A Look into the Past: The History of the Convent
The Novodevicy Convent was established in the year 1524. Tsar Vasily III ordered the establishment of the convent to mark and honour the capture of Smolensk from Lithuania. While the main purpose of the structure was to house a religious institution, the physical structure also makes it evident that the Novodevicy Convent was intended to be a fortress of sorts. This has been established from the obviously tactical location of the convent, and also from the fortified walls and multiple battle towers.
Since the convent was established under the guidance of the Tsar, it was awarded a position of esteem and superiority amongst its contemporaries. Other convents and monasteries in Moscow were held secondary to the Novodevicy Convent. Given the position the Novodevicy Convent enjoyed in Moscow, it was exclusive in nature and was reserved mostly for the women who came from noble families. Since the convent was also a fortress, it was often used as a prison or holding place for royals who had rebelled against the Tsar’s regimes.
While the original structure itself is hardly visible in the current compound, owing to the extensive changes that were made to the convent during the 1680s when the convent was restructured and renovated, the convent has remained almost untouched since the 17th century.
The Famous Convent through the Ages
Once the Russian Revolution was over the churches belonging to the Novodevicy Convent compound were shut down. In the year 1922, the Novodevicy Convent was transformed into a museum, and many years later, the convent was given back to the Russian Orthodox Church.
Efforts began in the 1960s to restore the convent. In 1988 an Episcopal was built in the compound.
Even though the complex is still a museum on records, a small group of nuns maintain it as a convent as well, however the primary purpose of the Novodevicy Convent is to serve as a public museum.
Visiting the Novodevicy Convent
There are lots of beautiful monuments and sights within the complex, from the red and white Church of the Assumption, to the Church of St. Ambrose and the massive five-domed Cathedral of the Virgin of Smolensk. The Novodevicy Cemetery, built near the convent, happens to be the resting place of some of the most well known men and women of Russia and is the third most popular site for visitors. The complex remains open daily from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM and is shut on the last Monday each month.