The day after the Battle of Poltava, Tsar Peter I ordered the burial of the dead officers and soldiers in two separate graves close to each other. All Russian regiments were drawn up to the graves to pay their last respect to the fallen warriors. After the service for the dead a big mound was raised on top of the common graves. According to legend, Peter I himself mounted a large wooden cross on the top of the mound. All in all, 1,345 Russian warriors were buried in these graves. A new monument, consisting of a large granite cross on the mound above the common graves, was dedicated on September 11, 1895. The eastern side of the foundation of the cross bears the following inscription: “Brigadier Felengheim, Colonels Nechaev and Lov, Lieutenant Colonel Kozlov, and Majors Kropotov, Erst and Gelt are buried here. 45 officers, 1,293 privates and corporals, all in all 1,345 Russians are buried here." On the opposite side of the monument is the inscription: “Pious warriors shed their blood here on June 27th 1709." However, the granite cross was too heavy for the site and soon started to sink into the burial mound. In 1906 it was decided to open the burial bound above the common graves, reinforce the foundation of the memorial, and build an inner chapel with a spherical vault. In the following year the burial mound was rebuilt, and a small chapel in the name of St. Peter and Paul was constructed inside of the mound. The final reconstruction of the memorial was completed in 1909 on the eve of the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the battle. Although no Swedish warriors are buried there, local inhabitants still refer to the common grave as the Swedish Grave.