 cm below the level of the modern floor) there is a well-preserved floor made of white stone slabs, which was laid in the cathedral, apparently after a great fire in 1547.

At the same time, it was possible to establish that the altar barrier originally had two openings for entering the deacons from the central part of the cathedral. The southern passage was laid after 1533, when a burial was made in front of it. In connection with the lowering of the floor in the aisle of John the Baptist and the deacon of the cathedral, the tombstones of Ivan the Terrible and his sons, as well as Skopin-Shuisky, built on at the end of the 17th century. partially supplemented at the beginning of the 20th century, it was necessary to restore them to their original forms. Since the tombstones of the tombs were exposed, it was decided to carry out their archaeological survey. Condition Analysis brickwork of tomb structures and the white-stone sarcophagi themselves confirms that the burials are genuine and have not been opened by anyone so far. An attempt was made to penetrate into the grave of Grozny and both of his sons by unknown persons.

Perhaps this happened in the last century with the installation of heating or at the beginning of the 20th century with the installation of a new granite floor. However, these attempts to damage the burials themselves did not bring harm. All tombs had a typical form. On top was a copper casing made at the beginning of the 20th century with a cross and the name of the buried; below it is a tomb structure made of brick, which had clearly expressed periods of construction - the 16th, 17th and 20th centuries (an increase in height is associated with an increase in the level of the floor). At each tombstone, at the Grozny family at the ends, and at Shuisky with north side, - white-stone slabs with inscriptions in ligature of the 17th century about the names of the buried, the day of their death and burial. Under the brick gravestones there were also typical sarcophagi cut from a whole block. white stone- limestone in the form of a coffin, expanding at the shoulders with a semicircular headboard.

The sarcophagi were covered with white stone slabs with inscriptions of the name of the buried, the day of death and burial. The remains of Ivan and Fyodor Ivanovich, as well as Skopin-Shuisky, were wrapped in silk blankets made of damask with a bandage: the corpses of the first two were swaddled with braid, and Skopin-Shuisky with a rope. Ivan the Terrible was buried in a schema. Glass vessels were found in the sarcophagi of Tsars Ivan IV and Fedor and Tsarevich Ivan. Unusual position detected right hand in Tsar Ivan IV and Prince Skopin-Shuisky: the arm is bent at an acute angle, so that the hand lies at the right collarbone. This is still an unknown feature of the ancient funeral rite.

During the autopsy, the following was performed: a protocol description of the entire autopsy process; photo and film fixation on black-and-white and color film; sketches and measurements of white-stone sarcophagi and the remains found in them; the architectural and archaeological measurement of the brick tombstones and the marking of their dismantled part were carried out before the start of the preparatory work preceding the opening. The skeletons of all the opened graves (including the preserved skulls of Tsars Ivan the Terrible and Fyodor Ivanovich) and part of the decay were seized for scientific study in the laboratory of plastic reconstruction of the Institute of Ethnography of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Corresponding samples of ashes and bones were sent for analysis to the laboratory of the Institute of Forensic Medicine.

For scientific and exhibition purposes, life-size copies (made of white cement) were made from four slabs that covered the white-stone sarcophagi. During the removal of the floor in the diakonnik, a grave was discovered in its northwestern corner, in which Tsar Boris Godunov was buried. There was no sarcophagus in the grave, which confirmed the information about the removal of his remains from the cathedral by order of False Dmitry I. This also confirmed the annalistic mention that Tsar Boris was buried in the deacon of the altar in the same row with members of the family of Ivan the Terrible. The state of preservation of all the skeletons was different. But in all cases the skulls suffered. The skull of Ivan the Terrible is very poorly preserved. Its base and the temporal region of the right side are completely destroyed.

The skeleton is relatively well preserved. There are no small bones of the feet and hands. From the skull of Tsar Fyodor, only the front part, most of the frontal bone and the chin part of the lower jaw were preserved, many bones were completely destroyed. Prince M.V. Skopin-Shuisky preserved the lower jaw, the skull of Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich was completely destroyed. Skeletons are poorly preserved, many bones are missing. The destruction of skulls is explained by the fact that limestone sarcophagi are very hygroscopic, as a result of which water accumulated in them. This water, enriched with dissolved calcium salts, gradually evaporated during the dry season, since the skulls always occupied a higher position in relation to other bones of the skeleton, the evaporation process took place through them. As a result, during the evaporation of moisture, calcium salts were concentrated in the bones of the skull, and, crystallizing, broke the structure of the bone. So all the skulls were mechanically destroyed.

Anatomical and anthropological study of the skeleton of Ivan the Terrible makes it possible to draw the following conclusion: in terms of its anthropological type, it is closest to the Dinaric type, that is, a type very characteristic of the Western Slavs. However, there are features in his skull, such as: very high rounded orbits, a sharply protruding, thin nose. These features are more in line with the Mediterranean type. The skull is small, with a strongly developed relief, a low forehead, a strongly protruding brow, and a sharply protruding chin. His height is 1 m 78 cm - 1 m 79 cm. The entire skeleton testifies to his great physical strength. It is clear that from a young age he was very trained. Towards the end of his life, Tsar Ivan apparently changed his way of life dramatically. He became inactive, began to gain weight rapidly. Intemperance in food, systematic alcohol, low mobility - all led to the fact that this strong, even young man senile formations began to develop rapidly.

On all bones of the skeleton, sharp growths of osteophytes are visible. They are especially pronounced at all places of muscle attachment. Cartilage ossified. Osteophytes on the spine testify to the extremely low mobility of Tsar Ivan towards the end of his life. As a result of this, Tsar Ivan constantly experienced acute pain. Obviously, this should explain the presence of mercury in his body, since he systematically resorted to oriental mercury ointments. The skeleton of Ivan the Terrible does not give us the right to talk about any signs of degenerativeness. A peculiar anomaly of Tsar Ivan and his son Fyodor was that both of them had a very late change of teeth. Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich was physiognomically very similar to his father.

His forehead was higher and his nose very thin. The eyes are somewhat smaller. Growth was average. Very thick, strong. In the laboratory of plastic reconstruction of the Institute of Ethnography of the USSR Academy of Sciences, roentgenoscopy of the skeletons was carried out. Tsarevich Ivan has a tertiary lues. Professor M. M. Gerasimov made portraits of the reconstruction of the Tsars Ivan IV the Terrible and Fedor Ivanovich. The fabrics found in the tombs were processed in the workshop of the Armory by restorers M. G. Baklanova, N. F. Ivanova and T. N. Koshlyakova. brown color with earth, lime and mold. After photographing, the fabrics were treated with aqueous solutions with reagents according to the method used in restoration workshops. Soviet Union. In the process of washing, the fabrics were cleaned and straightened, as a result of which it turned out that it was possible to restore three shirts, fragments of three covers and two fragments of sewing.

1. Shirt of Tsar Fedor Ivanovich (son of Ivan the Terrible). All decorations have been preserved and the fabric has completely disappeared. Clouds, gussets and a hem made of red (now brown) taffeta are connected by a gold braid. The metal was preserved in small fragments. After a thorough study of the remains, it was revealed that the gold braid covered all the seams and was fixed on the trim, so the cut of the entire shirt is easy to read. The outer part, sleeves and hem are trimmed with gold braid in the form of parallel stripes. All thrusts were measured. By analogy with the shirt of the 16th century stored in the museum. a drawing was made showing all the remaining fragments. Tsar Fyodor's shirt has been reconstructed.

2. The shirt of Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich (son of Ivan the Terrible), consists of separate fragments, has the same pattern as the shirt of Tsar Fyodor from parallel stripes, but not of gold, but of pure silk braid. Probably, the silk braid was destroyed faster and therefore partially preserved. Tsarevich Ivan's shirt has been reconstructed.

3. The shirt of Skopin-Shuisky is similar in cover to the shirt of Tsar Fyodor, but has a more luxurious finish on the chest, sleeves and hem in the form of a pattern of floral curls, often found in Russian ornaments. The shirt of Prince Skopin-Shuisky has been reconstructed.

4. Fragments of covers are washed, like shirts, in water baths. The large pattern typical of the Italian damask-kufteri of the 16th century is clearly visible. On the veil of Tsar Fyodor, the pattern consists of figured hallmarks with flowerpots of carnations or pomegranates and heraldic crowns between them.

5. On the cover of Tsarevich Ivan, the pattern consists of ornamental ribbons, which, intertwined, form oval and rhombic stamps with bouquets and pomegranates.

1. After washing the remains of the schema of Ivan the Terrible (small fragments of woolen fabric and sewing with gold threads), an inscription and a cross from the headdress and a cross on the foot from the breastplate (paramana) were revealed.

Studies conducted at the Research Institute of Forensic Medicine of the USSR Ministry of Health gave the following results:

1. In a chemical study of a black-brown powdery mass, individual bones, hair and nails, as well as decayed clothing fabrics from sarcophagi in which Ivan the Terrible, his sons Ivan and Fedor, and Skopin-Shuisky were buried, arsenic was found in terms of for 100-gram samples: from 8 to 150 micrograms in objects from the sarcophagus of Ivan the Terrible, from 14 to 267 micrograms from the sarcophagus of Ivan Ivanovich; from 10 to 800 micrograms from the sarcophagus of Fyodor Ivanovich and from 0 to 130 micrograms from the sarcophagus of Skopin-Shuisky. The found amounts of arsenic do not exceed its natural content in human body.

1. The results of the study of the same objects for mercury compounds showed that in objects recovered from the sarcophagi of Ivan the Terrible and Ivan Ivanovich, the amount of mercury found is several times higher than its content in objects from the sarcophagi of Fedor Ivanovich and Skopin-Shuisky, in which the amount of mercury found does not exceed its natural content in the human body is normal.

2. So, in terms of 100-gram weights of objects of study from the sarcophagus of Ivan the Terrible, mercury was found in an amount of 20 to 1333 μg, and in objects from the sarcophagus of Ivan Ivanovich in an amount of 12 to 1333 μg. The content of mercury in objects from the sarcophagus of Fyodor Ivanovich ranges from 3 to 333 micrograms, and in objects from the sarcophagus of Skopin-Shuisky up to 266 micrograms.

3. In addition to mercury and arsenic, copper was found in an amount of 2.5 to 162 mg in terms of 100-gram samples of the studied objects. The presence of copper compounds, in all likelihood, is due to its use for finishing clothing fabrics.

4. The liquid part of the contents of the three vessels taken from the sarcophagi of Ivan the Terrible and his sons was water with negligible traces of calcium, magnesium, mercury and copper compounds. In dense remains, which were in these vessels, parts of chitinous insect skeletons were found, the safety of which is very poor, which indicates the long-term death of insects and their far-reaching decomposition. These insects belonged mainly to two biological groups. The first group includes synanthropic flies (including one specimen of a real fly (genus Musca, family Muscidae) and one specimen of a gray screw fly (Sariophadi). The presence of flies can be explained either by the fact that their larvae developed in decaying substances, or by the burial of the mentioned specimens flies in the vessels themselves, provided that the latter contained liquid contents.The second group includes ground beetles, which move freely on the surface of the soil and could crawl into sarcophagi.The absence of typical dead-eating forms of insects (corpse-eaters) is of interest.

5. When examining the hair extracted from the sarcophagus of Ivan Ivanovich, no blood was found. The horny substance of the hair acquired a diffuse bright yellow color, which is usually observed during long-term burial, as a result of which it is not possible to establish the original color of the hair. The greatest length of the studied hair from the head is 5.8 cm.

GENERAL CONCLUSIONS

1. No mechanical damage was found on the surviving bones of the skeletons of Ivan the Terrible, his sons Ivan Ivanovich, Fedor Ivanovich, and Skopin-Shuisky.

2. Complete post-mortem destruction of individual bones and significant changes in some bones make it impossible to make a categorical judgment that completely excludes the possibility of intravital bone damage. This provision especially applies to the skulls of Ivan Ivanovich, Skopin-Shuisky and, in part, Fedor Ivanovich.

3. The amount of arsenic found in the remains recovered from all four sarcophagi does not give grounds to talk about any poisoning with arsenic compounds. The increased amount of mercury found in the remains of Ivan the Terrible and Ivan Ivanovich may be due to the use of mercury-containing preparations for therapeutic purposes. It should be noted that mercury compounds have long been used to treat various diseases. At the same time, the detected amount of mercury does not completely exclude the possibility of acute or chronic poisoning her drugs. On November 22, 1965, after research, the remains of Tsars Ivan the Terrible and Fyodor Ivanovich, Tsarevich Ivan and Prince Skopin-Shuisky were returned to the sarcophagi: the bones of the skeletons and skulls, soaked in wax with rosin, were placed in anatomical order under protective layer sand. Reconstructed clothes, remnants of fabrics and vessels seized from the tombs were transferred to the funds of the Kremlin Museums. A commemorative document about the research carried out is placed in each tomb. The documents are written in ink on antique parchment and placed in sealed glass vessels filled with the inert gas argon. After the reburial of the remains, the ancient tombs were restored. The interior of the tomb of Ivan the Terrible and the chapel of John the Baptist have been restored. The entire process of reburial and restoration of the tombs was filmed and filmed.

1. The Peter and Paul Cathedral was built in 1712-1733 according to the project of Domenico Trezzini on the site of a wooden church that stood on this site in 1703-1704. The bell tower of the cathedral is crowned with a spire and has a total height of 122 meters, which allowed it to be the tallest building until 2012 Petersburg.

2. From the very beginning, the cathedral was the burial place of the Romanovs and their relatives. In 1896, a tomb building was erected nearby for the Grand Dukes of the Imperial Family and His Serene Princes Romanovsky. Eight graves were moved here from the Peter and Paul Cathedral.

3. The Grand Duke's tomb was badly damaged in the years Soviet power, has been renovated for many years and is still closed to the public.

4. A white corridor connects it with the cathedral. As you can see, everything is ready here, but the passage is still closed.

5. Let's examine the interior of the three-aisled cathedral.

6. The main entrance to the temple from the Cathedral Square.

7. The ceiling is decorated with gospel paintings.

8. Lush chandeliers are suspended from the vaults.

9. Pulpit, decorated with gilded sculpture.

10. The gilded carved iconostasis of the cathedral was made in Moscow according to Trezzini's drawings.

11. In front of the iconostasis are the burial places of emperors and empresses of the 18th century.

12. On the left in the first row - the burial of Peter I, crowned with a bust of the king. Next to him is Catherine I (Marta Skavronskaya), his wife. On the left is Elizaveta Petrovna, their daughter, prudently titled “Elizabeth I” in case another Elizabeth appeared among the empresses. Behind Peter I lies his niece Anna Ioannovna, daughter of Tsar Ivan V. On the left in the second row - Catherine II and Peter III, transferred after the death of his wife from the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. Their tombstones bear the same date of burial, which creates the illusion that they lived together and died on the same day.

13. Peter the Great is signed as "Father of the Fatherland". When he died in 1725, the walls of the cathedral barely rose to human height, and his body lay in a temporary wooden chapel until 1731.

14. On the other side of the royal doors, there are also two rows of tombstones of Paul I and Maria Feodorovna, Alexander I and Elizabeth Alekseevna, Nicholas I and Alexandra Feodorovna, as well as the daughter of Peter I, Grand Duchess Anna.

15. All tombstones are fenced with black fences, crowned with knobs in the form of vases, covered with a mourning cloth. The gravestones of the spouses are outlined by a single fence.

16. All tombstones were replaced in 1865 with marble ones, which still exist today, but two sarcophagi differ from the rest. They were made in 1887-1906 from green jasper and pink eagle for Emperor Alexander II and his wife Maria Alexandrovna.

17. All marble tombstones are covered with gilded crosses, the imperial tombstones are decorated with images of double-headed eagles in the corners. One of the tombstones is clearly fresher than the others.

18. It was placed over the burial place of Empress Maria Feodorovna (Princess Dagmara), wife of Alexander III. The empress, who died in 1928, was buried next to her parents in the tomb of the cathedral in the Danish city of Roskilde. In 2006, her ashes were taken to St. Petersburg by ship and buried next to her husband.

19. And in 1998, the remains of last emperor Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and their daughters Tatiana, Olga and Anastasia.

20. But the very first burials in the cathedral can only be seen on an excursion to the bell tower of the cathedral, which was built during the life of Peter the Great. Here, under the stairs, are the graves of Princess Maria Alekseevna, sister of Peter I, and his son Alexei Petrovich next to his wife, Princess Charlotte-Christine Sophia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.

21. We will climb the worn steps to the lower level of the bell tower, which is flush with the roof of the cathedral.

22. Here, during the blockade, there was an air defense post.

23. Here you can see the original view of the temple. The cathedral was painted in pink, the angel on the spire was completely different.

24. The entrance was decorated with a magnificent porch with sculptures.

25. I remind you how the cathedral looks today (photo from the Grand Layout).

26. The frame of the figure of an angel, which has been on the spire since 1858, is also presented here.

29. The frame of the angel was replaced at the end of the 20th century with a modern one.

27. The copper figure, which was on the spire until 1858, is in the museum of the history of the fortress. It was replaced during the reconstruction of the spire of the cathedral in metal, because until 1858 the spire was wooden.

28. The current weather vane figure was repaired and re-gilded in 1995.

30. The bell tower itself begins from this tier. Below are collected old weights of the mechanism of the tower clock-chimes.

31. And also this old winch.

32. The locking mechanism on the doors leading to the open area of ​​the cathedral.

33. Let's go up the stone steps.

34. The carillon of the cathedral is installed on the support beams.

35. Carillon is an impressive multi-voiced bell musical instrument, originally from Belgium. By the way, “raspberry ringing” is named so not for the sweetness of the sound, but in honor of the Belgian city of Malines.

36. Initially, the carillon was brought and installed in the Peter and Paul Cathedral by Peter I, but later burned down in a fire, and was restored today.

37. The instrument consists of many fixed bells of various sizes.

38. Tongues of bells can be controlled with steel cables.

39. You need to play the carillon from this remote control. The teacher of playing the instrument, despite the "beard", speaks Russian with a strong accent, he is clearly from somewhere in Belgium.

In the video you can listen to how this instrument sounds peculiar:

40. Above the carillon is the lower belfry, traditional for Orthodox churches.

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42.

43. The largest bell, with a diameter of more than a meter.

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45. These bells are rung quite traditionally - with the help of a system of ropes tied to tongues.

46. ​​There are also loads of chimes located in a tier above the chimes.

47. The tour is not designed to rise above the lower belfry, so at the end there are two shots from a forty-meter height.

48.

There is a suspicion that the graves of Russian tsars in St. Petersburg are empty today

A heated discussion of the issue of the reburial of Tsarevich Alexei and Grand Duchess Maria, whose remains were recently found near Yekaterinburg, again drew public attention to the royal burials in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg. They remembered that immediately after the revolution, these graves were looted.

Moreover, this fact was carefully hidden not only in Soviet times, but is somehow hushed up even today. So, in many guidebooks to the Peter and Paul Cathedral, they still write that “for many years no one disturbed the peace of these graves.”

Actually it is not. Graves began to be robbed immediately after the revolution.

By 1917, there were more than a thousand wreaths, including gold and silver ones, on the walls of the cathedral, columns and at the graves of emperors. Practically on every grave and near it there were ancient icons and precious lamps.

So, over the tomb of Anna Ioannovna there were two icons - Jerusalem Mother of God and St. Anna the Prophetess - in gold salaries, with pearls and precious stones. The diamond crown of the Order of Malta was fixed on the tombstone of Paul I. On the tombstones of Peter I, Alexander I, Nicholas I and Alexander II lay gold, silver and bronze medals, stamped on the occasion of various anniversaries. A silver bas-relief depicting a monument to the tsar in Taganrog was mounted on the wall near the tombstone of Peter, and an icon with the face of the Apostle Peter hung in a gold frame nearby, notable for the fact that its size corresponded to the growth of Peter I at birth.

At the command of Peter

Peter I decided to turn the Peter and Paul Cathedral into a tomb, following the example of the first Christian emperor Constantine, who built the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople in the 4th century with the intention of turning it into his mausoleum. For two centuries, almost everyone was buried in the cathedral. Russian emperors from Peter I to Alexander III (with the exception of only Peter II, who died in Moscow and was buried in the Archangel Cathedral of the Kremlin, as well as John VI Antonovich, who was killed in the Shlisselburg fortress) and many members of the imperial family. Prior to that, all the great Moscow princes, starting with Yuri Daniilovich - the son of Grand Duke Daniel of Moscow and Russian tsars - from Ivan the Terrible to Alexei Mikhailovich - were buried in the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin (with the exception of Boris Godunov, who was buried in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra).
During the XVIII - the first third of the XIX century. Peter and Paul Cathedral was the burial place, as a rule, only crowned persons. Since 1831, at the behest of Nicholas I, the grand dukes, princesses and princesses were also buried in the cathedral. In the XVIII - the first third of the XIX centuries, emperors and empresses were buried in a golden crown. Their bodies were embalmed, the heart (in a special silver vessel) and the rest of the insides (in a separate vessel) were buried at the bottom of the grave the day before the funeral ceremony.
In the first half of the 18th century, tombstones made of white alabaster stone were placed over the burial places. In the 1770s, during the restoration and reconstruction of the cathedral, they were replaced with new ones made of gray Karelian marble. Tombstones were covered with green or black cloth with coats of arms sewn on top, and on holidays - with golden brocade overlaid with ermine. In the middle of the 19th century, the first tombstones made of white Italian (Carrara) marble appeared. In 1865, by decree of Alexander II, it was necessary to make all tombstones, "which have fallen into disrepair or are not made of marble, made of white, following the model of the last ones." Fifteen tombstones were made from white Italian marble. In 1887 Alexander III ordered to replace the white marble tombstones on the graves of his parents Alexander II and Maria Alexandrovna with richer and more elegant ones. For this, monoliths of green Altai jasper and pink Ural rhodonite were used.
TO late XIX century in the Peter and Paul Cathedral, there was practically no room left for new burials. Therefore, in 1896, next to the cathedral, with the permission of the emperor, the construction of the Grand Duke's tomb was started. From 1908 to 1915 13 members of the imperial family were buried in it.

Grave looting

The treasures of the imperial tomb have been coveted for a long time. Back in 1824, the Otechestvennye Zapiski magazine reported that while traveling in Russia, Madame de Stael wanted to have a souvenir from the tomb of Peter I. She tried to cut off a piece of the brocade coverlet, but the church watchman noticed this, and Madame had to hastily leave the cathedral.

Disaster erupted after the revolution. In September-October 1917, by order of the Provisional Government, all icons and lampadas, gold, silver and bronze medals from the graves, gold, silver and porcelain wreaths were removed, placed in boxes and sent to Moscow. The further fate of the exported cathedral valuables is unknown.

But all the looters were outdone, of course, by the Bolsheviks.

In 1921, under the pretext of the demands of "Pomgol", who came up with a project of confiscation in favor of the starving jewels, the imperial graves themselves were blasphemously opened and ruthlessly plundered. Documents about this monstrous action have not been preserved, but a number of memoirs have come down to us, testifying to this.

In the notes of the Russian emigrant Boris Nikolaevsky there is a dramatic story about the history of the plunder royal graves, which was published: "Paris," Latest news", July 20, 1933. Headline: "The tombs of Russian emperors and how the Bolsheviks opened them."
"In Warsaw, one of the members of the Russian colony has a letter from one of the prominent members of the St. Petersburg GPU with a story about the opening by the Bolsheviks of the tombs of Russian emperors in the tomb of the Peter and Paul Cathedral. The opening was carried out in 1921 at the request of Pomgol, who came up with a confiscation project in favor of starving jewelry, imprisoned in imperial coffins". The Krakow newspaper "Illustrated Courier Zodzienne" cites this historical letter.
“... I am writing to you,” this is how the letter begins, “under an unforgettable experience. The heavy doors of the tomb open, and the coffins of emperors, set in a semicircle, appear before our eyes. Before us is the whole history of Russia. The commissar of the GPU, who is the chairman of the commission, ordered to start with the youngest ... Mechanics open the tomb of Alexander III. The embalmed corpse of the king was well preserved. Alexander III lies in a general's uniform, richly decorated with orders. The ashes of the king are quickly removed from the silver coffin, the rings are removed from the fingers, the orders studded with diamonds are removed from the uniform, then the body of Alexander III is transferred to the oak coffin. The secretary of the commission draws up a protocol, which lists in detail the jewels confiscated from the deceased king. The coffin is closed, and seals are placed on it "...
The same procedure takes place with the coffins of Alexander II and Nicholas I. The members of the commission work quickly: the air in the tomb is heavy. The line behind the tomb of Alexander I. But here the Bolsheviks are in for a surprise.

The tomb of Alexander I is empty. This can obviously be seen as a confirmation of the legend, according to which the death of the emperor in Taganrog and the burial of his body was a fiction, invented and staged by him in order to end the rest of his life in Siberia as an old hermit.

The Bolshevik commission had to endure terrible moments during the opening of the tomb of Emperor Paul. The uniform, fitting the body of the late king, is perfectly preserved. But Pavel's head made a nightmarish impression. The wax mask that covered his face melted from time and temperature, and from under the remnants one could see the disfigured face of the murdered king. All those involved in the gloomy procedure of opening the tombs were in a hurry to finish their work as soon as possible. Silver coffins of Russian tsars, after transferring the bodies to oak, were installed one on top of the other. Longer than others, the commission was busy with the tomb of Empress Catherine I, in which it turned out to be very a large number of jewelry.
“... Finally, we reached the last, or rather, the first tomb, where the remains of Peter the Great rested. The tomb was difficult to open. The mechanics stated that apparently there was another empty one between the outer coffin and the inner one, which made it difficult for them to work. They began to drill the tomb, and soon the lid of the coffin, placed vertically to facilitate work, opened and Peter the Great appeared in full growth before the eyes of the Bolsheviks. The members of the commission recoiled in surprise in fear. Peter the Great stood as if alive, his face was perfectly preserved. The great tsar, who during his lifetime aroused fear in people, once again tried the power of his formidable influence on the Chekists. But during the transfer, the corpse of the great king crumbled to dust. The terrible work of the Chekists was completed, and the oak coffins with the remains of the kings were transported to St. Isaac's Cathedral, where they were placed in the basement ... ".

The terrible scale of the robbery

Where then did the jewels removed from the corpses disappear? They were probably sold abroad. The Bolsheviks put the robbery of national wealth on stream, ruined not only graves and churches, but also museums, former palaces of the nobility, and mansions of the bourgeoisie. The robbery has acquired absolutely incredible, downright terrible proportions. In 1917–1923, the following were sold: 3,000 carats of diamonds, 3 poods of gold and 300 poods of silver from the Winter Palace; from the Trinity Lavra - 500 diamonds, 150 pounds of silver; from the Solovetsky Monastery - 384 diamonds; from the Armory - 40 pounds of gold and silver scrap. This was done under the pretext of helping the starving, but the sale of Russian church valuables did not save anyone from hunger, the treasures were sold for next to nothing.

In 1925, a catalog of valuables of the imperial court (crowns, wedding crowns, a scepter, orb, tiaras, necklaces and other valuables, including the famous Faberge eggs) was sent to all foreign representatives in the USSR.

Part of the Diamond Fund was sold to the English antiquary Norman Weiss. In 1928, seven "low-value" Faberge eggs and 45 other items were seized from the Diamond Fund. All of them were sold in 1932 in Berlin. Out of almost 300 items, only 71 remained in the Diamond Fund.

By 1934, the Hermitage had lost about 100 masterpieces of painting by old masters. In fact, the museum was on the verge of collapse. Four paintings by French Impressionists were sold from the Museum of New Western Painting, and several dozen paintings from the Museum of Fine Arts. The Tretyakov Gallery lost some of its icons. Of the 18 crowns and diadems that once belonged to the Romanov dynasty, only four are now kept in the Diamond Fund.

What is in the graves now?

But if the jewels of the kings disappeared, what was left in their graves? Deacon Vladimir Vasilik, Candidate of Philology, Associate Professor of the Faculty of History of St. Petersburg University, made his research. In an article published the other day on the Pravoslavie.ru website, he cites the testimony of a number of people who had information about the opening of graves. Here, for example, are the words of Professor V.K. Krasusky: “While still a student, in 1925 I came to Leningrad to my aunt Anna Adamovna Krasuskaya, an honored worker of science, professor of anatomy at the Scientific Institute. P.F. Lesgaft. In one of my conversations with A.A. Krasuskaya told me the following: “Not so long ago, the opening of the royal tombs was carried out. The opening of the tomb of Peter I made a particularly strong impression. Peter’s body is well preserved. He really looks very much like the Peter depicted in the drawings. , weighing a lot. Values ​​were seized from the royal tombs. "

And here is what Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor V.I. Angeleyko (Kharkov) L.D. Lyubimov: “I had a comrade Valentin Shmit in my gymnasium. His father F.I. Schmit headed the department of art history at Kharkov University, then moved to work at Leningrad University. In 1927, I visited my friend and learned from him that his father in 1921 participated in the commission for the seizure of church valuables, and in his presence the graves of the Peter and Paul Cathedral were opened. The commission did not find the body in the grave of Alexander I. He also told me that the body of Peter I was very well preserved.”

And here are the memoirs of D. Adamovich (Moscow): “According to the now deceased professor of history N.M. Korobov... I know the following.

A member of the Grabbe Academy of Arts, who was present at the opening of the royal graves in Petrograd in 1921, told him that Peter I was very well preserved and lay in the coffin as if alive. The Red Army soldier who had helped during the autopsy recoiled in horror.

The tomb of Alexander I turned out to be empty.”

It is strange, but then conversations on this topic were conducted only about the supposedly empty tomb of Alexander I. But even this fact is now refuted. So, when an Interfax correspondent asked this question to Alexander Kolyakin, the current director of the State Museum of the History of St. Petersburg (located in the Peter and Paul Fortress), he categorically stated: “Nonsense. There has been talk about it, but it's just a rumor." However, he did not cite any facts, adding only that the best reason to convince the doubters is the opening of the emperor's grave, but, in his opinion, there are no grounds for such a procedure.

Writer Mikhail Zadornov said in LiveJournal that at one time the mayor of St. Petersburg, Anatoly Sobchak, told him about this secret. According to Zadornov, while walking along the sea coast of Jurmala, he asked Sobchak, who was the mayor during the reburial of the family of Nicholas II in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in 1998: “I heard that other sarcophagi were being opened at that time. Tell me, I promise you that for ten years I won’t tell anyone about our conversation, are his remains in the sarcophagus of Alexander I? After all comparative analysis spent at several Russian tsars. According to Zadornov, Sobchak paused and replied: "It's empty there ..."

Unanswered questions

In the 1990s, when the issue of identifying the royal remains of the family of Nicholas II, found near Yekaterinburg, was being decided, it was decided to open the tomb of the tsar's brother, Georgy Alexandrovich, in order to take a particle of the remains for examination. The exhumation was carried out with the participation of the clergy. When the marble sarcophagus was removed from above, they found a thick monolithic slab. Under it was a crypt, in which stood a copper ark, in it was a zinc coffin, and in it already - a wooden one. Despite the fact that the crypt was flooded with water, they still managed to find bones suitable for examination. Samples were seized in the presence of attesting witnesses. Two weeks later, the remains of the Grand Duke were buried in the same place. However, no one opened the tombs of the emperors themselves after 1921.

Meanwhile, archival searches by historians for an official act on the opening of the tombs in 1921 have not yet yielded anything. Long years the historian N. Eidelman, who dealt with this issue, came to the conclusion that a separate document is very difficult, almost impossible to find.

The opening of the tombs in 1921 could have been the result of an energetic initiative of some Petrograd institutions, whose archives over the past decades, especially during the war, were subjected to various, sometimes disastrous, movements.

Deacon Vladimir Vasilik ends his study of the issue of royal burials and their looting by the Bolsheviks as follows: “It is not completely clear whether all the graves were opened, and most importantly, the problem arises: in what condition, after the looting of the 1920s, are the remains of Russian emperors in their graves ? For all its complexity and delicacy, this issue requires a calm and professional answer and solution.”

crematorium flame

And besides, we add, there is every reason to ask another, even more dramatic question: are not all these graves of Russian emperors, whose remains the Bolsheviks pulled out of the tombs and robbed, empty today? Why were they then taken out of the Peter and Paul Cathedral? It is known that a certain Boris Kaplun, the nephew of the powerful head of the Petrograd Cheka, M. Uritsky, also participated in the opening of the royal tombs. At that time, Kaplun was engaged in the creation of the first crematorium in Petrograd and in Russia in general, which was launched in 1920. According to the memoirs of Korney Chukovsky, Kaplun often invited familiar ladies to the crematorium to admire the rite of the “red fiery burial”.

So maybe this nephew of Uritsky came to the cathedral to open the tombs with a secret task to take out the remains of the emperors and destroy them later in the crematorium? Otherwise, what was he doing there? The confiscation of the jewels was clearly not the responsibility of the Kaplun in charge of the crematorium.

And the very fact of burning would look symbolic. After all, the Bolsheviks near Yekaterinburg tried to burn the corpses of the members of the royal family they killed ...

The first crematorium was built on the 14th line of Vasilyevsky Island in a room former baths. The idea of ​​its creation was generally attractive to representatives of the new government. Leon Trotsky appeared in the Bolshevik press with a series of articles in which he called on all the leaders of the Soviet government to bequeath their bodies to be burned. But this crematorium did not last long in Petrograd. All his archives were later destroyed. So there is no way to check this incredible version today.

Another argument in favor of the version about the likelihood of the destruction of the remains of the emperors by the Bolsheviks is the decree of the Council of People's Commissars adopted on April 12, 1918 "On the removal of monuments erected in honor of the tsars and their servants, and the development of projects for monuments to the Russian socialist revolution." It was a deliberate destruction of historical memory, the initial stage of the desacralization of the past and the cult of the dead, in particular. Monuments began to be demolished first of all in the former capital Russian Empire. It was at this time that the epic begins with the construction of the crematorium, which can be considered as part of the monumental propaganda plan. As part of this plan, not only monuments were destroyed, but also graves, and then entire cemeteries began to be demolished.

Simple logic generally says: why was it necessary to start this fuss, to take out the coffins from the Peter and Paul Fortress, for some reason to store them in another place, etc.? After all, if the Bolsheviks wanted to preserve the remains of the emperors, it would be much easier to immediately return the remains to their original place in the Peter and Paul Cathedral. However, they took it out! But why? Did they return them back or not?.. Who will answer these questions today?

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Where are the remains of the emperors?
There is a suspicion that the graves of Russian tsars in St. Petersburg are empty today / Version

A heated discussion of the issue of the reburial of Tsarevich Alexei and Grand Duchess Maria, whose remains were recently found near Yekaterinburg, again drew public attention to the royal burials in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg. They remembered that immediately after the revolution, these graves were looted.

Tomb of Emperor Peter I

Moreover, this fact was carefully hidden not only in Soviet times, but is somehow hushed up even today. So, in many guidebooks to the Peter and Paul Cathedral, they still write that “for many years no one disturbed the peace of these graves.”
Actually it is not. Graves began to be robbed immediately after the revolution.

By 1917, there were more than a thousand wreaths, including gold and silver ones, on the walls of the cathedral, columns and at the graves of emperors. Practically on every grave and near it there were ancient icons and precious lamps.

So, above the tomb of Anna Ioannovna there were two icons - the Mother of God of Jerusalem and St. Anna the Prophetess - in gold salaries, with pearls and precious stones. The diamond crown of the Order of Malta was fixed on the tombstone of Paul I. On the tombstones of Peter I, Alexander I, Nicholas I and Alexander II lay gold, silver and bronze medals, stamped on the occasion of various anniversaries. A silver bas-relief depicting a monument to the tsar in Taganrog was mounted on the wall near the tombstone of Peter, and an icon with the face of the Apostle Peter hung in a gold frame nearby, notable for the fact that its size corresponded to the growth of Peter I at birth.

At the command of Peter

Peter I decided to turn the Peter and Paul Cathedral into a tomb, following the example of the first Christian emperor Constantine, who built the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople in the 4th century with the intention of turning it into his mausoleum. For two centuries, almost all Russian emperors from Peter I to Alexander III were buried in the cathedral (with the exception of Peter II, who died in Moscow and was buried in the Kremlin’s Archangel Cathedral, as well as John VI Antonovich, who was killed in the Shlisselburg fortress) and many members of the imperial surnames. Prior to that, all the great Moscow princes, starting with Yuri Daniilovich - the son of Grand Duke Daniel of Moscow and Russian tsars - from Ivan the Terrible to Alexei Mikhailovich - were buried in the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin (with the exception of Boris Godunov, who was buried in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra).

During the XVIII - the first third of the XIX century. Peter and Paul Cathedral was the burial place, as a rule, only crowned persons. Since 1831, at the behest of Nicholas I, the grand dukes, princesses and princesses were also buried in the cathedral. In the XVIII - the first third of the XIX centuries, emperors and empresses were buried in a golden crown. Their bodies were embalmed, the heart (in a special silver vessel) and the rest of the insides (in a separate vessel) were buried at the bottom of the grave the day before the funeral ceremony.

In the first half of the 18th century, tombstones made of white alabaster stone were placed over the burial places. In the 1770s, during the restoration and reconstruction of the cathedral, they were replaced with new ones made of gray Karelian marble. Tombstones were covered with green or black cloth with coats of arms sewn on top, and on holidays - with golden brocade overlaid with ermine. In the middle of the 19th century, the first tombstones made of white Italian (Carrara) marble appeared. In 1865, by decree of Alexander II, it was necessary to make all tombstones, "which have fallen into disrepair or are not made of marble, made of white, following the model of the last ones." Fifteen tombstones were made from white Italian marble. In 1887, Alexander III ordered that the white marble tombstones on the graves of his parents Alexander II and Maria Alexandrovna be replaced with richer and more elegant ones. For this, monoliths of green Altai jasper and pink Ural rhodonite were used.

By the end of the 19th century, there was practically no room for new burials in the Peter and Paul Cathedral. Therefore, in 1896, next to the cathedral, with the permission of the emperor, the construction of the Grand Duke's tomb was started. From 1908 to 1915 13 members of the imperial family were buried in it.

Grave looting

The treasures of the imperial tomb have been coveted for a long time. Back in 1824, the Otechestvennye Zapiski magazine reported that while traveling in Russia, Madame de Stael wanted to have a souvenir from the tomb of Peter I. She tried to cut off a piece of the brocade coverlet, but the church watchman noticed this, and Madame had to hastily leave the cathedral.

Disaster erupted after the revolution. In September-October 1917, by order of the Provisional Government, all icons and lampadas, gold, silver and bronze medals from the graves, gold, silver and porcelain wreaths were removed, placed in boxes and sent to Moscow. The further fate of the exported cathedral valuables is unknown.

But all the looters were outdone, of course, by the Bolsheviks.

In 1921, under the pretext of the demands of "Pomgol", who came up with a project of confiscation in favor of the starving jewels, the imperial graves themselves were blasphemously opened and ruthlessly plundered. Documents about this monstrous action have not been preserved, but a number of memoirs have come down to us, testifying to this.

In the notes of the Russian emigrant Boris Nikolaevsky there is a dramatic story about the history of the looting of the royal graves, which was published: "Paris," Latest News ", July 20, 1933. Headline: "The tombs of Russian emperors and how the Bolsheviks opened them."

"In Warsaw, one of the members of the Russian colony has a letter from one of the prominent members of the St. Petersburg GPU with a story about the opening by the Bolsheviks of the tombs of Russian emperors in the tomb of the Peter and Paul Cathedral. The opening was carried out in 1921 at the request of Pomgol, who came up with a confiscation project in favor of starving jewelry, imprisoned in imperial coffins". The Krakow newspaper "Illustrated Courier Zodzienne" cites this historical letter.

“... I am writing to you,” this is how the letter begins, “under an unforgettable impression. The heavy doors of the tomb open, and the coffins of emperors, set in a semicircle, appear before our eyes. Before us is the whole history of Russia. The commissar of the GPU, who is the chairman of the commission, ordered to start with the youngest ... Mechanics open the tomb of Alexander III. The embalmed corpse of the king was well preserved. Alexander III lies in a general's uniform, richly decorated with orders. The ashes of the king are quickly removed from the silver coffin, the rings are removed from the fingers, the orders studded with diamonds are removed from the uniform, then the body of Alexander III is transferred to the oak coffin. The secretary of the commission draws up a protocol, which lists in detail the jewels confiscated from the deceased king. The coffin is closed, and seals are placed on it "...

The same procedure takes place with the coffins of Alexander II and Nicholas I. The members of the commission work quickly: the air in the tomb is heavy. The line behind the tomb of Alexander I. But here the Bolsheviks are in for a surprise.

The tomb of Alexander I is empty. This can obviously be seen as a confirmation of the legend, according to which the death of the emperor in Taganrog and the burial of his body was a fiction, invented and staged by him in order to end the rest of his life in Siberia as an old hermit.

The Bolshevik commission had to endure terrible moments during the opening of the tomb of Emperor Paul. The uniform, fitting the body of the late king, is perfectly preserved. But Pavel's head made a nightmarish impression. The wax mask that covered his face melted from time and temperature, and from under the remnants one could see the disfigured face of the murdered king. All those involved in the gloomy procedure of opening the tombs were in a hurry to finish their work as soon as possible. Silver coffins of Russian tsars, after transferring the bodies to oak, were installed one on top of the other. Longer than others, the commission was busy with the tomb of Empress Catherine I, in which there was a very large amount of jewelry.

“... Finally, we reached the last, or rather, the first tomb, where the remains of Peter the Great rested. The tomb was difficult to open. The mechanics stated that apparently there was another empty one between the outer coffin and the inner one, which made it difficult for them to work. They began to drill the tomb, and soon the lid of the coffin, placed vertically to facilitate work, opened and Peter the Great appeared in full growth before the eyes of the Bolsheviks. The members of the commission recoiled in surprise in fear. Peter the Great stood as if alive, his face was perfectly preserved. The great tsar, who during his lifetime aroused fear in people, once again tried the power of his formidable influence on the Chekists. But during the transfer, the corpse of the great king crumbled to dust. The terrible work of the Chekists was completed, and the oak coffins with the remains of the kings were transported to St. Isaac's Cathedral, where they were placed in the basement ... ".

The terrible scale of the robbery

Where then did the jewels removed from the corpses disappear? They were probably sold abroad. The Bolsheviks put the robbery of national wealth on stream, ruined not only graves and churches, but also museums, former palaces of the nobility, and mansions of the bourgeoisie. The robbery has acquired absolutely incredible, downright terrible proportions. In 1917–1923, the following were sold: 3,000 carats of diamonds, 3 poods of gold and 300 poods of silver from the Winter Palace; from the Trinity Lavra - 500 diamonds, 150 pounds of silver; from the Solovetsky Monastery - 384 diamonds; from the Armory - 40 pounds of gold and silver scrap. This was done under the pretext of helping the starving, but the sale of Russian church valuables did not save anyone from hunger, the treasures were sold for next to nothing.

In 1925, a catalog of valuables of the imperial court (crowns, wedding crowns, a scepter, orb, tiaras, necklaces and other valuables, including the famous Faberge eggs) was sent to all foreign representatives in the USSR.

Part of the Diamond Fund was sold to the English antiquary Norman Weiss. In 1928, seven "low-value" Faberge eggs and 45 other items were seized from the Diamond Fund. All of them were sold in 1932 in Berlin. Out of almost 300 items, only 71 remained in the Diamond Fund.

By 1934, the Hermitage had lost about 100 masterpieces of painting by old masters. In fact, the museum was on the verge of collapse. Four paintings by French Impressionists were sold from the Museum of New Western Painting, and several dozen paintings from the Museum of Fine Arts. The Tretyakov Gallery lost some of its icons. Of the 18 crowns and diadems that once belonged to the Romanov dynasty, only four are now kept in the Diamond Fund.

What is in the graves now?

But if the jewels of the kings disappeared, what was left in their graves? Deacon Vladimir Vasilik, Candidate of Philology, Associate Professor of the Faculty of History of St. Petersburg University, made his research. In an article published the other day on the Pravoslavie.ru website, he cites the testimony of a number of people who had information about the opening of graves. Here, for example, are the words of Professor V.K. Krasusky: “While still a student, in 1925 I came to Leningrad to my aunt Anna Adamovna Krasuskaya, an honored worker of science, professor of anatomy at the Scientific Institute. P.F. Lesgaft. In one of my conversations with A.A. Krasuskaya told me the following: “Not so long ago, the opening of the royal tombs was carried out. The opening of the tomb of Peter I made a particularly strong impression. Peter’s body is well preserved. He really looks very much like the Peter depicted in the drawings. , weighing a lot. Values ​​were seized from the royal tombs. "

And here is what Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor V.I. Angeleyko (Kharkov) L.D. Lyubimov: “I had a comrade Valentin Shmit in my gymnasium. His father F.I. Schmit headed the department of art history at Kharkov University, then moved to work at Leningrad University. In 1927, I visited my friend and learned from him that his father in 1921 participated in the commission for the seizure of church valuables, and in his presence the graves of the Peter and Paul Cathedral were opened. The commission did not find the body in the grave of Alexander I. He also told me that the body of Peter I was very well preserved.”

And here are the memoirs of D. Adamovich (Moscow): “According to the now deceased professor of history N.M. Korobov... I know the following.

A member of the Grabbe Academy of Arts, who was present at the opening of the royal graves in Petrograd in 1921, told him that Peter I was very well preserved and lay in the coffin as if alive. The Red Army soldier who had helped during the autopsy recoiled in horror.

The tomb of Alexander I turned out to be empty.”

It is strange, but then conversations on this topic were conducted only about the supposedly empty tomb of Alexander I. But even this fact is now refuted. So, when an Interfax correspondent asked this question to Alexander Kolyakin, the current director of the State Museum of the History of St. Petersburg (located in the Peter and Paul Fortress), he categorically stated: “Nonsense. There has been talk about it, but it's just a rumor." However, he did not cite any facts, adding only that the best reason to convince the doubters is the opening of the emperor's grave, but, in his opinion, there are no grounds for such a procedure.

Writer Mikhail Zadornov said in LiveJournal that at one time the mayor of St. Petersburg, Anatoly Sobchak, told him about this secret. According to Zadornov, while walking along the sea coast of Jurmala, he asked Sobchak, who was the mayor during the reburial of the family of Nicholas II in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in 1998: “I heard that other sarcophagi were being opened at that time. Tell me, I promise you that for ten years I won’t tell anyone about our conversation, are his remains in the sarcophagus of Alexander I? After all, a comparative analysis was carried out by several Russian tsars. According to Zadornov, Sobchak paused and replied: "It's empty there ..."

Unanswered questions

In the 1990s, when the issue of identifying the royal remains of the family of Nicholas II, found near Yekaterinburg, was being decided, it was decided to open the tomb of the tsar's brother, Georgy Alexandrovich, in order to take a particle of the remains for examination. The exhumation was carried out with the participation of the clergy. When the marble sarcophagus was removed from above, they found a thick monolithic slab. Under it was a crypt, in which stood a copper ark, in it was a zinc coffin, and in it already - a wooden one. Despite the fact that the crypt was flooded with water, they still managed to find bones suitable for examination. Samples were seized in the presence of attesting witnesses. Two weeks later, the remains of the Grand Duke were buried in the same place. However, no one opened the tombs of the emperors themselves after 1921.

Meanwhile, archival searches by historians for an official act on the opening of the tombs in 1921 have not yet yielded anything. For many years, the historian N. Eidelman, who has been dealing with this issue, came to the conclusion that a separate document is very difficult, almost impossible to find.

The opening of the tombs in 1921 could have been the result of an energetic initiative of some Petrograd institutions, whose archives over the past decades, especially during the war, were subjected to various, sometimes disastrous, movements.

Deacon Vladimir Vasilik ends his study of the issue of royal burials and their looting by the Bolsheviks as follows: “It is not completely clear whether all the graves were opened, and most importantly, the problem arises: in what condition, after the looting of the 1920s, are the remains of Russian emperors in their graves ? For all its complexity and delicacy, this issue requires a calm and professional answer and solution.”

crematorium flame

And besides, we add, there is every reason to ask another, even more dramatic question: are not all these graves of Russian emperors, whose remains the Bolsheviks pulled out of the tombs and robbed, empty today? Why were they then taken out of the Peter and Paul Cathedral? It is known that a certain Boris Kaplun, the nephew of the powerful head of the Petrograd Cheka, M. Uritsky, also participated in the opening of the royal tombs. At that time, Kaplun was engaged in the creation of the first crematorium in Petrograd and in Russia in general, which was launched in 1920. According to the memoirs of Korney Chukovsky, Kaplun often invited familiar ladies to the crematorium to admire the rite of the “red fiery burial”.

So maybe this nephew of Uritsky came to the cathedral to open the tombs with a secret task to take out the remains of the emperors and destroy them later in the crematorium? Otherwise, what was he doing there? The confiscation of the jewels was clearly not the responsibility of the Kaplun in charge of the crematorium.

And the very fact of burning would look symbolic. After all, the Bolsheviks near Yekaterinburg tried to burn the corpses of the members of the royal family they killed ...

The first crematorium was built on the 14th line of Vasilyevsky Island in the premises of the former baths. The idea of ​​its creation was generally attractive to representatives of the new government. Leon Trotsky appeared in the Bolshevik press with a series of articles in which he called on all the leaders of the Soviet government to bequeath their bodies to be burned. But this crematorium did not last long in Petrograd. All his archives were later destroyed. So there is no way to check this incredible version today.

Another argument in favor of the version about the likelihood of the destruction of the remains of the emperors by the Bolsheviks is the decree of the Council of People's Commissars adopted on April 12, 1918 "On the removal of monuments erected in honor of the tsars and their servants, and the development of projects for monuments to the Russian socialist revolution." It was a deliberate destruction of historical memory, the initial stage of the desacralization of the past and the cult of the dead, in particular. Monuments began to be demolished primarily in the former capital of the Russian Empire. It was at this time that the epic begins with the construction of the crematorium, which can be considered as part of the monumental propaganda plan. As part of this plan, not only monuments were destroyed, but also graves, and then entire cemeteries began to be demolished.

Simple logic generally says: why was it necessary to start this fuss, to take out the coffins from the Peter and Paul Fortress, for some reason to store them in another place, etc.? After all, if the Bolsheviks wanted to preserve the remains of the emperors, it would be much easier to immediately return the remains to their original place in the Peter and Paul Cathedral. However, they took it out! But why? Did they return them back or not?.. Who will answer these questions today?

During the turbulent history of Petropavlovka, not only its external architectural appearance, but also the memorial one was formed. In fact, today it is a whole necropolis with facade, half-open and not yet explored sides.

Who is buried in the Peter and Paul Fortress

Official burials on the territory of the fortress appeared even before the completion of the construction of the Peter and Paul Cathedral, which became known as the Peter and Paul Cathedral. In a temple made of wood in 1708, Catherine, the daughter of Peter I, was the first to be buried in infancy. In 1715-1717, the graves of three more young children of the sovereign appeared in the unfinished cathedral - daughters Natalia, Margarita and son Pavel. At the same time, Queen Marfa Matveyevna also found her last refuge here.

Despite interfamily strife and accusations of conspiracy, at the behest of Peter the Great, his disgraced eldest son Alexei (died under unclear circumstances in 1718) and sister Maria (March 1723) rested in the imperial tomb. Their graves are located under the bell tower in the aisle of St. Catherine. In 1725, the body of the reposed Peter I was transferred to the church.

Peter the First

The last Tsar of All Russia (since 1682) and the first Emperor of All Russia (since 1721) died at the age of 52 in January 1725 in the Winter Palace. In accordance with the regulations of the ceremonial, developed by him, the body for parting was originally exhibited in the same place in the mourning hall. The sovereign was in a coffin in lace-embroidered brocade clothes with a sword and St. Andrew the First-Called on his chest.

After a month, he was embalmed and transferred to a temporary wooden church specially erected in honor of the sad case, installed right in the unfinished Cathedral of Peter and Paul. And only six years later, in 1731, at the behest of Anna Ioannovna, who reigned at that time, Peter the Great, together with his wife Catherine I, who reposed two years later than the sovereign, were buried in the imperial tomb of the Peter and Paul Cathedral.

Their tombs-crypts, the chambers of which are located under the floor, are located at the southern entrance to the temple. As evidenced by inscriptions and crosses made of pure gold.

Tombs in the Peter and Paul Fortress

The fortress temple became the last home for almost all the sovereigns of Russia, including Alexander III.

Catherine II

The tomb of Catherine the Great, located in the Peter and Paul Cathedral, lacks an epitaph, which the Empress herself composed during her lifetime. “Having ascended the Russian throne, she wished well and tried to bring happiness, freedom and property to her subjects,” the empress wrote about herself. Her death was as turbulent and gossip-shrouded as her life.

But the most tragic thing is that the son Pavel, who inherited the crown, ordered to bury his mother next to the body of the murdered Peter III brought from the Alexander Nevsky Lavra and crowned by him personally. Copied former spouses for 4 days at the beginning of December 1796, they lay side by side in the mourning tent of the Winter Palace, and then they were moved to the cathedral for burial.

“Just think that these spouses spent their whole lives together on the throne, died and were buried on the same day,” Nikolai Grech wrote about this event.

The general list does not include only Peter II, who was buried in the Archangel Cathedral of the Kremlin, as well as John VI Antonovich, who was killed in the Oreshek fortress. After the burial in 1831, at the request of Nicholas I, his brother Konstantin Pavlovich, members of the imperial family began to be buried on the territory of the temple.

Ekaterina Mikhailovna, Grand Duchess

The granddaughter of Paul I found her last refuge in the cathedral on May 4 (16), 1894, having died after a long illness. Grand Duchess was known for her philanthropic work in Russia, promotion of women's education, and conservative views.

After death, the funeral litiya was held in her house - the Mikhailovsky Palace. Alexander III took part in the burial in the imperial tomb. The name of Ekaterina Mikhailovna went down in history as an example of philanthropy and care for one's neighbor.

In connection with the overcrowding of the Peter and Paul Cathedral, in 1897 - 1908, the Grand Duke's tomb was erected nearby, connected to it by a covered gallery. During the period from 1908 to 1915, the graves of 13 people appeared in it, 8 of which were reburied from the cathedral. Since 1992, the tradition has been resumed, and so far 4 burials of members and those close to the imperial family have been added.

Still buried in the Peter and Paul Fortress

Near the cathedral there was a commandant's cemetery, where almost all the chiefs of the fortress were laid to rest. In addition, from the moment the first prisoners appeared in Petropavlovka in 1717 and until the official closure of the Trubetskoy Bastion prison in 1923, cases of suicide and natural death were repeatedly recorded here. Therefore, it is possible that not all the dead were taken outside the citadel for burial.

Periodic random finds since the end of the 80s of the last century of the so-called execution pits with the remains of those killed in 1917-1921 indicate that these little-studied graves are chronologically the last in the history of the Peter and Paul Fortress.