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Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois Russian Cemetery

Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois Russian Cemetery (French: Cimetière russe de Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois) is part of the Cimetière de Liers and is called the Russian Orthodox cemetery, in Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois, close to Paris, France.

Russian temples

History

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Plaque with information about who and when donated the ground of the cemetery
 
The cemetery

The Cimetière de Liers was created as the second communal cemetery on February 8, 1879 in the city of Sainte Geneviève des Bois in France, 25 km south from Paris. To house the burials of the White Russians who arrived in Paris after the Bolshevik revolution in Russia, some of the land was granted in 1927 to an English benefactress, Dorothy Paget who had set up with Elena Orlov and her sister Princess Vera Meshchersky a still active retirement home for Russian émigrés nearby in the Château de la Cossonnerie.[1] This part of the cemetery is since known as the Russian Cemetery.

In 1938–39 Albert Benois designed the Dormition Church (Église de la Dormition-de-la-Mère-de-Dieu)[2] which serves the cemetery. The church is regarded as an important historic monument and is built in the style of Novgorod Churches of the 15th and 16th century.[3]

Future

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Since the 1960s, the municipal authorities have periodically attempted to close the cemetery, claiming that the grounds are needed for public services. Part of the area surrounding the cemetery has recently been developed as housing estates.

There have been reports that some of the graves will be opened and the exhumed remains cremated.[4] The cemetery is not officially considered a landmark and has no legal protection, although the French Ministry of Culture and Communication recognises the cemetery as an important historical monument (the most important necropolis of Russian emigrants in the world) and it has an entry in the Base Mérimée.[5]

As its future remains precarious, several notable Russians – including Ivan Ilyin and Ivan Shmelev – were exhumed and reburied in Moscow.[6] The cemetery is closed to new burials. It was only after pressure from the central government that the burial of Rudolf Nureyev was sanctioned there. His tomb is covered with a mosaic decoration to represent a traditional kilim blanket.

In November 2000 Russian president Vladimir Putin visited the cemetery[7] to pay homage to those buried there.

Description

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Many trees have been planted to create an authentic Russian feel to the cemetery. It is estimated that there are more than 5,000 graves. There is one mausoleum.

Notable burials

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It is estimated that between 10,000 and 15,000 Russian emigrants or French people of Russian origin have been buried here. Among those are

Selected others: Alexander Makinsky, Tatiana Botkina, Patrick Topaloff and Eugene Znosko-Borovsky.

There are memorials for Alexander Kutepov and for Russians who died in the War effort (among whom Princess Véra "Vicky" Obolensky (1911–1944), member of the OCM, daughter of Apollon Apollonovich Makarov and wife of Prince Nicolas Alexandrovich Obolensky).

There are military divisions (on the map indicated with CM, which is an abbreviation of carrés militaires) such as for

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Cemetery

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Église de la Dormition-de-la-Mère-de-Dieu

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  •  
    View of the cemetery and church
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    The Church and gate
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    Description for pedestrians

Location

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The cemetery is located on Rue Léo Lagrange in Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois. There are two entrances both on Rue Léo Lagrange.

Public transport

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There is a bus station (Piscine) opposite the intersection with Rue Léo Lagrange leading to the cemetery. The nearest train stations are at Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois and Saint-Michel-sur-Orge.

Further reading

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  • 241 records of the 5220 graves in the cemetery, in 2 volumes / 2 languages, French: Amis de Ste Geneviève des Bois et ses environs, La Nécropole russe de Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois, Vulcano Communication, Evry 2009 ISBN 978-2952478618 and translate in Russian by Anastasia de Seauve, Общество друзей истории Сент-Женевьев-де-Буа и его окрестностей, пер. с франц. Анастасия де Сов, Русский некрополь Сент-Женевьев-де-Буа, Vulcano Communication, Evry 2009[9]

References

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  1. ^ The history of la Cossonnerie in the Magazine Municipal Sainte-Geneviëve-des-Bois, No 239, 2007 Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Archdiocese of Russian Orthodox Churches in Western Europe
  3. ^ Base Mérimée: PA00088003, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
  4. ^ (in Russian)Article on the Pravoslavie website
  5. ^ Base Mérimée: Cimetière de Liers, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
  6. ^ Article in Day, a Ukrainian newspaper based in Kyiv
  7. ^ (in French)The Putin visit in Le Parisien
  8. ^ Examples of Solomko's work on Wikimedia Commons
  9. ^ "Succès de librairie pour le livre sur le cimetière russe, 12 janvier 2009". leparisien.fr. Retrieved 2017-02-11.
 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois Russian Cemetery.
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48°37′53″N 2°20′43″E / 48.63139°N 2.34528°E / 48.63139; 2.34528

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