Hold My Vodka

Cemetery tourism is apparently having a moment in Moscow, with demand for tours of famous graves reportedly up 20% this fall.

According to Mash, some of the biggest customers are Gen Z tourists and visitors from China, with Moscow tour operators now offering more than 100 cemetery walks, celebrity-grave routes and even self-guided quests.

One of the popular options is “Eternal Voices of Vagankovo,” a tour through Vagankovskoye Cemetery featuring the graves of poet Sergei Yesenin, singer Vladimir Vysotsky, actor Andrei Mironov, journalist Vlad Listyev and legendary criminal Sonya Golden Hand.

Novodevichy Cemetery is another major destination. Mash claims visitor numbers there have risen by roughly 12–20%.

And apparently people don’t just come to look.

In the accompanying video, a cemetery guide says a self-described witch once joined his tour and announced that she could feel “energy” around Nikolai Gogol’s grave. Asked what kind, he replied: “Apparently dark energy.”

At Mikhail Bulgakov’s grave, visitors reportedly leave black cats — references to Behemoth from The Master and Margarita — and even beer.

Chekhov’s monument has another problem: lipstick. The guide points out marks regularly left by young women and says he suspects some are aspiring actresses hoping to receive a little luck from the playwright.

Visitors reportedly leave ears of corn at Nikita Khrushchev’s grave, an obvious reference to the Soviet leader’s famous obsession with expanding corn production.

The business isn’t especially expensive. Group cemetery tours generally run around ₽1,200–1,800 ($14–$21) per person. A currently listed Novodevichy tour costs ₽1,670 (about $20), while private cemetery guides can charge ₽7,000–10,000 ($82–$117) or more.

Apparently Moscow’s hottest fall tourist attractions are already dead.

Original source: Mash