Visit to Novodevichy Convent in Moscow

Situated very close to the city center today, Novodevichi Convent was built outside Moscow in 1524 by Tsar Vasili the Third to commemorate the taking of Smolensk from Lithuania. The Cathedral of the Virgin of Smolensk dates from that year. It is assumed that the architect was Alevis’ Novi, who already built the cathedral of the Archangel Michael in the Kremlin. The frescos inside are among the best examples of Muscovite iconography.

In the 1598, Boris Godunov was asked to become the Tsar in Novodevichi Convent. Its brick walls were reconstructed at the end of the 17th century, when the convent was refurbished. The sister of Peter the Great, Sophia, donated the elaborate iconostasis and was later imprisoned in the convent by her brother Tsar Peter the Great (in 1689).

There used to be seven churches inside the walls. Nowadays, only the Preobrazhenskaya (Transfiguration) nadvratnaya Church (1687-89), the Uspenskaya (Assumption) church (1685-87) and the bell tower (completed in 1690) remain. Most of the buildings date back from this period.
The museum of the convent presents a fine collection of icons of the 16th and 17th centuries, an exhibition of embroidery and jewelry. On the grounds of the Convent there is the necropolis, where famous people are buried such as Chekhov, Gogol and Prokofiev.