Kremlin Wall Necropolis facts for kids

Tombs of Suslov, Stalin, Kalinin, Dzerzhinsky, Brezhnev in front of the Kremlin wall. The tomb of Yuri Andropov is hidden by trees. The Mausoleum is just to the right.

The Kremlin Wall Necropolis is a special cemetery in Moscow, Russia. It was the main burial place for important people in the Soviet Union from 1917 to 1985. Burials started in November 1917. About 240 people who supported the Bolsheviks (a political group that led the October Revolution) were buried in large mass graves in Red Square.

This burial site became a very important place to honor military heroes and other respected citizens, especially during World War II. It is located around Lenin's Mausoleum, a famous building where Vladimir Lenin's body rests. The Mausoleum was first made of wood in 1924 and later rebuilt with granite in 1929–1930.

After 1921, most funerals here were big state ceremonies. Only very important people were buried there, like top politicians, military leaders, cosmonauts, and scientists. From 1925 to 1927, people were no longer buried in the ground. Instead, their cremated ash was placed in urns inside the Kremlin wall itself.

Burials in the ground started again with Mikhail Kalinin's funeral in 1946. Being buried at the Kremlin Wall was a huge honor in the Soviet Union. The last person buried there was General Secretary Konstantin Chernenko in March 1985. The Kremlin Wall Necropolis became a protected landmark in 1974. Even today, people from Russia and other former Soviet countries visit to honor these national heroes.

Images for kids

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  As recently as 1800, the site of the Necropolis was a boggy moat spanned with stone bridges.

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  Red Square Mass Graves

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  27 July 2016. Mass grave on Red Square

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  Red Square Mass Grave No. 4

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  Red Square Mass Grave No. 5, inscriptions for Inessa Armand, John Reed, Ivan Rusakov and Semyon Pekalov

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  Red Square Mass Grave No. 13, inscriptions for Ivan Zhilin, Ivan Konstantinov, Valerian Abakovsky and John Freeman

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  The first wooden Mausoleum in 1925

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  Section of the Kremlin Wall with urn burials (Vladimirov, Ruthenberg, MacManus, Landler, Haywood)

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  A visitor (Fyodor Yurchikhin) laying flowers at the Kremlin Wall Necropolis, 2010

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  The Kremlin Necropolis with a view of Spasskaya Tower

See also

In Spanish: Necrópolis de la Muralla del Kremlin para niños