🏛 Novodevichy Convent

A 16th–17th-century convent with crenellated walls, the Smolensk Cathedral and a tall bell tower, a UNESCO site.

The convent was founded in 1524 by Vasily III in fulfilment of a vow made for the capture of Smolensk in 1514.
In 2004 the ensemble was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list.
The bell tower of 1690, in the Moscow Baroque style, is one of the tallest in Moscow, at about 72 m.
In 1689 Peter I imprisoned Tsarevna Sophia here; she was later tonsured under the name Susanna.
In 1812 the retreating French tried to blow up the convent; according to legend, the nuns put out the fuses.
The convent was returned to the Church in 2010; large-scale restoration went on for about ten years from 2014.
Beyond the wall lies Novodevichy Cemetery, where Chekhov, Gogol and Bulgakov are buried.

Part of these routes