The Nizhny Novgorod Crematorium is a specialized funeral complex located in the Sormovo District of Nizhny Novgorod at 27 Zaitsev Street, near the Novo-Sormovo Cemetery. It opened in July 2017 and became the first facility of its kind in Nizhny Novgorod Region. The crematorium's first director was Evgeny Baratov, who personally led journalists around the facility on opening day and described how the complex is arranged.[4][2]
Layout and Equipment
The crematorium building includes an office for receiving requests, two mourning halls for funeral services and secular farewells, a furnace hall, a refrigeration chamber, rooms for storing urns, and auxiliary technical rooms.[1] The complex is equipped with two cremation furnaces made by the Czech company TABO-CS; the equipment was also installed by Czech specialists. The crematorium employs three cremation furnace operators trained by Czech specialists; this occupation is considered rare and is highly valued on the labor market.[4][1] The grounds include a landscaped area for visitors.[2]
Services
The crematorium accepts bodies and requests around the clock; paperwork and the release of ashes are handled daily from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.[2] Its services include cremation, preparation of the body, organization of a farewell ceremony, a funeral service according to Orthodox custom, urn storage, and the rental of columbarium niches on the grounds of the Novo-Sormovo Cemetery.[1][2] Storage of an urn with ashes is free for the first 40 days; after that period, storage is extended for a fee. The cremation process takes two hours: an hour and a half of actual burning, then another half hour for the ashes to cool; the remains are then placed in a special grinding device, and then automatically into a sealed capsule, which is put into the urn, without human hands being involved.
For an additional fee, relatives can watch the coffin being lowered into the furnace via a high-resolution video camera installed in the cremation hall; at the opening, the price list also included paid tours of the crematorium costing 10,000 rubles.[4][4][2] According to the official website, the cost of a standard cremation starts at 26,500 rubles (as of April 1, 2026). At the opening in 2017, a standard cremation started at 5,900 rubles, and the average bill for the full range of services was 11–14 thousand rubles. The simplest plastic urn cost 1,300 rubles, and the most expensive one, made of biodegradable material, about 7,000 rubles.[4][4] Renting a columbarium niche starts at 34,430 rubles for three years.[1]
In May 2015, the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church recognized cremation as a permissible form of burial, ruling that cremated deceased have the right to a funeral service and a memorial service according to Orthodox custom on a par with those buried in the traditional way.[1]
Place in the City's Infrastructure
With the opening of the crematorium, Nizhny Novgorod gained a modern alternative to traditional cemetery burial: after cremation, the ashes can be placed in a columbarium, buried in a family niche at a cemetery, or transported to another city — arranging such transport is considerably simpler than transporting a body.[2] The crematorium is also used for civil memorial services: in particular, on September 17, 2026, a farewell ceremony was held here for the well-known Nizhny Novgorod hematologist Natalya Evdokimova.[2] The construction of a second crematorium in Nizhny Novgorod Region, in Dzerzhinsk, was approved in September 2026; if this project is carried out, the Nizhny Novgorod crematorium will lose its status as the only one in the region.
Sources
- KP — Nizhny Novgorod — At the opening in 2017, a standard cremation started at 5,900 rubles, and the average bill for the full range of services was 11—14 thousand rubles. The simplest p (archive)
- krematoriynn.ru — Crematorium in Nizhny Novgorod — Official Website of the Crematorium — Funeral Hall, 27 Zaytseva Street (archive)
- krematoriy52.ru — Nizhny Novgorod Crematorium — Cremation in Nizhny Novgorod, funeral services, address
- obelisknn.ru — Crematorium in Nizhny Novgorod (archive)