Novodevichy Convent
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How it came to be
On 13 May 1524 Grand Prince Vasily III of Moscow founded the Novodevichy Convent in thanks for the capture of Smolensk in 1514. Set above a crossing of the Moskva River in the south-west of the city, it was one of a chain of monasteries that guarded Moscow. Its oldest building, the Smolensk Cathedral, is dated to 1524-1525.
From the 16th to the 18th century it was the convent of choice for women of the tsar's family and noble houses. In the 1680s the regent Sofia Alekseyevna had it remodelled, adding churches in the Moscow Baroque style and a 72-metre bell tower built in 1683-1690. After losing her struggle with her brother Peter I, she was later confined here.
Enclosed by a wall with 12 towers, it is sometimes called a Kremlin in miniature. Almost unchanged since the 17th century, it was inscribed in 2004.
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