Military-Historical Memorial Complex

The Military-Historical Memorial Complex in Bendery was opened on October 7, 2008, erected on the site of an old military cemetery where the remains of many soldiers of the Russian Imperial Army — who died in the wars spanning the 18th through 20th centuries — were laid to rest. A military hospital once stood nearby at the beginning of the 19th century, beside which a designated burial place gradually evolved into an official military cemetery. By the early 20th century, the cemetery had been fenced and marked by high stone gates at its entrance. The post-war period, however, saw the cemetery gradually squeezed by surrounding urban development and fall into neglect and disrepair.

Restoration began following a decree issued by Pridnestrovian leader I.N. Smirnov on November 8, 2006, with the republic’s internal affairs authorities undertaking the comprehensive reconstruction and memorial construction. From the very outset of construction, with the assistance of the Diocese of Tiraspol and Dubossary, a massive black granite cross was erected at the center of the future memorial — a symbol of faith and eternal rest for all those buried in this sacred ground.

In summer 2007, the foundation was laid for the stone Chapel of the Image of Jesus Christ Not Made by Hands, with the colonnades of the main entrance to the necropolis following that autumn. Behind the colonnade, three paths diverge through the complex: left to the Historical Sector, right to the Foreign Sector, and the central path — known throughout its length as the Generals’ Alley — leading directly to the central cross and the Church of the Saviour Not Made by Hands.

Flanking the Generals’ Alley, 11 large granite monuments honor the Russian military commanders buried within the memorial grounds, including Commandants of the Bendery Fortress T.I. Zbievsky, F.I. Kannabich, M.M. Olshevsky and A.I. Vedemeyer, military engineer E.H. Ferster, Tiraspol barracks builder P.P. Dubelt, Major-Generals F.P. Luzanov, N.P. Mikhailov, B.S. Soetsky and F.P. Dolgovosaburov, and Assistant Commandant I.I. Batyrev.

On either side of the chapel lie the two largest burial memorial sectors, where evenly arranged rows of polished black granite slabs bear the carved names of more than 5,000 soldiers and officers representing 110 regiments and units of the Russian Imperial Army, including 21 units of the Bendery garrison specifically.

The chapel itself was built to honor the memory of the regimental church of the 55th Podolsk Infantry Regiment. Its popularity among residents and visitors proved so profound that the Holy Synod granted it the status of a full church in 2010. Granite slabs on the church walls record the milestones of the Podolsk regiment’s history, the names of those who fell during the 1770 assault on the fortress, and a comprehensive list of the Russian Imperial Army regiments that participated in that historic campaign.

Location: Yermakova Str., Bendery