On the history of Orthodox cemeteries in Tomsk at the turn of the 19th ‒ 20th centuries: Visual images of funeral culture at the turning point of epochs

Abstract

The article analyzes visual images of funerary culture at the turn of the 19^th ‒ 20^th centuries based on the material of Orthodox urban cemeteries in Tomsk. This analysis is based on official documentation, memoires and mass media sources. During this period there was a confrontation between two burial traditions: the ancient Russian one, which assumed the
construction of necropoleis on consecrated grounds near the temple, and the rationalistic one which became widespread from the 2^nd half of the 18^th century. An example of the ancient Russian tradition is the necropoleis attached to the monasteries of Tomsk. On the basis of a rationalistic concept, the Voznesenskoye cemetery was built outside the city, however, it was not possible to fully realize the rational concept of a necropolis. A unique example of the devastating consequences of the confrontation between the two burial traditions was the story of the Preobrazhenskoe Cemetery in Tomsk: having arisen spontaneously and being considered Orthodox, it did not have its own temple, but was named after the nearest parish church. The location of a necropolis on unsanctified land deprived its space of sacred meaning, which caused the lack of amenities of the cemetery – the lack of a full-fledged fence, the neglect of graves. At the same time, the appearance of tombstones and crosses, which were white in color, indicates the preservation of the Christian understanding of death in the consciousness of the masses. At the beginning of the 20^th century, with the increase of secularization of society, an atheistic funeral culture was formed, associated with the cult of the heroes of the revolution and the necropolis as a place of remembrance of their exploits. This is how the Soviet cemetery near Preobrazhensky appears and attempts are being made to create a special semantics of this necropolis using revolutionary symbols. But the cemetery's existence was short-lived. After the closure of both Soviet and Orthodox cemeteries they were completely destroyed during the Second World War, and the leading role was played not by the authorities, but by the population, whose vandalism led to the destruction of necropolies. Thus, the destruction of the funeral culture occurred which was the result of a systemic ideological and spiritual crisis.