Novodevichyi Convent, Moscow

Walk through the gateway in the high walls that surround the Novodevichy Convent and you enter another world. From the middle of the 16th Century this place was the retreat (and the prison) of Russian noblewomen. Some entered the convent willingly, others were sent here - notably Sofia, the sister of Peter the Great whose withdrawal to the convent after her brother ended her regency was decidedly less than willing. (There are a couple of very dramatic paintings in the Tretyakov Gallery that portray these events). Presumabaly the nuns living there now, who have returned to the convent with the changes in Russia since the end if Communism, are there willingly.

Once inside there are beautiful churches, interesting exhibits in the museums that occupy some of the old living quarters of the convent and the lovely gardens to walk around. It isn't hard to imagine the past here.

leyle

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The convent is a masterpiece of Russian architecture with its onionshaped domes. I was founded in 1524 to celebrate the conquest of the town of Smolensk from the Lithuanians.
The cementary of the convent is the last resting places of many famous Russians.

The list of names of those buried in the cemetery beside the Novodevichy Convent reads like a Who's Who of Russian History. After the Kremlin wall, this is the most prestigious burial ground in Moscow. Writers, artists, composers, musicians, dancers, political leaders (and their wives) are all here. So too are ordinary Russians and there are usually a few people quietly attending to family graves as well as those who have come to pay homage at one of the more notable ones.

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It has been founded durino 1954 and here used to retire high society women, some willing, some not.
The most important building of the monastery is the Smolensk cathedral, built copying the style of assumption cathedral in kremlin.
Other sites worth a visit in the monastery are: the bell tower the Assunption church and Ambrosievskaya tserkov.
To reach the monastery you can take the red metro line, direction Yugo Zapapadnaya, and stop at Sportivnaya station, from here you should walk 500 meters, just look for the towers and follow the direction.
Novodevichy Monastyr opened since wensday to Monday from 10 am to 5 pm.

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Juat next to the Novodevichy Monastyr, there is the Novodevichy cimiter, which is the most important after the kremlin one.
Here infact rest many important personalities considered not important enough to be buried in Kremlin, some names are: Cechov, Gogol, Stanivslaskij, Raisa Gorbaciova and Mikhail Bulgakov.
The cimitery is opened every day since 9am to 6 pm.

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This is one of the most beautiful convents in Moscow and its was founded in the early 16th century. Its main cathedral was consecrated in honour of the Smolenskaya Icon of the Mother of God Hodigitria. According to legend, the icon was painted by St. Luke himself, and it is closely linked with the convent's foundation.

This was the richest convent in Moscow. Its full name was formerly New Maiden Convent of the Immaculate Holy Virgin, Hodigitria to distinguish it from the Kremlin Ascension or Old Maiden Convent. Noblewomen of the time became novitiates in this convent, just as in the Old Maiden Convent - wives and widows of tsars and boyars, their daughters and sisters - and on taking the veil they handed over their jewels, pearls, gold and silver.

Sofia, half sister to Peter the Great took particular concern over the convent. Under her direction the wonderful bell-tower in the style of Moscow, or Naryshinsky, baroque was built. It was 72 metres high (232 feet), which at that time was the highest bell-tower in Moscow after the Ivan the Great tower.

May 3 , 2005

On ne zasluzhil sveta , on zasluzhil pokoy...
( This is the grave of great Russian writer ( Master ) Mikhail Afanas`evich Bulgakov and his wife Elena Sergeevna Bulgakova at the day of his Birthday . The gravestone was taken from the grave of other great writer Nickolay Gogol` , resting in this cemetary too...)

The Novodevichy Convent (New Maiden) is one of the oldest religious complexes in the city. It consists of 15 buildings and 16 gilded domes dating from the 16th and 17 centuries. Grand Prince Vasily III founded the convent in 1514 to commemorate the capture of Smolensk from Lithuania. The convent was also one of the fortified monasteries surrounding Moscow. Its nuns were, as a rule, representatives of the supreme feudal nobility, among them were members of families of Ivan the Terrible, Boris Godunov, Peter I. Peter the great banished his half sister Sophia and his first wife Evdoka to the convent, forcing them to become nuns.

You enter the convent through the arched passageway topped by the Preobrazhensky Tserkov (Gate Church of the Transfiguration), widely considered one of the best examples of Moscow baroque. To your left as you enter is the ticket booth, where tickets are sold to the various exhibits housed in the convent.

Exhibits include rare and ancient Russian paintings, both ecclesiastical and secular; woodwork and ceramics; and fabrics and embroidery. There's also a large collection of illuminated and illustrated books, decorated with gold, silver, and jewels.

The building to your right is the Lophukin House, where Yevdokiya lived from 1727 to 1731. Sophia's prison, now a guardhouse, is to your far right, in a corner of the northern wall.

The main structure inside the convent is five-domed Sobor Smolenskoy Bogomateri (Cathedral of the Virgin of Smolensk), dedicated in 1525 and modeled after the Kremlin's Assumption Cathedral. Inside, there's a spectacular iconostasis with 84 wooden columns and icons dating from the 16th and 17th centuries. If you are lucky, you might catch a Russian Orthodox service in the church. Women should cover their heads before entering.

To the right of the cathedral is the Uspensky Tserkov (Church of the Assumption) and Refectory, originally built in 1687 and then rebuilt after a fire in 1796. It was here that nuns took their meals