The city of necropolises: philosophical anthropology of urban cemeteries

Introduction. The relevance of the study is determined by the conflict between the functional logic of modern urbanism and the persistent presence of places of death (necropolises, cemeteries, spontaneous memorials) in the centers of megacities. The purpose of the article is a philosophical and anthropological analysis of the urban cemetery as a special social and symbolic structure ("subpolis"), revealing its role in the constitution of urban identity, memory and social ties.
Materials and methods. The research material consists of heterogeneous phenomena: historical necropolises in cathedrals (Moscow Kremlin), the auto-icon of J. Bentham, ship graveyards (Muinak), doll cemeteries in Western Siberia, roadside cenotaphs, virtual cemeteries. The methodological basis is interdisciplinary analysis, philosophical interpretation (social philosophy of Plato, Hobbes, Kant; the concept of "rule-following" by L. Wittgenstein and S. Kripke), as well as the "Ship of Theseus" principle as a model for preserving identity.
Results. It has been established that the urban necropolis functions not as a passive repository, but as an active "subpolis" of the dead, living according to its own laws of memory and ritual. Spontaneous memory spaces (doll cemeteries, cenotaphs) compensate for "difficult" death, incorporating it into the urban fabric through substitute objects (dolls, toys). Analysis through the "Theseus principle" shows that identity in a necropolis is supported not by materiality, but by narrative and place in the symbolic order. Practices of caring for such places are based on implicit social conventions ("rule-following").
Discussion and conclusions. The cemetery in the city is a meaning-forming element, a "mirror" of the political theology and social structure of the polis. It acts as a heterotopia (M. Foucault), where the order of the world of the living is inverted and comprehended. The modern city spontaneously generates new forms of necropolises (virtual, object-based), which indicates an ineradicable need for the ritual incorporation of death. For urbanism, this means the need to recognize necropolises not as problematic zones, but as key agents in the formation of urban culture and memory.

1. Agamben Dzh. Homo sacer. Sovereign Power and Naked Life. Moscow, Evropa Publ., 2011. 256 p. (In Russ.)

2. Ar'es F. Man Facing Death. Moscow, Progress-Akademiya Publ., 1992. 528 p. (In Russ.)

3. Belyaeva M. A., Osadchaya E. K. Cemeteries as Places of Memory: Media Presentation and Cultural Significance. Upravlenie kul'turoj, 2025, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 10-19. (In Russ.)

4. Bugrova E. D. Memory Spaces: Historical Cemeteries of Ural Cities in the Context of Cultural Policy. Izvestiya Ural'skogo federal'nogo universiteta. Ser. 2, Gumanitarnye nauki, 2024, vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 277-291, doi: 10.15826/izv2.2024.26.2.037. (In Russ.)

5. Vorob'eva O. V. Urban Identity and Historical Memory: A Comparative Study of Applied Cases of Small Towns in the Leningrad Region. Fol'klor i antropologiya goroda, 2024, vol. 6, no. 1-2, pp. 96-158, doi: 10.24412/2588-1332-2024-1-2-96-158. (In Russ.)

6. Gobbs T. Leviathan. Moscow, Mysl' Publ., 2001. 478 p. (In Russ.)

7. Kripke S. Wittgenstein on Rules and Individual Language. Tomsk, Tomskij universitet Publ., 2005. 272 p. (In Russ.)

8. Losev A. F. The Dialectics of Myth (from Early Works). Moscow, Pravda Publ., 1990, Pp. 393-599. (In Russ.)

9. Lychagin A. A. Philosophical Understanding of Death in the Framework of Christian Anthropology: An Analysis of the Concept of Archpriest Alexander Schmemann. KANT, 2025, no. 1 (54), pp. 286-291. (In Russ.)

10. Mayackij M. A. The Debate on Plato: Stefan George’s Circle and a German University. Moscow, Izd. dom Vysshej shkoly ekonomiki Publ., 2012. 344 p. (In Russ.)

11. Moskalenko D. N., Kochetov M. N., Trohimchuk E. A., CHapny E. V. Philosophical Understanding of Death as an Encounter with the “Other”. Gumanitarij YUga Rossii, 2024, vol. 13, no. 3 (67), pp. 77-87, doi: 10.23683/2227-8656.2024.3.6. (In Russ.)

12. Panchenko O. O. Broadcasting Cultural Heritage in the Megapolis: Library Tours in the Memorial Spaces of St. Petersburg. Vestnik kul'tury i iskusstv, 2025, no. 2 (82), pp. 48-56. (In Russ.)

13. Podoroga V. A. Phenomenology of the Body: Introduction to Philosophical Anthropology. Moscow, Ad Marginem Publ., 1995. 339 p. (In Russ.)

14. Pogorelov S. N. The First Secrets of Yekaterinburg Urban Archeology: Research and Discoveries at the Turn of the 20th–21st Centuries. Istoriko-geograficheskij zhurnal, 2023, vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 54-71, doi: 10.58529/2782-6511-2023-2-4-54-71. (In Russ.)

15. Storchak A. A. Atmosphere of Place: A New Approach to Cemetery Research (The Kalitnikovskoye Cemetery Case). Gorodskie issledovaniya i praktiki, 2025, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 87-98, doi: 10.17323/2782-4586-2025-10-1-87-98. (In Russ.)

16. Fuko M. Other Spaces. Intellektualy i vlast': Izbrannye politicheskie stat'i, vystupleniya i interv'yu. CH. 3. Moscow, Praksis Publ., 2006. Pp. 191-204. (In Russ.)

17. Fuko M. Discipline and Punish. The Birth of the Prison / translated from French by V. Naumov, edited by I. Borisova. Moscow, Ad Marginem Publ., 1999. 480 p. (In Russ.)

18. SHmitt K. Political Theology: A Collection / translations from German, concluding article and compilation by A. Filippov. Moscow, Kanon-Press-C Publ., 2000. 336 p. (In Russ.)

19. Agostini A. L. C. et al. Cemetery: More Human, Intelligent, and Sustainable. 2024 International Conference on Intelligent Environments (IE). IEEE, 2024. Pp. 132-138. DOI: 10.1109/IE61493.2024.00030.

20. Długozima A., Kosiacka-Beck E., Krzykawska K. Cemetery as multifaceted space with leisure uses in the urban American and Western European context. Leisure Studies, 2024, vol. 45, no. 2, pp. 1-18, doi: 10.1080/02614367.2024.2428344.

21. Grabalov P. Invisible public spaces: The role of cemeteries in urban planning and development in Moscow. Journal of Urban Affairs, 2024, vol. 46, no. 10, pp. 1971-1991, doi: 10.1080/07352166.2022.2147434.

22. Greinert A., Kostecki J. Historical and contemporary cemeteries in the urban area. The modern development of the city vs. human remnants in the soil. Journal of Soils and Sediments, 2025, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 396-413, doi: 10.1007/s11368-024-03870-2.

23. Gurchiani K. The many lives of the dead: What cemeteries in Tbilisi do. History and Anthropology, 2025, pp. 1-21, doi: 10.1080/02757206.2025.2498019.

24. Holleran S. Library of Stone: Cemeteries, Storytelling, and the Preservation of Urban Infrastructures of Death and Mourning. Footprint, 2024, vol. 18, no. 1.

25. Hutta J. S. Terrorscapes of desova: disappearance and apparition in Rio de Janeiro. Social & Cultural Geography, 2025, pp. 1-21, doi: 10.1080/14649365.2025.2483717.

26. Klaufus C. Death and the City. Klaufus C. Life and Death in Latin American Cities. Bristol University Press, 2025. Pp. 29-53.

27. Luckhurst R. Graveyards: a history of living with the dead. Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2025. 256 p.

28. Morgan C. Murderscapes, deathscapes, and workscapes in Québec's Eastern Townships fiction and ‘immersive literary geographies’. The Routledge Handbook of Literary Geographies. Routledge, 2024. Pp. 371-381.

29. Nally C. ‘Death is Not the End’: Thanatology Today. Contemporary European History, 2025, vol. 35, pp. 1-12, doi: 10.1017/S0960777325000165.

30. New Perspectives on Urban Deathscapes: Continuity, Change, and Contestation / edited by D. House, M. Westendorp, A. Maddrell. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2023. 228 p.

31. Nora P. Les Lieux de mémoire. Paris, Gallimard, 1984–1992. Vol. I-III.

32. Rugg J. Defining the place of burial: what makes a cemetery a cemetery? Mortality, 2000, vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 259-275, doi: 10.1080/713686011.

33. Uysal V. Ş., Snyder A. B. Journeys through deathscapes in the contemporary city: exploring urban interiority in New York City and Istanbul. Architecture_MPS, 2025, vol. 32, no. 1, doi: 10.14324/111.444.amps.2025v32i1.001.

34. Walter T. Modern Death: Taboo or not Taboo? Sociology, 1991, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 293-310, doi: 10.1177/0038038591025002009.

35. Xu Y., Ma R., Furuya K. Reimagining Urban Cemeteries: Behavioral Patterns, Perceptions, and Intentions in Tokyo’s Public Burial Landscapes. Land, 2025, vol. 14, no. 8, p. 1638, doi: 10.3390/land14081638.