Gdov Kremlin (c)** Reburial of executed & prison dead

Card

№60-02

Date of burial

1930s [1989]

Show Map

Address

Pskov Region, Gdov, Kremlin

Access in a populated area

Public transport

On foot

Visiting Hours or Restrictions

Unrestricted

Type of burial

Secret interment of executed

Camp (prison) burial ground

Reburial

Current use

Cultural and/or educational purposes

Excursions

Ceremonial events

Presence of memorials, etc.

Yes

Protected status

Not protected

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Background

In the 1930s, the district NKVD prison was located in the cathedral of St Demetrios of Thessalonia, in the southeast part of the Gdov Kremlin. Those who died in the prison and were shot there were buried nearby. In the Great Patriotic War, the cathedral was mined and destroyed.

During archaeological investigation in 1989 burials of various eras were discovered, including those who died in the NKVD prison. When the excavations ended, all the remains (which filled seven coffins) were reburied next to the walls of the new cathedral of the Icon of the Mother of God (then under construction). A commemorative wooden cross bearing a memorial board was erected over the burials.

Books of Remembrance

We shall not forget: A Book in Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repression (15 vols. 1996-2004) contains biographical entries on 28,000 who were shot or sent to the Gulag; six volumes contain entries about 13,500 who were dekulakized or deported.

The Memorial online database (2025) lists 35,016 victims in the Pskov Region.

It names 8,149 who were condemned to death, 7,225 in 1937 and 1938. Charges against another 4,801 individuals were dropped (2,369 having been arrested in 1937-1938); 121 died in captivity. Almost 13,000 were sent to the camps. Many families and individuals (total 8,061) were deported to other Regions (more than half “dekulakised”, 4,972) from the 1930s to 1950.

Ceremonies

Date	Nature of ceremonies	Organiser or responsible person	Participants	Frequency
nk	Commemorative Services	nk	nk	From time to time

Nature of area requiring preservation

State of burials	Area	Boundaries
The reburial area is in good condition	not determined	not delineated

Administrative responsibility and ownership, informal responsibility for the site

On land under the control of the Gdov municipal district administration. Parishioners of the Cathedral of the Mother of God icon (Derzhavnaya) care for the territory

Sources and bibliography

[ Original texts & hyperlinks ]

Archpriest Mikhail (Zhenochkin), The cathedral of the Icon of the Mother of God in the Gdov Kremlin: History and contemporary spiritual rebirth, Pskov, 200-, 46 pp.