The historic Monastery novodevichy convent Moscow

In Moscow there were more than 500 orthodox churches…
Today there are about 150, while the other 100 are in the process of renovation.
The most impressive is the cathedral of St. Basil in Red Square, the cathedral of Christ the Saviour and the convent novodevichy convent, which was founded by the prince of Moscow, Basil the C 1524 and is a Unesco World Heritage site.
The novodevichy Convent in Moscow, or Monastery, of young girls, was founded in 1524. The six levels and 73 meters high bell tower was built in 1683-1685. It is one of the most beautiful architectural sights of Moscow. Situated on a peninsula, surrounded by the Moskva river.
The monastery consists of 14 bands, including residential areas, administrative buildings, bell towers and churches. The monastery was founded prior to 491 years of the Prince Kingdom.
For a long time, the monastery was accepted only women from aristocratic families, which is usually associated with the Russian monarchs. Among these was the daughter of the emperor Michael Romanov, Tsarina Tatiana, the three sisters and the first wife of Peter the Great, and widow of the son of Ivan the Terrible of Φεοντόρ Ιοάνοβιτς, tsarina Irina Γκοντουνόβα. Many of these were forced to become nuns because of political or personal motivation.
There are three theories for the origin of the name of the monastery. In accordance with the first, after the invasion of the Mongols, the Russians had to pay tax to the Golden Horde, not only with money, but with beautiful young women. The girls were transported to an outdoor space where selected the most beautiful of all. Over time the place became known as “Ντεβίτσιε” (from the Russian word “deva” or “ντέβουσκα”, which means young woman), and the monastery was built in the same location that was called novodevichy convent (a Young Virgin). The second theory says that the name comes from the surname of the first mother superior of the monastery, Jelena Ντεβότσκινα, while according to the third theory, the monastery took this name to differentiate itself from the earlier name of the Monastery Ζατσάτιεφσκι, also known as Σταροντέβιτσι (Old Virgin).
Originally, the walls and towers of the monastery were made of wood. However, from the 17th century, the Monastery novodevichy convent surrounded by walls with bricks and 12 towers, similar to the Kremlin. The majority of the remaining buildings date from the second half of the 17th century, and were built in the baroque style of Moscow.
In 1812, Napoleon wanted to set fire to the monastery. Retreating from Moscow, Napoleon’s troops tried to burn down the novodevichy Convent, but the nuns managed to put the fire under control and save the monastery. However, Napoleon was determined to throw this landmark of Moscow in flames, so he stopped on a nearby hill and refused to leave until he’s seen the fire. Yes, he had decided to go back to fire again, in case you didn’t see flames. When he learned that a local resident who lived next to the monastery, set fire to his house, to seduce Napoleon, who is watching the fire finally caved.
The novodevichy Convent has survived to our days almost intact. In 2004, when the novodevichy Convent was closing the 480 years was included in the list of unesco world cultural heritage of UNESCO.
Here is the most famous cemetery in Moscow. The Cemetery novodevichy convent are buried many famous Russian writers, poets, composers, painters and sculptors, actors and dancers, politicians and military leaders, scientists, and cosmonauts. Among the persons, are buried, and the:
Vladimir Mayakovsky, Mikhail Bulgakov, Alexei Tolstoy, and the communist Turkish poet Nazim Χικμέτ (1901 – 1963), Ντίμτρι Shostakovich, Nikolai Ρουμπιστάιν, Galina Ουλάνοβα, Nikita Khrushchev, From Μικογιάν {Foreign Minister}, Boris Yeltsin, Nadezhda Αλληλούγεβα–Stalin wife of Joseph, Risa Γκορμπάτσοβα and lots more.




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