Nikolskoe Cemetery (Russian: Никольское кладбище) is a historic cemetery in the centre of Saint Petersburg. It is part of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, and is one of four cemeteries in the complex. The third cemetery to be established in the monastery complex, the Nikolskoe Cemetery opened in 1863, and rapidly became a popular and exclusive burial site for the elite of Saint Petersburg society. It was carefully arranged and landscaped, with its cemetery church opening in 1871. Taking its name from this church, the Church of St. Nicholas, the cemetery functioned also a burial ground for the clergy and monks of the monastery. The wealthy and important of the city commissioned large and elaborate memorials during the later years of the nineteenth century and into the twentieth.