Novodevichy (New Maiden) Convent, Moscow

The Novodevichy Convent, situated in the south-western part of the historic town of Moscow at the crossing of the Moscow River, was founded by Grand Duke Vasily III in the 1520s and was a part of a chain of monastic ensembles that were integrated into the defence system of the city. It is an outstanding example of Orthodox architecture. The ensemble consists of 14 buildings, including 8 cathedrals (a shrine, 4 churches, a belfry with the Barlaam and Josaphat church and two chapels) and a number of residential and service buildings. The monastery is sometimes called “the Moscow Kremlin in miniature”. Its oldest building is a stone cathedral dedicated to the Icon of the Mother God of Smolensk built in 1524–1525 after the fashion of the Assumption Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin.

The Convent is the only ancient nunnery which served as a fortress at the same time. In the 16th-18th centuries the nunnery was the chosen convent for women from the tsarist dynasty as well as the wealthy boyar and nobility families to take the veil. The Novodevichy Convent had close links to the Kremlin and is closely linked to the political, cultural and religious history of Russia, to major historic events and to important historic figures of the Russian state. These include Ivan the Terrible, Boris Godunov and the Time of Trouble of early 17th century, the father of Peter the Great, Alexey Michailovich as well as his daughter Princess Sofia Alekseevna and her struggle for power with the incoming Emperor Peter I, and the Patriotic War against Napoleon in 1812.

The elite nature of the convent means that it contains examples of the highest class of architecture with rich interiors. Built in the late 17th century, the monastery is one of the most outstanding and representative examples of the so-called “Moscow Baroque”, having retained its integrity better than any of the other rebuilt monasteries in Moscow.