tikhvin 2

The reconstruction radically altered... 

the nature and appearance of the Tikhvin cemetery.

With the intention being to create an artists' necropolis, graves of those from other sections of society were removed. Fewer than a hundred of the original monuments were preserved. 

Some were transferred to the neighbouring Necropolis of the XVIII century, the former Lazarevskoe Cemetery, while others, including those of Aleksandr Gradovsky, Anatoly Koni and Viktor Pashutin, were transferred to the other museum necropolis being established in the Volkov Cemetery. 

Meanwhile, the remains of prominent artists, sculptors, composers and musicians were reburied in the cemetery. Among them were personal friends of Pushkin, including Konstantin Danzas, Anton Delvig, and Fyodor Matyushkin. 

Some remains came from cemeteries earmarked for demolition, such as the Mitrofanievsky, Farforovskoe, and Vyborg Roman Catholic Cemetery. And others from those that were intended to be kept open, such as the Smolensky, Volkovo, Novodevichy, and Nikolskoe cemeteries.

The necropolis was created during an ongoing anti-religious campaign, therefore monuments with religious symbols were often replaced by monuments made by the museum.

[bron]