"Wandering" Porohovskoye Cemetery
Few people know that the current Porohovskoye Cemetery is the third one in its history. The first cemetery was established in the early 1720s. It was located within the grounds of the first (wooden) Church of St. Prophet Elijah, built at the request of the workers of the Ohtinskiy Powder Factory. It soon became clear that this cemetery was insufficient, and by the late 1770s, land was allocated for a new cemetery not far from the factory dam (near what is now Kommuny Street). The old cemetery was not closed down; it continued to be used for burials in exceptional cases. Interestingly, traces of it remained visible for a long time, up until the 1930s. The second Porohovskoye Cemetery was "erased" when a military settlement was established at the factory in 1816. It wasn’t until the early 1820s that Porohovskoye Cemetery moved to its current location, further northeast, to the confluence of Gorely Creek and the Luby (Luppa) River.
Monument on Millstones
Upon first seeing the monument to the fallen powder workers at Porohovskoye Cemetery, you will undoubtedly notice its unusual base. The foundation of the monument, unveiled in 1890, consists of fourteen stone millstones used for making gunpowder. These millstones are authentic and, moreover, antique. Since 1791, they had been lying at the foot of the Ohtinskiy Powder Factory dam, protecting the riverbed from erosion, and were recovered from the water nearly a century later. The majestic composition is crowned by a massive granite cross, vaguely reminiscent of a Celtic design.
History of the Location
1715
In the summer of 1715 the Okhta gunpowder factory was founded by verbal order of Peter the Great, and the fate of the Porokhov cemetery is closely connected with its history.
1722
On July 20, the first (wooden) church in the name of the Holy Prophet Elijah was consecrated between the Okhta and Lubya (Luppa) rivers. The first Porokhov cemetery was opened at the church.
1743
July 18, the second (also wooden, but on a stone foundation) church in the name of the Holy Prophet Elijah was consecrated, which was built on the place of the first one that had been dismantled.
Porohovskoye Cemetery and the Monument to Powder Workers
Porohovskoye Cemetery is not among the most famous or prestigious, but it has a long history and is quite picturesque. It is located on the northeastern edge of St. Petersburg, in an area with a hilly terrain unusual for our flat city. It is squeezed between Krasina Street and Ryabovsky Highway, with its southern boundary being the winding Luby (Luppa) River, a left tributary of the Ohta. The cemetery covers an area of about 9 hectares.
The fate of Porohovskoye Cemetery is closely tied to the history of the Ohtinskiy Powder Factory, founded in 1715. As one can easily guess, this is where its name and the professional affiliation of many of those buried there come from. However, few people know that the current Porohovskoye Cemetery is the third in its history. The first cemetery, established in the early 1720s, was located within the grounds of the first (wooden) Church of St. Prophet Elijah, which was built at the request of the factory workers. For the cemetery and the buildings for the clergy, the Holy Synod at that time directed that "land be measured from the church in all directions for forty fathoms."
It soon became evident that the cemetery was insufficient for the growing population of Porohovo, especially considering the frequent accidents with human casualties in the highly dangerous production environment. In the late 1770s, land was allocated for a second Porohovskoye Cemetery not far from the factory dam (near what is now Kommuny Street). In 1779 (or, according to other sources, in 1781), a wooden church dedicated to St. George the Victorious was consecrated on the territory of the new cemetery. This church gave its name to the Georgievsky Gates, one of the factory's entrances. The old cemetery was not closed; it continued to exist alongside the second Ilyinsky Church (wooden, on a stone foundation) consecrated in 1743 and the third (stone) church built between 1781 and 1785. Moreover, exceptional burials were still conducted there. Notably, in the 1930s, gravestones from the 18th century could still be seen near the church.
The fate of the second Porohovskoye Cemetery was quite different. The church of St. George was severely damaged by an explosion that occurred at the Ohtinskiy Powder Factory on April 15, 1803. The iconostasis and church furnishings were moved to the Ilyinsky Church for safekeeping. Eight years later, in 1811, the cemetery church of St. George the Victorious was dismantled. In 1816, a military settlement was established at the factory. During its organization, the factory’s lands were redistributed. According to the plan, the area of the second cemetery was to be used for barracks construction, resulting in the "place of storage of ashes," as it was then termed, being "erased."
Only on the third attempt, in the early 1820s, did Porohovskoye Cemetery take its present location, moving further northeast to the confluence of Gorely Creek and the Luby River. By 1824, it covered more than two desyatins of land. Initially, the cemetery was located in a low-lying area and was periodically flooded, which led to burials being moved to a higher bank of Gorely Creek. On maps from the 1840s, these parts, which make up the current cemetery, are marked as "old" and "new."
The main religious building of Porohovskoye Cemetery was the stone chapel of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, built in 1832 or 1833 and assigned to the Ilyinsky Church. In 1911, it was reconstructed according to the project of military engineer Vladimir Yakovlevich Simonov, who was then the factory architect. The walls were constructed from cobblestones on a cement mortar. (In the early 1900s, Simonov was involved in the reconstruction of the main church of Porohovo.) In 1929, the chapel was seized by Renovationists and became their church. It was closed in 1938, and the building was transferred to the "Funeral Affairs" trust. It has not survived to the present day. In 1979, a new administration building for the cemetery was constructed on that site.
In the 1880s, after a series of major explosions, it was decided to erect a general monument to those who died in explosions at the Ohtinskiy factory at Porohovskoye Cemetery. In 1887, the residents of the powder town announced a subscription to raise funds for this monument. The official statement from the powder workers read: "Desiring to honor the honest workers who perished since 1858, we appeal to all kind people as fellow sufferers with a humble request for alms and service at least once a year at the common brotherly grave of the victims of the inevitable will of the Almighty Creator, who died a martyr's death while fulfilling their modest and heavy duty... for a glorious cause, one glance at which conveys to our successors and descendants a constant reminder and memory of the deceased."
To the substantial sum collected by the factory workers, an additional collection was added from a so-called "mug collection" at the chapel standing on the Ohtinskiy dam. The monument's design was developed by academic architect Robert Robertovich Marfeld, who was the factory architect from 1886 to 1888. (In 1889, Marfeld reconstructed the stone chapel of St. Paraskeva (Friday), adjacent to the Ilyinsky Church.) The monument's base consisted of fourteen genuine stone millstones used for making gunpowder, retrieved from the bottom of the Ohta. These millstones had been in the water for nearly a century: since 1791, they had been at the base of the factory dam, protecting the riverbed from erosion. The majestic composition is crowned by a massive granite cross. The material for the monument was supplied by the marble and granite workshop of M.D. Shashkov, which operated at the Bolshoi Ohtinskoye Cemetery. The stonework was done by master K. Novoselov. The inscription on the monument, unveiled in 1890, reads: "What is man that thou art mindful of him! One hour and all passes."
It is presumed that burial plots at Porohovskoye Cemetery (possibly due to its small size) were absent. The most prestigious locations were considered to be those near the Nikolskaya Chapel and along the Main Alley. People of higher social status were buried there. In the 1920s and 1930s, the fee for a plot at Porohovskoye Cemetery was one forty-fifth of a monthly salary, which was three times cheaper than at the Bolshoi Ohtinskoye Cemetery.
Porohovskoye Cemetery is the final resting place of many prominent artillerymen, infantrymen, but primarily the factory's master craftsmen and ordinary workers, as well as their family members. Wooden crosses were usually placed on their graves, which have since been lost. The oldest surviving gravestone is a stele marking the grave of Maria Osipovna Chigorina, who died in 1848, and her three children. She was the first wife of Ivan Ivanovich Chigorin, a master and later head of the office of the Ohtinskiy Powder Factory. His son from a second marriage, Mikhail Ivanovich Chigorin, became a great chess player. In 1926, the outstanding ballistic scientist and artillery system designer Vasily Mikhailovich Trofimov, who reached the rank of lieutenant general in the Russian Imperial Army, was buried at Porohovskoye Cemetery.
In the 19th century, powder workers and artillerymen killed in explosions were buried in common graves at the cemetery. New mass graves appeared here during the Great Patriotic War. They are the final resting places of fallen soldiers and residents of Leningrad. These graves are located in various sections of the cemetery. Unfortunately, not all of them are protected by the state.
As far as can be judged, Porohovskoye Cemetery is now semi-closed. Finding a free plot is quite difficult; the deceased are mostly buried in family plots or ancestral graves, and special areas are designated for the burial of urns with ashes. The cemetery is well-maintained, not overly "dense," and compared to, say, the Bolshoi Ohtinskoye Cemetery, it is much more conducive to thoughtful walks.
How to find Porokhovskoye cemetery and the monument to the Porokhodols?
