San michele how to get there. Russian cemeteries: San Michele. The secret of Brodsky's death. Why did the poet's ashes rest a year and a half later?

This summer I visited Italy, on the coast near Venice. In Venice itself, I managed to spend only one day, which, however, was remembered for a long time.

For a long time I wanted to visit the island of San Michele, the famous island cemetery, where many famous people are buried, including the great writer Joseph Brodsky. The island is visible from the pier, and getting to it - as we naively assumed - is extremely simple and quick: fifteen minutes by water in any kind water transport... It was not so! Either the day was not ours, or the shadows of the great people to whom we were heading were offended for something, but the trip to San Michele just didn’t work out easy.

Islands of Venice. San Michele

A river taxi ticket cost 15 euros. We took our places, the boat departed. Everything was fine! .. Until I discovered that the island, located opposite the pier, somehow completely unexpectedly and inopportunely mysteriously completely disappeared from view, and we ended up in a place absolutely unknown to us. To my questions, Italian passengers nodded their heads in unison and spoke in a friendly manner: si. Why "si", if no San Michele was visible at all, I did not understand at first. But then I figured it out. I pointed in the direction where the island was supposed to be. So they seemed to think that I was proud of my knowledge of Venetian geography and correctly pointing the direction to their local landmark. Of course, they supported my erudition with their si - I showed it correctly!
Having gotten a little frightened, that a little more - and we will generally sail to no one knows where, we jumped out at the nearest stop. Note that by that time we had been sailing for about thirty minutes!
As soon as we got out, I started looking for the name of the island on the river taxi route, but there was no name. That is, it was, of course, but since I do not know Italian well, we did not manage to understand which word is translated as “cemetery” for a long time.
It was at this moment that it occurred to me that, perhaps, our journey into the mystical areas also turns out to be somehow mystical. And where there is mysticism, there is nothing for the mind to do, intuition leads there! I relied on my sixth sense, jabbed my finger at the map - and I was not mistaken: cimitero really translates from Italian as a cemetery.
We didn't have to wait long for the next taxi. In about fifteen minutes it arrived. "Tweedledum-lalyalya!" - the cheerful and friendly driver addressed us in melodious, beautiful, but, unfortunately, incomprehensible Italian. "Сimitero!" - in one voice we sang a mystical incantation to him.
And in the most mystical way, everything has changed. Another forty minutes in reverse direction- and we were there.
... The San Michele cemetery turned out to be very large. Huge seagulls flew over the famous graves. Being on San Michele, you feel yourself in a different reality, in a different time, in a different space.
Having passed the entire cemetery, we reached Brodsky's grave. Signs in Russian lead to his grave. His grave is strewn with flowers and decorated with ribbons. I stood near a letterbox, which was almost filled to the brim, and lines from a film shot shortly before his death sounded in my head: "You have no idea how glad I am to show Venice to the Russians ..."
It was strange journey.
Italy. Venice. Brodsky.

Maria Pakhomova

01/28/2016 Polina Elistratova

On January 28, 1996, the greatest poet of our time, Joseph Alexandrovich Brodsky, passed away. He died in his apartment in Brooklyn, one of the five boroughs. largest city The United States of New York, and this event truly marked the "end of a beautiful era."


On Saturday evening, January 27, 1996, Joseph Brodsky collected manuscripts and books in a portfolio to take with him the next morning and go to the city of South Hadley, where he taught at the university (the spring semester began). Wishing his wife good night, he said that he needed more work and went up to his office.

In the morning, his wife found him dead on the office floor. On the desk next to the spectacles lay an open book - a bilingual edition of Greek epigrams. The poet's heart stopped suddenly. Heart attack. On February 1, a funeral service was held in one of the churches near Brodsky's house. The next day, the poet's body, in a coffin covered with metal, was placed in a crypt at the Holy Trinity Cemetery on the banks of the Hudson, where it rested until June 21, 1997.

A proposal sent by a telegram from a deputy of the State Duma Russian Federation Galina Starovoitova to bury the poet on Vasilievsky Island in St. Petersburg (“I don’t want to choose either a country or a churchyard, I’ll come to die on Vasilievsky Island…”) was rejected. Brodsky's friend, the poet Lev Losev, said the following about this: "This would mean solving the question of returning to his homeland for Brodsky." And this question was one of the most painful for the poet: "I abandoned the country that fed me, from those who forgot me, you can make a city."

The memorial service took place on March 8 in Manhattan at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. John the Divine. There were no speeches. Poems were read by almost everyone present, among whom were the Polish poet Czeslaw Milosz, a native of Saint Lucia and the 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature Derek Walcott, the Irish writer and poet, also the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature Sheimas Heaney, a Soviet and American ballet dancer and choreographer Mikhail Baryshnikov, poets Lev Losev and Eugene Rein, the poet's widow Maria Sozzani-Brodskaya and others.

It took more than a year to resolve the issue of the poet's final resting place. According to Brodsky's widow Maria, one of his friends expressed the idea of ​​the possibility of burying the poet's body in Venice. Brodsky loved Venice almost as much as Petersburg. In addition, Maria Sozzani-Brodskaya is Italian, and as she herself said: "Reasoning selfishly, Italy is my country, so it was better that my husband was buried there."

On June 21, 1997, the body of Joseph Brodsky was reburied at the old cemetery of San Michele in Venice. Initially, it was planned to bury the poet in the Russian half of the cemetery between the graves of Stravinsky and Diaghilev, but this turned out to be impossible, since the poet was not Orthodox. The clergy also did not agree to be buried in the Catholic part of the cemetery. As a result, the poet's body was buried in the Protestant part. At first, the resting place was marked with a modest wooden cross named Joseph Brodsky.

San Michele - Venetian necropolis

A few years later, a monument by the artist Vladimir Radunsky was erected on the grave.

On the back of the monument there is an inscription in Latin - this is a line from the elegy of Propertius - Letum non omnia finit - “Death does not end with everything”. Two years ago I was able to see Brodsky's grave with my own eyes, and this event was destined to become one of the most exciting and striking events in my life. From mainland Venice to small island, where the cemetery is located, about five to seven minutes away by water tram Vaporetto. Despite the fact that quite a lot of tourists landed on the island with me, no unnecessary fuss arose, everyone somehow quietly scattered around the island, which, it should be noted, is not so small.

Finding the poet's grave was quite simple - following the signs, of which there are many. On that sunny day, I brought the poet a couple of packs of Marlborro cigarettes: he smoked a lot and was a drinker, so to this day, Brodsky's admirers from all over the world bring cigarettes and whiskey to the genius's grave, as well as pebbles, letters, poems, pencils and photographs. All this is very touching, it is difficult to restrain emotions. At some point, I noticed that there is a place nearby where anyone can take a small watering can, collect water and water the flowers on the graves.

I went over to take one of the watering cans. At that moment, an old Italian watchman came up to me and in broken English asked where I came from and whose grave I had come to put in order.

- Brodsky? - the man smiled. - A relative?
- No, admirer.
- A lot of people come to him, - the old man took a watering can from my hands and helped to draw water. - Have you brought cigarettes?

I nod back, the man smiles again and hands me a watering can.

While I was watering the flowers, interested tourists from other countries passed by the grave along neat paths.

- Who is it? Brodsky? Oh, I like his poetry, like his essays, you know. (English - "Who is this? Brodsky? Oh, I like his poetry, I like essays").

- Brodski? Pass auf! Das ist das Grab des Dichters Joseph Brodski. Lies, was es hinten geschrieben ist! Das ist Latein. (German - "Brodsky? Look! This is the grave of the poet Joseph Brodsky. Read what is written behind it! It's in Latin").

- La tombe du poète Joseph Brodsky! Oh mon Dieu, regardez ce marbre blanc! (French - "The grave of the poet Joseph Brodsky! Oh, my God, look at this white marble!").

The American writer and friend of the poet Susan Sontag once noticed that Venice is perfect place for Brodsky's grave, as Venice is nowhere else. "Nowhere" is the return address that Brodsky gives at the beginning of one of his most lyrically rich poems: "Nowhere with love ...".

A person of a difficult character, a person with a difficult fate, a recognized genius, an unsurpassed master of words, an admirer of language as the highest form of all that exists, a fighter for freedom and human rights, the voice of the era. Each has his own Brodsky. I can hardly imagine my life without the creativity of this person, and I don’t want to imagine. It has been 20 years since the death of one of the greatest geniuses of all time.

“Let time be silent about me.
Let the harsh wind cry easily
And over my Jewish grave
Young life is screaming persistently. "

Photo source:spbhi.ru

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San Michele Cemetery Island in Venice

Cemetery of San Michele. The island of San Michele is located in a lagoon near Venice, on this island in the early 19th century, the city's cemetery was located. Since Venice is an island community, it should come as no surprise that the cemetery is also an island, although it can be rather odd at first.

San Michele was designed by Mauro Codussi in the distant 1460s and was one of the earliest Renaissance churches in Venice. The facade of the church was made of white marble and the church itself was overlooking the lagoon. Church opening hours are limited and may be shortened if services are held.

But, you should still visit this place, not only to look at the church, but also to see the beautiful Emiliani Chapel. The Emiliani Chapel is a chapel located at the very edge of the lagoon.

Italian cemeteries.

Cemeteries in Italy are usually not landmarks, they do not tourist routes... They are usually located outside cities. Italian families make a pilgrimage to the graves of their loved ones on November 1st and 2nd to lay flowers (you can buy flowers near the cemetery gate).

The secret of Brodsky's death. Why did the poet's ashes rest a year and a half later?

In Venice for these dates there is a special ferry delivery of people to the cemetery.

It is important to remember that in Italy chrysanthemums are flowers that are placed on the graves of dead people, and giving them to living people is considered bad form and bad manners.

Tombs and memorials for important historical figures are generally easier to reach and can be quickly found by tourists following the signs.

Despite the fact that the cemetery in San Michele is prepared for visitors and contains signs showing how to get to the graves of famous people, it should be remembered that this is still a cemetery, most of the tombs here are relatively recent and are visited by grieving families. Therefore, visitors must observe not only silence in this cemetery, but also certain rules (you cannot dress brightly, you must wear a modest dress).

Graves.

The cemetery is divided into many sections, and without a map, you can easily get lost. Signs will lead visitors to the graves of Orthodox Protestants, other graves will be more difficult to find. But walking around this cemetery is worth it. For example, one site is devoted to modest memorials of nuns and tombs of priests.

The Orthodox part of the cemetery is a charming walled garden that catches the late sunlight and is full of flowers and animals (lizards can run around here).

At this cemetery, you can also find the graves of our compatriots: Sergei Diaghilev (Russian theater and art figure) and Igor Stravinsky (Russian composer), Joseph Brodsky (Russian poet).

Since over time, there was no more space on the island, and the graves began to stand very closely to each other. Therefore, the relatives of the deceased Venetians are allowed to bury their loved ones here for several years, after about 10 years, the remains are exhumed and stored in another place.

How to get there.

San Michele is located off the northern coast of Venice and stands out for its high walls and cypress trees. There are regular routes to the island. The stop is called the "cemetery". Remember, the Church of San Michele is closed at lunchtime.

The North Funeral Home offers you funeral services. We understand that the loss of a loved one is the most difficult loss. Guide a person on his last journey with dignity, and entrust us with the organization of this path.

There are many rumors around the death, especially the poet's funeral. His close friend and concurrently secretary I. Kutik clarifies the situation somewhat:

“Two weeks before his death, he bought himself a place in the cemetery. He was terribly afraid of death, he did not want to be either buried or burned, he would be satisfied if he was somewhere walled up. So it happened at first. He bought a place in a small chapel in a hideous New York cemetery bordering bad Broadway. It was his will. After that, he left a detailed will on Russian and American affairs, made a list of people to whom the letters were sent. In them, Brodsky asked the recipient to sign that until 2020 he would not talk about Brodsky as a person, he would not discuss his private life in the press. Let them talk about Brodsky as a poet as much as they like. In Russia, almost no one knows about this fact, so many of those who received that letter do not keep this word.

And then there was a reburial in Venice. This is generally a Gogol story, which in Russia, too, almost no one knows about. Brodsky was neither a Jew nor a Christian for the reason that perhaps a person is rewarded not by his faith, but by his deeds, although his widow Maria Sodzani (they married in September 1990, and three years later Brodsky had a daughter ) buried him according to the Catholic rite. Joseph had two definitions for himself: a Russian poet and an American essayist. And that's all.

So, about reburial. The mysticism began already on the plane: the coffin opened in flight. I must say that in America, coffins are not hammered in with nails, they are closed with screws and bolts, they do not open even from changes in height and pressure. Sometimes, even in case of plane crashes, they do not open, but here - for no reason. In Venice, they began to load the coffin on the hearse, it broke in half. I had to move the body to another domina. Let me remind you that this was a year after his death. Then he was taken by gondolas to the Isle of the Dead. The original plan involved his burial in the Russian half of the cemetery, between the graves of Stravinsky and Diaghilev. It turned out that this is impossible, since the permission of the Russian Orthodox Church in Venice is necessary, but she does not give it, because he was not Orthodox. As a result, the coffin is standing, people are standing, waiting. Throwing, hesitation, confusion began; negotiations went on for two hours. As a result, a decision is made to bury him on the evangelical side. But there are no empty seats, while in Russian - as much as you like. Nevertheless, a place was found - at the feet of Ezra Pound. (Note that Brodsky could not stand Pound as a person and as an anti-Semite, but as a poet he valued him very highly.

Brodsky's grave

In short, not the most the best place resting place for a genius.) We began to dig - a rod of a skull and bones, it is impossible to bury. In the end, poor Joseph Alexandrovich, in a new coffin, was carried to the wall behind which electric saws and other equipment were howling; they put him a bottle of his favorite whiskey and a pack of his favorite cigarettes, and buried him practically on the surface, barely sprinkling it with earth. Then they put a cross in their heads. Well, I think he will bear this cross too. "

And one more circumstance, which was reported only in Italy. Russian President Yeltsin sent six cubic meters of yellow roses to Brodsky's funeral. Mikhail Baryshnikov and his comrades transferred all these roses to the grave of Ezra Pound. Not a single flower from the Russian authorities has remained on the grave of the Russian poet, and still does not exist. Which, in fact, responds to his will.
………………………………………….

source -http: //www.newrzhev.ru/articles.php? id = 199

San Michele is a cemetery island, surrounded by a brick wall with a gate, but it does not make a painful impression, even in winter. Many crypts and gravestones are real architectural masterpieces, in addition, the island has a sufficient number of burials of famous cultural and public figures (first of all, of course, Italian, but there are also very famous foreigners, there are about seventy remarkable monuments in total), so it is definitely worth going there (from the Fondamento Nuove embankment and back there is a vaporetto ). When I went there, it was a sunny hot February day.
Since the 13th century, San Michele was a monastery complex, but Napoleon, after his conquest of Venice, ordered to bury the dead not on the "mainland", but here, on a separate island (in fact, there were even two islands, they were connected artificially, filling the channel between them). Here he also kept political prisoners. The main architectural design the cemetery received at the beginning of the 19th century.
The cemetery is divided into several main parts, each of which, in turn, is also divided into several sections. Most of the space, of course, belongs to the Catholics (the "Evangelists", "Greeks" and Jews have small areas). Some parts are fenced, some are not, for orientation there is a diagram at the entrance and signs everywhere.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon EF 24-105 f / 4L IS USM,
Canon EF 70-200 f 4L IS USM, Canon Extender EF 1.4x II Tele-converter.

There is an old part, with full graves and even family crypts,

there is a modern one, where there are many such stone "chests of drawers" for cremated bodies,
some of them have not been completed yet.

I did not have a task to cover the whole cemetery, it is large,
I was primarily interested in the graves of the Russians - Brodsky, Diaghilev and Stravinsky.
(The fact that Petr Weil was also buried on San Michele, I learned only later, it's a pity).
First I went to Brodsky.
His grave is in the Protestant section, because only Protestants agreed
compromise and sheltered the great Russian atheist poet.

Flowers on the grave of Joseph Alexandrovich are in abundance, and there are fresh bouquets.
A young Russian family with a child visited the grave in front of me, I heard how the parents
told their little daughter who Brodsky was. After me, someone else came here ...

There is a box near the stele with the poet's name, where you can throw a note.
I opened it - there were a couple of pieces of paper at the bottom, of course I didn't read them,
this secret must remain strictly between the poet and his admirers.

Some admirers of Brodsky's poetry, however, are not so shy,
and leave notes facing him on bright ribbons, tying them to a rose bush.

Mostly Greeks and Russians are buried in the Orthodox part of the cemetery.

The most luxurious grave is at Sergei Diaghilev's.
As during his lifetime he was an imposing dandy, and after death he continues to charm.

As you can easily see from the photographs from the Internet,
The pointe shoes on Diaghilev's tombstone are constantly changing.
With me lay here such new, beautiful, as well as a long branch of a fresh orchid.

A photograph in a wooden frame is a clipping from a newspaper or a copier,
worn out and a little torn, so that it was discouraging to steal, I guess.

The gravestones of the Stravinsky couple are much simpler and stricter,
the flowers were only artificial.

It turns out that music lovers are not so devoted, unlike those who are in love with poetry and theater,
although Stravinsky's contribution to music is no less than Brodsky's to poetry, and Diaghilev's to ballet.

I did not reach the main temple on the island (it is still closed at this time),
and this is the second church inscribed in architectural ensemble, in honor of St. Christopher.

There are several memorable bas-reliefs along the walls of the temple.

Not all of them were removed because of the bright sun, I will show only a couple.

The church was closed, but it was pleasant to admire it from the outside.

Especially on the statue of the Archangel Gabriel above the entrance,
for her sake, I even took out a telephoto, in my opinion, she is beautiful.

In conclusion - links to Brodsky's essay about Venice, "Embankment of the Incurable", to a documentary about Brodsky filmed in Venice in 1990 (somewhere in the middle of the film Brodsky sits against the background of San Michele and reads in English his note on the death of his parents , at whose funeral he was not allowed), as well as Brodsky's magnificent poem about architecture:

Evgeniya Rein

Architecture, mother of ruins
jealous of the clouds
whose cloudy head of cabbage is boiled,
on whose meadows
that bomber walks,
then - more invulnerable
for the eyes - the spy of the general
del - seraphim,

only you, architecture,
darling, bride, pearl
space, whose lip is not stupid,
as Tasso sang,
showing immense courage,
which we cannot comprehend
justifying the location, address,
pockmarked brick.

You are, in essence, what nature is with
failed. Zane she
does not dare to expect offspring
from the boulder,
trying to stop looking,
get rid of the hustle and bustle.
But the future is a thing of stone
and this is you.

You are the empress of the vacuum.
The facetness of your scabs
a crystal sparkles in your hand,
growing
faster than Everest;
clothed in a pyramid, in a cube,
so sharpened by the idea of ​​a place
on Chronos tooth.

Born in imagination
which you will survive
you are the next move
step by drawing
naturalness, tall huts,
chasing their attic
- in the direction from which it is heard
one tick tock.

Sighing for their penates
in plant motives, etc.,
you are more for the super feathered
creatures roost,
not so much playing with dolls,
as thinking that they will exalt,
prudently opening its dome
like a parachute.

Noise of Time, it is known, there is nothing
parry. But, in turn,
his need for things is stronger than
vice versa:
as in society or in a home.
For Time, your temple, your trash
relatives as an interlocutor of a thousand
like us.

What could be more eloquent
than inanimate? Only
nothingness itself, whose cornfield
you dust your brain
not so much dials as
the galaxy itself, about communication
guessing and the role of the splinter
there asking.

You are, to put it bluntly, full
looking at prostrate faces,
sifting us through a sieve
lived. units,
flirting with that light
borrowing forms from him,
so that we understand what is on this
we collided.

To ethereal with abstract envy
and theirs to you on the contrary,
your, architecture, ovary,
but also a fruit.
And if in the ionosphere
really one zeros,
your loss at least
end of the earth.

Today we leave for the island of Venice San Michele.

Even when drawing up the route, we decided that we would definitely visit here. I love the poetry of Joseph Brodsky, Galka is from a ballet family, I danced myself, and now she has a business connected with ballet and choreographic groups. She has a strong respect for Sergei Diaghilev. In addition, Galya was interested in the information that there is always a ballet dancer on Diaghilev's grave. And Galka, just engaged in the manufacture of ballet shoes, and she was very interested in how the "Diaghilev ballet" was sewn.

The third participant in our trip is an actress. She just starred in a film about Igor Stravinsky. She played the composer's wife. She was not released from the shooting, and she very much asked to put flowers on the grave of Igor Stravinsky and his wife Vera Stravinsky. * Interesting work for actors. You live with the role of a wife, you probably feel almost like her ... and you lay flowers on the grave ... *

All 3 of our idols are buried in the cemetery of the island of San Michele. We bought flowers to put on the graves of Brodsky, Diaghilev and Stravinsky, and drove off.

The islands of Venice are located close to each other, but we left early to have time to walk around the island.

At the entrance to the island of San Michele, we saw such a monument. We looked with all our eyes, because the Rook was floating in the water. There are two people in it. One points with his hand to the island of San Michele.

Dante and Virgil

These figures were sculpted by the Moscow sculptor Georgy Frangulyan. Two great poets of Italy - Virgil and Dante swim across the Acheron River. Dante's river water boils with cursed souls. Here, in the calm waters of the bay, there are no such passions, and San Michele is sometimes called a "paradise". It turns out that Virgil points the poet to the quietest and greenest place in Venice.

The sculpture stands on a pontoon structure, sways on the water and, in fact, floats. It's beautiful and not scary at all. But there must be some kind of legends and horror stories. The cemetery is nearby, but there are no horror stories? It doesn't work that way!

And, - exactly. It turns out that the story of a black gondolier, whose grave is moving, emerges at an enviable frequency and for more than one hundred years. Along with this news, there are rumors that one person is missing. Probably, the missing people on a black-black night are taken away in his black-black gondola by a black-black Gondolier. This is scary ... * Interestingly on the islands of Venice at the end of this terrible story it is customary to shout: “Give me my heart ?!

San Michele cemetery

The island of San Michele is also called the island of the dead. San Michele is a Venetian cemetery. The church of San Michele in Isoble, the bell tower and the chapel have been preserved here.

The church is an early piece of Renaissance architecture in Venice. Its architect - Mauro Codussi made a breakthrough - the fact is that before him there were brick buildings in Venice, and his church was built of white stone... Elegantly decorated and noble.

Next to the Church of San Michele in Isoble is the Emiliani Chapel. It is decorated with a dome, columns and sculptures. The chapel also dates back to the Renaissance.

They are combined with a brick bell tower, which is completed by a dome similar to the dome of a chapel.

Church, chapel and bell tower

From the side of the bay, the island looked like a fortress, I recalled the words from the tale of A.S. Pushkin about the island Buyan, where in scales, like the heat of grief, 33 heroes emerge from the sea foam. Only we have not seen the heroes. The island even looked quiet and calm from a distance.

There was a monastery on the island of San Michele. Monks once lived here in a secluded life. The monastery had a huge library, a theosophical school. In addition to theosophy, philosophy and the humanities were taught at the school.

On the island was the Church of the Archangel Michael, which was attached to the monastery in the 13th century. She gave the name to the island. The island became a cemetery in 1807 by order of Napoleon. Until this year, the inhabitants of Venice burned and buried the dead in the city; in churches, private gardens, basements of palaces, wherever possible. * Indeed, the problem *.

Two islands, San Michele and San Cristoforo, were allocated for the cemetery, but over time, the channel separating them was filled up and the two islands became one.

At the end of the 18th century, Napoleon handed over the island to the Austrians. They used the island as a prison for Venetian patriots.

The cemetery is divided into zones: Catholic, Orthodox, Jewish. There is a children's cemetery. The funny word "Bambino", written on a plate near the small graves, was very upsetting.

Sergei Dyagelev and Igor Stravinsky are buried in the Orthodox zone, but Joseph Brodsky, on the territory of the Evangelical, Protestant. On the Orthodox side, the body of the poet was forbidden to be buried by the Russian Orthodox Church. On the Catholic side, there is the Catholic Church.

Brodsky's grave

We got to the island of San Michele quickly. Where are the graves, it was written in our notebook, but how to get there, which way to go? We looked into the nearest open door to ask, and we were immediately given a diagram of the cemetery with three circled names: Brodsky, Stravinsky, Diaghilev.

Cemetery in San Michele

If you need a plan for the Venice City Cemetery, ask on the island like this: CIMITERO COMUNALE DI VENEZI.

We entered one square, the zone was not the same. Second, - again in the wrong direction. And here is the square where the inscription read: "Reparto-Evangelico" "Protestant section" ...

Protestant site on the island of San Michele

Here lies the body of Joseph Brodsky. They searched for the grave for a long time, I don't know, they would have found it, but then they saw a man walking with a confident step. He entered quickly, but paused in confusion. We watched. He, like a terminator, began his orientation: he moved his head to the left - scanned the space, then to the right, a little more to the left and confidently walked in a certain direction. He stood there, turned and confidently walked out.

In search of Brodsky's grave

We rushed there. It was clear that this was our man and had come to honor the memory. Indeed, before us was Brodsky's grave.

How to find Brodsky's grave

Explaining how to go:

From the cemetery gate to the left. Along the "Alley of Children" - "Recinto Bambini". Landmark - a bas-relief - a girl with a bouquet of flowers climbs the steps into the arms of an angel.

At the beginning of the alley there is a sign EZRA POUND DIAGHILEV STRAWINSKI.

At the end of the alley there is a gate with signs "Reparto Greco" and "Reparto Evangelico".

Enter the gate and turn left towards the "Reparto Evangelico" sign.

Large conspicuous grave of Ezra Pund. Near (on the right) is Brodsky's grave.

Brodsky's grave

We have read - Joseph Brodsky and below Joseph Brodsky. On the reverse side of the pedestal, Latin: "Letum non omnia finit" - Death does not end.

There was a metal box near the gravestone - like a postal box, there were pencils. We did not dare to take them: the poet probably needs them. They took out a ballpoint pen, and I wrote a letter to Brodsky. I wrote everything I wanted to say and put it in a drawer. And it became so easy for me, as if I talked, said everything I wanted.

Diaghilev's grave

The gravestones of S. Diaghilev and Stravinsky were found immediately.

Diaghilev's grave

Grave of Stravinsky

Stood at the composer

Then they walked through the chapel, learned how it is customary in Venice to bury their dead.

There was no painful condition. There was peace. Calmness. Silence in the soul.

We went to the pier, or rather, to the parking lot. The other islands of Venice are ahead.

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How to get to the island of San Michele

You can get to it on river tram- vaporetto. We need # 4.1 and # 4.2 (See article. Vaporetto scheme). San Michele is in the same direction as Murano Island.

From the Fondamente Nuovo car park in Piazzale Roma, it is 1 stop to Cimitero (this is the island of San Michele). If you want to visit the island of Murano on the same day, then at the Cimitero stop, take the vaporetto again and continue your journey to the island of Murano. (One stop).

You can take vaporetto no. 4.1 and no. 4.2 not only at the Fondamente Nuovo parking lot, it’s just more convenient from this place to explain how to get to the island of Venice, San Michele. You can hop off at any stop along these routes.

Opening hours of the cemetery on the island of San Michele:

• April to September: 7:30 am - 6:00 pm
• October to March: 7:30 am - 4:00 pm

San Michele Map

This is a 3D map of the islands of Venice. You can take a walk around the island, see how it works.

Where to stay in Venice

Naturally, there is no housing on San Michele - this is a cemetery. You need to select hotels in Venice itself.

Now many housing options in Venice have appeared on the service Airbnb... We have written how to use this service. If you do not find an available hotel room, then look for accommodation through this booking site.

This migration from Russia in the XX century, unfortunately, acquired the character of a common phenomenon. It got to the point that Russians made up the second largest diaspora in the world. It goes without saying that among these millions there were outstanding people of world renown, many of whom were forced to leave their country.

France and Italy over the 20th century have become, perhaps, the most "Russian" countries in Western Europe. Since the 19th century, our poets, writers, artists, thinkers and scientists loved for a while, and some forever, went to Paris, to French Riviera, to the vineyards of Tuscany or the warm sands of Capri. And of course Venice.

The city on the water has always attracted great people with its uniqueness and grandeur, but only a few were honored to stay with it forever. The cemetery island of San Michele became the last home for many great people, including our compatriots.

The cypress-covered island was not always the last stop for the Venetians. For a long time in the fortress on the island there was a monastery, then a prison, but by order of Napoleon I, the island was transformed in 1807 into an exclusive burial place for the Venetians.

The San Michele cemetery is divided into zones: Catholic, Orthodox, Jewish. The island is surrounded by a red brick wall, on top of which is another wall of cypress trees, and a white dome of the fifteenth century church of San Michele in Isola. This is perhaps one of the greenest islands in the Venetian lagoon. And the quietest.

Since this is the only cemetery in Venice, the city authorities decided to allow the burial of prominent people whose lives were associated with the city.

This list of "outstanding" is not so long, although the cemetery itself cannot be called large. However, our compatriots took an honorable place along with Christian Doppler, Franco Basaglia and Louis-Leopold Robert.

Undoubtedly, one of the most famous Russians in the world, buried in the San Michele cemetery, is Igor Fedorovich Stravinsky... An outstanding composer, conductor and pianist, he was one of the fathers of musical modernism and the largest representative of the musical culture of the 20th century.

His country died when he was 46 years old. After 17 years, he became a citizen of France, and in 1945 - the United States. But the whole world knew him precisely as a Russian composer.

From 1922 he lived in Paris. Burying his mother in 1939 in the cemetery of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois (about which). Over the decades, Stravinsky toured extensively as a conductor in Europe and the United States, visiting Venice more than once.

It should be noted that Igor Stravinsky never lived in Venice for a long time, but after his death in New York, the authorities of the “city on the water” agreed to allocate a place for the great musician's burial. Later, his wife was buried next to him.

The Stravinsky family was buried in the so-called "Russian" part of the cemetery, next to the grave of another of our famous compatriots Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev.

One of the founders of the World of Art group and organizer of the Russian Seasons in Paris, Sergei Diaghilev was supposed to become a lawyer, but after graduating from university, he took up art.

A few years later, he began to organize exhibitions at which he introduced the Russian public to masters completely unknown then in Russia and modern trends in the visual arts.

For Europe, however, Diaghilev is primarily known as the father of Russian Seasons. It was he who conducted "Historical Russian Concerts", in which N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, S. V. Rachmaninov, A. K. Glazunov, F. I. Shalyapin and other famous Russian musicians and performers took part. The beginning of the "Russian era" in Europe is associated with Diaghilev's activities.

In 1908, the seasons of Russian opera took place. Despite the success, the season brought losses to Diaghilev, so the next year, knowing the tastes of the public, he decided to take ballet to Paris, although he treated him with disdain.

In 1911 Diaghilev organized the ballet troupe "Diaghilev's Russian Ballet". The troupe began performing in 1913 and existed until 1929, that is, until the death of its organizer.

Diaghilev died of diabetes mellitus, which was diagnosed back in 1921. According to the recollections of contemporaries, he almost did not follow the prescribed diet, since he was busy all the time.

The marble tombstone bears the name of Diaghilev in Russian and French (Serge de Diaghilew) and the epitaph: “Venice is the constant inspirer of our reassurances” - a phrase he wrote shortly before his death in a dedication to Serge Lifar. On the pedestal next to the impresario's photo there are almost always ballet shoes (they are stuffed with sand to prevent them from being blown away by the wind).

Like Stravinsky, Diaghilev hardly lived in Venice, but he considered this city an inexhaustible source of inspiration for the entire art world.

Venice became a haven not only for Russian, but also for Soviet emigrants. One of the greatest Russian poets of the 20th century Joseph Brodsky also found his last refuge in Italy.

The poet, born and raised behind the Iron Curtain, had a dream - to see Venice. He called it a fix idea, it was inspired by the novels of Henri de Rainier.

On June 4, 1972, Brodsky, deprived of Soviet citizenship, flew from Leningrad to Vienna. He taught the history of Russian literature, Russian and world poetry, the theory of poetry, gave lectures and read poetry at international literary festivals and forums, in libraries and universities in the United States, Canada, England, Ireland, France, Sweden, Italy. Received American citizenship.

On January 28, 1996, the poet died and was buried in the United States. The proposal to reburial him in Russia was rejected, but on June 21, 1997, the poet's grave was nevertheless moved. One of the outstanding Russian poets found his last refuge at the San Michele cemetery in Venice.

Initially, it was planned to bury the poet's body in the Russian half of the cemetery between the graves of Stravinsky and Diaghilev, but this turned out to be impossible, since Brodsky was not Orthodox. The Catholic clergy also refused burial. As a result, they decided to bury the body in the Protestant part of the cemetery.

Also buried on San Michele Peter Weil- Russian and American journalist, writer and radio host, like Brodsky, who emigrated from the Soviet Union in the 1970s.

Interestingly, he was the compiler of several collections of works by Joseph Brodsky.

“And I vowed that if I could get out of my native empire, ... the first thing I did was go to Venice, rent a room on the first floor of some palazzo, so that the waves from passing boats would splash through the window, write a couple of elegies, extinguish cigarets on the damp stone floor , I will cough and drink, and at the end of the money, instead of a train ticket, I will buy a little browning and blow my brains out on the spot, not being able to die in Venice from natural causes. " (Joseph Brodsky "Embankment of the Incurable").

"And at the edges of the road, the dead stand with scythes"
Alighieri Dante
"... and silence"
Brodsky Joseph

At the entrance - a diagram. If you look closely, you will see that in a purely Catholic Venetian cemetery, Recinto (fence) XIV and Recinto XV are provided to the Greek Orthodox and Evangelicals.

Do not be alarmed: no one is rushing you. We are so ... look :-)
Vaporetto (lagoon boat like Moshka), after running past the monument "Virgil leads Dante to the kingdom of the dead" (where we are),

brings you to the tiny yellow and white pier Cemetereo.

We will not sail to her - why do we need it? Go to the cemetery!
We enter the territory of the monastery.

It is somehow not Venetian-style spacious and uncrowded. And green.

There are crosses in even rows over the graves of English sailors who died in World War I.

Across the path is a clearing with the graves of the townspeople. Venetians on San Michele are buried to this day. Here they are in front of you.

Within the walls are the crypts of noble families (such are still in the city).

This is the coolest of the gravestones we have come across. Just some kind of crypt! Giuseppe and Agostino Scarpa. Do you know them? And by the way - to know!

But you and me - through this door. Recinto Greco.

It is here that Sergei Diaghilev is buried. The girls bring him fresh pointe shoes. See, tied to the monument?

And next to them are the Stravinsky spouses. There are no other acquaintances here.
Except for the pretentious monument to the Tsar's (Alexander II) favorite Musina-Pushkina, who died at the age of almost 90 years. But what is she familiar to us? ...

The Greek (reserved for Russians) section of the cemetery is clean and empty. Places are still dofig. Take your time to sign up. Empty and clean.

The same cannot be said about the evangelical compartment. Where chaos and ruin reign.

The gravestones are broken like crowbars. This Champion "who got it from? Are the Zenith fans having fun?"

Here our everything is buried - Joseph Brodsky. Why evangelists? And what are the Venetians in the Jewish section of San Michele to do? Or maybe also a Muslim one ?!

They themselves do not have enough space. After a short time after burial, the mortal remains are dug up and placed in the niches of the columbarium. And a place in the earth is for the next Venetians.

The coffins with their bodies will be brought up not to those pretentious central gates in the first photo, but to such an inconspicuous, but convenient door.

How I love Google Earth. Really great ?! In front of you is the San Michele cemetery with the San Michele in Isola church in the corner.

Again.
The entrance from the pier is along the yellow arrow. At the end of the blue arrow is Diaghilev's grave. At the end of the red one is Brodsky's grave.