Housing next to the cemetery. Is it worth buying a house next to a cemetery? And yet, why is it allowed to build on burial grounds, cemeteries, burial grounds and other prohibited areas?
A cemetery is a special area of land used for burying the dead. This is a centuries-old and most common method of neutralizing the dead using earth. Cemetery: this word is associated with something creepy.
After all, a cemetery means death, death means loss, and losing loved ones has always been, is and will be scary for a person.
Living next to a cemetery is a kind of proximity to the afterlife. What does the church think about living next to a cemetery? The priests in the church say that according to the church, there are no prohibitions! It is not allowed to live directly on the cemetery, and there are no known restrictions regarding living near it. It is a mistake to believe that a cemetery is negative; rather, it is a place where all negativity disappears.
A cemetery is a sad, mournful side of human existence: sometimes people are in grief in a cemetery only at the time of the funeral of loved ones, and after that, going to the grave comes down to a feeling of peace.
As for the energy of a house located next to a cemetery, everything here depends on the mood of the household members themselves, on what they invest in it.
The cemetery next to the house is a place of power, the energy from which each person decides for himself how to use. The main thing is not that it is nearby, but how a person treats it. If a person wants peace of mind, the cemetery will give him peace of mind; if he wants to harm someone around him, then the cemetery will not stand aside.
A cemetery occupies a rather important place in the life of every person, whether he wants it or not. A person may never go to the cinema, library, circus, museum, abroad or anywhere else, but he will definitely visit a cemetery more than once. There is a cemetery in Russia near almost every village. The villages are so small that if you leave the house, there is a cemetery. And those who live at the end of the village, in general, as a rule, live near the cemetery. People live there permanently and, as a rule, do not intend to move. In addition, village cemeteries are much smaller than city cemeteries. In the villages there are no multi-storey buildings and the windows, as a rule, face the road, which is why the cemetery does not loom before the eyes of the residents. But in cities there are mainly high-rise buildings and city cemeteries are very clearly visible from the windows.
For most people, the very sight of a cemetery brings up bad thoughts. That is why such people, living next to a cemetery, will experience a feeling of constant depression. Although there are those who can easily walk through the cemetery even at night. For them there is nothing scary in the vicinity of the cemetery. A significant inconvenience for such people would be the construction next door, the incessant noise - this is terrible. Sometimes living people pose a greater danger than dead ones. Or maybe the house is located near an inactive cemetery, where it is always quiet and peaceful. And if a person likes the apartment, it will be difficult for him to refuse it. It’s just that after some time a person gets used to living near a cemetery and stops paying attention to what is happening.
Why are people afraid not only of the sight, but also of the very word “cemetery”? There is only one explanation for this - outside the cemetery gates the unknown begins, that is, something that is beyond the power of a person to recognize. After all, having learned that there on the other side no one will ever come back and tell others about what is happening somewhere there...
What worries people living near the cemetery in the first place? This is a violation of the sanitary zone. After burial, the corpses decompose in the ground. In the spring, when the snow melts, there is a danger of decomposition products entering the groundwater that feeds the wells. You can get used to the location of the cemetery, but it’s unlikely to be a health hazard. The proximity to a cemetery has a negative impact on people's psyche. It’s not pleasant enough to look out the window and think that everyone will end up there sooner or later.
You can often hear that people with mental disabilities or suspicious individuals are often drawn to the cemetery. There is only one conclusion: everyone decides for themselves whether to live near a cemetery or not.
How do Muscovites feel near large city churchyards?
What kind of neighbors does a big city resident dream of? That's right - about quiet and calm. But the quietest neighbors of all possible Muscovites still do not suit... A survey recently conducted by realtors showed: more than 38% of respondents called the cemetery under their windows one of the most serious shortcomings of housing.
Whether we are talking only about existing new cemeteries, or whether old ones in the central regions of Moscow have also fallen out of favor is not specified. The MK correspondent talked about the specifics of life near the churchyard with those who are not embarrassed by such a neighborhood.
“The view from the window of the cemetery was upsetting. Uncomfortable! “The windows looked directly onto the cemetery. Even the signs from the 4th floor are visible. It’s scary to open the windows and it’s uncomfortable to sleep.” “View of a cemetery, and they didn’t even warn about it! And we are newlyweds! This thought, formulated in different ways, ran through half of the reviews about the hotel that I chose when planning my vacation... And each time I wanted to understand: what’s so terrible?
The cemetery is old, even famous. The neighbors are clearly quiet - they don’t row, they don’t drink under the windows... Why could it be uncomfortable here? As you know, we will all be there...
According to recent surveys conducted by realtors, about 38 percent of Muscovites call a cemetery one of the most unpleasant neighborhood options. As MK's own survey showed, not just any cemetery - we are talking primarily about actively operating graveyards, where hearses arrive several times a day. It’s true here - even the strongest nervous system will fail...
I live on the way to the Mitinskoye cemetery, although not near the gates. I must say that this puts pressure on the psyche: when hearses drive past your windows every morning... Nowadays, however, burials there have become less frequent, but this does not help: the Mitinsky crematorium is there, so the hearses are still coming... It seems that I’m used to it, but sometimes it gives me dark thoughts,” said 40-year-old Dmitry.
Formally, Moscow cemeteries are divided into two categories: open - those where anyone... hmm... newly deceased can get a burial plot - and closed, where new burials are allowed only in related plots. And almost all cemeteries located inside the Moscow Ring Road are closed today - which, however, does not cancel the chance of new graves appearing there. True, rarely. Only two cemeteries are now open for “free” burial of Muscovites - Perepechinskoye (Solnechnogorsk district) and Alabushevskoye (Zelenograd). For the rest - only to relatives.
A very important question: what kind of cemetery? If with active ongoing burial, then it is very difficult. My psyche definitely would not have been able to withstand all these processions under the windows. They once offered to rent an apartment in the VDNKh area with the prospect of walking to the metro along the Alekseevsky wall. I didn’t want to... But one of our friends lives near the old Donskoy and calmly walks along the alleys with a stroller. And nothing,” says a Muscovite named Tatyana.
By the way, walking with strollers and even small children through cemeteries is far from such a rare “game” as particularly impressionable comrades might think. The same stories are told about the Kalitnikovskoye cemetery or about Izmailovskoye - in general, about the “quiet ones”. Moreover, as Moscow mothers assure, such walks are an excellent way to gently and unobtrusively discuss the topic of death with your child.
I've lived here all my life and would never trade my area for anything! - Alla Stepanovna, whose windows overlook the old Preobrazhenskoe cemetery, stated categorically. People have not been buried here for a long time, only if they allow the urn to be placed in a family grave. - In 1995, my grandmother was buried there, I can often visit her... Mom, thank God, is still alive, but I hope that both my mother and I will be able to lie down there when the time comes. And my granddaughter also goes to school here, nearby. We go with her to our Irina Grigorievna (grandmother. - “ MK"), I tell Polinka about the history of the family. Everything is correct: where we live is where we will lie down.
The picture that emerges is almost ideal: quiet neighbors, family history, family graves... But maybe, in order to feel calm about the cemetery under your windows, you need to spend your whole life next to it, like Alla Stepanovna?
In my practice, there have been cases when clients themselves asked to find them housing closer to some famous metropolitan cemetery. Of course, if potential buyers would be embarrassed or depressed by such a neighborhood (say, they have recently experienced a bereavement), then the option should be abandoned. In general, there are many people who find more advantages than disadvantages in being close to a cemetery.
Firstly, there is a large green area near the house (with trees often completely hiding the graves), and some people like to walk there. Secondly, buyers who purchase an apartment near a famous cemetery (like Novodevichy, Donskoy, Danilovsky, Vvedensky) believe that in this way they are increasing their status - because now they will live next to an important historical landmark. Thirdly, the presence of a cemetery next to the house is usually a guarantee that multi-storey new buildings will not be built on this site, explained Mikhail Kulikov, director of the Secondary Market Department at INCOM-Real Estate, in a conversation with an MK correspondent.
The cemetery on the general plan is a green area
When I bought an apartment in the Troparevo area, one of the options was on Nikulinskaya Street, overlooking a preserved cemetery. The owners were ready to drop up to 500,000 rubles for the view from the window,” urbanist Pyotr Ivanov told MK. For some, such a deal would be successful, but for others it would be unacceptable.
It seems that such a step is justified - just to sell... However, real estate sales specialists, with whom the MK correspondent discussed the topic, refute: the cemetery outside the window is not a reason for a discount.
In my experience, most sellers refuse to give buyers a discount due to proximity to a cemetery, especially when the property is even a short distance away. And if the buyer continues to insist on a discount, the owner can respond by listing the advantages of living near the cemetery. In the case when the seller nevertheless agrees to provide a discount (say, the apartment’s windows overlook the crematorium), it does not exceed 2–3% of the transaction, continues Mikhail Kulikov.
According to him, owners of apartments near the cemetery who want to get rid of them need to be patient and wait for “their” client - our city is full of people who will not be embarrassed by such a neighborhood. A representative of another real estate agency, in turn, believes that the discount can reach 10 percent of the market price - but only if we are talking about the sale of secondary housing, and provided that the apartment is being sold with a view directly to the churchyard.
For example, near one of the residential complexes in the Moscow region there is a cemetery. Naturally, many buyers are confused by such a neighborhood. However, the manager explains to the client that by the time the property is put into operation, the developer will build a high fence, so the shareholder will only see the crowns of trees. In addition, another house will not be built under your windows in the near future. As a result, such work with arguments has a positive effect. Moreover, even on the general plan of the area the cemetery is designated as a green zone, which in principle corresponds to the truth. If the cemetery is old, then from the windows of neighboring houses it is often impossible to distinguish it from an ordinary city park,” said Maria Litinetskaya, managing partner of the Metrium company.
The concerns expressed by potential buyers usually relate to emotions and feelings, rather than real risks. “It’s uncomfortable”, “I’m scared”, “I don’t want to remember the losses” - these are the arguments you hear most often.
I don’t care what kind of cemetery: old, new, famous or a village churchyard! This is a cemetery - period! The farther it is from me, the better! - 27-year-old Nadezhda stated categorically. - I really need the dead to appear at night!
Several months ago she was offered favorable terms for renting an apartment in the Tagansky district, and it was the proximity of the old Rogozhskoye cemetery that forced the girl to refuse. If a person is convinced that dead people will appear to him at night, it is extremely difficult to convince him...
The fear of death is one of the most common, and the proximity of a cemetery exacerbates this fear. However, a person's attitude can change. I know that most often people who have not yet had to bury their loved ones so vehemently deny any reminders of death,” psychologist Anastasia Alexandrova explained in a conversation with a MK correspondent. - For them, this is something scary and unknown... But when people have “their own” graves, they treat the cemetery completely differently: simply as an integral part of life. Or even as an island of calm.
Indeed, there are quite a few people who specifically go to the cemetery (more likely to visit their own grandmother, rather than to an abstract one) in order to sit in silence and collect their thoughts. The truth is - and this is much worse! - Cemeteries often attract not only thinkers, but also a completely different contingent.
Who are they afraid of, the walking dead? They are afraid of the wrong ones! - Pavel Vasilyevich laughs unkindly, whose windows overlook the old Miusskoye cemetery. - Yes, yes, everything is correct, they haven’t been buried here for a long time. But in the nineties, when all sorts of subcultures became fashionable, funny guys came here two days later on the third... Goths, Satanists, some other evil spirits - I don’t know! And the noise from them was great! It used to be that you were walking late at night with your dog, and you were greeted by such a handsome man in black, hello... It would be better if ghosts walked around, honestly.
Are you sure there isn't a cemetery here?
According to Maria Litenetskaya, an apartment next to a cemetery is a very common situation.
On the map of Moscow in 1921, these cemeteries (quite large!) are still intact.
As a rule, buyers have a negative attitude towards cemeteries that are still operating for obvious reasons. In a situation where new burials are prohibited, the presence of a cemetery under the windows is not so critical. We have not had any cases where buyers refused an apartment only because of such an unfavorable neighborhood. Nevertheless, before calling the seller and scheduling a viewing of the apartment, additional preparation is carried out, and people know that the house is not located near the park, explains Litenetskaya.
Yes, yes, not near the park... Or maybe just near the park? Let us remember that there are more than 70 graveyards in Moscow... And here an important clarification is needed: official graveyards.
We live in a city with almost a thousand years of history. Here, on every square meter, someone died or someone was buried. Moreover, this is relevant both for the city center and for relatively new districts - Troparevo, Chertanovo, Medvedkovo - after all, in each of these villages there was a rural churchyard. Well, how do we know that our house was not built in its place?
Residents of some neighborhoods, by the way, may not doubt this for a second at all - just look at the old maps. For example, in the Maryina Roshcha area, the Festivalny park was created on the site of the Lazarevskoye cemetery - people were buried here since the end of the 17th century, and many were buried - both the poor and those who died from the plague... Only in 1932 the territory was converted into a park - and now here children are walking happily. I wonder if the parents of those who fear cemeteries like the plague found out about this, would they change their walking route?
By the way, this is precisely what caused a regional-scale conflict on Sokol. The square at the intersection of Alabyan Street and Maly Peschany Lane is the former Arbatets cemetery. This is part of the old All Saints Cemetery, where soldiers of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, the Russo-Japanese War and the First World War were buried. The last burials date back to the 1960s. After this, it was decided to remove all the tombstones and create a public garden on the site of the cemetery. They broke it, but they are still arguing about the ethics of the playground - is it appropriate, on bones...
On the 2019 map, nothing reminds of them anymore.
Another famous cemetery that has disappeared from the map of Moscow is Dorogomilovskoye, which was located between Kutuzovsky Prospekt and Taras Shevchenko embankment. They stopped burying people there in the 1940s, and now an office center has been built. By the way, very close by, on 1812 Street, there was a small Filevskoye cemetery - with the same fate. So it turns out: formally, there seems to be no cemetery under the window... but meanwhile, there is one!
The immediate proximity to the cemetery can hardly be called pleasant. Living with such a view from the window is, to put it mildly, uncomfortable. Unless you fence yourself off with a fence. This is what often becomes a stumbling block in disputes between townspeople and local authorities. Especially if the fence is the only dividing line between two areas.
- We live in our own houses overlooking the Novosemenovskoye cemetery, - Galina Gerasimova and Anatoly Trus, living in houses No. 15 and 13 on 1st Azina Street, contacted the editors of Vitbichi . - The burials were made close (less than a meter) from the border of our plots. The concrete fence built around the cemetery under Soviet rule has been destroyed. People, dogs, and cats constantly walk through our beds. They trample and destroy plantings, and personal property is stolen. In addition, the cemetery rises above the vegetable gardens by more than 3 meters. Because of this, rain, snow, and groundwater from the churchyard constantly flood our yards, houses and other buildings. Where have we turned!
And indeed, a dozen replies from different authorities were attached to the letter. Thus, employees of the Vitebsk Specialized Civil Services Plant responded to the appeal that work on installing the section of the fence adjacent to houses No. 13 and 15 on 1st Azina Street would be completed by the end of July 2013. It was even stated: the company purchases materials for installing the fence, holds a tender to select a contractor to perform this type of work. But nothing was ever done.
When contacting the authorities further, the applicants learned the following: the plots of their houses are adjacent to the cemetery fence, but do not border them. The following data came from Vitebsk Housing and Communal Services: “According to the plan presented on a scale of 1:2000, the cemetery fence is located at a distance of 2 meters from the fence of house No. 13, and from the fence of house No. 15 - at a distance of 4 meters. In this regard, homeowners are required to install their own fences.<…>We also inform you that due to a shortage of financial resources for the construction of external improvement facilities for 2014, this issue will be considered with additional funding.”
On the one hand, one can only sympathize with people who find themselves in such a situation. But on the other hand... The Novosemenovskoye cemetery was founded according to the unified state register of real estate in 1913 and was closed in 1972 within its existing boundaries, that is, new plots for burial have not been allocated since that time. The registration date of residential building No. 13 on 1st Azina Street is November 27, 1975. Therefore, in this situation, it is not possible to say that the residents did not know about the problematic neighborhood.
Again, since 1975 there have been no complaints from anyone. Of course, the cemetery fence could indeed have collapsed during this time. But has rainwater from the cemetery never flooded the plots before? Or has the situation become unbearable only recently?
Local officials tried to understand this situation.
Members of the visiting commission tried to get answers to these and many other questions. It includes the director of the Vitebsk Specialized Civil Services Plant Lyudmila Spiridonova, deputy general director of the State Public Procurement Housing and Communal Services Vadim Ilinets, head of the land management service of the city executive committee Tatyana Guzikova, deputy head of the Zheleznodorozhny district administration Alexander Ilmovich, deputy head of the department of architecture and urban planning of the city executive committee Leonid Bogdanov.
- The boundary of the cemetery has not been preserved, and until it is restored using the geodetic method through the relevant organizations, employees of the Vitebsk Specialized Civil Services Plant cannot begin work on installing the fence,- Tatyana Guzikova, head of the land management service of the city executive committee, spoke about the reasons for the delay. - I would also like to note that the applicants believe that the fence will become a common boundary between their plots and the cemetery, but this is not the case. According to the plan, there is a distance between the two sections. What is it like? Will show the restoration of boundaries.
Director of the Vitebsk Specialized Civil Services Plant Lyudmila Spiridonova, in turn, promised that the installation of the fence will be completed as soon as possible, as soon as the Vitebskgiprozem design institute, which the Vitebsk Specialized Civil Services Plant applied to, completes the land management work to restore the borders.
- Depending on the conclusion given by Vitebskgiprozem, we will try to resolve the issue of flooding of the applicants’ plots,- Lyudmila Vladimirovna also noted. - If the restoration of boundaries reveals a technical zone between the plots and the cemetery, then it will be possible to dig a drainage ditch to intercept water from the cemetery. In any case, we are keeping this request under control.
