Kuntsevo Cemetery, one of the oldest in Moscow, appeared in the late 17th century as the cemetery of the village of Spasskoye on the Setun River. Until the 1920s, it was called Setun Cemetery. In 1920, the village along with the cemetery became part of the city of Kuntsevo, which later became part of Moscow, determining the cemetery's modern name.

There is a suggestion that the name of the Setun River comes from the word "to lament," as since the 12th century, warriors who died in battles were buried here, and local residents came to the river to mourn their loved ones.

The cemetery is divided into two parts, Old and New, covering an area of 17 hectares.

Kuntsevo Cemetery is a branch of Novodevichy Cemetery and is intended for the burial of distinguished Muscovites.

In the Old Cemetery, there is the Church of the Savior Not Made by Hands on Setun, built in 1674-1676 in the estate of Spasskoye-Manukhino, owned by diplomat Artamon Matveev. In 1809, the church was rebuilt: a bell tower was added, a new five-domed completion, Empire-style interior decoration, a new iconostasis, and a southern chapel of St. Gregory of Decapolis. In 1905, the church was reconstructed according to the project of architect Zhigardlovich, replacing the old bell tower with a three-tiered brick tent and reconstructing the chapels to the refectory. In 1941, the church was closed and looted, and a galvanizing workshop of the colored casting plant was placed in its premises. During the war, mines were produced here, and later, pots and spoons. In 1989, the church was returned to the believers, and services resumed.

In the Old part of the cemetery rest art historian and collector Dmitry Rovinsky, publisher Sergey Sabashnikov, writer Varlam Shalamov, poet Eduard Asadov, former KGB head Viktor Chebrikov, as well as legendary Soviet spies Kim Philby and Maurice Cohen.

On the territory of the New Cemetery is the Mass Grave of soldiers who died in the Great Patriotic War and those who died in Moscow hospitals. In 1975, a memorial monument was erected over the grave. Nearby are buried twice Hero of the Soviet Union pilot Kirill Yevstigneyev, statesman Georgy Malenkov, and the assassin of Leon Trotsky Ramon Mercader.

In the New Cemetery, artists and directors Vladimir Basov, Leonid Gaidai, Ilya Frez, Edmond Keosayan, Lev Kulidzhakov, Anatoly Efros, Valery Priemykhov, Yevgeny Morgunov, Sergey Martinson, Georgy Menglet, Georgy Strizhenov, Larisa Shepitko, Viktor Pavlov, Alexander Kaidanovsky, Boris Khmelnitsky, clown Karandash (Mikhail Rumyantsev), and People's Artists of the USSR and RSFSR Nikolai Bogolyubov, Zinoviy Gerdt, Ivan Pereverzev, Nona Mordyukova, as well as composers, conductors, and singers Konstantin Listov, Valery Obodzinsky, Yuri Silantyev, Galina Rozhdestvenskaya, Yevgeny Martynov, Pavel Slobodkin, Yevgeny Ptichkin, Yevgeny Belousov, and harpist Vera Dulova are also laid to rest. Here also rest the designer of firearms Sergey Simonov, hockey player Valery Kharlamov, coach Boris Kulagin, figure skater Sergey Volkov, as well as famous football players, poets, writers, journalists, historians, photojournalists, educators, artists, and sculptors.