“It was not a funeral, but a national celebration!” Funeral of the victims of the revolution on the Champ de Mars Victims of the February Revolution of 1917

The Field of Mars is one of the most prominent places in St. Petersburg. The history of this place can be called quite turbulent. And the specialists anomalous phenomena They claim that there is extremely negative energy here and sometimes real devilry happens. Apparently, the ghosts of buried revolutionaries are to blame for it...

Metamorphoses of the Amusing Field

In the era of Peter the Great, there was the Poteshnoye Pole on the left bank of the Neva. It was a vast wasteland where military parades and reviews took place, as well as entertainment festivities accompanied by fireworks.

After the death of Peter I, a palace was built here for his widow, who inherited the throne - Empress Catherine I, and the Amusing Field began to be called the Tsarina Meadow. Catherine loved old legends and traditions. Once they brought an old Chukhonka woman to her, who, among other things, told a story about Tsarina’s meadow: “Here, mother, in this meadow, all the water evil spirits have long been found. Like the full moon, they climb onto the shore. Drowned people blue, slippery mermaids, and sometimes the merman himself will crawl out to bask in the moonlight.”

The Empress did not seem to believe the narrator and ordered her to be driven away. But the next day she moved out of the palace on Tsaritsyn Meadow and never returned there again...

When in early XIX century, Alexander I came to power, military reviews began to be held in this place again, and therefore the name Campus Martius was assigned to it (Mars is the Roman god of war, and then everything ancient Roman and ancient Greek was in fashion). But this era also ended, and the Champs Martius turned into an abandoned wasteland, which was only put in order from time to time...

Victims of the revolution

The abandoned wasteland was remembered after the February Revolution. At first, they wanted to bury the victims of street fighting and shootings with honors on Palace Square. But this idea was opposed by the writer Maxim Gorky and a group of cultural figures. They proposed to arrange a burial of the “heroes of the revolution” on the Champ de Mars.

The ceremonial funeral took place on March 23, 1917. To the sounds of the Marseillaise, 180 coffins were lowered into the graves. Later, according to the design of the architect Lev Rudnev, a huge granite tombstone was built, which was a stepped quadrangle. Four wide passages led from the tombstone to the graves.

The tradition of burying those killed “for the cause of the revolution” on the Champ de Mars continued even after October Revolution. In 1918, Moses Volodarsky, Moses Uritsky, Semyon Nakhimson, Rudolf Sivers, as well as four Latvian riflemen from the Tukums socialist regiment, who were killed by counter-revolutionaries, were buried here. From 1919 to 1920, the graves of nineteen heroes were added to them civil war. Burials continued until 1933.

In the early 30s, the cemetery was landscaped, flower beds and lawns were laid out, benches and lanterns were installed... The last person to be buried on the Field of Mars was the secretary of the Leningrad City Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, Ivan Gaza, who, according to the official version, “burned out at work.” After this, the cemetery of revolutionaries was declared historical monument and burials there ceased. However, until 1944 it was called the Square of the Victims of the Revolution.

Meeting with the dead

In May 1936, the Leningrad worker Patrubkov entered the Field of Mars with the intention of drinking the chekushka he had taken with him in solitude and comfort. He sat down on a bench near one of the monuments. And suddenly a boy appeared nearby out of nowhere. Patrubkov was surprised by his strange appearance: a swollen, bluish face, sunken eyes... In addition, the child emanated a distinct smell of rot...

The boy moved so close to the worker that he tried to push him away. Then the boy opened his mouth, which seemed unnaturally large, and grabbed Patrubkov by the palm... Before the proletarian had time to react, the “child” crumbled into a handful of dust, from which a terrible stench emanated... People came running to the wild cry of the worker.

A man who liked to drink “in the wild” was sent to a psychiatric hospital, deciding that he had “caught” delirium tremens. Of course, no one believed his confused story. But a few days later the unfortunate man died from blood poisoning.

Wedding Ghost

In 1957, on the eve of the fortieth anniversary of the October Revolution, the Eternal Flame was lit on the Champ de Mars. In the 70s of the last century, a tradition developed for newlyweds to lay flowers there. But they say that couples who follow this tradition tend to get divorced soon...

There were eyewitnesses who said that sometimes some pale ragamuffin was attached to the wedding processions, appearing from nowhere and then disappearing to somewhere unknown... Sometimes he later appeared in the dreams of the women participating in the processions. And then always some kind of misfortune happened in their families: someone got sick, died or was injured... They say that the ragamuffin is the ghost of one of those buried on the Field of Mars...

On April 5, 1917 (March 23, old style), the funeral of the victims of the February Revolution took place on the Field of Mars in Petrograd (St. Petersburg).

The organizer of the funeral was the Petrograd Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, which decided to schedule the funeral of the victims of the February Revolution on March 23 (March 10, old style). This day was declared “a day of remembrance of the victims of the Revolution and a national holiday of the Great Russian Revolution for all times.”

The funeral on April 5 was not only a Petrograd, but also an all-Russian event. On this day, a memorial service for the victims of the revolution took place in Kronstadt. Up to 50 thousand people took part in the funeral procession here. A new wave of “Freedom Festivals” took place in other Russian cities. In Moscow, some enterprises did not work; rallies were held in factories and offices; Memorial services were held in some institutions. Demonstrations dedicated to the memory of the “freedom fighters” took place in Kyiv, Odessa, Samara, Riga, and Simbirsk. Often the centers of these demonstrations were the burial places of victims of the revolutions of 1905 and 1917.

Later, the burials of participants in the October Revolution and the Civil War were added to the victims of the February Revolution; this began with the solemn funeral of V. Volodarsky in June 1918.

In 1918-1940, the Champ de Mars was called the Square of the Victims of the Revolution.

In 1919, a monument to the fighters of the revolution, designed by architect Lev Rudnev, was unveiled on the Champ de Mars. The author of the inscriptions on the monument was the first Soviet People's Commissar of Education, Anatoly Lunacharsky.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources

On April 5, 1917 (March 23, old style), the funeral of the victims of the February Revolution took place on the Field of Mars in Petrograd (St. Petersburg).

Later, the burials of participants in the October Revolution and the Civil War were added to the victims of the February Revolution; this began with the solemn funeral of V. Volodarsky in June 1918.

In 1918-1940, the Champ de Mars was called the Square of the Victims of the Revolution.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources

“The Field of Mars”, located in the center of St. Petersburg, has become a familiar vacation spot for city residents. Few people think about the dark history of this place.
In ancient times, according to the legends of the Karelian tribes, this place was considered cursed. According to ancient beliefs, all forest evil spirits gathered here on full moon nights. Old-timers tried to avoid these surroundings.

On a sunny day, townspeople relax on the grass of the Champ de Mars (my spring photo)
Centuries later, those who died during the February and October revolutions of 1917 were buried on the Champ de Mars. So the cursed place was turned into a cemetery where people who died a violent death, whose souls did not find peace, were buried.

Rumors that “this place is not good” appeared back in the 18th century during the reign of Catherine I, whose palace was located on the “Tsarina Meadow” (as the “Field of Mars” was called in the 18th century).
The Empress loved to listen horror stories. One day they brought to her an old Chukhon peasant woman who knew many terrible stories.
Chukhonka told the queen a lot of interesting things about the place where the palace was located:
“Here, mother, in this meadow, all the evil spirits of the water have long been found. Like the full moon, they climb ashore. Drowned people are blue, mermaids are slippery, and sometimes the merman himself will crawl out to bask in the moonlight.”
The queen publicly laughed at the superstitious old woman, but decided to leave the palace near the “cursed place.”

At the beginning of the 19th century, “Tsaritsyn Meadow” received the name “Field of Mars”. Then there was a monument to commander Alexander Suvorov in the image of Mars (sculptor M.I. Kozlovsky). The first monument in Russia to an uncrowned person. Then the monument was moved to Trinity Square

Parade of Alexander II on the Champ de Mars. Rice. M.A. Zichy
In the 19th century, the Champ de Mars was a place for folk festivals. However, remembering the old stories, the townspeople tried not to appear here after dark.

Folk festivities on Maslenitsa in the 19th century. Champ de Mars

From the Champs of Mars there is a view of the Cathedral of the Savior on Spilled Blood...

...and to Mikhailovsky Castle

Parade on October 6, 1831 on Tsaritsyn Meadow. Rice. G.G. Chernetsov

Parade on October 6, 1831 (fragment).
Russian classics are easy to recognize - Pushkin, Krylov, Zhukovsky, Gnedich

Parade October 6, 1831 (fragment)

On the eve of the revolution (1916). Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and Tsarevich Alexei on the Field of Mars
In March 1917, the “Champion de Mars” was chosen as the burial place for those killed in the February Revolution. Burial in a mass grave was carried out demonstratively renouncing religious rites and without obtaining the consent of relatives. The cemetery, which appeared in the city center, immediately gained notoriety. The townspeople tried to avoid this place.
Despite the progressive revolutionary ideas, most townspeople treated such a mass burial with superstition - they said that the souls of the dead had not found peace and would take revenge on the living.
“Petropol will turn into a necropolis”- they whispered in the city.

They said that people disappear without a trace at this place. In those days, passers-by told how at night they could hear grave cold, a corpse smell and a strange inexplicable noise from the direction of the Champ de Mars. Stories appeared that anyone who approached the Campus Martius at night would either disappear without a trace or go crazy.

Funeral of victims of the revolution. A mass grave in the city center shocked many

The memorial complex “Fighters of the Revolution” was built in 1919. Architect L.V. Rudnev.
Esotericists note that the pyramid-shaped shape of the memorial contributes to the accumulation of negative energy of the “cursed place”