What does the crematorium look like inside. Cremation Basics

People are not always willing to talk about death, let alone think about their own funeral in the future. But, as you know, the human body is not eternal, and the time comes when the relatives of the deceased need to resolve the issue with the funeral. Modern ritual services are not limited to the generally accepted burial of a deceased person in a coffin, but offer several options for sending on the last journey at once.

Increasingly, in modern society, they are trying not to bury the body underground, but to cremate it. This process consists in burning a corpse in special furnaces (crematoriums), at a high temperature of over 1000 degrees. Under such conditions, even hard bone tissue becomes brittle and turns into ashes. The tradition of burning bodies dates back to prehistoric times, and is popular even today.

Cremation is chosen due to its convenience and practicality. In addition, some people are disgusted with the fact that their body will rot and be eaten by worms underground.

Crematorium

To cremate a body, certain conditions are needed, which can be achieved thanks to a special oven at the Crematorium. Inside it reaches an incredible temperature - up to 1092 degrees Celsius, which allows you to turn the body into a small handful of bones and ashes. After burning, large remains of the bones are crushed in a centrifuge, if there is permission from relatives.

Modern crematoria run on gas, electricity or special fuels. The entire cremation procedure for a person of average configuration takes about 2 hours, but it all depends on the characteristics of each body. For example, a person who had cancer or tuberculosis during his lifetime requires more time for cremation. The same can be said about drug addicts, and those people who often took different drugs.

To ensure that the final ashes are homogeneous, all the remains are sorted and sieved. Metal crowns or prostheses present in the body are selected using a powerful magnet.

How does cremation take place?

After preliminary preparation of the body, the closed coffin with the deceased is loaded into the furnace chamber. Next, the automatic electronics of the device comes into play.

1. The initial stage of cremation is the burning of the coffin. This process takes about 10 minutes. It all starts with the ignition of the walls of the coffin, which begin to disintegrate, after which the ignition affects all combustible materials. The soft tissues of the body begin to decompose under the influence of high temperature (carbonization process).
2. Starting from the second stage, the automation of the furnace sets the temperature regime so that the destruction of the body occurs in certain sequences. The main thing is that these processes take place according to standard schemes, otherwise it will not be possible to achieve full mineralization of bone and soft tissues.

There are several factors that are taken into account during the cremation of each body, and due to which the required furnace mode is set. These include:

• The age of the deceased.
• Body mass.
• The time that has passed from ascertaining death to cremation.
• Features of the lifestyle of the deceased (habitual diet, drug therapy, the presence of diseases).

These parameters are of great importance for the workers of the crematorium, because the necessary mode of combustion will depend on them. So, some factors provoke dehydration of the body, others, for example, leaching of calcium from the bones, and all this affects the final result of cremation.

Ashes processing

Burning is not the end of a complex process. Another, no less important stage of cremation is the final processing of the remains, because after the thermal effect of the furnace, they remain in a heterogeneous consistency. The remains include ash, bone fragments and possible metal parts. The homogeneity of the ashes is ensured in the Kremulator - a special device for crushing the remains to a state of homogeneous ash, sifting out all that is superfluous.

But, in many crematoria they work without this equipment, using the old methods of processing ashes (crushing particles with a hammer and sifting the ashes by hand).

After cremation, the ashes of the deceased are placed in an urn and transferred to relatives who themselves dispose of them at their discretion, or follow the will of the deceased.

What does the law say

There is a certain law according to which the issuance of ashes to relatives is carried out. After the burning of the body is completed and the remains are loaded into the urn, it is handed over to the close relatives of the deceased in a specially prepared room - the farewell hall, where the "farewell" ceremony is performed. But, just like that, you can’t get an urn with ashes, since its issuance occurs only after the presentation of certain documents:

1. Death certificate of a person.
2. Passport of a relative who wants to pick up the urn.
3. Conclusion on the cremation (taken in the crematorium in which the procedure was carried out).
4. Certificate of availability of a plot for burial (it can be obtained at the cemetery where relatives plan to bury the urn). There may be several options:

• Burial in a separate area - the burial of the remains after the issuance of a crematorium can be carried out in a cemetery, like a standard burial in a coffin. The cemetery administration must allocate a site in advance and prepare a pit. To bury an urn, you do not need such a site as for a coffin, so it will cost a little less.
• Recently, they began to practice the burial of ashes in the already existing graves of relatives. As stated in the laws, one resident of the settlement provides a free site in the local cemetery, but in fact, the relatives of the deceased always pay a considerable amount of money for this. If an urn is buried in a family grave, the money will only be needed to dig a hole, but if it is necessary to change the monuments, again, you can’t do without spending.
• Often urns with ashes are buried in the columbariums of the "Wall of Sorrow". There are many cells in this wall, in which an urn is placed and closed with a memorial plate with data about a person resting in this place.

Common Traditions

Burying an urn with the ashes of the deceased is not the only option. For example, in many Western countries, many people leave urns for storage at home. For us, this may sound unacceptable and creepy, after all, it contains the remains of the deceased, but if that was the will of the deceased, then hardly anyone will argue with this.

Another tradition of farewell to the deceased is the scattering of ashes. Typical dispersal sites are meta pilgrimages. But occasionally, fulfilling the last will of the deceased, relatives scatter the ashes over his native places. There are special services that are engaged in scattering the ashes of a cremated person, who will deliver and scatter the ashes anywhere in the world.

The question of “how a person is cremated” has always worried people. And this is not accidental: interest in death is inherent in our nature, and fire has fascinated man since ancient times. In this article, we will explain in detail how a person is cremated.

It is important to understand that cremation is only the first stage of burial. Depending on the will of the deceased / relatives, after cremation, the urn with the ashes is placed in the niche of the columbarium, buried in the grave, or otherwise acted (for example, scattering the ashes).

During cremation, as well as during burial in the ground, there is a process of transition of organic tissues into inorganic chemical compounds that make up the soil. Cremation is essentially the same burial, insofar as the body passes into the earth. There is only one difference: the mineralization of the body and its inclusion in the composition of the soil takes up to 20 years, and the cremation of a person reduces this period to one and a half hours.

Residents of Russia increasingly prefer cremation to the usual method of burial. The share of cremation in Russia as a whole is low - 10%, but in large cities it is 30-40%, and in Moscow and St. Petersburg it is close to 70%. This happens for many reasons, the main ones being the lack of space in cemeteries, the simplicity of the process and the low cost.

How people were cremated in the past. The history of cremation.

The history of cremation goes back to ancient times. People have long understood that ashes are safe for health, and many religions, such as Buddhism and Hinduism, have included cremation in their rituals. In India, Japan, Indonesia and many other countries, as people were cremated in the past - on a fire in the open air - they still do it today.

Along with the most ancient type of burial - cadaverization - cremation was practiced already in the Paleolithic, and in the Bronze Age and the Iron Age, the inhabitants of ancient civilizations began to cremate everywhere. Burning became the dominant burial rite in ancient Greece, from where the tradition passed to Ancient Rome, where they came up with the idea of ​​storing ashes in specially designated places - columbariums, where you can come and honor the memory of your ancestors.

Ovens for burning human bodies began to be used in Europe at the end of the 18th century due to the growth of cities and the lack of space in cemeteries. Gradually, cremation began to spread in Europe, the United States and other countries.

How a person is cremated in a crematorium today.

Human cremation takes place in crematoria - complex engineering structures designed for 100% combustion of the dead together with the coffin at ultra-high temperature.

The crematorium complex consists of several industrial furnaces capable of generating a temperature of 900-1100°C, which ensures the complete disintegration of the body and its transformation into ashes. Cremation takes from one and a half to two hours, and after the cremation of a person, ashes with a volume of 2-2.5 liters remain.

The coffin with the body is delivered to the crematorium and placed on a hearse in the hall for the farewell ceremony. At the end of the ritual, the coffin is transferred to the conveyor and moved to the transit room, from where, after a certain time, it enters the cremation oven. When we imagine how people are cremated in a crematorium, we, especially at a young age, think that the body is sent to the fire immediately after the coffin disappears behind the curtains of the farewell hall. But this is not always the case: this technology is not provided for in every crematorium.

After cremation, the ashes are placed in a metal capsule and sealed. Most often, the relatives of the deceased want to receive the ashes in the urn. Burial urns come in a variety of designs and are chosen according to taste: they are bought from a crematorium or a funeral store and then handed over to the crematorium staff, who transfer the ashes from the capsule to the urn.

The urn is taken by the relative responsible for receiving it, after which the final stage of burial begins.

After cremation, the urn with the ashes is stored in the crematorium until required by her relatives. The shelf life varies by region, but most often it is 1 year. If the ashes are not claimed, the urn will be buried in a common grave at the crematorium.

Human cremation: How people are cremated.

The most common cremation oven has two chambers. In the first, the coffin with the body is burned in jets of hot air, and in the second, the afterburner, 100% combustion of organic tissues and trapping of impurities. An important element of the crematorium's equipment is the cremulator, in which the burnt remains are crushed to a state of dust, and metal objects are removed from them using a magnet.

Most often, ovens run on gas, as it is economical and quickly sets the desired temperature in the chamber.

To prevent mixing of ashes after combustion, each body is registered, an identifier is assigned to it, and a metal plate with a number is placed on the coffin. After cremation, the plate with the number is inside the remains, which allows the ashes to be identified.

What to do after cremation?

After cremation, when the urn with the ashes is received, they proceed in one of the following ways:

• Bury the urn in the grave. It can be either a new plot bought at an auction or a family grave;
• Place the urn in the niche of an open or closed columbarium;
• You can dispose of the ashes at the will of the deceased, for example, dispel them. The legislation of the Russian Federation does not define special places for this, so the choice is up to you.

Advantages of cremation compared to traditional burial in the ground:

• you can bury the urn at any time; no need to rush to a decision;
• no need to wait for the end of the sanitary period after the last burial in a family grave (for Moscow, 15 years).

“As a child, we ran to watch how the dead were burned in the crematorium. We sneaked to the small window and looked at the coffin engulfed in flames. that they burn a living person. We ran away in horror. Then at night I was tormented by nightmares. But all the same, we were drawn to the window like a magnet ... ". I often think of this passage from my aunt's childhood memoirs. More often than I would like, because in recent years I have had to participate in the farewell ceremony on my last journey more than once. And often these farewells took place in the building of the crematorium.

About crematoria, about what happens in the building itself, where access to relatives and friends of the deceased is closed, there are many most incredible, chilling stories. Where is the truth, and where is fiction, we will try to figure it out.

In Europe, the Etruscans burned their dead, then the Greeks and Romans adopted this custom. Christianity declared cremation to be paganism. In 785, Charlemagne banned cremation under threat of death, and it was forgotten for about a thousand years. But in the XVI-XVII centuries. cities in Europe began to gradually turn into metropolises, and a big problem arose with the organization of cemeteries. In some graveyards, the dead began to be buried in large common graves, which were open for many days. Often cemeteries were located in the human habitat, which was the cause of the spread of diseases. The idea of ​​burning the bodies of the dead arose again. Starting from the XVI century. in Europe, funeral pyres began to be used for sanitary and hygienic purposes. However, the problem was to create a suitable method of burning - fires were not suitable. This method was invented only at the end of the 19th century. On October 9, 1874, the first hot-air cremation took place in a regenerative oven designed by the German engineer Friedrich Siemens. And the first modern crematorium was built in 1876 in Milan. Currently, there are more than 14.3 thousand crematoria operating in the world

On the territory of Russia, the first crematorium was built not after the 17th year, as many people think, but even before the October Revolution, in Vladivostok, using a Japanese-made furnace. Probably for the cremation of citizens of the Land of the Rising Sun (at that time, many people from Nagasaki lived in Vladivostok). Today, a crematorium is again operating in this city, this time for the Russians.

The first crematorium in the RSFSR (the "Metallurg" oven) was opened in 1920 in the building of baths, house No. 95-97 on the 14th line of Vasilevsky Island in Petrograd. Even the act of the first cremation in the history of Soviet Russia has been preserved, signed by the chairman of the Standing Commission for the construction of the 1st State Crematorium and Morgue, the manager of the administration department of the Petrogubispolkom comrade. B.G. Kaplun and other persons present at this event. In the act, in particular, it is written: "On December 14, 1920, we, the undersigned, carried out the first experimental burning of the corpse of the Red Army soldier Malyshev, 19 years old, in a cremation oven in the building of the 1st State Crematorium - V.O., 14 line, 95/97. The body is pushed into the oven at 0 hours 30 minutes, and the temperature of the furnace at that moment was equal to an average of 800 C with the action of the left regenerator. The coffin flared up at the moment it was pushed into the combustion chamber and fell apart 4 minutes after its introduction there ". The following are details that I have chosen to omit so as not to injure impressionable readers.

The furnace did not work for long, from December 14, 1920 to February 21, 1921, and was stopped "for lack of firewood." During this period of time, 379 bodies were burned in it, most of which were burnt in an administrative manner, and 16 - at the request of relatives or according to a will.

Finally and irrevocably, fiery funerals entered the life of Soviet people in 1927, when in Moscow, in the Donskoy Monastery, a "department of godlessness" was opened, as the atheistic propaganda then called this crematorium. The monastery church of St. Seraphim of Sarov was converted into a crematorium. The first customers of the institution were trusted comrades - "knights of the revolution". In the columbarium, located in the temple, on cremation urns one can read inscriptions, such as: "Bolshevik-Chekist", "member of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, steadfast Bolshevik", "one of the oldest figures of the Bolshevik Party". In general, fiery revolutionaries were supposed to have a flame even after death. After 45 years, another crematorium was built in the city - this time the largest in Europe - at the Nikolo-Arkhangelsk cemetery, in 1985 - at Mitinsky, and after another 3 years - at Khovansky. There are also crematoria in St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Rostov-on-Don, Vladivostok; On July 7 last year, a crematorium was opened in Novosibirsk.

Despite the increased propaganda, the citizens of the USSR treated this type of burial with distrust and fear. Partly (but only partly) this is due to the negative attitude towards cremation of traditional religions, because in monotheistic religions cremation is prohibited or at least not welcomed. Judaism categorically forbids the cremation of the body. Jewish tradition regards cremation as an offensive custom, dating back to the pagan practice of burning the dead on funeral pyres. Burning the body of a person is unacceptable in Islam. If this happens, the sin falls on those who committed the burning. The Orthodox Church regards cremation as an "alien custom", a "heretical way of burial". The Greek Orthodox Church stubbornly opposes the introduction of cremation. As stated by the official representative of the Holy Synod, Bishop of Alexandroupolis Antimos, commenting on a bill submitted by seven members of parliament that allows this ceremony for members of non-Orthodox (!) Congregations of Greece: "Cremation is an act of violence, an insult to humanity, an expression of nihilism ...". The overwhelming majority of Russian Orthodox priests are also categorically against fiery burial. “The burning of the dead may be a violation of the Church’s teaching on the veneration of the remains of the holy martyrs and saints and deprive Orthodox Christians of holy relics,” says priest I. Ryabko. “As for ordinary mortals, burning, among other things, deprives believers of that spiritual edification and reminder of death, which they receive when burying bodies in the ground. From this it follows that, from a purely Orthodox point of view, the burning of the dead is recognized as an alien and unacceptable innovation in the Christian faith. Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, Deputy Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, voiced the official position of the Russian Orthodox Church: “We have a negative attitude towards cremation. Of course, if relatives ask for a funeral service for the deceased before cremation, church ministers do not refuse them. prevent the destruction of the body created by God." However, there is also a lobby in the Russian Orthodox Church that advocates not to anathematize crematoria. Moreover, they say that the crematorium opened in Novosibirsk last year was consecrated. And in general, rumors have been persistently circulating lately (which representatives of the ROC do not confirm) that the construction of crematoria in all major cities has long been agreed with the church authorities and there is a blessing from the ROC at the highest level. Probably, the rumors arose due to the fact that priests work in all crematoria in Russia, who bury the dead before cremation, and some crematoria have chapels.

Other branches of Christianity look at this method of burial somewhat differently. Lutherans and Protestants were the first to approve cremation. And in 1963, albeit with reservations, cremation was allowed by the Catholic Church.

But, I repeat, the reason for the cool (forgive the pun) attitude towards fire funerals is not only in the religious beliefs of our citizens. The main reason is the numerous horror stories that have been passed from mouth to mouth for many years about the "horrors" happening in crematoria. I, like many other citizens, have repeatedly heard that the dead are undressed, gold teeth and crowns are pulled out, coffins are rented out, and clothes taken from the dead are handed over to commission shops. At one time, Mikhail Veller's story "The Crematorium" added fuel to the fire, which describes how the employees of this institution in Leningrad undressed the dead before cremation, and handed over the clothes to a nearby thrift store. Let me briefly remind you what the essence of the story is: a man won a car in a money and clothing lottery, drank to celebrate, and died. He was cremated (allegedly along with the ticket, which was in the pocket of the suit). A few days later the widow of the deceased went to the commission shop, where she saw her husband's suit. Of course, the same ticket turned out to be in her pocket ... By the way, as my mother told me, she heard this tale about a suit and a ticket (a bond with a big win) in her childhood, when Weller also couldn’t hold a pen in his hands.

I managed to talk with an employee of one of the Moscow crematoria. Of course, I wanted to know the "whole truth" about what was going on there. An attempt was even made to get Ivan drunk (the name was changed at his request, since employees of the funeral services generally prefer not to advertise their place of work). Ivan willingly drank with me, but did not tell any terrible secrets. And in response to a question about the clothes supposedly taken from the corpses, he laughed: “Old man, how do you imagine it? to hire seamstresses, mechanics and shoemakers. So, or what? In general, this is complete nonsense. " “What about gold?” I persisted. “Are you sure you are removing jewels from the dead?

And yet, where do the jewels go? In general, agents, when they draw up documents for cremation, offer the customer to remove jewelry from the deceased. But if the relatives leave everything as it is, then the following happens during cremation. In cremation equipment there is such a thing - a cremulator. It is designed to grind the remains of bones after cremation. With the help of an electric magnet, all metal inclusions are removed from the ashes: nails, coffin handles, metal prostheses, etc. When the first crematoria first appeared in the USSR, in order to prevent the operator of the cremation oven from stealing gold from dentures, wedding rings, etc., control was established over the delivery of all non-magnetic metals to the state. All the metal that the fire did not take, the special commission was obliged to hand over to the state (these rules still exist today). However, as it turned out, the temperature in the furnace is so high that gold, silver and other valuable metals melt and, when combined with the remains, turn into dispersion dust, from which it is almost impossible to extract anything of value. Of course, there is a possibility that the crematorium servants can seize valuables even before the deceased is sent to the furnace. However, until now, since the existence of crematoria, there has not been a single such criminal case. In principle, this can be explained by the mutual responsibility of the crematorium workers, but somehow it is hard to believe that information about the crimes did not leak to law enforcement agencies.

As for the coffins, which are allegedly allowed "to the left", both my new friend Ivan and quite officials unanimously assure that the technological feature of modern furnaces is such that they cannot work without a coffin. In general, the process of cremation is as follows. After the coffin, which is boarded up or closed on the latches, gets into the domino drive, a metal plate with an engraved number is nailed, the coffin is sealed. If it is decorated with metal, plastic crosses, handles, they are removed so as not to pollute the atmosphere with harmful emissions, and also so that the stove nozzles last longer. After the end of the cremation, along with the remains, the number plate is removed from the ashes and the numbers are checked to eliminate confusion with the issuance of someone else's ashes (one of the common fears is that someone else's remains will be given out). By the way, in some crematoria there is a glazed viewing room for relatives and friends, from where you can watch how the coffin goes into the oven. Only one deceased can be cremated in the oven at a time; before loading the next one, it is carefully cleaned. Another interesting detail is that in modern crematoria, in order to turn on the furnace, you need to have a key with a cipher and know a special code.

In general, rumors about outrages in crematoria, as they say, are greatly exaggerated. However, the crematorium, however, like the entire sphere of funeral services, is a good feeder for those who work there. You can always steal extra money from the relatives and relatives of the deceased who are not thinking well from grief. So, for example, employees of the ritual hall of the crematorium - it seems they are called masters of ceremonies - are often asked to give "for candles", for "requiem", for "remember dearly the deceased" ... And people, of course, give. By the way, one of my acquaintances cherished the dream of getting a job in a crematorium, because she heard that they earn good money there. But she didn't succeed. It turned out that getting into this institution without patronage is just as difficult as it used to be to enter MGIMO without bribes and blasphemy. The amount she had to pay for employment turned out to be unbearable for her.

Today, as at the dawn of Soviet power, there is again an intensified propaganda of fiery burial. Even historical examples are cited in favor of crematoria, which show that the burning of the dead was the norm among many peoples, including the ancient Slavs. The countries where cremation is widespread are also cited as an example: USA, Japan, Czech Republic, Great Britain, Denmark... Cremation is presented as the most hygienic and environmentally friendly way of burial. But the point is not in ecology (in any case, not only in it), but in the earth. Cities are growing and demanding new territories. Cremation does not allow cemeteries to grow strongly and "capture" priceless land. But ordinary people, of course, are not concerned about all this, but about the cost of the funeral. Cremation is cheaper than regular burial. That is why in the last ten years the tradition of cremating the dead among poor residents of large Russian cities (primarily Moscow and St. Petersburg) is gaining popularity. Wealthier people can afford to pay for traditional funerals and land at the cemetery, while those who are poorer have to resort to fire burial.

Description of the cremation process

Crematorium in 1874

In general, the cremation process is the burning of the body of the deceased due to the gas flows supplied to the chamber of cremation ovens, heated to high temperatures (870-980 ° C). For effective disintegration, modern furnaces have introduced a number of modifications (one of them is to apply most of the flame to the torso, which makes up the bulk of the body). Currently, gas (natural or propane) is used as fuel for stoves, less often electricity. Until the 1960s coal or coke was actively used.

Modern kilns are automated and controlled by microprocessor devices, equipped with safety devices to ensure safe use (for example, the kiln retort door is locked until normal operating temperature is reached; the coffin is fed into the kiln as quickly as possible to avoid heat loss).

Cremation in Russia

Cremation for sanitary and medical reasons was carried out in Russia until 1917. For example, the "plague" Fort "Emperor Alexander I" was equipped with a crematorium for burning laboratory animals that died from the plague. But it also had to be cremated in the dead doctors V. I. Turchinovich-Vyzhnikevich (1905) and M. I. Schreiber (1907), who became infected with pneumonic plague during research.

The first civilian crematorium was also built before 1917, in Vladivostok, using a Japanese-made oven, probably for the cremation of citizens of the Japanese Empire (many people from Nagasaki lived in Vladivostok in those years).

However, cremation in Russia has not become widespread, mainly due to the adherence of the people to the centuries-old Orthodox burial traditions, which prescribe to bury the body in the ground. Only at the beginning of the 20th century, with the growth of revolutionary sentiments and the influence of atheistic ideas, did the first circles of cremation adherents appear. During the Civil War, construction began on the first crematorium in Petrograd, completed in 1920. The crematorium was opened in the boiler room of the former baths on Vasilyevsky Island, 14th line, house 95-97. It was based on the regenerative cremation oven "Metallurg" designed by Professor V. N. Lipin. The crematorium was used exclusively for burning unclaimed and unidentified bodies. The act of the first cremation in the history of Soviet Russia, signed by the chairman of the Permanent Commission for the Construction of the 1st State Crematorium and Mortuary, B. G. Kaplun, the manager of the administration department of the Petrogubispolkom, and other persons who were present at this event, has been preserved. In the act, in particular, it is written:

On December 14, 1920, we, the undersigned, carried out the first experimental burning of the corpse of a Red Army soldier Malyshev, aged 19, in a cremation oven in the building of the 1st State Crematorium - V. O., 14 line, 95/97. The body is pushed into the furnace at 0 o'clock. 30 min., and the temperature of the furnace at this moment was equal to an average of 800 C under the action of the left regenerator. The coffin flared up at the moment of pushing it into the burning chamber and fell apart 4 minutes after it was introduced there ...

The furnace did not work for long, from December 14 to February 21, 1921, and was stopped "for lack of firewood." During this period of time, 379 bodies were burned in it, most of which were burnt in an administrative manner, and 16 - at the request of relatives or according to a will.

List of crematoria in Russia

Currently, Russia has 16 crematoria in 13 cities: Moscow (Mitinsky, Nikolo-Arkhangelsky, Nosovikhinsky, Khovansky), St. Petersburg, Artyom, Vladivostok, Volgograd (the most recent crematorium commissioned, opened in 2011), Yekaterinburg , Nizhny Tagil, Novokuznetsk, Novosibirsk, Norilsk, Rostov-on-Don, Surgut, Chelyabinsk. For the most part, their services are not very popular with the population (relatives in these cities choose cremation, on average, no more than 15-20% of the dead). The largest percentage is in St. Petersburg, Norilsk and Moscow (50-70% of all deaths). The largest crematorium - the Nikolo-Arkhangelsk crematorium in Moscow - is equipped with 7 double cremation ovens. Its construction was completed in March 1972 . It covers an area of ​​210 hectares and has 6 non-religious mourning halls, which are used for atheistic funerals.

The cremation complex in Volgograd, which was put into operation later than all, in 2011, is considered the most environmentally friendly. His cremation unit was purchased from Germany and includes a KE 400 type cremation oven with a high purity chromium sorption filter.

A crematorium is a special building in which the bodies of dead people are burned. For some, this sounds scary, while others find this procedure practical. Some even bequeathed to scatter their ashes in the place that was dear to them during their lifetime. There are many opponents of this method of destroying the body, because according to the Christian religion, it must be interred. But in any case, everyone is free to decide for himself what is more acceptable for the last farewell: cemeteries, crematoria or other non-traditional burial rites, in accordance with their beliefs, religion and worldview. Modern technologies make the process fast and aesthetic.

How it works

A crematorium is a complex of services that allows you to worthily say goodbye to the deceased. Relatives and friends invited to the ceremony should at least briefly familiarize themselves with how all this will take place, because many are frightened by the very thought of what they might see there. Often crematoria are located next to cemeteries. They have their own morgues, where they keep the body of the deceased for three days. They also provide hair styling, makeup and dressing services. In addition, they have halls for farewell, as well as presenters who will conduct the ceremony in a solemn atmosphere. After the last words are spoken and flowers and bouquets are laid, the coffin is taken to the furnace. Watching him go into the fire is not at all necessary, and not everyone will be able to withstand such a moral burden. But there are those who, on the contrary, want to see everything that will happen to the body of a loved one, as if being next to him until the last minute. They are given this opportunity (there is a special window in the oven for this), but for a fee.

How is the dust

A crematorium is not only a building, but also a furnace, where the body of the deceased is exposed to a jet of hot gas, the temperature of which reaches 900-1000 degrees C. It would seem that everything that is exposed to such thermal effects should turn into ashes. However, the bones remain intact. To get the ashes for the columbarium, workers grind them on a cremulator. Then, mixed with ashes from the furnace, they fill a special capsule. With this method of "utilization" of the body, a "product" is obtained weighing 2.5-3 kg or a volume of 3 liters. The process itself takes place within 1-1.5 hours. Unfortunately, according to our laws, it is impossible to keep the ashes of a loved one received from the crematorium at home. Be sure to bury it in a special columbarium or bury it in the ground in a cemetery. In some cases, if permission from the Sanitary and Epidemiological Service is obtained, it can be dispelled in the chosen place.

Positive sides

The crematorium is a place of worthy farewell to the dead. For many people, it is psychologically easier to bury the ashes than to think about what happens to the body of a loved one underground. In addition, in some cases, for example, if a person died in another country, the cremated remains are easier to transport to the place of burial. Also, the possibility of long-term storage of ashes is a big plus when, for some reason, it is necessary to postpone the farewell ceremony for a while.

You should not be afraid that an unpleasant smell will appear during the cremation process. Nowadays, improved stoves are used, so that relatives will not even see the smoke. In addition, the ashes are sterile, making burial a hygienic procedure. Indeed, sanitary services often receive complaints that harmful substances enter the water and soil, which are formed during the decomposition of bodies buried in cemeteries underground.

Is this acceptable

The Christian religion condemns cremation as a pagan rite. Therefore, in our country it is not as common as abroad. But at the same time, several crematoria were built, equipped with everything necessary. Also, unidentified corpses or bodies of those people whose relatives refused to bury them are burned in these buildings.

For example, Moscow has been operating for 31 years. Address: 6th kilometer of the Pyatnitskoye Highway. It is located next to the cemetery, has its own morgue and a hall for a farewell ceremony. This is a crematorium, the prices in which are affordable and depend on what kind of coffin and funeral accessories will be ordered. The economy option will cost only 18,500 rubles.

Some do not want to know what will happen to their body after death. Others, on the contrary, want to be aware of all possible options, so that they are as comfortable as possible. Be that as it may, cremation is a worthy and, if properly organized, solemn ceremony, which for some peoples is the only possible way of burial.