Pogost. This word came to us from Russian written sources. From the tenth to the fifteenth century its significance has repeatedly changed.
To the question of what it is - a churchyard, a brief historical dictionary gives the following explanation. In a large village there is always a church and with it a burial place. This entire administrative district, paying taxes, is the graveyard. Later, only the temple itself with nearby graves is so called. And after a while, the churchyard is an exclusively cemetery.
Historical reference
Previously, these were Old Russian peripheral villages where brisk trade was going on (previously called “guest”). Then the whole administrative territory with a central village. There was even his own head of the churchyard. This official controlled the collection of tribute.
Over time, temples began to be built on graveyards, and the dead were buried. And gradually it became so that the churchyard is the land cleared of administrative tax and commercial bustle. It has become exclusively a territory of eternal rest. Mass construction on church graveyards is due to the development of Christianity. Now the churchyard received a double name made up of the names of the village and the church.
Most quickly came to this state of affairs, the southern and middle bands of Russia. But until 1775, the Russian North was still officially divided into graveyards. In the future, the churchyard is perceived solely as a cemetery and occasionally a rural parish. It is this meaning that is attached to the word “pogost” both in Russian folklore and in Russian literature.
Etymological Surveys
Etymologically approaching the word "graveyard", its meaning, we learn that it comes from the "guest". This one who came straight from the graveyard is an alien from the cemetery. It is believed that the Slavs made donations to their ancestors just so that they lay quietly in their graves and did not bother those living with their return from the graveyard. Since there was a certain taboo on this topic, a ban was imposed on “death”. Therefore, it was impossible to hear about someone "died", but rather - "passed away." Even the coffin was called quite peacefully - "domino". Archaisms have preserved this imagery: they will go to another world, we will see us off on the last journey.
There is an opinion that it is wrong to identify the “guest” with the deceased who has risen from the grave, who has appeared in the house of the living. Its adherents consider that the name “churchyard” came from another “guest”. What does it mean? Allegedly, merchants delivered a variety of goods along well-known routes. They were called "goodies." And from them, in fact, "graveyards" appeared. But the merchant, in fact, is also a foreigner, who came from afar, as if from another world.
Pogost - the city of the dead
If initially the churchyard is something close to the village, then by analogy the city of the dead is immediately remembered. Translated into Greek - necropolis. That was the name of the burial place beyond the boundaries of ancient cities, decorated with tombstones and gravestones. And still around the world, where there are living, their attention is attracted to the churchyard. What is it? Trying to figure out what awaits a person when he transfers to permanent residence on a graveyard? Or just a tribute to the ancestors?
Famous Russian graveyards
There are many famous graveyards in Russia.
- The famous Kizhi Pogost (Spaso-Preobrazhensky) with churches made without a single nail attracts a constant flow of tourists.
- Novodevichy Pogost is the most prestigious area of urban tourism in the capital. Celebrities buried here due to their merits to society in life, never remain without attention. We can say that this is a champion churchyard by the number of famous people. Yeltsin, Gromyko, Nikulin, Vertinsky, Utesov, Botvinnik, Levitan, Raikin and many other figures in politics, sports, and art are buried here.
- The graves of crime bosses at a variety of graveyards - this is a separate tour, by the way, very popular in a certain environment. The local tombstones can boldly compete with the ancient Greek necropolises.
- Voronezh literary necropolis is also a city attraction. Literature connoisseurs come to the graves of the patriotic poets Koltsov and Nikitin all year round.
- Funeral homes together with local historians conduct tours of ancient cemeteries in different cities, introducing the interested audience to the history of the graveyards. What is it: a thirst to earn money on a tickling topic or an attempt to find one’s own sources and comprehend one’s destiny on Earth?
People leave the world of the living. But the pogosts preserve the memory of their ancestors and irresistibly attract those who so far come to the pogost only as a guest.