Novodevichy Convent architecture style. Ensemble of the Novodevichy Convent. Cathedral of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God

Novodevichy Convent (Russia) - description, history, location. Exact address and website. Tourist reviews, photos and videos.

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The Novodevichy Convent is one of the most beautiful monasteries in Moscow, today it belongs to the Historical Museum. But services are also held in churches. As can often be found in the capital, the historical heritage in the form of a museum part and the spiritual component harmoniously coexist in one place. In addition to all this, it is simply very pleasant to be on the territory of the monastery, walk and contemplate.

Story

This monastery was built in 1524 by Grand Duke Vasily III according to a vow in honor of the return of ancient Smolensk to the Moscow principality. And they consecrated the monastery in the name of the miraculous Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God. There is no consensus on why the monastery was named Novodevichy. According to one version, on the site of the monastery there used to be a field where the most beautiful Moscow maidens were chosen and sent as tribute to the Golden Horde. According to another, the first abbess of the monastery had the nickname Devochkina. And the third version - the most likely - is that the monastery was intended for girls, and the prefix “novo” appeared to distinguish it from another convent located in the Kremlin itself.

At one time, the Novodevichy Convent was the richest and most privileged monastery in Russia.

At one time it was the richest and most privileged monastery in Russia. Noble women entered it and donated jewelry - pearls, gold, silver - during tonsure. In the 17th century A magnificent ensemble of the monastery was formed in the Moscow Baroque style. The towers were decorated with openwork crowns, a bell tower was erected (the second tallest in Moscow after Ivan the Great), a refectory and the Assumption Church appeared. In the course of history, guests also appeared in the Novodevichy Convent who did not cross the threshold of the monastery of their own free will. At various times, the noblewoman Morozova was kept in custody here, Peter I imprisoned Princess Sophia here, who did not want to give up the throne to her brother, and shortly before her death, Evdokia Fedorovna Lopukhina, the first wife of Peter the Great, was also transferred here.

During the Patriotic War of 1812, the monastery miraculously escaped destruction. According to legend, at the last moment the nuns managed to extinguish the wicks leading to the gunpowder kegs, lit by Napoleon's retreating army, and put out the fire that had started in the monastery.

Modernity

In 1922, the monastery was closed and the Museum of the Emancipation of Women was established here, later transformed into the Novodevichy Convent historical, everyday life and art museum. The museum collection includes ancient Russian paintings, icons, textiles of the 16th-20th centuries, items made of precious metals and stones, a documentary collection consisting of documents from the monastery archive, a library of handwritten and early printed books, as well as the richest sacristy of the monastery (inset icons, liturgical objects and vestments). In the main, Smolensk Cathedral, valuable wall fresco painting from the 16th century has been preserved. and a magnificent carved iconostasis with icons of famous royal masters of that time.

The Novodevichy Convent is one of three world heritage sites (since 2004) located on the territory of Moscow. In addition to it, the Heritage List includes the Kremlin and Red Square, as well as the Church of the Ascension in Kolomenskoye. The monastery was created over the course of the 16th-17th centuries and was one of the links in the chain of monastic ensembles united in the city’s defense system. The monastery was closely connected with the political, cultural and religious life of Russia, as well as with the Moscow Kremlin. Representatives of the royal family, noble boyar and noble families were tonsured and buried here. The ensemble of the Novodevichy Convent is one of the masterpieces of Russian architecture, representing the Moscow Baroque style.

The monastery, consecrated in the name of the miraculous Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God, was built at the beginning of the 16th century by Grand Duke Vasily III according to a vow in honor of the return of Smolensk to Russia from Polish-Lithuanian rule.
The main dominant and oldest building of the monastery is the Cathedral in honor of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God, erected in 1524-1525 during the reign of Vasily III.

The history of the Novodevichy Convent is connected with the names of Boris Godunov and his sister Irina Fedorovna (the widow of the last tsar from the Rurik family - Fyodor Ioannovich), who lived here before Godunov’s election to reign. Irina Godunova became a nun under the name of Alexandra and lived in stone chambers. The Church of St. Ambrose of Milan (XVI century) is attached to the Irininsky chambers.

The monastery has 2 beautiful gate churches. Above the southern gate (now walled up, behind it is the Novodevichy Cemetery) rises the Church of the Intercession of the Virgin Mary, built at the end of the 17th century, with the Mariinsky Chambers.

Above the northern entrance there is an elegant Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord built at the same time.

Another dominant feature of the monastery is the amazingly beautiful “lace” bell tower, erected in 1690 and having a height of 72 m.

At the same time, a refectory was erected with the Church of the Assumption of the Mother of God.

There are many monuments in the monastery associated with the reign of the first Romanovs, especially with the closest relatives of Peter I. Here, in particular, his first wife Evdokia Lopukhina, who lived in this building (Lopukhin Chambers), spent her last years.

And in 1689, Peter I imprisoned here his power-hungry half-sister Princess Sophia, who did not want to give up the Russian throne to her mature brother, and who was supported by the rebellious Moscow archers. Here she died in 1704. The chambers of Sophia (in the monastic life of Susanna) were located near the Naprudnaya Tower in the Streltsy guardhouse.

Singing chambers (early 18th century)

Treasury chambers (late 17th century)

The Volkonsky Mausoleum was built in 1830.

Lopukhinskaya Tower and the Intercession Gate Church.

The main (northern) entrance to the monastery. On the left are the Tsaritsyn and Nikolskaya towers. It should be noted that the amazingly beautiful walls and towers of the monastery, which we can admire today, were built at the end of the 16th century. under Boris Godunov, and in the 17th century the towers were decorated with magnificent openwork crowns.

A sign telling that the monastery is the property of all mankind.

Savvinskaya and Zatrapeznaya towers (view from the pond).

Not far from the monastery, on the other side of the pond, in 1991, this funny monument to a duck with ducklings was erected, donated by the wife of the then US President Laura Bush. In 2002, parts of the monument were stolen. After that, new ducks were sent from America and installed in the same place.

And in conclusion - a few photographs of grave monuments located next to the monastery of the Novodevichy cemetery. Grave of B.N. Yeltsin (1931-2007).

Year of inscription on the World Heritage List: 2004

The Novodevichy Convent was founded in 1524 by Prince Vasily III in honor of the greatest Orthodox shrine - the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God, and to commemorate the liberation of Smolensk from the Poles and its return to the Russian lands. For several centuries, the monastery was closely connected with the main events and characters of the political, religious and cultural life of the Russian state: Ivan the Terrible, Boris Godunov (who was called to the throne in the monastery in 1598), Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. At the end of the 17th century. The monastery was involved in an acute political struggle for power between Peter I and his sister Sophia. As a result, Sophia was forcibly sent to a monastery and tonsured as a nun, where she died in 1704. During the Patriotic War of 1812, when the French occupied Moscow, the monastery was used to house warehouses, and there was even a threat of explosion of all its buildings.

In the XVI-XVII centuries. The monastery was one of the most revered convents for women in Rus', a place where representatives of the royal dynasty, as well as the richest boyar and noble families of that time, were tonsured as nuns, and these women then received the right to be buried on the territory of the monastery. The necropolis, which arose here in the 16th century, subsequently expanded significantly, and prominent statesmen, war heroes, scientists, writers, etc. were also buried here. Here are the family tombs of the Volkonskys and Prokhorovs, the graves of the historian S.M. Solovyov, hero of the war of 1812 D.V. Davydov, writer I.I. Lazhechnikov and others. At the beginning of the twentieth century. A new cemetery arose behind the southern wall of the monastery, which later became the resting place for many representatives of the most elite part of Russian society. The necropolis of the Novodevichy Convent is one of the most ancient and significant historical necropolises in Russia.

The architectural ensemble of the Novodevichy Convent, which began to take shape in the first half of the 16th century, was largely completed by the end of the 17th century. It has survived to this day almost unchanged. The ensemble is distinguished by its integrity and authenticity: it has not undergone reconstruction or reconstructive intervention, there are no recreated objects here, only restoration and conservation work is being carried out. In addition, the ensemble has exceptional urban planning significance: it was and still is an important urban planning dominant of the entire southwestern region of Moscow.

The center of the entire composition is the five-domed Smolensk Cathedral, the very first stone building in the monastery (1524−1525), built of brick with white stone details. The interior of the temple preserves a unique wall painting made by Moscow masters at the end of the 16th century; The main theme of the frescoes is the text of the Akathist praising the Most Holy Theotokos. The style of painting gravitates toward the classical Old Russian style with its strict canonicity of images, hierarchy of figures and laconism of compositions; at the same time, this style turned out to be quite decorative. The ancient iconostasis (1683−1686) has been completely preserved; it is five-tiered, wooden, with gilded carvings, the brightest example of structures of this type.

With the exception of the main cathedral, all the main buildings of the monastery ensemble are designed in the same style, called “Moscow Baroque”. This style is distinguished by the abundance of decorative details made of white stone on the facades of brick buildings, as well as the symmetry and grace of the buildings in general. It is noteworthy that the Novodevichy Convent is the only example of an ensemble embodiment of this remarkable architectural movement.

The five-tiered monastery bell tower, erected in 1683−1690, is made of brick, has various white stone details, and stands out for its extremely picturesque appearance. The tiers, covered with vaults, are connected to each other by internal staircases, while the first tier is internally divided into two floors, and the fifth into three floors, connected by wooden stairs. The bells of the 17th century have been preserved. Thanks to its significant height (73 m), precisely found location, beauty and proportionality, the bell tower has always played the role of the main high-rise dominant of this area of ​​​​Moscow.

Other important elements of the single monastery historical and architectural ensemble are the Assumption Church with the refectory chamber, the St. Ambrose Church, the Treasury, Pogrebovye, Singing, Mariinsky, Lopukhinsky chambers, the chamber of Irina Godunova and the chamber of Evdokia Miloslavskaya; it is also a hospital, rifle guards, and a school. In the interiors of these monastic buildings one can see brick ovens lined with polychrome tiles, vaulted ceilings and columns, ornaments and arched niches, profiled cornices and paneled doors, etc.

Located on the southwestern outskirts of the historical center of Moscow, at a strategically important point (a ford across the Moscow River), the Novodevichy Convent was also a fortress: it was part of the system of defensive monastic “ring” formed around the city. The fortress walls with 12 towers (of which four corner towers - Nikolskaya, Naprudnaya, Setunskaya and Chebotarnaya - are round, the rest are square) were erected in the 1680s. In plan, the monastery fence resembles a rectangle in shape (with an area of ​​5.3 hectares), one of the sides of which faces the pond. The walls and towers are equipped with loopholes and internal galleries; in the center of the southern and northern sides there are three-span entrance gates with gate temples. Like the entire monastery ensemble, the walls and towers are made in the “Moscow Baroque” style and are made of brick with a picturesque white stone finish, while the towers are decorated with easily recognizable openwork “crowns”.

The monastery ceased to exist in 1922, when a museum was created here. In 1934, this museum was transferred to the jurisdiction of the State Historical Museum as a separate branch. Nowadays there are a number of exhibitions here and thematic excursions are held. Current protection statuses of the monastery ensemble: a particularly valuable object of cultural heritage of the peoples of the Russian Federation (since 1991) and an architectural monument of federal significance (since 1995). The museums contain the most valuable collections of ancient Russian paintings and icons, books (including handwritten ones), fabrics, church utensils and other objects of decorative and applied art.

In August 2004, the 480th anniversary of the monastery was solemnly celebrated, as well as the 10th anniversary of the resumption of monastic life in it.

May 6th, 2017 , 09:43 pm

In 1514, after unsuccessful attempts to return Smolensk captured by the Lithuanians, Grand Duke Vasily III made a vow: “If by God’s will I get my fatherland, the city of Smolensk and the lands of Smolensk, then I will build a nunnery in Moscow on the suburb.” Either the prince’s prayer was heard in heaven, or the power of the siege artillery frightened the Lithuanians, but the next day the garrison surrendered to the mercy of the winner. The prince did not forget his vow and in 1524 founded the Great Monastery of the Most Pure Mother of God Hodegetria in the bend of the Moscow River.

The Novodevichy Convent is dedicated to the Most Holy Theotokos Hodegetria, which translated from Greek means “Guide”, “Mentor”. The icon became the ancestral shrine of the Russian princes, a symbol of continuity and dynastic closeness of Constantinople and Rus'. At the beginning of the 12th century, Prince Vladimir Monomakh moved the icon to Smolensk, where he founded the Church of the Assumption of the Mother of God, in which a Christian shrine was subsequently placed. The Grand Duke summoned from Suzdal the “reverent and dean schema-nun” of the Intercession Monastery Elena (Devochkina), whom he revered for the holiness of her life and believed in the power of her prayers for the princely family, with whom 18 Suzdal elders arrived.

In 1598, for several months, the monastery became a royal residence: Tsarina Irina Fedorovna Godunova moved here, and the nun Tsarina continued to receive reports from the boyars and sign decrees. On February 22, 1598, in the Smolensk Cathedral, Boris Godunov accepted his election to the kingdom. During the reign of Boris Godunov, the Novodevichy Convent enjoyed its special location - the Smolensk Cathedral was completely renovated, a new iconostasis was erected, the paintings were renewed, “the miraculous images were covered with an expensive frame with stone”, extensive cells were built for the dowager nun-princess, called the Irininsky Chambers, with refectory and house church in the name of John the Baptist. Wanting to turn the monastery into an outpost fortress, Godunov erected stone walls with battlements, loopholes, galleries and many towers about 900 meters long, 13 meters high and 3 meters thick. Guardrooms were attached to each tower to accommodate up to 350 archers.

In the 17th century, the monastery became a refuge for royalty who became victims of the struggle for the Russian throne and a strategic target for various military and political forces. With the accession of Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov, the restoration of the monastery, devastated during the Time of Troubles, began. In the 17th - early 18th centuries, the monastery owned 15,000 serfs and more than 150,000 acres of land in 36 villages scattered from Onega to the Lower Volga.

From the first years of the creation of the monastery, noble persons became its nuns. Under Peter I, Princess Sofya Alekseevna, who was forcibly tonsured as a nun after the Streltsy riot, was imprisoned in a monastery. Later, the disgraced Tsarina Evdokia Fedorovna Lopukhina lived here.

In 1812, the French retreating from Moscow tried to blow up the Novodevichy Convent, but, according to legend, one of the nuns managed to fill the wicks connected to the gunpowder magazines with water. In the first years of Soviet power, divine services were banned in the monastery, the “Museum of the Emancipation of Women” was located in the churches, and since 1934 the Novodevichy Convent became a branch of the State Historical Museum. During the Great Patriotic War, the authorities' attitude towards religion changed; in 1944-1945, the Transfiguration Gate and Assumption Refectory Church were opened. In subsequent decades, museum and religious components coexisted within these ancient walls, and in 2010 the Novodevichy Convent was transferred to the Moscow Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church for free, perpetual use. Currently, restoration work is underway in the chambers, bell tower, towers, and fortress walls.

In the center of the Novodevichy Convent is the five-domed Smolensky Cathedral, in the interior of which fresco painting from the 16th century has been preserved. It was built on the model of the Assumption Cathedral in the Kremlin. At the end of the 17th century, during the reign of Princess Sophia, an architectural ensemble was created around the Smolensk Cathedral, in which the cathedral turned out to be the center of the intersection of two main axes. The “north-south” axis is formed by two gate churches, and the “west-east” axis is formed by the bell tower and the refectory. According to a document from the second half of the 18th century, the author of this ensemble and the creator of most of the monastery’s structures is the architect Pyotr Potapov. In 1689-1690, a six-tier bell tower in the Naryshkin style, 72 meters high, with alternating openwork and “blind” tiers, was erected; at the time of construction it was the tallest bell tower in Moscow after Ivan the Great. The fortress walls and towers appeared under Boris Godunov, but at the end of the 17th century they were completely rebuilt. As an exceptionally well-preserved example of the Moscow Baroque, the ensemble was placed under the protection of UNESCO and declared the property of all mankind.

The ensemble consists of dozens of buildings: the Cathedral Church of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God (1524-1525 or 1560s), the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary with a refectory (1685-1687), the refectory at the Assumption Church (1685-1687), the bell tower (1689 -1690), Church of the Transfiguration over the northern gate (1687-1689), Lopukhinsky Chambers (1687-1688), Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary over the southern gate (1683-1688), Mariinsky Chambers, Church of St. Ambrose of Milan (end XVI - early XVII century), the chambers of Tsarina Irina Godunova (XVII century), the Singing Chambers (1718-1726), the Treasury Chambers (late XVII - early XVIII century), Streletskaya guard at the Naprudnaya Tower (chambers of Princess Sophia, XVII century), the chambers of Princess Evdokia (late 17th - early 18th centuries), Filatevsky School (1871-1878), Hospital Chambers (17th century), Streletskaya Guardhouse at the Nikolskaya Tower, Streletskaya Guardhouse at the Chebotarny Tower, Setunskaya Streltsy Guardhouse, Burial Chambers (late 17th century ), chapel-tomb of the Prokhorovs (1911), fortress walls with twelve towers (late 17th century).

Find out more: N.Antushev. Historical description of the Moscow Novodevichy Convent. - Moscow, 1885.
I.G. Borisenko. Novodevichy Convent. - Moscow, 2003.
A.I.Vlasyuk. Novodevichy Convent. - Moscow: Art, 1958.
A.A. Delnov. Novodevichy necropolis and monastery. Moscow: Eksmo, 2006.

Novodevichy Convent. 1997: https://pastvu.com/p/70698

The Cathedral Church of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God was built in 1524-1525 - this is the oldest temple of the Novodevichy Convent, the project is attributed to the work of either Aleviz Novy or the architect Nestor, who died during the construction of the cathedral. Frescoes from 1526-1530 and an iconostasis from 1683-1686 have survived to this day.

Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary with a refectory chamber (1685-1687)

The 72-meter-high bell tower was built in 1689-1690, presumably by Yakov Bukhvostov. Chambers of Princess Evdokia at the bell tower (late 17th - early 18th centuries)

The Church of the Transfiguration above the northern gate (Transfiguration Gate Church) was erected in 1687-1689, surrounded by a balcony-promenade, this is the home church of Metropolitan Krutitsky and Kolomna

The Lopukhin Chambers are adjacent to the Transfiguration Church; they were built in 1687-1688 for Princess Ekaterina Alekseevna, and are named after the first wife of Peter I, Evdokia Lopukhina, who lived here for a short time. The oldest sundial in Moscow is preserved on the façade.

The Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary over the southern gate (Pokrovskaya Gate Church) was erected in 1683-1688. It was possible to go through the gate to the Novodevichy cemetery, but it had been locked for a long time.

The Mariinsky Chambers are adjacent to the Church of the Intercession, built in 1683-1688

The Temple of St. Ambrose of Milan (Amvrosievskaya Church) was originally dedicated to John the Baptist, built in the late 16th - early 17th centuries

The chambers of Queen Irina Godunova, along with the refectory, are located at the St. Ambrose Church; these buildings are among the oldest in the monastery

The singing chambers were built in 1718-1726 as fraternal cells; later the viceroy and choir nuns lived here

The Treasury Chambers were erected at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries as the abbot's cell

Streletskaya guardhouse (Chambers of Princess Sophia) of the 17th century is combined with the lower tier of the Naprudnaya Tower

The Filatiev School (1871-1878) was built at the expense of N. Filatieva for orphan girls of different classes. Now here is the Moscow diocesan administration.

Hospital wards of the 17th century with a memorial plaque in memory of the restorer Pyotr Baranovsky

Setun Streltsy Guard

chapel-tomb of the Prokhorovs (1911)

Volkonsky Mausoleum (first half of the 19th century)

Tombstone of the hero of Borodino, General Vasily Timofeev

After the reconstruction of the territory in the 1930s, no more than a hundred tombstones remained in the monastery necropolis. Here Tsarina Evdokia Lopukhina, princesses, nuns, and abbess found their final refuge. The names of many outstanding citizens of their time are carved on the tombstones - heroes of the Patriotic War Denis Davydov and Dmitry Volkonsky, generals Dmitry Milyutin and Alexei Brusilov, writers Mikhail Zagoskin and Alexei Pleshcheev, philosopher Vladimir Solovyov. On the southern side, behind the fortress wall, there is a large Novodevichy cemetery, but that’s another story.

Outside the fortress walls, the Church of the Beheading of John the Baptist was recreated in 2016. Chronicles date the appearance of the Church of the Beheading of John the Baptist at the Moscow Novodevichy Convent to the time of the founding of the monastery, that is, to 1525. During the Napoleonic invasion, the Novodevichy Convent was occupied by the enemy army and subjected to desecration, and the Church of the Beheading was blown up.

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill consecrated the Church of the Beheading of John the Baptist: “The temple is always built with prayer, always built for the good of people, with the hope that through prayer in the temple people will live a fuller and happier life. A temple is always a shrine, a place of spiritual peace for people, a place of their meeting with the Lord. May God grant that the construction of new churches continues successfully in our Mother See of Moscow and that the construction of churches continues throughout Rus' - wherever there is a need for them. And we believe that this renewed face of historical Rus' for many, many years - God willing, centuries - will continue to inspire people and help them turn their gaze to heaven.”

There was once a cemetery near the walls of the temple; now a cenotaph has been built on this site - tombstones, under which there are no remains.

The Novodevichy Convent was founded in the 16th century on the Maiden Field (otherwise known as Samsonov Meadow). In 1523 230 kilograms of silver were issued from the grand ducal treasury for the construction of a new monastery, which Moscow Prince Vasily III had vowed to build 9 years earlier, if it was possible to take Smolensk, recaptured from the Moscow principality by the Lithuanians. Smolensk was indeed taken, and the place chosen for the monastery was not an easy one - from this field the icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria of Smolensk was sent from Moscow back to Smolensk. The name of the Devichye Pole came from the fact that, according to legend, during the Tatar-Mongol invasions, the Baskaks selected Russian girls here who were destined to go to the Horde.
Chebotarnaya Tower.

The slope on which the monastery was located led down from the city to Luzhniki. Initially, the walls and towers of the monastery were wooden, but high and very beautiful. There were only southern gates; the northern gate was built later.

View of the Prokhorov chapel and bell tower

The bell tower itself

Smolensky Cathedral

Intercession Gate Church

The history of the Novodevichy Convent is connected with the names of Boris Godunov and his sister Irina Fedorovna, who remained here until Godunov was elected king. Irina Godunova became a nun under the name of Alexandra and lived in stone chambers with a wooden tower built over them. At the end of the 16th century, under Boris Godunov, stone walls and 12 towers were built. They were made on the model of the Kremlin ones; The corner towers are round, the walls are square. Their tops were decorated with teeth. Alas, these beautiful towers could not protect the monastery from destruction during the Time of Troubles - the monastery, which became a fortress, changed hands several times and was finally burned by Pan Gonsevsky.

The necropolis of the Novodevichy Convent is very remarkable. Near the apses of the Smolensk Cathedral the grave of the first local abbess Elena (died November 18, 1548) has been preserved; women of the royal family are buried in the cathedral itself. In the old part of the necropolis, located between the temples, scientists, writers, poets, and simply members of noble families lie nearby. Among the buried there are such big names as A.P. Chekhov, S.M. Soloviev, D.V. Davydov, A.S. Uvarov (archaeologist), Odoevsky, Volkonsky, etc. In 1898-1904. it was decided to expand the cemetery, and the new part, moved outside the monastery, was surrounded by a fence designed by the architect I.P. Mashkov. Now there are the graves of many prominent Soviet figures. The old cemetery suffered greatly during Soviet times: many graves were destroyed, with the exception of writers and scientists and cultural figures.



Assumption Church with refectory chamber



To this day, museum exhibitions and a functioning monastery coexist in the Novodevichy Convent. Some come to pray, and others come to admire the ancient monuments. There are also those who like to visit the “Sofia Tower” - that is, Naprudnaya, which is also called Sophia, in memory of Princess Sophia, who was kept locked in a guardhouse at the tower. After a certain story on television dedicated to the miraculous power of the tower, popular rumor turned Sophia into a saint (which the church never did), and a pilgrimage to the tower began. Some simply touch the wall of the tower, others write their wishes directly on the plaster. This does not bring any benefit to the tower; the museum staff plans to restore it soon.
The same tower...

Shall we take a walk by the pond?)