Moscow New Maidens Convent

Our guide will come to pick you up to visit one of the oldest and most beautiful monasteries in Russia - the Novodevichy Orthodox Female Monastery. The Convent was founded by the Tsar Vasiliy III in 1524 in honor of return of the lands of Smolensk to Russia.  It is located on a bend of the Moskva River near Luzhniki Stadium. The uniqueness of the monastery lies in the fact that it has not undergone significant changes since its construction in the 16-17th centuries. For that reason it was even taken under the protection of UNESCO. The central part of the architectural ensemble is the Smolensky Cathedral built in Moscow baroque style with frescoes of the 16th century. The museum of the Convent has a big collection of Russian icons, jewelry, embroidery and books.  The famous Novodevichy Cemetery locates the graves of many famous cultural figures, military and political leaders of our country: NV Gogol, Mikhail Bulgakov, Chaliapin, Boris Yeltsin, Rostropovich, and many others.