Grigori Rasputin's grave

Grigori Rasputin gained worldwide fame at the dawn of the last century due to being a friend of the family of the Russian Emperor Nicholas II. In the 1910s, in the capital of the Russian Empire, Rasputin had a reputation as the "tsar’s friend," a "starets" (elder), seer, and healer.

He was born in the village of Pokrovskoye in the Tyumen district of the Tobolsk province. From youth, he was very sickly, which led him to make a pilgrimage to the Verkhoturye Monastery and turn to religion. At the end of the 19th century, Rasputin began wandering through the holy places of Russia, then visited Mount Athos in Greece and Jerusalem. He met with many representatives of the clergy, monks, and wanderers.

In 1890, Rasputin married a fellow pilgrim-peasant woman, and they had children: Matryona, Varvara, and Dmitry. In 1900, Grigori set out on a new pilgrimage to Kiev. On the way back, he lived for quite some time in Kazan, where he met Father Mikhail, who was connected to the Kazan Theological Academy. In 1903, he arrived in St. Petersburg to see the rector of the Theological Academy, Bishop Sergius Stragorodsky. At that time, Archimandrite Theophan, inspector of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, also met Rasputin and introduced him to Bishop Hermogenes. On the first day of November 1905, the first personal meeting between Grigori Rasputin and Emperor Nicholas II took place. The emperor wrote in his diary about it: “At 4 o’clock we went to Sergievka. Drank tea with Militsa and Stana. Met a man of God — Grigori from Tobolsk province.”

Rasputin gained enormous influence over the imperial family and, above all, over the wife of Emperor Nicholas II — Alexandra Feodorovna. Their son Alexei was suffering from hemophilia, a disease against which medicine was powerless. Rasputin helped the heir to the throne Alexei fight this terrible ailment. According to eyewitnesses, Rasputin could heal and also prophesy. In his prophecies, Rasputin spoke of "God’s punishment," "bitter water," "tears of the sun," "poisonous rains" "until the end of our century." His most famous prophecy was about the demise of the imperial house: “As long as I live, the dynasty will live.”

Rasputin was killed on the night of December 17, 1916, in the Yusupov Palace on the Moika River. Reports about the murder are contradictory and were confused both by the killers themselves and by pressure on the investigation from the Russian imperial and British authorities. Nicholas II wrote in his diary on December 21, 1916, about Rasputin’s death and funeral:

“At 9 o’clock, the whole family went past the photography building and turned right to the field, where we witnessed a sad scene: the coffin with the body of the unforgettable Grigori, killed on the night of December 17 by fiends in the house of F. Yusupov, was already lowered into the grave. Father Alexander Vasilyev performed the requiem service, after which we returned home. The weather was gray with 12 degrees below zero.”

Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin was buried in a deserted place in Tsarskoye Selo, on the territory of the under-construction Seraphim Lazaretto of the Vyrubova family in Alexandrovsky Park. This church was being built in memory of the miraculous rescue of Anna Alexandrovna Vyrubova — the friend of the Empress during a railway accident in January 1915. The place was near the dam blocking the Kuzminka River in the area of the Lamsky ponds.

Based on materials from the Encyclopedia of Tsarskoye Selo

... Already on March 2, 1917, when Nicholas II abdicated the throne, a group of lower ranks in the Tsarskoye Selo garrison decided to find Rasputin’s grave. Locals in Tsarskoye Selo whispered that the deceased was buried there (there was a version that the body was taken to the village of Pokrovskoye). However, the exact location was unknown because the entire burial procedure was conducted in great secrecy. The soldiers decided to uncover the "Tsar’s secret": they were driven by rumors of fabulous treasures that the Imperial Family had placed in the coffin of their Friend. They were eager to get rich and quite quickly found a burial under the scaffolding of a small church being built on the outskirts of Tsarskoye Selo, which they began to dig up the next day.

The grave digging was led by a certain Captain Klimov — commander of the battery guarding the Tsar’s residence, acting in coordination with the new commandant of Tsarskoye Selo, Lieutenant Colonel V. M. Matsnev. Upon taking this post, Klimov immediately began searching for Rasputin’s grave. After questioning soldiers and residents, he concluded that the mysterious path he found in December 1916, near which he met Alexandra Feodorovna and Olga, indeed led to Rasputin’s grave.

He headed to those “forest warehouses of Tsarskoye Selo.”

“The soldiers of the air battery posted at Rasputin’s grave say that they themselves did not know why they were stationed there. They were told they were guarding a warehouse of forest materials. This warehouse was 100 fathoms from the chapel. They were ordered to guard and not allow anyone near either the chapel or the forest materials. Workers building the chapel always came accompanied by guards and worked under their supervision. In the evening, Alexandra Feodorovna would come to the chapel accompanied by one of her daughters, and sometimes by Vyrubova’s ladies-in-waiting, always escorted by Colonel Maltsev.

The soldiers on duty always received a silver coin or treats. They were immediately sent to the forest materials warehouse to count logs and boards. Alexandra Feodorovna with her daughters or Vyrubova would withdraw inside the chapel under construction, while Colonel Maltsev remained outside, watching the sentries.”

“When Captain Klimov began to inquire [...] about what was in the forest warehouse area, the guards replied that there were items belonging to the palace. The guard explained that the protection had existed for three months. Captain Klimov inspected the forest warehouse but found no items. The area was cluttered with logs and boards. [...] Under heavy guard, Captain Klimov cautiously opened the chapel.”

“Excavations under the chapel revealed a metal coffin containing Rasputin’s body. Captain Klimov submitted the following report to the commandant of Tsarskoye Selo about his discovery:

REPORT

Having taken command of the battery and familiarized myself with all the posts occupied by the battery, I paid attention to the post assigned by Colonel Maltsev, as reported by Captain Lupanov, after Rasputin’s murder, near the 3rd half-battery, some distance from the forest materials warehouse, supposedly, as the battery was told, to guard this warehouse. Considering the circulating rumors that Rasputin was buried in Tsarskoye Selo and that Colonel Maltsev participated in his burial, I conducted excavations and found a grave near the post and established that the forest materials warehouse does not belong to the battery. This post was abolished, and I guard the grave by your order until further instructions. Signed: Captain KLIMOV.”

Thus, Captain Klimov discovered and, together with subordinate soldiers, dug up Rasputin’s grave. (Later memoirs of journalist E. Lagansky, who wrote ten years later in "Ogonyok" about his direct participation in the grave robbery, should be recognized as nothing more than a later fabrication.)

“Klimov immediately reported the discovery to the commandant of Tsarskoye Selo, who in turn notified the commander of the Petrograd Military District, General Kornilov.”

This happened on March 6 (at least no later than this date), as on this day representatives of the Tsarskoye Selo temporary city committee examined Rasputin’s body. On March 12, committee member A.G. Grossman told journalist P. Merkulov from the "Petrograd Leaflet" about how this took place.

According to him, “On March 6, the committee received information that in the yard of the Fedorovsky settlement, where the Fedorovsky Cathedral is located, usually visited by the Imperial Family during services, soldiers found a stone-lined grave, and at the bottom, a metal coffin.

By the committee’s authorization, I and the city commandant, Colonel V.M. Matsnev, went to the indicated place.

There we saw a small log structure with five tiers. Apparently, a chapel was planned here, and later, as was said, a skete in the name of Seraphim of Sarov. At the bottom of the crypt, we noticed a coffin, on the surface of which lay an icon with signatures on the back of the former Tsarina and Her Daughters.

To leave no doubt that this was Rasputin’s grave, we turned to a woman guard living in the cathedral yard and firmly demanded she show us the “elder’s” grave. She led us to the crypt opened by the soldiers and said:

– Here it is.

The coffin was removed from the grave and opened.

I, Colonel Matsnev, and others identified Rasputin. The body was not contorted, as newspapers wrote. It lay straight. The face, slightly darkened, was wrapped in gauze.”

Of course, no valuables were found in the burial. This immediately cooled the enthusiasm. The next day, March 6, Matsnev reported at the meeting of the Tsarskoye Selo temporary committee that a coffin, presumably with Rasputin’s body, was found in Alexandrovsky Park. Earlier, the news had already reached Kerensky.

Kerensky informed his journalist acquaintances — reporter Lagansky of the "Stock Exchange Gazette" and editor Suvorin of the newspaper "New Time," son of a famous media magnate. The "Russian Will" published a description of the desecrated burial.

At this moment, another figure appeared on the scene — reporter Kupchinsky of the newspaper "Petrograd Leaflet," who arrived in Tsarskoye Selo with a mandate from the State Duma. He already had instructions from the Provisional Government to destroy the corpse. Rasputin’s coffin was taken by truck to Petrograd. It was officially announced that the reburial would be at the Volkovo Cemetery. The coffin stood for one day in the building of the Stable Department. It was planned to find a secluded place in the forest at night, build a fire, and burn Rasputin’s body on it.

However, the carefully devised plan failed. On the way to the Piskarevka station, the snow grew deeper and deeper. The truck barely moved and finally got stuck in the snowdrifts. The accompanying soldiers in the night forest were gripped by mild panic. Even the dead Rasputin inspired superstitious fear in them. Then Kupchinsky went by car to the nearby Polytechnic Institute in Lesnoy. There he showed documents and demanded help. The reporter was given six student policemen and another truck. With the help of the students, they made a fire in a grove near the highway and placed Rasputin’s body on it. Four hours later, it was all over. Kupchinsky returned to the Polytechnic Institute and in the guardroom drew up an official act of the burning of Rasputin’s body.

Sources:

https://peterburg.center/story/gde-v-aleksandrovskom-parke-byla-mogila-rasputina.html

https://sergey-v-fomin.livejournal.com/170602.html