Tula Necropolis

Western European Russia

LoginSave

Set over 50 hectares, photography buffs will love this huge, gorgeously creepy graveyard, with hundreds of telegenic tombstones slowly being devoured by forest. There's a small museum attached, but the most fun comes from poking around in the wonderfully peaceful grounds, which are free to enter. To get here enter via ul Lva Tolstogo, where there is the beautiful white baroque 18th-century All Saints Cathedral.

The graveyard was set up in the 1700s for plague victims. There are also statues and sarcophagi honouring old Tula's wealthy elite, fallen Soviet soldiers and local heroes. The website (in Russian) has extensive info on the site. Tours can be arranged (in Russian only, 7pm Fridays, R150) by calling the Old Tula Pharmacy on 4872-312 661.

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

  • Yasnaya Polyana

    Yasnaya Polyana

    8.2 MILES

    This late 19th-century estate is where Leo Tolstoy wrote War and Peace and Anna Karenina, as well being the place he was born, lived most of his life and…

  • Arms Museum

    Arms Museum

    1.52 MILES

    Tula has been a weapons manufacturing centre for centuries, a legacy celebrated at this fantastically kitted-out new building that houses an impressive…

  • Tula Kremlin

    Tula Kremlin

    1.06 MILES

    This restored stone fortress, first constructed out of wood in the early 16th century, is home to the stunning 18th-century Assumption Cathedral. The…

  • Tula Regional Arts Museum

    Tula Regional Arts Museum

    0.74 MILES

    This exceptional gallery charts a course from gilded icons and late-15th-century European paintings through to fascinating pieces of socialist realism…

  • Central Park

    Central Park

    0.7 MILES

    A large, pleasant park perfect for strolling and watching locals cycling and rollerblading around. If you enter the park from pr Lenina, you'll see the…

  • Tolstoy Statue

    Tolstoy Statue

    0.69 MILES

    Local wags have it that the writer – celebrated here in a huge statue of him walking – was on his way to the vodka factory that was once housed in the…

  • Assumption Cathedral

    Assumption Cathedral

    0.99 MILES

    The five burnished gold onion domes of this 18th-century cathedral rise over the ramparts of Tula's kremlin.

  • Antiquities Exhibition Centre

    Antiquities Exhibition Centre

    0.34 MILES

    In this interactive museum split between two buildings, kids will get a kick out of the Stone Age and Bronze Age finds from the Tula area, including…

View more attractions

Nearby Western European Russia attractions

1. Antiquities Exhibition Centre

0.34 MILES

In this interactive museum split between two buildings, kids will get a kick out of the Stone Age and Bronze Age finds from the Tula area, including…

2. Tolstoy Statue

0.69 MILES

Local wags have it that the writer – celebrated here in a huge statue of him walking – was on his way to the vodka factory that was once housed in the…

3. Central Park

0.7 MILES

A large, pleasant park perfect for strolling and watching locals cycling and rollerblading around. If you enter the park from pr Lenina, you'll see the…

4. Tula Regional Arts Museum

0.74 MILES

This exceptional gallery charts a course from gilded icons and late-15th-century European paintings through to fascinating pieces of socialist realism…

5. Lenin Statue

0.85 MILES

This giant Lenin statue looms large over Tula's central square (pl Lenina) with its brutal architecture of the old Soviet city.

6. Tula Samovar Museum

0.94 MILES

‘To take one’s own samovar to Tula’ is a Russian idiom coined by Anton Chekhov, denoting a pointless activity. Local production of this essential part of…

7. Assumption Cathedral

0.99 MILES

The five burnished gold onion domes of this 18th-century cathedral rise over the ramparts of Tula's kremlin.

8. Arms Museum - Tula Kremlin

1.03 MILES

The kremlin branch of the Arms Museum hosts temporary exhibitions displaying military weaponry from around the globe and spanning different wars…