Novodevichy convent in Moscow โ history, photo, description, how to get there, map
The Novodevichy Convent in Moscow is one of the most beautiful existing temple complexes. It is located in the historical part of the capital and is the oldest and most revered ensemble for all citizens of Russia.
origin of name
There are several versions about the origin of the name of the monastery. According to one of them, the field on which it is located is called โgirlishโ because Russian girls were taken from here to the Golden Horde into captivity as a tribute to the Tatar khans. Other historians believe that the name was given in honor of the abbess Elena Devochkina, who was the first abbess. It is believed that the monastery in Khamovniki was called Novodevichy to avoid confusion, since there was also Starodevichy in the Moscow Kremlin (destroyed in the second half of 1929).
Construction history
Prince Vasily III of Moscow liberated in 1514 the city of Smolensk, which had been under the rule of the Lithuanian principality for almost a century. The icon of the Smolensk Mother of God was considered the patroness of the Russian army, helped to win in a difficult battle. In honor of the holy icon, the Grand Duke vowed to found a monastery.
The first wooden church was built in 1524. The following year, a copy of the icon of the Mother of God was brought into it in a procession. Therefore, the year 1525 began to be considered the time of the foundation of the Mother of God-Smolensk monastery.
During the reign of Boris Godunov, significant restructuring was carried out โ a new iconostasis was installed in the Novodevichy Church, the setting was decorated with precious stones, and wall paintings were updated. The territory was surrounded by stone walls with guard rooms and observation towers. Under the Romanovs, starting with Mikhail Fedorovich, restoration work was carried out after the destruction in the Time of Troubles, new premises for religious and non-religious purposes were built.
From the first days of its inception and for more than two hundred years, it was a place of not only voluntary, but also forcible tonsure of women of the noble class as nuns. The first to be sent here was Solomonia, the wife of Vasily III, who received the name of Elena during her tonsure. Vasily III removed the queen there, since during the years of marriage she could not give birth to an heir to the royal throne (later she was removed to Suzdal). Tsar Peter I tonsured a nun Sophia after the suppression of the Streltsy rebellion. Here he imprisoned his wife Evdokia Lopukhina after a divorce.
Napoleon, before retreating from Moscow in 1812, tried to blow up all the buildings. According to legend, the nuns managed to put out the fuses that had already been set on fire, preventing an explosion. After the revolution, the Soviet government banned the holding of services, since 1934 a branch of the Historical Museum was opened here. Only at the end of the Great Patriotic War were they allowed to hold services in the Assumption and Transfiguration churches. In 2010, everything was returned to the Moscow diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church. In addition, the Church Museum with a tour desk has been established on the territory.
Architectural ensemble
The most beautiful five-domed Smolensk temple is located in the center of the complex, in the interior of which ancient fresco paintings have been preserved. At the time when Princess Sofya Alekseevna was the regent of her underage brothers, two more churches, a spacious refectory and an elegant high bell tower were erected around Smolensky. As follows from the documents of that time, the architect Pyotr Potapov was the creator of most of the structures.
Boris Godunov, who ascended the Russian throne, surrounded the territory with fortress walls, which were subsequently significantly rebuilt. In total, the ensemble includes more than a dozen buildings for various purposes, as well as a cemetery adjacent to the complex and a small but very cozy park.
Necropolis
In the Smolensk temple, at different times, noble nuns, queens and boyars were buried. The daughter-in-law and daughter of Ivan IV are buried here. The first wife of Peter I Evdokia Lopukhina, his sister-tsarevna. From the beginning of the 19th century, they began to bury the military, scientists, writers and teachers, some graves have survived to this day: Elena Devochkina (d. 1547) โ the first abbess, A. A. Alekhin, father of the chess player Alekhin; P. N. Batyushkov, historian; D. V. Davydov, poet, hero of the war of 1812; M. I. Muravyov-Apostol, Decembrist; A. F. Pisemsky, writer and playwright.
In 1898, a new cemetery was built outside the walls, in which there are many burial places of the great and famous citizens of the country. Writers Gogol and Bulgakov, directors Eisenstein and Ryazanov, artists Tikhonov, Gurchenko, Nikulin and other celebrities are buried here.
abbess
The first abbess of Novodevichy was a schema-nun from the city of Suzdal, Elena (Devochkina). After her death in 1547, mother Elena left a spiritual diploma. The document contains unique information about the very difficult first 22 years of her tenure as abbess. The name of Elena is the first in the list of nuns-priests. Behind almost everyone is a bright, extraordinary personality. After the revival of the monastery in the 20th century, Seraphim and Elisaveta (Elena) served as abbesses โ people completely different in origin and upbringing.
Mother Seraphim is a professor, doctor of chemical sciences, from the noble family of the Chichagovs. Elena, named after the first abbess, from a simple peasant family. Since the end of 2007, Mother Margarita, in the world Elena Feoktistova, has been the abbess. After graduating from medical school, she worked as a sanitary doctor. In 2002, she was elected chairman of the parish council in the village of Kolychevo. In 2005, she took the vows of a nun with a name in honor of the Great Martyr Margaret of Antioch.
Icons
On the territory of the complex there are many ancient images and lists of icons (the list is not an exact reproduction from the original):
โSelected Saintsโ, โVladimirskayaโ, โArchangel Michael and Archangel Gabrielโ, dating from the end of the 17th โ beginning of the 18th centuries. and many others.
The main and most recognizable of the ancient images is the โOur Lady of Smolenskโ, written in the 14th century. Placed in the Gate Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord. The image of the โIberian Mother of Godโ can be seen in the Assumption.
In 1854, from the Vatopedi monastery, located on the Holy Mount Athos, a list of โJoy and Consolationโ was presented. For a long time it was considered lost, but was found and returned to its rightful owner.
Main buildings
To date, the total length of the brick wall surrounding the territory is 870 m. The height of the structures is up to 11 m, the thickness reaches 5 m. 12 towers were built along the perimeter of the walls, 4 corner towers with attached guardhouses are round, the rest have a quadrangular shape. There are 14 different buildings in the complex, temples โ 8, the rest are of non-religious significance.
Transfiguration Gateway, or Transfiguration of the Lord Church
Located at the main entrance to the monastery. It was built by order of Sophia in 1687-1688, when she was the guardian of the heirs to the throne. Consecrated in August 1688. It was built in the Naryshkin baroque style, which dominated Moscow architecture until the beginning of the 18th century. Interior architect โ K. I. Zolotarev.
The size and magnificent decor made of white stone are striking; the structure is crowned with five onion-shaped domes. After the death of Tsar Fedor, Princess Sophia seriously laid claim to the Russian throne and sought to establish a permanent residence here. Therefore, during her regency, she built many new magnificent buildings.
Lopukhin Chambers
Located on the right side of the north gate. Named after Evdokia Lopukhina. Built in 1688, the former queen lived within their walls from 1727 to 1731. This is a two-storey elegant building, built in the style of โNaryshkin baroqueโ. The facades are decorated with stucco made of snow-white stone, cornices, architraves on the windows of the second floor, the remaining parts of the columns are pedestals and capitals.
All architectural decoration is organically combined with the decor of the Transfiguration Cathedral. The oldest sundial in Moscow is installed on the facade. The royal chambers were located on the second floor, on the lower floor there were household services. It is interesting that Evdokia Lopukhina was the last Russian tsarina, later the wives of Russian autocrats were foreigners.
Singing Chambers
They were built over several years, from 1718 to 1726. This is the largest residential one-story building in the architectural complex โ it stretched almost 100 m in length, 15 m in width. Each entrance has a porch, over which an icon hangs. At first, the cells of the brothers were located here, then the mentor lived. In 1724, Peter I ordered to equip a shelter for foundling girls in the not yet fully completed chambers, who lived here and learned how to weave Brabant lace, for which craftswomen were specially ordered from Holland to teach the intricacies of the craft.
They began to call them choirs from the 19th century, when a new one was built on the site of the destroyed building, and nuns-chanters were settled there. Currently, there is a refectory and cells of novices. Over the long years of its existence, the building has undergone several significant restorations, the last one was carried out in the middle of the last century according to the project of the architect Makarov. During the work, a wonderful find was made โ a stove with fragments of old tiles.
Streltsy guardhouse
They were intended specifically to accommodate the garrison of archers, who were supposed to protect the monastery territories. The snow-white two-story building was erected in the 17th century in the style typical for such structures. It has almost no decorative elements, only double windows with island-oval gratings adorn the facade. When the young tsar suppressed the Streltsy rebellion in 1698, he placed his inspirer, Sophia, who was forcibly tonsured as a nun under the name Susanna, in the guardhouse for some time. Sister Peter's faithful companions were cruelly executed in front of her windows in order to break their spirit.
Naprudnaya tower
Known as Sophia. At the end of the 17th century, the young Tsar Peter I suppressed the Streltsy rebellion, which was organized by his half-sister. To punish the conspirator, he imprisoned her in this gloomy room, in which the princess lived until her death in 1704. The structure is also infamous for the fact that the abbess Leonida immured herself in the dungeon under it, along with valuable shrines. The abbess did this because the Bolsheviks who seized power wanted to seize all the monastery valuables for the needs of the revolution. There is a belief that if you touch the walls with your left hand (closer to your heart) and make a wish, it will surely come true.
Assumption Church
It is located on the western side of the Smolensky Cathedral. Its construction began in 1685 and lasted almost two years. The structure originally belonged to the temple-refectory type, most of which is not directly related to worship. The rest of the space was given over to the communal dining room, where the novices dined, and on holidays they laid tables for honored guests. The refectory has three smaller halls, a vestibule and spacious storerooms where food prepared for the future was stored.
Mausoleum of princes Volkonsky
The Mausoleum of the Princes Volkonsky or the chapel-tomb of the heroes of the Patriotic War of 1812, the Princes Volkonsky, was built in the Empire style. Small in size, the chapel has a cubic shape, with a domed roof. The exact date of construction is unknown, presumably in the twenties of the XIX century. It is located on the right side of the Assumption Church. It is believed that the mausoleum was designed by the famous Moscow architect of Italian origin Gilardi.
Chambers of Irina Godunova
The two-storey building, the construction of which was completed by the middle of the 16th century, is considered the oldest in the architectural ensemble. After the death of Ivan in 1584, the throne passed to Fedor, Irina, his wife, becomes queen. Godunova played a significant political and social role in the life of the state โ she sat in the Duma, received foreign ambassadors, and corresponded with the Queen of England.
On the ninth day after the death of her husband, Tsar Fyodor Ioanovich, Irina of her own free will settles in a monastery, takes monastic vows and receives a new name โ Alexandra. Before accession to the throne, his brother, Boris Godunov, whom Alexandra blessed in 1598 to reign, lived here. Godunova was within these walls for 5 years, after her death she was buried here.
Church of Saint Ambrose
A small single-domed church built of white stone in the 1560s was originally dedicated to John the Baptist. Later it was re-consecrated in honor of Ambrose of Milan. The house church was rebuilt several times. The building adjacent to it served at one time as a refectory, until a new communal dining room was opened. In 1770, the last major restructuring was carried out by Archbishop Ambrose Zertis-Kamensky. In 1928, an altar for the chapel of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was placed in the refectory. Now there is an exhibition of relics.
Smolensky Cathedral
Erected by the architect Nestor, who died during construction (according to another version โ Aleviz Novy). The structure is installed on a white-stone basement, practically has no decor. A thin arcature belt adorns the three-part apse. Surrounded by galleries with arched openings, there are small aisles on both sides. The domes of the cathedral are somewhat shifted to the eastern part, so one section is moved forward. The murals date back to 1526-1530.
The main iconostasis was ordered by Sofya Alekseevna in 1683-1868, it was made by the masters of the Armory. The iconostasis, which was made under the direction of Klim Mikhailov from the city of Shilov, also attracts attention, it is all covered with carvings and gilding. The Orthodox church is magnificent and majestic, considered one of the most beautiful in Moscow.
Gate Church of the Intercession
It was built at the direction and with the money of Tsarevna Sofya Alekseevna, who by that time had already been imprisoned in one of the towers. This majestic three-domed temple with a terrace was built in 1638-1688 over the southern gate, which is currently closed. Red brick was used for the construction. Historians believe that the architecture combined the features of Ukrainian and Russian architectural trends. At the base is a quadrangle; a vestibule, an altar and a refectory adjoin it on the side. Belfries were built on two opposite sides. Inside there is an old iconostasis with the icon of the โIntroductionโ (1690).
Mariinsky Chambers
Maria, the sister of Peter I, unlike the wayward Sophia, was quiet, pious and meek, did not participate in intrigues. But the brother did not like the woman, probably due to the fact that she maintained friendly relations with her daughter-in-law Evdokia Lopukhina, and with her conspiratorial sister. Especially for Mary, this building was erected โ elegant and elegant, for which it received the name โRussian Towerโ. According to the original plan, it should be two-story, the third floor appeared much later. Now the administration is located in the โteremโ.
hospital wards
You can see not far from the Chebotareva Tower, a snow-white two-story building of the middle of the 17th century. Used as a hospital for soldiers. An apothecary garden was planted around the hospital building. On the facade of the building you can see a commemorative plaque on which it is written that in 1939 โ 1984. the restorer Baranovsky lived here. This man made a great contribution to the restoration of Moscow churches and non-religious buildings.
Bell tower
The baroque bell tower was built at the end of the 17th century. It was the highest, not counting the belfry of Ivan the Great, which rises 72 meters above the ground. The bell tower is five-tiered, in which blind tiers alternate with openwork ones, giving lightness and grace to the architecture. Scientists believe that the construction of the bell tower, which began in 1683, was stopped in 1689 after the suppression of the Streltsy revolt. Historians suggest that the belfry must have had at least six tiers.
The architecture is an octahedron, as if placed on top of each other. At the very top there is a drum of eight sides, crowned with an onion-shaped head. There are two churches in the first and second tiers, the bells are on the third and fifth floors. The bell tower is considered one of the masterpieces of Russian architecture.
The building of the Filatiev School
In 1724, the tsar ordered the creation of a shelter for foundling girls on the territory of the monastery. They were trained to weave Dutch lace, but the first building has not survived. On the site of the former premises in 1871-1878. The widow of the Privy Councilor V. I. Filatiev organized a shelter for girls of different classes who were not legitimately born or left without parents, which was called the Filatiev School. In the classrooms of the school in 1899, a parochial school was opened. After the October Revolution, the orphanage and the school were closed. Currently, the secretariat is located within the walls of the school.
Chapel of the Prokhorovs
In 1911-1915, the factory owners Prokhorovs built a chapel according to the design of the architect V. A. Pokrovsky. Located near the Smolensky Cathedral. A small chapel was erected in the neo-Russian style, the funds for this were allocated by the last owner of the manufactory โ Nikolai Ivanovich Prokhorov. Nikolai Ivanovich's father, Ivan Yakovlevich, donated large sums of money, moreover, Prokhorov's own sister lived as a nun for a long time in these walls.
Treasury chambers
Not far from the Smolensk Cathedral are the oldest Treasury Chambers, which were built, according to historians, in the last decades of the 17th century and were intended specifically for storing the monastery treasury. Elders and elders lived in the same premises. In the first half of the 19th century, a wooden mezzanine was added to the one-story building and a portico was added. At the beginning of the 21st century, the facade and interior were completely restored. Behind the house is a model of the Bogodice-Smolensk architectural ensemble.
Opening hours and order of visiting
The territory of the complex is open from 08:00 to 20:00, on Sunday from 06:30 to 20:00.
Opening hours:
Days off: on Tuesdays and on the first Monday.
The cost of entrance tickets on the territory of the โChurch Museum of the Moscow Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Churchโ:
Excursion, duration โ 2.5 hours.
Where is it located and how to get there
Address: Novodevichy proezd, 1, Moscow. RF.
Travel to st. metro station โSportivnayaโ (red line). Further walk 5 โ 7 minutes. Exit towards the Luzhniki stadium.
You can use land transport: bus 64, 132 or trolley bus route 5 and 15.
A sacred place for any Russian was transferred to the Moscow Patriarchate for free use. Not only believers come here for prayers, but also tourists who admire the beautiful architecture of historical monuments. The complex is open to everyone, both for self-examination and with an interesting excursion.