Novodevichiy Convent (Nunnery) is one of the most beautiful Moscow
convents. By studying its history we discover many facts about the history
of the State, which is extremely interesting.
It was founded in the early 16th century. Its
main cathedral was consecrated in honour of the Smolenskaya Icon of the
Mother of God Hodigitria. According to the legend, St. Luke himself painted
the icon, and it is closely linked with the convent’s foundation.
So Great Prince Vassily 3 founded the Novodevichy Convent in 1524 in
honour of the seizure of Smolensk. The Convent stood on the road leading
to southwest, in the direction of Smolensk, a small town 300 km away from
Moscow.
The convent is like a miniature Kremlin. Its cathedral church was built
with the Kremlin Cathedral of the Assumption as a model, perhaps by the
Italian architect Aleviz Fryazin, and in 1525 the copy of the Smolenskaya
Icon was placed in it. The convent’s fortified, toothed walls and
the towers were added at the end of the 16th
century in the reign of Boris Godunov, and their design was also based
on the Kremlin. In the 17th century the towers
were decorated with splendid tracery crowns.
It was the richest convent in Moscow. Noblewomen of the time became noviciates
in it- wives and widows of the tsars and boyars, their daughters and sisters
– and on taking the veil they handed over their jewels, pearls,
gold and silver. Women were secluded into this convent for several causes:
either if they couldn’t get a divorce, which was impossible at those
times, or if they became widows, also if they were to be devoid of their
political rights, like it was the case with the sister of Peter the Great.
It was here in 1689 that Peter the Great confined the intelligent and
power-loving Sofia, who did not wish to concede the throne to her brother
after he had attained adulthood.
The same fate was in store for Yevdokia Lopukhina, the first wife of
Peter the Great and mother of Tsarevich Aleksei. In 1727 she was brought
here from the Shlisselburg Fortress in St. Petersburg after Peter’s
death, and not long before her own. Both of Peter’s relatives are
buried in the convent’s Smolensk cathedral.
It was here, in the Novodevichy Convent, that Boris Godunov was «summoned
to kingdom» in 1568. In the fire of 1812 the convent was nearly ruined.
At the beginning of September numerous French soldiers were billeted here
and later on Napoleon himself visited the place on horseback. Without
dismounting he looked round at the convent and gave orders for the Church
of John the Baptist to be blown up, then he departed. On the night of
8 October the French troops were getting ready to retreat. Before leaving
they stuck lighted candles on the wooden iconostases and threw them on
to the floor where they had scattered straw everywhere. In the cellar
of Smolensky Cathedral the nuns discovered open barrels of powder with
smouldering fuses. With only seconds before a terrible explosion, the
nuns managed to put out the fuses and prevent a fire in the convent.
A picturesque pond with ducks just near the convent makes it a wonderful
place.
Novodevichy Convent has been witness to many historical events in its
time, but it managed to go through it, endure it and not only preserve
but also multiply spiritual heritage with centuries.
After the revolution the convent was secularised, then it housed a branch
of the State History Museum. Today it’s a convent with 2 museums
but it has been given back to the church.