History
Until the end of the 18th century, Nizhny Novgorod residents were buried in the churchyards of parish churches, including during times of plague. As a result, cemeteries located within the city frequently caused outbreaks of epidemics. Moreover, the extensive churchyards, held sacred by residents, hindered the transformation of Russian cities. On November 17, 1771, Catherine II issued a decree prohibiting the burial of the dead within city limits and ordering the establishment of municipal cemeteries outside city boundaries throughout the country.
In 1775, half a verst from N. Novgorod, in a locality known as Varvarskoe Field, a considerable plot of land was enclosed, a chapel was erected, and burials "from all churches" began. In the course of the church reform of 1764, many churches in N. Novgorod were closed, including the Church of Peter and Paul, which stood on the hillside below the Kremlin.
Its parishioners, merchants Yegor and Aleksandr Neudakiny, took the initiative to build a stone church at the municipal cemetery and to consecrate it in honor of their parish church. The construction of the church was entrusted to architect Ya. A. Ananyín. The church was built in 1781.
The side chapels were consecrated first, and in 1785 the main altar was consecrated in honor of Peter and Paul — though, like all cemetery churches, it was commonly known as the All-Saints Church. For this reason the cemetery itself went by two names: Vsesyatskoye and Petropavlovskoye. In 1818, the mechanic and inventor Ivan Kulibin was buried here. Many years after the cemetery was closed, the park was named in his honor.