Grodno. An ancient Necropolis.

Now the necropolis consists of two parts: Orthodox and Catholic, which are combined into a single complex. Sometimes it is called "Farny" (by belonging to a Catholic parish), "Old".

To understand the full value of the city cemetery, it is enough to compare it with the Powonzkowski Cemetery in Warsaw, Rakovitsky in Krakow, Rocco is in Vilnius. This is a complex of the oldest preserved necropolises of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Grodno cemetery is also interesting because you can meet many more interesting architectural gems here than in the old town. Decorative decorations or stucco work are rarely found on buildings in Grodno. But in the cemetery, the customer did not save on tombstones. There are tombstones in the style of romanticism, eclecticism, constructivism. The monuments were ordered from famous masters of Europe, but among them there are masters with Grodno surnames. Among them is the master Boleslav Shishkevich, who made tombstones out of sandstone. Each of them is a work of art. These tombstones are also called "stone gardens". Before his death, the master made a monument to himself, with a Muse on top, a marble bust on a pedestal, and various Christian symbols.

Master Jozef Zaborowski is known for his works. His author's style is the use of multiple fonts when signing a tombstone. The lead letters on the marble have been preserved for more than 200 years. Many tombstones have a variety of decorations. These are symbols of the Cross, heart, anchor, torches, wreaths of boxwood, climbing ivy and ferns - symbols of eternal life. You can often find a tombstone in the shape of an oak with chopped branches - a symbol of the end of human life on earth, and oak leaves on them - the hope for eternal life. Some monuments have long epitaphs. Since the end of the XVIII century, photo medallions have appeared, which can be used to trace the development of photo art in Grodno. The oldest photograph on the monument is more than 150 years old.

Here you can find monuments in the form of thick columns, brick pyramids, large and small tombs decorated with elegant statuettes, forged crosses. There are even tombstones cast from iron. The cemetery is also rich in its legends, which are passed down from generation to generation. This is a white panel that appears in the middle of the night and scares passers-by, and dead soldiers who "rush into battle" at night, and an evil old woman who turns into a crow and sits on an old column. Old poplars and linden trees used to give a mystical charm to this cemetery, but recently almost all the trees were cut down. The romance has disappeared, but the cemetery has not lost its cultural significance.

According to Grodno historians, there are at least 1,000 unique graves in the cemetery.  The most famous of them are:   

-the burial of Eliza Ozheshko,

- burial of M. A. Bogdanovich, mother of the famous poet Maxim Bogdanovich,   

-the burial of Giuseppe de Sacco, architect of the Polish King Stanislaw August Poniatowski,

 - burial of Jan Kohanowski, Polish national poet and founder of the local zoo, 

- the grave of General Lansky. a participant in the war of 1812.

It is currently the only object in the cemetery that is recognized as a historical and cultural value and is protected by the state.  

The cemetery in Grodno can tell the story of its city, its historical past and the stories of those people who once lived here. Being in an ancient cemetery, you involuntarily begin to think about your life, feeling your tiny belonging to the great universe.