Dmitrievskaya Parents' Saturday falls on 7 November in 2026. It is the last parents' Saturday of the calendar year and one of the busiest days at Orthodox cemeteries in Uzbekistan. If you live in Russia, Israel, Germany or the US and your relatives are buried in Tashkent or Samarkand, here is the date, how the day is kept and how to arrange a visit to the grave when you cannot travel.
The date
It is the Saturday before the feast of St Demetrius of Thessaloniki on 8 November (26 October in the Julian calendar): 7 November 2026 and 6 November 2027. By tradition, Prince Dmitry Donskoy commemorated the soldiers who fell at Kulikovo in 1380, and the day later became a day of remembrance for all the departed.
How the day is kept
On Friday evening churches serve the parastas, a memorial vigil; on Saturday morning, the Liturgy and a panikhida. People hand in notes with the names of the departed. After the service many families go to the cemetery to tidy the grave, bring fresh flowers and light a candle. Church services are a matter for the parish and the family; our part is the grave, the flowers and the report.
Orthodox cemeteries
In Tashkent the main Orthodox cemetery is Botkin (Cemetery No. 1), the city's oldest, opened in 1872 (history and sectors). Domrabad, the largest cemetery in Tashkent, also has Orthodox sections. See the full list of Tashkent cemeteries. In Samarkand the Orthodox are buried at the Russian cemetery (cemeteries of Samarkand).
What you can order from abroad
— Memorial visit with flowers, $69: a visit, a light tidy-up, fresh flowers, 6–8 photos.
— Memorial visit with flowers and video, $79: the same plus a 30–60 second video.
— Grave cleaning, Standard, $59: litter and leaves, weeding, gentle washing of the headstone and slabs, 8 photos; flowers are not included.
— Memorial days & holidays package, $119: Standard cleaning and flowers for the date, 10 before/after photos.
Prices are for Tashkent and one grave on the plot; Samarkand and other regional centres have a regional coefficient, and districts add a travel fee. You get before/after photos with the date, time and GPS point. The work and the price are fixed in the contract before we start.
Deadlines
The urgency surcharge counts from the day you order to the date of the work: order by 30 October and there is none; orders placed from 31 October to 4 November carry +20 %, orders on 5 or 6 November +50 %; a same-day visit on 7 November only by arrangement with the coordinator. We guarantee the date in Tashkent for orders placed by 4 November and in Samarkand by 2 November; for other cities the date is agreed with the coordinator. There is no seasonal surcharge on this date.
What we place and what we don't
An even number of fresh flowers, as is customary for the Orthodox; a candle only where the cemetery rules allow it; no food left on the grave. See grave care in Tashkent, in Samarkand and the parents' Saturdays calendar for 2026–2027.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Tidying the grave on a parents' Saturday is common practice: many families come to the cemetery after the morning service. You can book the work for 7 November itself or a day or two earlier. The urgency surcharge counts from the day you order to the date you choose.
Write to us anyway. Orders by 30 October carry no urgency surcharge, from 31 October to 4 November +20 %, on 5–6 November +50 %; a same-day visit only by arrangement with the coordinator. You can also choose another date in November: if it is more than 7 days away, there is no urgency surcharge.
After the visit you receive before/after photos with the date, time and GPS point, plus a 30–60 second video if you ordered the package with video. The GPS point lets you check the place on a map.
6 November 2027, the Saturday before the feast of St Demetrius of Thessaloniki (8 November). All parents' Saturdays of 2027 are in the parents' Saturdays calendar.
Read next in this cluster
- Mapping religious calendars to a single family memorial scheduleHow a multi-faith or interfaith family — Orthodox, Muslim, Jewish, Catholic — keeps every important memorial date in one synchronized schedule across the diaspora.
- Parents' Saturdays 2026–2027: dates and how to remember relatives from abroadOrthodox parents' Saturdays in 2026 and 2027: Meatfare, three Lenten Saturdays, Radonitsa, Trinity and Demetrius. Dates, customs and grave visits from abroad.
- Orthodox commemoration: Sorokoust, parental Saturdays, RadonitsaHow Russian Orthodox families commemorate their dead: day 3, 9 and 40 after death, the 40-day Sorokoust prayer, seven parental Saturdays a year and Radonitsa after Easter.
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