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Butovsky polygon - monumental of memory

The Butovsky polygon is the largest place in the Moscow region for mass shootings and burials of victims of Stalinist repression.

History of the object's creation

In the 1930s, some of these places were fenced with barbed wire - few people knew what was going on behind it. Soon, residents of nearby villages became aware that a shooting range would be set up in the fenced area. The locals were sure that this was the case. No one could have imagined that mass executions would take place in their neighborhood.

The polygon operated from 1934 to 1953. Since 1934, the NKVD has been in charge of this territory with all the adjacent farms. Mass shootings and burials at the Butovo polygon began on August 8, 1937. The execution on October 19, 1938 ends the documented confirmed information about the Butovo polygon.

This place is of great importance
because we must not forget the history and honor the memory of our ancestors.

Cultural value and uniqueness of the Butovo polygon 
The Butovo polygon is of great importance for the civilizational legacy of Russia. Today, the names of 20,762 people killed here are known. Men and women aged 13 to 82 years old, representatives of 73 nationalities, all religions, all social estate, but most of them, ordinary workers and peasants, are Russian Orthodox people, were shot here. This place has a spiritually important influence, because in terms of the number of those executed for the Orthodox faith, Butovo is not comparable to any other place of mass executions. In less than fifteen months, 937 people were shot and buried here, whose only fault was the confession of the Orthodox faith and 332 people were glorified into the faces of saints.

The oldest mitropolit, who suffered in Butovo is Hieromartyr Seraphim, Mitropolit of Leningrad (in the world Leonid Mikhailovich Chichagov), a man of outstanding and versatile talents, a scientist, doctor, military man, historian, preacher, writer, painter and musician. He was 82 years old.
Over the 40 years of his ministry, Vladyka Seraphim has worked in many places in Russia. And at every place of his ministry, he was engaged in the restoration of destroyed temples and monasteries, the revival of the spiritual life of the people. He is the first Butovo hieromartyr to be canonized.

Serafim Chichagov

The youngest of the Butovo victims, Misha Shamonin, was only 13 years old at the time of his execution.

What was at the place of the Butovo polygon

Once, long before the revolution, a beautiful estate of merchants Solovyov, who founded the famous stud farm here, was located on these lands. Then the estate and the entire adjacent farm were bought by Ivan Ivanovich Zimin, who continued the business of horse breeding.

After the revolution, the stud farm was nationalized,
and a state farm was formed here,
supplying food to NKVD employees. 

On October 10, 1993, the opening of the memorial stone in the southern part of the Butovo polygon took place.

With the blessing of Patriarch

Alexei II, a large cross of worship was placed in the depths of the polygon.

In early 1995, a fund-raising was carried out for the construction of a temple in Butovo. With these funds, it was installed in the western part of the territory in the autumn. On December 11, 1995, a cross was placed over the temple, and a year later, on the same day, the temple was consecrated.

The scale of the historical events that took place at this place and its importance in the spiritual life of Russia required an appropriate scale of the architectural monument that was to be erected here. In this regard, the question of the need to build a stone cathedral church at the Butovo polygon was raised.

If you want to listen to the bells of the stone temple, click here

In 2007, in memory of the victims of repression and the feat of the New Martyrs and confessors of Russia, with the blessing of Patriarch Alexy, a large cross of worship was brought from the Solovetsky Islands to Butovo in a river procession.

On August 8, 2015, work began on the creation of a "Garden of Memory" at the Butovo polygon, a memorial in which the names of all the victims at this place are immortalized on stone plaques. Because of to the many names, the total length of these boards is 300 m.

I think that the Butovo polygon is a place that every person who care at least a little about the history and culture of Russia should visit. By visiting the polygon, you honor the memory of all the people who died at this place. And even for foreigners it will be useful to visit the polygon, since during the Stalinist repressions people from various states were shot here.