Novodevichy Convent. My personal photoblog Novodevichy Convent scheme

Novodevichy convent is located almost in the center of Moscow, in historical place, centuries ago called the Maiden Field.

The monastery cannot be perceived separately from the surrounding park and cemetery, so we will talk about one, and the other, and the third. The ensemble of the Novodevichy Convent is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The history of the Novodevichy Convent began with the fact that the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily III promised that he would build a monastery in honor of the icon of Our Lady of Smolensk if he recaptured the Smolensk lands from the Lithuanians. In 1514, Smolensk became part of the Moscow Principality, and ten years later, in 1524, by order of Vasily III, construction of the monastery began.

The nuns of the monastery were mainly women of noble families. Under Ivan the Terrible, many ladies of the court who had fallen out of favor were exiled to the monastery. At the end of the 16th century, Boris Godunov was elected to the kingdom in the monastery. At the same time, the monastery was completely burned by the Crimean Khan Devlet Giray. Driven by the idea of ​​making the monastery an outpost on the western approaches to Moscow, the new tsar completely renovated the monastery - built new fortified walls with loopholes and towers. The monastery has remained this way to this day.

Novodevichy Convent became a place of exile for some noble and royal persons. Thus, after the Streltsy revolt, Peter I imprisoned his sister Sophia in a monastery. Also here, Peter’s first wife, Evdokia Lopukhina, lived out her days. By the way, one of the modern superstitions of the monastery is associated with the name of Sophia. According to this belief, if you make a wish while leaning against the Naprudnaya Tower of the monastery or hugging it, your wish will certainly come true. In fact, the pilgrimage to the tower, which was popularly nicknamed Sophia, turned into vandalism. People write directly on the wall of the tower with markers, which is why the tower has to be re-whitened every few months.

In Soviet times, the Novodevichy Convent suffered the fate of many holy places - it was closed. For many years there was a branch of the Historical Museum here. After the Great Patriotic War, a theological seminary was located here for some time, and only in 1994 the monastery became operational again. In 2010, the monastery became part of the Moscow Diocese, and since the same year there has been a church museum here.

The most ancient building on the territory of the monastery - Cathedral Smolensk icon Mother of God. Initially, it was the only stone building on the territory of the monastery. In the basement of the cathedral there is a tomb in which the sisters of Peter I and his first wife are buried. There are also chambers of Irina Godunova and Evdokia Lopukhina on the territory of the monastery. Basically, all the buildings of the monastery have been preserved from the 17th century.

History of Novodevichy Cemetery originates in monastery burials. Initially, novices were buried here, including nobles and royals. The first graves appeared in the 19th century famous people, including men. Unfortunately, the necropolis of the Novodevichy Convent was badly damaged during Soviet times; out of 2,000 burials, no more than a hundred remain. Including the Volkonsky mausoleum, the tomb with the chapel of the owners of the Trekhgornaya Manufactory, and the grave of Denis Davydov have been preserved. By the beginning of the 20th century, there was no space left for burials on the territory of the monastery, so it was decided to expand the territory. Thus, first the old territory of the cemetery appeared, then in the 40-50s of the twentieth century - a new one, and at the end of the 70s the newest territory.

Unlike other public burial grounds, this cemetery does not evoke melancholy. Apparently, there is such a concentration of graves of the famous and great here that you rather feel the touch of eternity than of dust and decay. Judge for yourself: Chekhov, Gogol, Bulgakov, Mayakovsky, Chaliapin, Evstigneev, Gurchenko, Nikulin, Yeltsin - these are just a few of the names of those who found eternal refuge here. In addition to writers, poets, actors, directors, and politicians, outstanding academicians, scientists, engineers, and philosophers are buried here. And what monuments are there! Their authors, as a rule, are famous sculptors, for example, the author of the monument to N.S. Khrushchev - Ernst Neizvestny. Each monument has its own history; they can be perceived as independent works art.

Sculptural composition "Mama Duck and Ducklings" - a gift from Laura Bush

And finally, the ensemble is completed by a park located along the western wall of the monastery. The park has developed around the Bolshoi and Maly Novodevichy ponds, which represent the old bed of the Moscow River. It’s nice here at any time of the year and very picturesque, which made this place famous among Moscow photographers. The park contains the famous sculpture "Mother Duck and Ducklings" - a gift from Laura Bush. In summer, picnics are often held here. In addition, there are many benches here - you can enjoy the view of the pond and the monastery. And what’s important is that the park is always very clean.

Video:

How to get there:

The territory of the monastery and the park is limited by Novodevichya Embankment, Khamovnichesky Val and Luzhnetsky Proezd. The easiest way to get here is on foot from the Sportivnaya metro station (see directions below)

The Novodevichy Convent, after the Kremlin, is perhaps the second most important and beautiful landmark in Moscow. His historical value and the excellent condition was also appreciated by the Committee world heritage, including the Novodevichy Convent in 2004 on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Russia.

Initially built as a convent and having a difficult fate, it, with some interruptions, retained its intended purpose. Today, inside the picturesque complex, the spiritual component and historical heritage in the form of a museum exhibition. In addition, it’s nice to just wander around the territory of the monastery and enjoy its beauty, which I did with great pleasure.

And now, if you wish, you can plunge into the distant 16th century, from which the history of the existence of this beautiful complex began, and further, trace its entire interesting and difficult life.

In 1514, Grand Duke Vasily III, before the start of the assault on Smolensk, which had previously been seized by the Principality of Lithuania from the Principality of Moscow, made a vow that if he managed to recapture the city, then at the place from where Muscovites escorted the miraculous icon “Hodegetria” to Smolensk in 1456, he will build a monastery. The siege of Smolensk began on July 29, 1514, and the very next day the Lithuanian garrison surrendered; on July 31, the Smolensk people were sworn in to the Moscow prince.

A few words about the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God.

Tradition says that the Hodegetria icon came to Russia in the middle of the 11th century, when the Byzantine Emperor Constantine IX Monomakh, marrying his daughter Anna to Prince Vsevolod Yaroslavich, son of Yaroslav the Wise, in 1046, blessed her on her journey with this icon. And the word "digitria" from Greek means "guide." After the death of Prince Vsevolod, the icon passed to his son Vladimir Monomakh, who transferred it at the beginning of the 12th century to the Smolensk Cathedral Church in honor of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. From that time on, the icon received the name Hodegetria of Smolensk.

The Grand Duke did not forget his vow and on May 13 (May 23), 1524, on the left bank of the bend of the Moscow River near the Devichye Pole, he founded the Great Monastery of the Most Pure Mother of God Hodegetria, the New Maiden Monastery with a cathedral church in the name of the Smolensk Icon. The “new” monastery received its name from the fact that two other convents already existed in the immediate area - Voznesensky in the Kremlin and Zachatyevsky in Khamovniki, and the “maiden” monastery from the area where its construction began - Devichye Pole. According to legend, the area received the name "Maiden's Field" during the Tatar-Mongol invasions - here the Baskaks selected Russian girls who were to go into captivity in the Golden Horde.

To establish the monastery, the prince donated 3,000 silver rubles, palace villages, land and granted it “unconvicted letters”, which freed the monastery from taxes to the treasury.

The first walls and towers that protected the monastery complex were built of wood. The main cathedral of the monastery, named in honor of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God, was erected in 1524-1525. Some researchers suggest that the architect was Aleviz Novy, who at the beginning of the 16th century built many stone churches. According to others, the construction was carried out by the architect Nestor, who died during the construction of the cathedral - due to the haste in the construction process, the building collapsed, which killed several teams of masons, a total of 56 people.

On July 28, 1525, the miraculous Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God was solemnly transferred to the new cathedral with a religious procession from the Kremlin Annunciation Cathedral.

The first abbess of the Novodevichy Convent was Elena Devochkina, called from Suzdal (her grave is still preserved on its territory), along with her 18 more Suzdal elders arrived at the monastery. Subsequently, the monastery became the most privileged and richest of the monasteries in Russia. It included women from the royal seven and noble boyar families - princesses, whom in Rus' it was not customary to marry, as well as disgraced royal wives and widows. On April 30, 1564, in the monastery, Princess Juliania Dmitrievna Paletskaya, the widow of the Grand Duke of Uglich Yuri Vasilyevich, the younger brother of Ivan the Terrible, took monastic vows with the name Alexandra; in 1582, Tsarevna Elena Ivanovna Sheremeteva (in the tonsure of Leonid), the widow of Ivan the Terrible’s son, Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich, settled in the monastery.

The history of the Novodevichy Convent is closely connected with the names of Boris Godunov (1552-1605) and his sister Irina Feodorovna. Irina Godunova, after the death of the husband of Tsar Fyodor I Ioannovich, became a nun under the name Alexandra and lived in stone chambers with a wooden tower built over them. She also brought her brother Boris with her, who remained in the monastery until his election to the royal throne. In the Smolensk Cathedral of the Novodevichy Convent, Boris Godunov accepted his election to the throne in 1598.

Having moved to the Kremlin, the newly-minted tsar did not forget about the monastic monastery. As a sign of his gratitude, he ordered the restoration of the Smolensk Cathedral, the construction of a house church in the name of John the Baptist (now the Church of St. Ambrose of Milan), and the construction of new cells.

In 1571, the monastery was burned by the Crimean Khan Devlet-Girey during his raid on Moscow and then rebuilt. To turn the monastery into a reliable outpost fortress guarding the western approaches to Moscow, by order of Boris Godunov, on the spot wooden walls, more reliable stone walls were erected connecting twelve towers. The Kremlin walls served as a model - round towers in the corners and square ones between the walls. Strong and high walls with towers had battlements and loopholes, and were connected to each other by galleries. Guardrooms were attached to each tower, and a garrison of archers was stationed there to guard the monastery. The walls of the monastery were also reinforced with cannons, which repelled the second invasion of the khan twenty years later.

Weiss I.A. Novodevichy Convent. Moscow.

During the Time of Troubles (1598 -1613), the Novodevichy Convent, passing from hand to hand, served as a camp either for the defenders of the Fatherland or for its enemies. During the siege of Moscow, Princess Ksenia Godunova was in the monastery with the former Livonian queen Maria. After the expulsion of the Poles, the Novodevichy Convent, devastated and burned by them, was restored and strengthened during the reign of Mikhail Romanov.

Despite the losses suffered during the Time of Troubles, the Novodevichy Convent quickly regained its former beauty and prosperity. Numerous estates and precious objects were donated to the Novodevichy Convent by the monarchs. In the second half of the 17th century, the monastery owned about three thousand icons, many valuable church utensils and liturgical objects.

In the 1680s, under Princess Sofya Alekseevna, grandiose construction began here. Almost the entire ensemble of the monastery was made in the Moscow Baroque style, new for that time. In a very short time, gate churches appeared on the northern and southern gates, a refectory with the Assumption Church, two residential buildings for Sophia’s sisters - princesses Maria and Catherine, a hospital, a bell tower, etc. Under Princess Sophia, the monastery walls were repaired and towers were added. Princess Sophia herself, after the Streletsky rebellion organized by her from the walls of the monastery in the struggle for the royal throne and brutally suppressed Peter I, was imprisoned and tonsured in the Novodevichy Convent under the name of Susanna.A terrible scene of that time can be read from A. Tolstoy’s novel “Peter I”: “At the Novodevichy Convent there were thirty gallows erected in a quadrangle, on which 230 archers were hanged. The three instigators who submitted the petition to Princess Sophia were hanged on the wall of the monastery right under the windows of Sophia’s cell. in the middle he held a petition tied to dead hands.”

Princess Sophia died on July 3 (14), 1704. Before her death, she took monastic vows into the great schema, taking her former name, Sophia. She was buried in the Smolensk Cathedral of the Novodevichy Convent.

Sophia is not the only noble inhabitant of this monastery. Evdokia Lopukhina, the first wife of Peter I, was transferred here from Suzdal under Peter II. During the years of the church schism, the noblewoman Morozova was kept in custody for some time in the monastery. Many people remember her from the famous painting by I. Surikov.

In 1724, a shelter for foundling girls for 250 people was opened at the monastery. The girls were taught how to weave Dutch lace by craftswomen hired by Peter I from Brabant.

During the Patriotic War of 1812, soldiers from Marshal Davout's corps, numbering about two thousand people, entered the monastery. The marshal occupied the abbess's cells, but did not allow any violence or robbery, and even allowed the archpriest who remained in the monastery to perform divine services. At the end of September, Napoleon arrived at the Novodevichy Convent and, having examined it, ordered to establish a food base for his army in it. To protect it, additional loopholes were made for artillery pieces, bastions were built in front of the northern gate, and the southern gate was covered with earth. Only the side gate on the northwestern side was left for entry.

By order of Napoleon, the Church of John the Baptist, which stood at the eastern wall of the monastery and interfered with the artillery shelling of Moscow, was blown up. And before leaving the holy monastery, the French placed barrels of gunpowder under the monastery buildings and brought wicks to them. Leaving the monastery, they lit these wicks, and everything threatened to destroy both the monastery and the nuns who were slow to leave, but the courageous treasurer Sarah and several other sisters began to extinguish the wicks with water, thereby preventing explosions. A picture depicting this event was subsequently painted in the icon-painting workshop of the Novodevichy Convent, and the names of the heroines were included in the memorial book of heroes participating in the Patriotic War of 1812.

Having recovered from the Napoleonic invasion, the Novodevichy Convent in the 19th and early 20th centuries was known as one of the best monasteries in the capital.

The Novodevichy Convent was closed in 1922, after the October Revolution. An oral tradition preserves the story that shortly before the closure, the last abbess, Abbess Vera, invited all the sisters to leave the monastery and settle with relatives and friends. Some of the young nuns heeded her advice, but the old women remained and were shot by the Bolsheviks in front of the entrance to the Assumption Cathedral. In 1926, the temple itself housed a warehouse for the State Storage.

Over time, the Novodevichy Convent was turned into the Museum of the reign of Princess Sophia, then it was renamed the Museum of the Emancipation of Women, and in 1934 the monastery was transferred to the State Historical Museum. But most of the buildings were given over to non-museum uses: about 700 residents were settled there, turning the monastery into a densely populated quarter. The interiors of almost all buildings have undergone redevelopment with the installation of small rooms, kitchens, and bathrooms. Nurseries and laundries were placed in the cells, and a gymnasium was installed in the refectory. The last residents left the walls of the Novodevichy Convent only in the late 1960s. An exception was made for Pyotr Baranovsky, an architect and restorer of monuments of ancient Russian architecture - he preferred his rooms in the Hospital Wards to the new apartment.

The necropolis of the monastery was almost completely destroyed at the end of the 1920s. Currently, from the entire necropolis - and there were approximately 3,000 burials - there are about a hundred graves left. It was destroyed for ideological reasons, as a cemetery for class alien elements - aristocrats, nobles, military men, representatives of the clergy and merchants. This caused a protest from Moscow University, since, along with “class alien elements,” monuments to historical and cultural figures who had undeniable services to the fatherland recognized by the new government were damaged. The destruction of the necropolis was stopped, and some lost monuments were even restored. True, this did not always happen successfully. For example, when restoring monuments at the graves of Solovyov and Uvarov, fragments of monuments taken from other people’s graves were used.

In 1994, the Novodevichy Convent was revived, restoration work began, after which monastic life was revived. In March 2010, the complex of almost all monastery buildings was transferred for free, perpetual use to the Moscow Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church. However, the Novodevichy Convent retained its status as a museum. In particular, the Smolensk Cathedral is a branch of the Historical Museum, and its restoration workshops are located on the premises of the Intercession Church and the Mariinsky Chambers.

Plan diagram of the Novodevichy Convent.

Intercession Gate Church (1683-1688).

Bell tower (1683-1688).

Assumption Church with a refectory chamber (1682-1687), Intercession Tower (1680s).

Refectory Chamber (1682-1687)

Streletskaya guard at the Naprudnaya Tower (XVII century), Naprudnaya and Savvinskaya towers (1680s).

Predtechenskaya (Irininskaya) tower (1680s) and the Intercession Gate Church (1683-1688).

Chebotarnaya and Zatrapeznaya towers (1880s).

Interesting Facts.

In 1525, simultaneously with the founding of the monastery, the Parish Church of the Beheading of John the Baptist was built near its walls. It was an integral part of the monastery ensemble; to this day one of the monastery towers is called Predtechenskaya. As mentioned above, the temple was blown up at the behest of Napoleon. The decision to restore the building was made in 2012, when the country celebrated the 200th anniversary of the victory in the War of 1812. In honor of this event, Patriarch of All Rus' Kirill and Russian President Vladimir Putin laid a memorial stone in the Luzhnetsky Proezd park. The temple will be built slightly lower than the original, its height will not be 30 meters, but only 18. The reason for this was not saving money, but the requirements imposed by the World Heritage Committee - the new church should not dominate the Novodevichy Convent (in my opinion, a strange requirement, if the church was historically part of the complex). Experts are restoring the exterior of the church using ancient lithographs.

A rich treasure was found near the Novodevichy Convent, consisting of three rusty copper vessels filled with silver coins from the time of Ivan III.

In 1909 I.Ya. Stelletsky discovered a long underground passage, leading to the Moscow River in the form of a brick tunnel. This passage was dug in case of a siege of the monastery.

Novodevichy is the oldest and, perhaps, the most beautiful active convent in Moscow. It is located in a bend of the Moscow River on the Devichye Pole - in these places, according to legend, during the Mongol-Tatar yoke, Russian girls were selected for the Golden Horde.
The monastery was founded in 1524 by Grand Duke Vasily the Third after the capture of Smolensk in honor of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God “Hodegetria”. Also, historians associate the founding of Novodevichy with the dissolution of the marriage of Vasily the Third - it was here that he wanted to exile his wife, Grand Duchess Solomonia.
Subsequently, persons of the royal family often appeared at the monastery, and the royal daughters and sisters took monastic vows. Ivan the Terrible assigned his relatives here - the widow of his younger brother and the widow of his eldest son Ivan. Tsarina Irina Godunova lived here with her brother Boris Godunov. There were many novices from noble princely and boyar families.

Not all women came here of their own free will. By order of Peter the Great, in 1689, his sister Princess Sofya Alekseevna was imprisoned here and forcibly tonsured as a nun after the Streletsky uprising. Opposite the monastery, her supporters were executed, and the heads of the archers were strung on the battlements of the monastery wall.

Another famous nun is the first wife of Peter the Great, Tsarina Evdokia Lopukhina.
The Novodevichy Convent is a real fortress: high impregnable walls, towers with loopholes, built of brick with white stone trim. The main buildings were erected in the second half of the 17th century in the Moscow Baroque style. Novodevichy Convent

GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE MONASTERY
Novodevichy Convent (Novodevichy Bogoroditse-Smolensky Monastery) is an Orthodox convent of the Russian Church in Moscow. The monastery was founded by Grand Duke Vasily III in 1524 - in honor of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God "Hodegetria" - the main shrine of Smolensk, in gratitude for the capture of Smolensk in 1514.

The monastery is located on the Devichye Pole in a bend of the Moscow River, near Luzhniki, at the very end of the historical Prechistenka (currently Bolshaya Pirogovskaya Street). It is both an active monastery and a branch of the State Historical Museum. Since 2010, it has been transferred to the Moscow Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church and is a church museum.

The founding of the nunnery by Vasily III coincides with his divorce proceedings, so some researchers believe that the prince “remembered” his vow precisely for this purpose and the monastery was intended for the Grand Duchess Solomonia Saburova. At the beginning of 1526, the Grand Duke married young Elena Glinskaya, the daughter of the Lithuanian prince Vasily Lvovich Glinsky, from whose marriage Ivan the Terrible was born.

Since the 16th century, the monastery stood guard over the western approaches to Moscow. But since it was not suitable for performing defensive functions, in 1571 it was burned by Khan Devlet I Giray. Wanting to turn the monastery into an outpost fortress, Boris Godunov erected stone walls with battlements, loopholes, galleries and many towers about 900 m long, 13 m high and 3 m thick. Guard rooms were attached to each tower to accommodate up to 350 archers. A garrison of archers was sent to the monastery to perform guard duty.

After the October Revolution in 1917-1918, the monastery was actually abolished. In 1930-1934, the “Museum of Women’s Emancipation” was located in the monastery. Since 1934, the Novodevichy Convent has become a branch of the State Historical Museum. In 2004, the Novodevichy Convent turned 480 years old and its architectural ensemble was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Currently, the monastery is considered one of the oldest and most beautiful monastic architectural ensembles in Russia.

Setun tower and monastery wall

WHERE IS
Monastery address:
119435, Moscow, Novodevichy proezd, 1
(Sportivnaya metro station).

How to get to the Novodevichy Convent
On public transport: metro station Sportivnaya, then about 5-7 minutes on foot.
Address: Moscow, Novodevichy proezd, building 1.

Mother Superior
Abbess Margarita (Feoktistova)

Opening hours
You can enter the territory daily from 9-00 to 17-00.
The Smolensk Cathedral is open from May 15 to the end of September, services are held during patronal holidays. The Assumption Church is open all year round.

MAIN SHRINES
Smolensk and Iverskaya (mid-17th century) icons of the Mother of God
Icon of St. Nicholas with a particle of his relics.
Arks with particles of St. relics of various saints.

Intercession Gate Church

MUSEUM
Museums are open from 10-00 to 16-30, closed on Tuesdays. The first Monday of every month is sanitary day.

Ticket prices
Entrance to the territory is free.
Ticket price for museums: adults - 150 rubles, schoolchildren, students and pensioners - 60 rubles.

WORSHIP
Divine Liturgy: daily at 7:40,
on Sundays and holidays early at 6:20, late at 8:40.
Evening service at 17:00
Every day at the end of the Liturgy,
prayer service with akathist before the image of the Iveron Mother of God.
On Wednesdays there is a prayer service before the image of the Mother of God “The Inexhaustible Chalice”.

TEMPLES AND CHAPELS OF THE MONASTERY
Smolensk Cathedral of the Mother of God Hodegetria
Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord (Krestovaya) at the residence of Metropolitan of Krutitsky and Kolomna
Church of St. equal to V. book Vladimir with the baptismal (in the basement of the Assumption Church)
Church of St. Ambrose of Milan
Church of the Intercession of the Mother of God (in the process of restoration, services are not held)
chapel-tomb of the Prokhorovs

Prokhorov Chapel and Smolensk Cathedral

MONASTERY COMPOSITION
Alexander Nevsky Temple (1916)
village Sanatorium named after Herzen, Odintsovo district, Odintsovo district, village. “Sanatorium named after. Herzen", 23A
Official website: sherbatovo-hram.ru
Assumption Church (1785)
With. Shubino, Domodedovo district, Moscow Region, Domodedovo district, village. Shubino, st. Druzhby, 37A

DETAILED HISTORY OF THE MONASTERY,
DESCRIPTION OF THE SANCTIES OF THE MONASTERY
The Novodevichy Convent in Moscow was founded by the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily III Ioannovich in 1524. It was called new in relation to the more ancient metropolitan monasteries: the Conception Monastery, which in those days was called Starodevichy, and the Kremlin Ascension, whose ancient glory Novodevichy took over, becoming a new court monastery, where representatives of the most noble nobility entered in the 16th-17th centuries. According to the patriarchal charter of 1598, the full name of the monastery was: Most Honorable Great Monastery of the Most Pure Mother of God Hodegetria New Maiden Monastery.

The Novodevichy Convent is dedicated to the Most Holy Theotokos Hodegetria, which translated from Greek means “Guide”, “Mentor”. This was the name of the ancient image of the Mother of God, which was located in the famous Constantinople temple of Odigon (temple of Guides, Leaders).

Icon “Our Lady Hodegetria of Smolensk” (from the local row of iconostasis of the Smolensk Cathedral).

Painted by the holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke, the icon of Hodegetria, together with the sacred robe and belt of the Mother of God, was revered in Byzantium as the guardian, palladium, of the Empire. In 1046, the image of the Most Pure Hodegetria was brought to Rus' by the daughter of Emperor Constantine IX Monomakh, Princess Anna, as a parental blessing for her marriage to the Chernigov prince Vsevolod Yaroslavich. This icon became the ancestral shrine of the Russian princes and a symbol of the continuity and dynastic closeness of two Orthodox monarchies: Constantinople - the Second Rome and the young Russian State. In 1097, Vladimir Vsevolodovich Monomakh transferred the image of the Guide to his appanage city of Smolensk and placed it in the cathedral Assumption Church. Since then, the icon began to be called Smolensk, Smolensk itself - the city of the Most Holy Theotokos, and the cathedral - Her House. In 1239, through the intercession of the Most Pure Virgin, the city was saved from the invasion of Batu.

Located at the crossroads connecting East and West, Smolensk repeatedly resisted encroachments by the Lithuanian princes. And while the icon of Hodegetria remained in the city, it retained its independence. But when in 1404 the last of the Smolensk princes, Yuri Svyatoslavich, seeking the protection of Moscow, brought the icon of Hodegetria as a vassal gift to Grand Duke Vasily Dmitrievich, Smolensk was taken, and the rule of the Lithuanian princes was established in it for 110 years. The Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God stayed in Moscow for half a century. It was placed in the Annunciation Cathedral of the Kremlin, to the right of the royal gates. In 1456, the people of Smolensk beat Grand Duke Vasily the Dark with their foreheads with a request to return the icon to them. Seeing this as a guarantee of the future reunification of Smolensk with Moscow, the prince returned the shrine. The Smolensk icon was raised and solemnly carried out of the Kremlin with a religious procession. Having reached the Maiden's Field, the sacred procession stopped at the entrance to the Old Smolensk Road. Here, after a farewell prayer service, the Hodegetria icon was released to Smolensk, and in the Annunciation Cathedral they placed an exact copy of it, “measure in measure” to the ancient image.

“The Necklace of Russia” - this is what Tsar Boris Godunov called Smolensk, expressing the attitude of Moscow rulers towards these border lands, which more than once passed to Lithuania. Returning Smolensk was the main dominant feature of Moscow’s foreign policy in the 15th-16th centuries. Under Grand Duke Vasily III Ioannovich, the dispute over Western Russian lands resumed with new strength, but the annexation of Smolensk was not easy. In 1514, after several unsuccessful campaigns, standing with an army under the walls of the ancient Russian stronghold, the prince 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 maiden monastery in Moscow on the outskirts, and in it a temple in the name of Most Pure...” The siege of the city began on July 29, the next day the Lithuanian garrison surrendered, on July 31 the Smolensk people were sworn in to the Moscow prince, and on August 1, on the feast of the origin of the trees of the Honest and Life-Giving Cross, Vasily III solemnly entered “his homeland.” "The residents of Smolensk, led by Bishop Barsanuphius, brought the miraculous Smolensk icon to meet the Emperor.

The Grand Duke did not forget his pious vow. Ten years after the capture of Smolensk, on May 13/26, 1524, he founded the Great Monastery of the Most Pure Mother of God Hodegetria, the New Maiden Monastery with a cathedral church in the name of the Smolensk Icon. The location for the monastery was not chosen by chance: in a picturesque bend of the Moscow River, three miles from the Kremlin, on the Devichye Pole, where in 1456 Muscovites said goodbye to the Smolensk Icon.

By order of the sovereign, on July 28 / August 10, 1525, the Smolensk Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos was transferred from the Kremlin to the “House of the Most Pure Hodegetria New Maiden Monastery”. On that day, Vasily III himself and Metropolitan Daniel walked at the head of the procession. In memory of the transfer of the miraculous image, an annual celebration of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God was established with a procession of the cross from the Kremlin to the Novodevichy Convent.

To become abbess at the Monastery of the Most Pure Hodegetria, Grand Duke Vasily summoned from Suzdal the Venerable Elena (Girl's memory: November 18), the “reverent and dean schema-nun” of the Intercession Monastery. The Emperor revered the Venerable One for the holiness of her life and believed in the power of her prayers for the grand ducal family. Together with her, 18 Suzdal oxbow lakes arrived in the capital.

Venerable Elena of Moscow with Venerables Feofania and Dominicia.

19th century icon Workshop of the Novodevichy Convent.

Through the prayers of St. Helena and her associates, through tears and labors within the walls of the monastery of the Most Pure Hodegetria, the beginning of monastic work was laid. All of them unanimously subordinated their lives to the laws of the ancient communal charter: common prayer, common labor, common meals and property. The Monk Elena became famous as “an excellent teacher of the virgin rite and a well-known leader for salvation.” She ruled the Novodevichy Convent until her death in 1547 and was buried at the northern apse of the altar of the Smolensk Cathedral. In her Spiritual Letter, the Reverend Mother bequeathed to future abbess and all sisters to strictly maintain the monastic order, the communal rules and to pray fervently for the royal family. The veneration of St. Helena as a Moscow saint was established under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich.

There is one mysterious circumstance in the history of the Novodevichy Convent: the concerns of Vasily III in establishing a new monastery coincide in time with his divorce case. Probably, the monastery was intended for Grand Duchess Solomonia Saburova, whose 20-year marriage did not produce heirs. In 1523, Vasily Ioannovich obtained permission for a second marriage, and in November 1525, the Grand Duchess was tonsured at the Nativity Monastery with the name Sophia. But she never had to settle in the monastery of the Most Pure Hodegetria - she ended her earthly days in the remote Intercession Monastery in the city of Suzdal. For her righteous life, the princess-nun was canonized and is now revered by the Church as St. Sophia of Suzdal. The southern limit of the Smolensk Cathedral of the Novodevichy Convent, dedicated to the holy martyr Sophia, the so-called princess-nun, recalls the family drama of Prince Vasily III, which served as a kind of prologue to the further fate of the monastery on the Maiden Field.

Upon Godunov’s accession, the Novodevichy Convent received great favors: the Smolensk Cathedral was completely renovated, a new iconostasis was erected, and the paintings were renewed. For the dowager queen-nun, who settled in the monastery with a large court retinue and all services, extensive cells were built, called the Irininsky Chambers, with a refectory and a house church in the name of John the Baptist (at the end of the 18th century it was renamed in honor of St. Ambrose of Milan). After Godunova’s death, almost all of its property was transferred to the monastery. At the end of the 16th - beginning of the 17th centuries, there were 122 old women in the monastery, of which 20 were “princesses and boyars” of noble families: Meshcherskys, Pronskys, Sheremetevs, Velyaminovs, Rostovskys, Pleshcheevs, Okhlebinins, Beklemishevs. All nuns were paid a salary from the royal treasury. The elders in the monastery were the abbess, the cellarer, the old women from the boyars and the “great kryloshanki” (choristers). The second rank consisted of “lesser kryloshanki” and ordinary old women. In addition, the Palace and the Grand Order paid the monastery expenses for firewood, prosphora, wax, barrel fish and salt. Monastic villages were located in Dmitrovsky, Ruzsky, Klinsky, Bezhetsky, Kashinsky, Rostovsky, Vladimirsky, Vereisky, Zvenigorodsky, Vyazemsky, Uglichesky, Moscow, Volotsky and Obolensky districts.

At the turn of the 16th-17th centuries, the Novodevichy Convent was a powerful outpost fortress on the western approaches to Moscow. It was repeatedly raided by the Crimean Tatars: in 1571 it was burned by Khan Devlet-Girey; in 1591, the army of Kazy-Girey was stopped on the approaches to it. Wanting to ensure the safety of the suburban monastery, Godunov erected powerful stone walls with towers in it, which, in accordance with the requirements of medieval fortification, were equipped with cannon, musket and plantar loopholes, sights and siege drains. A garrison of archers was assigned to perform guard duty at the monastery. Located at the crossroads of the land Smolensk road and the waterway through the fords of the Moscow River, the monastery had a convenient strategic position and occupied an important place in the defensive line of other Moscow monasteries - “watchmen”, such as the Donskoy Monastery, Danilov Monastery, Novo-Spassky Monastery, Simonov Monastery .

During the Great Troubles, Novodevichy found himself at the center of military action and political intrigue. Already in 1606, Smolensk warriors, called by Tsar Vasily Shuisky, defended the monastery from the advancing troops of Bolotnikov. In 1610, on the Maiden Field, the boyars conducted secret negotiations with the Poles about the calling of Prince Vladislav to the kingdom. During the Moscow siege of 1610-1612, the monastery, passing from hand to hand, saw archers, Poles, Germans and dashing people on its fortress walls. On August 21, 1612, under the walls of the Novodevichy Convent, the decisive battle of the Russian militia led by Prince Pozharsky for the liberation of Moscow took place. From here the Russian squads moved to the Kremlin.

During the Great Troubles, the Novodevichy Convent experienced difficult days. Disasters began in 1605 when, by order of False Dmitry, the monastery treasury was confiscated. In those years, the court monastery became a refuge for royalty who became victims of the struggle for the Russian throne. In 1606, Tsar Vasily Shuisky settled within its walls Princess Ksenia Borisovna Godunova (monastically Olga), tonsured at the Novgorod Goritsky Monastery. With her in the monastery lived the Livonian Queen Maria (monastically Martha), the daughter of Vladimir Andreevich Staritsky, cousin of Tsar Ivan the Terrible, who was considered the closest heir to the Moscow throne. In conditions of a state of siege and almost continuous hostilities, the position of the royal nuns was desperate.

With the accession of Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov to the Moscow throne, the devastated monastery was cleansed, restored and strengthened. The last echo of the Great Troubles was the settlement in Novodevichy in 1615 of Tsarina Maria Petrovna Buinosova-Rostovskaya (in the monastic life of Elena, died in 1625), the widow of Tsar Vasily Shuisky, who was dethroned in 1610.

Kings Michael, Alexy and Theodore were zealous for the House of the Most Holy Theotokos Hodegetria: they freed the monastery from taxes to the treasury, endowed it with estates, and enriched it with deposits. By the 50s of the 17th century, through the diligence of the tsar and patriarch, the monastery of the Most Pure Hodegetria was completely renovated and beautified.

The victory of the Russian army in 1612 and the liberation of Moscow from the Poles did not eliminate the confrontation on the western borders. The dispute continued over Smolensk, Belarus, and left-bank Ukraine. In this political as well as religious context, the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos Hodegetria began to be perceived as the guardian of the western borders of Great Russia. In those years, Moscow sovereigns went “to the Most Pure One” not only on pilgrimage. Troop reviews were held under the walls of the monastery on Devichye Pole, from here the royal squads set off to the west along the old Smolensk road. In 1654, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, personally leading the troops, began a war with Poland. Having defeated the Poles near Vyazma, Russian troops on September 23, 1654 took Smolensk, which had been under the rule of Sigismund for almost half a century, and on October 2 of the same year, by royal decree, the city was finally annexed to the Russian State. Imitating Grand Duke Vasily III, in gratitude for the victory, Alexey Mikhailovich made rich contributions to the Novodevichy Convent and placed another great shrine in the cathedral church of the monastery - the miraculous icon of the Iveron Mother, brought from Athos in 1648, which was in Russian army.

Angel - monument to Mravinskaya Olga

The time of real prosperity for the Novodevichy Convent was the years of the reign of Princess Sofia Alekseevna (1682-1689). After the death of Emperor Theodore Alekseevich, she took the place of regent (ruler) under her young brothers, Tsars John and Peter. Knowing the fragility of her reign, won by the rebellious archers, Sofya Alekseevna began building and decorating the monastery on the Devichye Pole, which she chose for herself as a country residence. Perhaps, the 25-year-old princess-ruler, “escaping from the mansion to freedom,” considered the Novodevichy Convent as a place of her future solitude. But, most likely, by erecting luxurious temples and palaces in it, Sophia was driven by political ambitions: she sought to show her strength, wealth and enlightenment. Smart, brave, well-educated, she consistently fought for the Moscow throne. Sofya Alekseevna often came to the monastery with Patriarch Joachim and her younger brother, Tsar Ivan, to consecrate churches. Here she rewarded faithful archers with royal generosity and met with people devoted to her.

Under the princess-ruler Sofya Alekseevna, a unique architectural ensemble of the monastery, which has survived to this day, was formed, striking in its truly royal splendor. The Smolensk Cathedral with its laconic forms of the late Middle Ages, like a precious stone in an exquisite setting, is surrounded by richly decorated churches and buildings late XVII century in the Moscow Baroque style. The main temples of the monastery form in plan a regular cross facing the east, in the center of which is the Smolensk Cathedral, the top is crowned by the candle of the bell tower, the main vertical is formed by the refectory chamber with the Assumption Church, and the transverse one from the north and south is closed by the Transfiguration and Intercession gate churches. The main theme of the architectural decoration of the monastery is the contrast of the white stone patterned frames, arches, galleries, balustrades with the crimson-red facades of the temples, crowned with elegant gilded domes, and all this is framed by snow-white walls with towers decorated with fancy “crowns”.

The walls and towers of the monastery, built by Godunov, were strengthened and expanded under Sophia. Currently, their total length is 870 meters, height from 7 to 11 meters, thickness - up to 5 meters. Forming an irregular pentagon, they surround a territory with a total area of ​​5 hectares. Along the perimeter of the walls there are 12 towers with richly decorated tops. Of these, 4 are round corner: Naprudnaya, Nikolskaya, Chebotarnaya, Setunskaya, with rifle guards attached to them, and the remaining 8 are quadrangular: Lopukhinskaya, Tsaritsynskaya, Ioasafovskaya, Shvalnaya, Pokrovskaya, Predtechenskaya, Zatrapeznaya and Savvinskaya.

Smolensky Cathedral (1524-1525) - the oldest stone building of the Novodevichy Convent, is a six-pillar temple on a high basement, surrounded on three sides by a wide gallery, on which four chapel churches were originally located. Of these, two have survived to this day: in honor of the holy apostles Prokhor and Nikanor, whose memory coincides with the celebration of the Smolensk Icon, and the holy martyr Sophia.

Church of St. Ambrose of Milan with the refectory and chambers of Queen Irina Godunova - after the Smolensk Cathedral, the most ancient architectural complex of the monastery. In the second half of the 16th century, it was a separately enclosed estate, which belonged first to Princess Ulyana Udelnaya (Paletskaya, Alexandra in monasticism), and then to Tsarina Irina Feodorovna Godunova (also Alexandra in monasticism). The building was heavily damaged during the fire of 1796 and lost its original appearance.

The refectory chamber with the Assumption Church (1685-1687) is a unique structure for those times - a vast pillarless chamber with an area of ​​323 square meters. meters, standing on a high basement. On the eastern side, the refectory is adjacent to the high quadrangle of the Assumption Church, on the second floor of which there is a chapel in honor of the Descent of the Holy Spirit, in which an ancient iconostasis has been preserved. Initially, the temple was decorated with an elegant five-domed dome, damaged by a fire in 1796, and surrounded by an open white-stone gallery, dismantled due to dilapidation at the beginning of the 19th century. After restoration work carried out according to the design of the architect Kazakov, the church acquired its current appearance.

The Church of the Transfiguration (1687-1688) was built above the holy (northern) gates and is, as it were, a “calling card” of the monastery. An elegant, light temple, decorated with white stone decoration, seems to hover above the monastery. Its high quadrangle with three rows of windows is completed with a belt of large white stone shells and five faceted drums with figured heads. Adjacent to the Church of the Transfiguration from the west are the so-called Lopukhin Chambers, originally built for Princess Ekaterina Alekseevna, and in 1727-1731 they became the home of the nun Tsarina Evdokia Fedorovna Lopukhina, the first wife of Peter I.

The original carved iconostasis by Karp Zolotarev has been preserved in the Church of the Transfiguration. The icons of the local series are distinguished by their particular subtlety and perfection of writing. Their selection reflected the sovereign idea that occupied Princess Sophia. On one of the icons, the holy martyr Sophia is depicted standing before the Mother of God, together with the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Queen Elena, Princess Olga and Martyr Paraskeva, the patroness of the wife of Tsar Ivan Alekseevich.

The Church of the Intercession (1683-1688) was erected above the southern gate of the monastery. It is not as majestic as Preobrazhenskaya, but no less original. Its creators used a rare technique characteristic of Ukrainian architecture: three light, tiered domes of this temple were placed in one row above the vestibule, refectory and altar, with bell towers located in the side domes. Adjacent to it from the east are the Mariinsky Chambers, in which Tsarevna Maria Alekseevna lived.

The bell tower (1687-1689) was built in the last year of the reign of Princess Sophia. It has a height of 72 meters and consists of six tiers of octagons, surrounded by galleries with white stone balustrades. The third and fifth tiers are occupied by bell towers. In the lower one there was a church in the name of the Venerable Varlaam and Joasaph, Prince of India, which was connected to the chambers of another princess of Miloslavskaya, Evdokia Alekseevna, located at the foot of the bell tower. In the second tier there was a church in honor of the holy apostle and evangelist John the Theologian, the throne of which was moved to the refectory of the Assumption Church after 1812.

The Streletsky revolt of 1689 put an end to the regency of Princess Sophia. Having become a prisoner from a ktitor, the deposed ruler did not abandon her power-hungry plans within the walls of the monastery: in 1698, another Streltsy riot was raised, brutally suppressed by Peter. This rebellion brought three more princess sisters to the monastery on Devichye Pole: Evdokia, Catherine and Maria. And Sophia herself, on the 20th of October 1689, under Abbess Pamphilia (Potemkina) in the Smolensk Cathedral, was tonsured with the name of Susanna and placed “for strong maintenance” in the Streltsy guard at the Naprudnaya Tower. She received money and food allowance from the palace, but was strictly limited in communication, being under the protection of Preobrazhensky soldiers.

Princess nun Susanna (1657-1704) reposed in 1704 on July 3/16, having been tonsured into the schema the year before, with the former name Sophia. Despite her disgrace, the sisters revered her as a great mistress and “the builder of a holy house from long ago.” And the Streltsy guardhouse, where she was imprisoned, was called “the palace of the blessed memory of the schema-nun Princess Sofia Alekseevna.” She was buried in the southwestern corner of the Smolensk Cathedral, and her two princess sisters were later buried next to her: Evdokia (1650-1712) and Catherine (1658-1718) of Miloslavsky. Above all the tombstones, iconostases were built from their personal and inset icons.

After the death of schema-nun Princess Sophia, the Novodevichy Convent remained closed for more than ten years.

In 1721, the monastery came under the jurisdiction of the Holy Synod, but its disgrace continued. In 1724-1725, by imperial order, an “orphan building” with 252 places was built in the monastery to accommodate foundlings and street children of the female sex. They were raised in the monastery until adulthood, learning how to spin Dutch threads, sewing and weaving lace under the guidance of mentors drawn from the Brabant monasteries. At the same time, in addition to its own almshouse for 20 people, the monastery opened a shelter and a hospital for old, honored soldiers. Since 1727, a city cemetery was built within the walls of the monastery.

According to the imperial manifesto of 1764 on the secularization of church real estate, the Novodevichy Convent, by the end of the 18th century, lost all types of land ownership, receiving in return a cash and grain salary. In the list of first-class established monasteries, the monastery was in second place, there were 70 monks in it, the hostel was abolished. In 1770, at the Irininsky (hospital) wards, through the efforts of the Archbishop of Moscow Ambrose (Zertis-Kamensky, 1768 - died September 14, 1771), the temple was restored and consecrated in honor of St. Ambrose of Milan. A year later, a disastrous plague epidemic that spread in Moscow claimed most of the sisters - only 7 people survived. Among them, on October 17, 1771, Abbess Innocent (Kelpinskaya) reposed, with whose death the successive reign of the Kutein elders ended in the monastery. On May 14, 1796, a severe fire occurred in the monastery - the Assumption and St. Ambrose churches, cells and some outbuildings were damaged. By order of Empress Catherine II, restoration work was headed by the famous architect M.F. Cossacks, and by the end of the same year the monastery was restored to its previous appearance, but the refectory and hospital churches lost their original appearance.

In August 1812, the Mother See again met the miraculous icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria, taken from Smolensk. Again, the western borders of Russia were in the hands of the enemy, again the enemy was approaching Moscow. On August 26, on the very day of the Battle of Borodino, Archbishop of Moscow Augustine (Vinogradsky) made a religious procession across Moscow with the miraculous icons of the Mother of God of Smolensk, Vladimir and Iveron. At the request of Abbess Methodia (Yakushkina), the icon was surrounded around the Novodevichy Convent. After three and a half centuries, on the Maiden Field, in front of a huge crowd of people, prayer singing to the Most Holy Theotokos was again performed, accompanied by general crying and sobbing, after which on August 31 the Smolensk Icon was transported to Yaroslavl. At the same time, the Smolensk Icon from the Novodevichy Convent also left for Vologda - it, along with other valuables from the church sacristy, was taken away by Abbess Methodius.

The French appeared at the walls of the Novodevichy Convent on October 2, but the monastery, as if remembering its former military purpose, was in no hurry to receive uninvited guests. On the feast of the Burning Bush icon of the Mother of God, September 4, Napoleonic troops of two thousand approached the ancient walls in battle formation. The French rolled up two cannons to the holy gates, climbed up the wall, and, having entered the monastery, forced the gates to be opened. Soon one of the regiments was stationed here, warehouses for provisions and fodder were set up, and the abbot's chambers were occupied by a French general. But the Most Pure Hodegetria kept Her house and her verbal flock. The Smolensk Cathedral, which contained the rest of the monastery sacristy and utensils from all the churches, was not plundered. From September 23, within its walls, with the permission of the French authorities, the Liturgy was celebrated, for which previously selected wine and fine flour were given out. On September 25, Napoleon visited the monastery. By his order, the northern (Saints) and southern gates were boarded up and filled with earth, a battery was built opposite the main entrance and a ditch was dug. Cannons were positioned above the gates and in the broken walls.

The French stayed in the Novodevichy Convent for about a month. Before retreating, they prepared the monastery for an explosion: they dug under the bell tower, cathedral and other churches and brought in a lot of gunpowder. Having barely waited for the enemy to leave, on the night of October 9 (memory of the Apostle James Alfeev), the treasurer and two nuns rushed to inspect the churches, cells, and basements and discovered a fire already in progress. Lighted candles were scattered on the floor, on straw, everywhere, and in churches they were stuck to the iconostasis. Under the cathedral, fuses flared on uncorked boxes and barrels of gunpowder. Calling on the rest of the sisters and workers, Nun Sarah ordered the flames to be doused with water. Through the intercession of the Most Pure Virgin and the zeal of the sisters, Her monastery remained unburnt. In memory of the monastery's deliverance from an explosion and fire, a chapel was built in the Assumption Church in honor of the Apostle James Alfeev. The service to the saint on this day was combined with the service to the Smolensk icon, and after the Liturgy and thanksgiving prayer a procession of the cross was held around the monastery walls. The memory of Abbess Methodia and nun Sarah was especially revered in the monastery. Through the prayers and devotion of these glorious ascetics, it was saved from explosion and destruction, cleansed, renewed and completely restored.

At the end of the 19th century, the Novodevichy Convent was one of the best monasteries in the capital, the number of monastics in it reached 300 people. The sisters worked in various obediences: in the church, prosphora, bread, refectory, cellars, cemetery, painting and handicraft workshops.

As in ancient times, the feast of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God attracted many pilgrims to the monastery. It was accompanied by a religious procession from the Kremlin to the Novodevichy Convent and a folk festival on the Maiden Field.

The Novodevichy Convent has always been one of the favorite suburban places of Muscovites. Standing on a low-lying bank in a picturesque bend of the Moscow River, surrounded by meadows, it was clearly visible from long distance and amazed with its royal splendor. During the spring flood, when the water rose to the very walls, the monastery seemed to be standing on a cape in the middle of a flooded river. Inside the walls, the monastery was a blooming garden, cultivated by the prayers and labors of its nuns.

The measured life of the ancient monastery was interrupted by the First World War and the revolution that followed it. Since 1914, the Novodevichy Convent participated in the construction and maintenance of the infirmary in the Intercession community, 20 nuns became sisters of mercy, others were engaged in sewing soldiers' linen and collecting parcels for the front. The news of the abdication of the passion-bearing emperor Nicholas II was received with great sorrow in the monastery.

And very soon, on one of the days of the Moscow uprising of 1917, the monastery saw within its walls representatives of the new government. This was a detachment of armed people who rudely demanded to see the monastery reserves. Novodevichy Convent

The most difficult years for the Novodevichy Convent were 1918-919, when the decrees of the Soviet government closed the Filatievsky School, the orphanage and the parish school, and confiscated bank savings and land. Due to the lack of food and bread, the common meal was abolished. There was only one almshouse left, which existed at the expense of private benefactors. 8 elderly nuns lived out their lives in it. The mortality rate in the monastery increased - 19 people died in two years. Fleeing from hunger, many novices from the peasants left for the village. Soon representatives of various departments began to take an interest in the monastery regarding empty premises, and in the spring of 1918 the first residents appeared. These were 200 cadets of the People's Commissariat of Education, the vanguard of the “cultural revolution”.

Young people, most of them party members, behaved deliberately cheekily, disrupting order and disregarding the nuns, and had noisy fun during church services. The gates of the monastery now stood open - she entered them imperiously new life. The Igumensky (Lopukhinsky) building was taken over as a nursery, and universal education was established in the refectory. A year later, the cadets were replaced by 300 workers from the Expedition for the Procurement of State Papers that moved from Petrograd.

In 1922, the monastery was finally closed. By decision of the Soviet government, the “Museum of the era of the reign of Princess Sophia and the Streltsy riots” was located on its territory, later renamed the “Museum of the Emancipation of Women”. In 1926, the State Museum Fund moved into the walls of the monastery.

The remainder of the monastic community held on to the Assumption Church. The nuns of the ruined monastery, of whom there were fewer and fewer, did not leave their nest. Some got jobs at the museum as restorers and curators, others worked at the church as cleaners, janitors, and watchmen. But soon, thrown out onto the street, they “dissolved” in the boundless sea of ​​Moscow communal apartments, where they were covered by a wave of persecution of the Church.

In 1922, Abbess Vera and four clergy were arrested in connection with the seizure of church valuables. Matushka was sentenced to 10 years in prison with confiscation of property, priests Nikolai Kozlov and Sergiy Lebedev were imprisoned for a year and a half. The following year, the cassation board commuted the sentence, reducing the sentence by a third. In 1931, Archpriest Sergius Lebedev, who continued to serve in the Assumption Church after his release, was again arrested and exiled. On March 9/22, 1938, he suffered martyrdom at the Butovo training ground near Moscow.

In the same year, five former nuns of the Novodevichy Convent suffered for their faith: nuns Matrona (Alekseeva, died March 19/April 1) and Maria (Tseitlin, died December 2/15), nun Natalya (Baklanova, died March 18/31), novices Irina (Khvostova, died February 13/26) and Natalya (Ulyanova, died March 9/22). Now all of them are glorified as the holy new martyrs of Russia.

Despite all the hardships, the Novodevichy Convent remained for Muscovites a corner dear to the hearts of old Moscow.

Soviet reality inexorably and cruelly attacked the ancient monastery. By 1929, bell ringing was banned and a monstrous “clearing” of the cemetery was carried out, accompanied by the destruction of most of the tombstones.

During the Great Patriotic War, the Novodevichy Convent again saw within its walls the servants of the Altar of the Lord. On June 14, 1944, the Orthodox Theological Institute and Pastoral Theological Courses were opened within its walls. Institute lectures were held in the Lopukhin Chambers, and training sessions for students were held in the Assumption Church. The Publishing Department of the Moscow Patriarchate was also located there. In the premises of the church basement there was a dormitory for students of theological schools. Subsequently, production workshops of the Moscow Patriarchate were set up there. In 1944, services were resumed in the gateway Church of the Transfiguration. At the beginning of 1945, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy I performed the rite of consecration of the Assumption Church, in which regular services began. Here in 1948, celebrations were held to mark the 500th anniversary of the autocephaly of the Russian Orthodox Church. March 18-31, 1988 - Pre-Conciliar Bishops' Conference before the Anniversary Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, dedicated to the 1000th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus'.

Since 1964, the Assumption Church has become cathedral Krutitsky and Kolomna metropolitans, and the Lopukhinsky chambers are their residence. Here Metropolitan Nikolai (Yarushevich, 1944-1960) and Metropolitan Pimen (Izvekov, 1963-1971), the future Patriarch of Moscow, performed their archpastoral service. From 1977 to the present, Metropolitan Yuvenaly (Poyarkov), administrator of the Moscow diocese, has been at the department. In 1982, the restored and consecrated Church of the Transfiguration received the status of a metropolitan cross church. At the same time, a unique iconostasis from the Church of the Assumption on Pokrovka, which was blown up in the 30s, was installed in the Assumption Church.

By the 80s of the 20th century, the Novodevichy Convent was returned to its historical appearance, and since then it has become a popular tourist attraction. Five centuries have left here many priceless monuments of architecture, icon painting, and applied art, which attract lovers of antiquity to the monastery. However, the main thing, the spiritual treasure of the monastery of the Most Pure Hodegetria, remained hidden for a long time.

Monastic life within the walls of the Novodevichy Convent resumed in the fall of 1994. After a seventy-year break, on November 27, during the Divine Liturgy in the Assumption Church of the monastery, Metropolitan Yuvenaly elevated nun Seraphima (in the world Varvara Vasilyevna Chernaya) to the rank of abbess. Having accepted the abbot's baton at the age of 80, Abbess Seraphima seemed to combine in her person the past and present of our Fatherland. A hereditary noblewoman, a representative of the famous Chichagov family, she received the beginnings of the Christian faith from her pious mother, a nun, and her grandfather, the Hieromartyr Seraphim (December 11), an elder bishop who was shot in Butovo in 1937.

The burdens of the first years of restoration of monastic life in the Novodevichy Convent fell on the shoulders of Abbess Seraphima (Chernaya). The monastery had neither living quarters nor any well-thought-out life support system for the first nuns. Everything had to be started “from scratch” - and mother worked tirelessly in this field.

On December 16, 1999, Abbess Seraphima (Black) departed to the Lord. Her funeral service was performed by Metropolitan Yuvenaly with a council of clergy in front of a large crowd of people. Mother was buried to the left of the porch of the Assumption Church. Soon, in one of the premises of this temple, a memorial room was built in Bose for the deceased Abbess Seraphima (Chernaya).

Currently, the Novodevichy Convent, while remaining a visited tourist site, attracts more and more pilgrims. The main monastery holiday remains the day of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God.

The patronal feasts are the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary (August 28) and the feast day of St. Ambrose of Milan (December 7). On August 10, 1999, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II, the Act of canonization of the founder of the Novodevichy Convent, schema-abbess Elena (Devochkina), took place among the locally revered saints of the Moscow Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Venerable One is commemorated on the day of her repose, December 1st. On Saturday of the second week of Easter the Council of the New Martyrs of the Novodevichy Convent is celebrated. On December 16, the annual commemoration of the deceased Abbess Seraphima (Chernaya) is held in Bose.

Currently, forty nuns are working in the monastery. Every day in the Assumption Church the Divine Liturgy and the entire daily cycle of services are celebrated; after the Midnight Office, the sisters sing an akathist to the Most Holy Theotokos Hodegetria before Her revered image.

As in ancient times, the main shrine of the monastery is the image of Our Lady of Smolensk. Also in the monastery, the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God, the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God, the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God and the ancient image of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker with a particle of his relics are especially revered. There are reliquaries with particles of holy relics. In December 2003, a copy of the miraculous icon “Inexhaustible Chalice” from the Serpukhov Vysotsky Monastery was installed in the Assumption Church. On August 1, 2006, a mosaic image of the Mother of God Hodegetria was installed above the Holy Gate of the monastery, in front of which an unquenchable lamp was lit. All these are external signs of spiritual rebirth. But the monastery is not only returned shrines and restored churches, but, above all, human souls. Under the roof of the Most Pure Hodegetria, as in many other Russian monasteries, spiritual construction is underway. And from the updated fresco “Thou Art the Wall of the Virgins...”, Holy Mother of God looks graciously upon the daughters of obedience who come to Her.

Smolensk Cathedral Monastery

OPENING OF A NEW EXHIBITION IN THE NOVODEVICHY MONASTERY
24.02.2014
On February 24, the grand opening of the exhibition “Moscow Diocese: Yesterday and Today” took place in the Setun Chambers of the Mother of God of Smolensk Novodevichy Convent. The exhibition was opened by the Ruling Bishop of the Moscow Diocese, Metropolitan Juvenaly of Krutitsky and Kolomna.

The opening was attended by the vicar of the Moscow diocese, Archbishop Gregory of Mozhaisk, Bishop Nikolai of Balashikha, the director of the church museum, Abbess Margarita (Feoktistova), clergy of the Moscow diocese, and numerous guests.

Vladyka Yuvenaly addressed those present with a welcoming speech: “Beloved brothers, archpastors, dear mother abbess, our dear distinguished guests! I am very glad to welcome you all and thank you for your attention to our next event of the Moscow Diocese in the Novodevichy Convent in our church museum. First I would like to say about the church museum. There used to be a branch of the State Historical Museum here. When he left the walls of the Novodevichy Convent, on the same day we created a church museum. I think many looked at him with a smile and disbelief. What can they do in the monastery? What kind of church museum can they imagine? But experience has shown that interest in the monastery and museum has not waned to this day. This obliges us to a lot, and I would like to explain the name of our exhibition “Moscow Diocese Yesterday and Today.” This is a symbolic name. We are not talking about the Moscow diocese from the time of its creation, because we cannot cover such a task. We are talking about yesterday, when in the last century we witnessed tragic events in the life of the Russian Orthodox Church, including our Moscow diocese. Quite recently, several years ago, the spiritual revival of the Russian Orthodox Church began, including the Moscow diocese. Our exhibition is focused on these two events: tragic and joyful, destruction and creation. In this hall where we are now meeting, everything reminds us of the tragic history of our Moscow diocese, when the Church itself was sentenced to complete and total destruction. We have somehow become accustomed to treating architectural monuments very touchingly. We cannot thoughtlessly drive a nail without discussing it with specialists. And here our masterpieces, our shrines were destroyed not only thoughtlessly, but with rage and hatred. Not only were churches destroyed, but clergy were also killed and imprisoned. Here you see photographs of the new martyrs canonized by our Church, and you see the deplorable and terrible state of our shrines that befell them in the last century, that is, yesterday, in the language of our exhibition. When the circumstances of the life of the Church changed, I can say very responsibly, we did not lose a day. We accepted everything that was offered to us for the return of the Church. Sometimes we accepted it thoughtlessly, thoughtlessly because a lot of money was required, and we didn’t have any money. The entire revival of our Moscow diocese fell on the shoulders of our believers and benefactors. Literally a miracle happened. We now have about 1,500 churches in the Moscow diocese, and of these, about 500 are newly built, newly constructed. These are not some temporary prayer buildings. At the entrance to the right, when you go, you will see the temple that I consecrated yesterday in the Ruza district.

Smolensky Cathedral

It took 10 years to build and is a copy of the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl. Now you can't tell them apart. They are like two identical sisters. And just as that temple was built in memory of the soldiers who defended our borders, so this one was built in memory of the defenders of Moscow and the Moscow region. Thousands of Siberians died, but did not allow enemies to enter the territory of the Moscow region. And yesterday we consecrated this temple and rejoiced that we had erected another masterpiece on our land near Moscow.
If millions of tourists still travel to the Vladimir region, now some of them will head to the Ruza district to see this miracle of art. We expertly restore and build churches. The most difficult thing that we have not yet fully mastered is the restoration of human souls, because you can lay dead stones quickly and well, but healing the living souls of people is much more difficult. Our activities are aimed at the main goal - the restoration of human souls. After such a lengthy introduction, I thank you for your attention and ask that Bishop Nikolai expertly tell us about the exhibition, and at the end of the exhibition I invite you to tea.”

The sightseeing tour was conducted by Bishop Nikolai of Balashikha, telling the audience about the tragic events for the Russian Orthodox Church in the past 20th century. The first hall presents photographs of desecrated, destroyed churches and monasteries, photographs of new martyrs and confessors of Russia. Documentary tells about the fate of many churches and monasteries, which during the years of persecution were turned into houses of culture, prisons, warehouses, and clubs.

The second hall presents the revival of church life in the Moscow diocese. Today there are 1,126 parishes and 24 monasteries in the diocese. The highest theological educational institution in the Moscow diocese is the Kolomna Orthodox Theological Seminary. Its rector is Bishop Konstantin of Zaraisk. Currently, the seminary is located in a complex of newly built buildings, which were consecrated by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill in August 2012 during his visit to Kolomna. Visitors to the exhibition can get acquainted with how the Moscow Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church currently interacts with various government and public organizations.

The third hall is dedicated to various types of social and public service of the Church. Many of the photographs feature children—our future replacements. The real centers of spiritual upbringing and education are Orthodox gymnasiums and schools, of which there are 16 in the Moscow Diocese. The exhibition “Moscow Diocese: Yesterday and Today” tells about the example of tireless work and dedication of ordinary people, about the faith in God revived in human hearts.

The exhibition is open daily from 9.00 to 17.00.

Legends and stories of the monastery

Dungeon for the Princess

Another sister of Peter, Princess Sophia, did a lot for the monastery. With her funds, the bell tower, gate churches on the northern and southern gates, the refectory chamber and the Assumption Church were rebuilt.

Ironically, it was the Novodevichy Convent that became a prison for Sophia: in 1689, on the orders of her brother, she was imprisoned here and forced to take monastic vows under the name of nun Susanna. At the same time, right under the windows of Sophia’s cell, Peter ordered the hanging of the archers who took her side in the dispute between brother and sister for power.

There is a legend that on the ice of Novodevichy Pond the Tsar personally, together with his loyal boyars, cut off the heads of the rebel archers. And since it was not always possible to cut off the head the first time, those executed often experienced terrible torment.

And to this day, the rumor says, the souls of the murdered archers wander near this pond. They search in vain for their executioners in order to get even with them.

In addition, they say that they saw phantoms of its unfortunate prisoners in the vicinity of the Novodevichy Convent. But there is nothing frightening about them - on the contrary, they often help the female representatives who come here.

The Naprudnaya Tower on the territory of the Novodevichy Convent is called Sophia. According to legend, if you touch its foot and make a wish, especially a romantic one, it will certainly come true. However, the sign only applies to women.

Napoleon's mistake

Let's plunge back into the history of the monastery. In 1724, by decree of Peter, a shelter for foundling girls was opened under her. Craftswomen specially appointed by the Tsar from Holland taught their pupils how to weave the famous Brabant lace. At that time, lacemakers worked mainly in monasteries.

In September 1812, French soldiers were stationed in Novodevichy. Soon Napoleon himself arrived here. Without thinking twice, he ordered the holy monastery to be set on fire.

On the night of October 8-9, when Bonaparte’s army was retreating from Moscow, uninvited guests lit many candles before leaving and stuck them to wooden iconostases, and also left them in the straw scattered everywhere. In the basement of the Smolensk Cathedral they left open barrels of gunpowder, placing lit wicks on top of them. Fortunately, the nuns managed to discover them in time and put out the fire that was starting.

Meanwhile, as the legend says, Napoleon stood for a long time on Sparrow Hills, waiting for the glow to flare up over Novodevichy. He considered it a matter of honor to destroy this beautiful ancient monastery, the former national treasure. Therefore, he ordered his soldiers to return and repeat the arson if things did not go well.

And then, having learned about this barbaric plan, one of the Muscovites, whose house stood next to the monastery, set fire to his home. The fire flared up. Seeing the flames on the other side of the Moscow River, the French emperor decided that it was Novodevichy that was burning, and calmly went home.

Glow over the graves ***

After the revolution, in 1922, the Bolsheviks closed the monastery, organizing in it... the “Museum of the Emancipation of Women,” later, in 1926, transformed into a historical and everyday life museum, and then an art museum. Some of the buildings and premises were allocated for nurseries, dormitories, and laundries. The refectory was turned into a gymnasium.

In the 1930s, the territory of Novodevichy was “reconstructed”, creating a square with lawns and alleys. At the same time, the burials located in the monastery fence were disturbed. After some time, the soil began to settle in some places, forming craters in the ground, and cracks began to appear in the walls of new buildings.

After one of the museum employees fell into an underground crypt with five coffins, a geophysical commission was called to examine the territory of the monastery and draw up a map of dangerous sectors...

Unfortunately, the plan of the old necropolis in Novodevichy was irretrievably lost. It never occurred to anyone that he might be needed. Only a few gravestones have survived.

In our time, they tried to restore the old cemetery near Novodevichy, but the found monuments were placed not where they should have been originally - after all, no one knew the exact location of the graves. To date, the graves of the poet-hussar Denis Davydov, the Decembrists Sergei Trubetskoy, A.N. Muravyov and M.I. have remained intact. Muravyov-Apostol, poet A.N. Pleshcheev, General A.A. Brusilov...

Meanwhile, there is a legend that at night the places of abandoned burial places glow faintly - so, they say, they can be discovered...

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SOURCE OF INFORMATION AND PHOTO
Team Nomads
http://novodev.msk.ru/
http://www.vidania.ru/booknovodevich.html
http://xn--100-pddf6el5a.xn--p1ai/
http://pro-stranstva.ru/novodevichij-monastyr/
http://www.mosmuseum.info/text/novodevichij.htm
photo Igor Sobolev,
Website Photosite.

Novodevichy is the oldest and most beautiful active convent in Moscow.

It is located in a bend of the Moscow River on the Devichye Pole - in these places, according to legend, during the Mongol-Tatar yoke, Russian girls were selected for the Golden Horde.

The monastery was founded in 1524 by Grand Duke Vasily the Third after the capture of Smolensk in honor of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God “Hodegetria”. Historians also associate the founding of Novodevichy with the dissolution of the marriage of Vasily the Third - it was here that he wanted to exile his wife, Grand Duchess Solomonia.

Subsequently, persons of the royal family often appeared at the monastery, and the royal daughters and sisters took monastic vows. Ivan the Terrible assigned his relatives here - the widow of his younger brother and the widow of his eldest son Ivan. Tsarina Irina Godunova lived here with her brother Boris Godunov. There were many novices from noble princely and boyar families.

Not all women came here of their own free will. By order of Peter the Great, in 1689, his sister Princess Sofya Alekseevna was imprisoned here and forcibly tonsured as a nun after the Streletsky uprising. Opposite the monastery, her supporters were executed, and the heads of the archers were strung on the battlements of the monastery wall.

Another famous nun is the first wife of Peter the Great, Tsarina Evdokia Lopukhina.

The Novodevichy Convent is a real fortress: high impregnable walls, towers with loopholes, built of brick with white stone trim. The main buildings were erected in the second half of the 17th century in the Moscow Baroque style.

Above the main entrance is the elegant Gate Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord:

In the center of the monastery stands the five-domed Smolensk Cathedral, built in 1525 in the likeness of the Assumption Cathedral in the Kremlin. The temple preserves a 5-tier carved gilded iconostasis made by masters of the Armory Chamber. Here are icons donated by many Russian tsars, including Ivan the Terrible and Boris Godunov, and the main shrine of the monastery - the miraculous icon of the Smolensk Mother of God.

Not far from the cathedral there is a Bell Tower with white stone lace. At one time, it was the second tallest in Rus' after the bell tower of Ivan the Great and was famous for its unique ringing. The oldest bell in the bell tower was cast under Ivan the Terrible.

The Assumption Church with a refectory chamber, built at the behest of Princess Sophia. Here is another shrine - the ancient miraculous Iveron Icon of the Mother of God.

The monastery complex also includes the white-stone St. Ambrose Church, combined with a refectory, the Filatievsky School, where orphan girls, by order of Peter the Great, were taught weaving Dutch lace, a hospital for veterans of the Russian army, an almshouse and numerous chambers: the chambers of Irina Godunova, Evdokia Lopukhina, Evdokia Miloslavskaya , Treasury and Cellar Chambers.

Singing chambers with cells for nuns:

Mariinsky Chambers, named after the sister of Peter the Great, Maria Alekseevna, who lived here. To the right of the chambers is the Gate Church of the Intercession of the Virgin.

Naprudnaya tower with Streltsy guards and the chambers of Princess Sophia:

It is believed that if you touch the Naprudnaya Tower, where Princess Sophia was imprisoned, and make a wish, it will definitely come true.

To be sure, wishes are written on the wall of the tower. The most common requests are for love, health and wealth.

There are 12 towers in total: four are round, and the rest are square, all with very beautiful openwork “crowns”. There are similar towers in another Moscow monastery - in.

Corner Nikolskaya Tower:

On the territory of the monastery there are a number of burial places: the Volkonsky mausoleum, the graves of Denis Davydov, General A.A. Brusilova, M.I. Muravyov-Apostol, Sergei Trubetskoy. Grand Duchess Sofya Alekseevna and other representatives of the royal and princely families are buried in the Smolensk Cathedral.

Small Chapel-Tomb of the Prokhorovs, owners of the Trekhgornaya Manufactory:

Behind the monastery wall is the Novodevichy cemetery. The most famous people buried at Novodevichy Cemetery: A.P. Chekhov, N.V. Gogol, M.A. Bulgakov, M.N. Ermolova, I. Levitan, N. Rubinstein, A.N. Tolstoy, Andrei Bely, Vladimir Gilyarovsky, Samuil Marshak, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Vasily Shukshin, Svetlana Alliluyeva, Nikita Khrushchev, Boris Yeltsin and Raisa Gorbacheva.

During Soviet times, the monastery did not work; monastic life was resumed here in 1994. Nowadays, it is a functioning Orthodox convent and at the same time a museum. The architectural ensemble is a UNESCO cultural heritage site.

There is a picturesque park next to the monastery on the shore of the Bolshoi Novodevichy Pond.

From the paths of the park there are beautiful views of powerful walls and towers:

The park sculpture "Duck with Ducklings" was presented in 1991 "to the children of the Soviet Union from the children of the United States in the spirit of love and friendship." The idea for the sculpture is taken from the famous American fairy tale “Make Way for Ducklings.”

The place is beautiful - it just begs to be painted on canvas.

One of the most beautiful views of Moscow.

Objects layout diagram architectural ensemble(clickable):

In Sophia's and Irina's chambers there are museum exhibitions with ancient icons, unique frames and precious church utensils.

Restoration is currently underway, many of the buildings are scaffolded and gridded. The restoration work is planned to be completed in 2023, on the 500th anniversary of the founding of the monastery.

How to get to the Novodevichy Convent

By public transport: Sportivnaya metro station, then about 5-7 minutes on foot. Address: Moscow, Novodevichy proezd, building 1.

Opening hours

You can enter the territory daily from 9-00 to 17-00.

The Smolensk Cathedral is open from May 15 to the end of September, services are held during patronal holidays. The Assumption Church is open all year round.

Museums are open from 10-00 to 16-30, closed on Tuesdays. The first Monday of every month is sanitary day.

Ticket prices

Ticket price for museums: adults - 300 rubles, schoolchildren, students and pensioners - 100 rubles.