Novodevichy Convent

Novodevichy Convent, one of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, also known as Bogoroditse-Smolensky Monastery is a well-known cloister of Moscow. The Novodevichy Convent was founded in 1524 by Grand Prince Vasili III in commemoration of the conquest of Smolensk in 1514 at a curve of the Moskva River. 

The oldest structure in the convent is the six-pillared five-domed cathedral, dedicated to the icon Our Lady of Smolensk. It was formerly ringed by four smaller chapels, in an arrangement reminiscent of the Annunciation Cathedral in the Kremlin. Its frescos are among the finest in Moscow. The blood-red walls and crown-towers, two lofty over-the-gates churches, a refectory, and residential quarters were all designed in the Muscovite Baroque style, supposedly by a certain Peter Potapov . The fifth tier displays icons by leading 17th-century painters, Simeon Ushakov and Fyodor Zubov.

The belltower commissioned by Sophia, was built in six tiers to a height of 72 metres, making it the second highest structure in 18th-century Moscow after Ivan the Great Bell Tower.

Novodevichy Cemetery

It is the most famous cemetery in Moscow, situated next to the Novodevichy Convent. The cemetery was inaugurated in 1898, when it was judged that there were too many burials within monastery walls. One of the first notables to be buried there was Anton Chekhov, whose gilded tomb is the work of Fyodor Shekhtel. Today, the cemetery holds the tombs of Russian authors, musicians, playwrights, and poets, as well as famous actors, political leaders, and scientists. More than 27,000 are buried at Novodevichy. It has a park-like ambience, dotted with small chapels and large sculpted monuments. It is divided into the old (Divisions 1-4), new (Divisions 5-8) and newest (Divisions 9-11) sections; maps are available at the cemetery office.

Under Soviet rule, burial in the Novodevichy Cemetery was second in prestige only to burial in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the Kremlin Wall is no longer used for burials and the Novodevichy Cemetery is used for only the most symbolically significant burials. For example, in April 2007, within one week both the first President of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin and world renowned cellist Mstislav Rostropovich were buried there.

In 2001 there was an attempt to move ballerina Anna Pavlova’s remains to the Novodevichy Cemetery in accordance with her requests and after considerable controversy.