Novodevichy Monastery

The Novodevichy Convent (New Nunnery or Maiden) is situated on the inner side of the horseshoe band of the Moskva-River near the Devichye (Maid's) field. The nunnery was called Novodevichy (New Maiden's) to differ from Ascension Nunnery, called Starodevichy (Old Maiden's).

It was established in 1524 as a monument to the freeing of Smolensk (the main city on the way to the west, the city was freed from the Litva in 1514, who had captured the town as early as the beginning of the 15th century.) from Polish rule.

The walls and the towers were erected in the end of 16th century during the reign of Boris Godunov. The architects drew inspiration from the Kremlin and the Cathedral of the Assumption. Boris Godunov's sister and the wife of Tsar Fyodor Yvanovich Irina, all the sisters of Peter I consecrated nuns there. The first wife of Peter I Yeudoxie Lopukhina ended her life in the nunnery.

Prince Vassily III (1479-1533) founded the convent during his reign as the Tsar of Russia (1505-1533). Vassily III was the father of the well-known Russian Tsar Ivan IV (1530-1584) - also known as Ivan the Terrible.

The convent was situated in the southwestern approaches to Moscow, near the fords across the Moscow River. The nunnery became a fortress to hield the city from any invaders coming from the southwest.

• Boris Godunov in 1598 accepted the Russian crown here.
• The Polish and Swedish army captured the convent in 1612, but were soon routed by the voluntary Russian army, led by Kuzma Minin and Prince Pozharsky.
• At the end of the 17th century, the convent was drawn into a severe political battle for power between Peter the Great and his half-sister Sofia. After Peter's victory Sofia was forced to take the veil and later died in 1704.
• Napoleon in 1812 turned the convent into a warehouse and, when retreating, ordered the demolition of the buildings; however, the residents saved their nunnery from destruction.

The oldest building pictured is the Smolensk (translated as mother of God) Cathedral (1524-25.) The prototype of this church was the Moscow Cathedral of the Assumption. Designed by Aristotle Fioravente, the construction of this monastery church architecturally demonstrated the importance of Moscow to the State. The imitation of the Kremlin Cathedral is evident in the similar division of the walls into vertical sections, in the architecture frieze with colonnades and in the cathedral's five domes. But this imitation was only superficial. The exterior of the Cathedral has a more soaring structure, and the interior pillars are square in plan, which increases number of the soaring lines. The frescoes and icons of the 16th and 17th centuries have been preserved to this day.

Russian architects created a festive ensemble by combining traditional Russian architecture with some compositional devices of the Moscow baroque architecture.

The Convent was part of the defense half-circle outside the city (Donskoy, Danilov, Simonov, Novospassky and Andronikov Monasteries). In 1922 the Nunnery was closed. Now it is a museum.

Note: this description was taken from www.ivan.ru where you find 8 daily updated views of Moscow. One of them is Novodevichy Monastery. Please visit this site.