An eerie tour of Europe's biggest cemetery: Vast site has more than 300,000 graves and is one of Moldova's top attractions

  • Saint Lazarus cemetery, also called 'Doina', is located in Chisinau, capital of the Eastern European country 
  • Cemetery occupies a surface of 2m square metres and has more than 300,000 graves, including 600 family vaults
  • A large part of the cemetery hosts remains of German soldiers found in Moldova and belongs to Germany 
  • 6

    View comments

    These are the haunting pictures from a frosty, wintry day at Europe's biggest cemetery.

    Saint Lazarus cemetery, also called 'Doina', is located in Chisinau, the capital of the Eastern Europe's Republic of Moldova.

    Founded in 1966, the cemetery occupies a surface of 2 million square metres and has more than 300,000 grave sites, including about 600 family vaults. 

    Some of the graves are of deceased persons whose bodies have been moved to the cemetery from other locations. 

    Considered one of the top places to visit in the Moldovan capital, the cemetery hosts endless rows of iron crosses, colourful wreaths and large picture-decorated gravestones.  

    The skyline of the Moldovan capital is seen from the Saint Lazarus cemetery in Chisinau, Moldova

    Saint Lazaru s cemetery, also called 'Doina', occupies a surface of 2 million square metres and has more than 300,000 grave sites, including about 600 family vaults

    Considered one of the top places to visit in the Moldovan capital, the cemetery hosts endless rows of iron crosses, colourful wreaths and large picture-decorated gravestones.

    A grave stone which reads: 'This is the resting place of USSR national team player Serghei Savcenko' is also depicted in the cemetery. 

    A large part of the cemetery hosts the remains of German soldiers found on the territory of Moldova and belongs to the German government. 

    At least a thousand Wehrmacht soldiers and officers have been buried in a special plot at the cemetery, according to local reports. 

    In 2010, a documentary on 'Doina' entitled Digging For Life and produced by HBO Romania exp lores the life of the only living inhabitants of the cemetery - the gravediggers.

    The film describes the daily life of a group of gravediggers in Europe's largest cemetery and the microcosm that surrounds them. 

    A grave stone which reads: 'This is the resting place of USSR national team player Serghei Savcenko' marks his grave in the Saint Lazarus cemetery in Chisinau

    Large photographs decorate grave stones in the Saint Lazarus cemetery with a backdrop of a suburban city in Chisinau

    A woman struggles on a muddy path between graves in the cemetery 

    A large part of the cemetery hosts the remains of German soldiers found on the territory of Moldova and belongs to the German government

    In 2010, a documentary on 'Doina' entitled Digging For Life and produced by HBO Romania explores the life of the only living inhabitants of the cemetery - the gravediggers

    Flowers lay by fresh graves in Saint Lazarus, on a cold, crispy morning 

    A dog tries to warm up sitting on an abandoned wreath in the cemetery 

    A woman sits by the grave of her relative in 'Doina'


    Source: An eerie tour of Europe's biggest cemetery: Vast site has more than 300,000 graves and is one of Moldova's top attractions

    Comments