Novodevichy Convent
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Closed: Tuesday and first Monday of the month
Moscow Museum Guide
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[edit] Description
Novodevichy (New Maiden's) Convent (branch of State Historical Museum) is one of the most beautiful monastic ensembles in Russia. It was destined to play an outstanding role in the dramatic events of Russian history.
[edit] History
Founded in 1524, it was conceived as a monument to the conquest of Smolensk by Vasily III. Its location at the bend of the Moskva River opposite the Vorobyovy Gory indicates that it was also important as a stronghold protecting the approaches to the capital. In the second half of the 16th century, when Ivan the Terrible executed the boyars, their widows had to take the veil and stay in the Novodevichy Convent. Besides the aristocrats, the convent received a royal personage: widow of Tsarevich Ivan killed by his father, the same Ivan the Terrible admitted to the veil here.
The architectural ensemble was formed in 16th and 17th centuries. The ancient five-domed convent church (1525) was dedicated to the Byzantine Icon of the Smolenskaya Mother of God. From 1682, during the regency of Tsarevna Sophia over her two younger brothers Ivan V and Peter the Great the convent was her second residence, after Kremlin.
[edit] Ebsemble
Mighty walls 870 metres long and 11 metres high, with 12 towers, surround the entire territory of the convent, covering about 5 hectares. The Churches of the Transfiguration and the Intercession were erected above the north and south gateways, next to the chambers of Peter the Great's sisters, Catherine and Maria. The Smolensk Cathedral is known for its splendid iconostasis completed between 1683 and 1685, on commission from the Tsarevna Sophia. The icons are the work of court painters headed by the famous Fedor Zubov.
[edit] Architecture
Architectural and artistic composition of the convent ensemble is embellished by a bell tower 72 m high – finest multi-tiered structure of the Moscow architectural school at the end of the Old Russian period, named by the people “the Bride of Ivan the Great”. Abundance of elegant baroque decoration and the polychromatic coloring add to the festive 'secular' character of the convent.
[edit] Museum
The museum is being permanently renovated; two new exhibition halls – “Chambers of Tsarevna Sophia” and “Irininskye palaty” – were opened here lately.[edit] Photos
