NOVODEVICHY MONASTERY
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Nestled in a meander of the Moskva River, Novodevichy is a quiet and beautiful convent listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The monastery (НОВОДЕВИЧИЙ МОНАСТЫРЬ) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It has remained virtually unchanged since its foundation in the 16th century and each of the buildings within the monastic complex is a superb example of art and architecture. Within the defensive enclosure of the monastery there are four sanctuaries, arranged around the majestic Church of Our Lady of Smolensk, whose five domes form a pyramid. The church is entirely surrounded by 16th-century frescoes and dominated by a very rich iconostasis created a century later. Its multicoloured campanile flanks the rampart and is surmounted by a gilded bulb: with its shape of a mounted coin, it is one of the most beautiful specimens of Baroque architecture in the country. Next to the convent, don't miss the cemetery where personalities of Russian history are buried in vaults decorated with their portraits. In the manner of Father Lachaise, there are figures as diverse as Stalin's first wife, Khrushchev, Gogol, Chekhov who lies under a small conical roof, Eisenstein, Stanislavsky, Mayakovsky, Bulgakov, Shostakovich or Prokofiev. For a less eternal rest, we recommend a walk along the banks of the pond in the monastery park. The place is not only a tourist place or a museum. The church has been in operation since the end of the USSR and you will be able to meet some of the faithful and even the few sisters of the monastery going about their business.
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