Among other major churches in St. Petersburg, a separate link is the Voskresensky Novodevichy Convent. Its amazing architecture and festive services attract not so much local residents as visitors to the city. So, what is interesting about the Novodevichy Convent?
The history of the monastery
The monastery has a difficult history: he moved and rebuilt several times.
Originally in 1746 Empress Elizabeth Petrovna founded the Smolny girlish monastery (do not confuse it with the Smolny Cathedral !), So that in her old age she could get a haircut in a nun. However, later the Empress changed her mind, and the monastery was closed after the death of his last nun. Here the first female educational institution for the nobility operated, namely the Smolny Institute.
Later, already in 1849, Nicholas I laid the first brick for the Resurrection Cathedral of the new monastery. First it was located on the Vasilievsky Island, but later it was built new buildings near the Moscow Gate and the Novodevichy Cemetery.
Architecture of the Novodevichy Convent Church
The cells of the monastery are made in the pseudo-Russian style and are constructed in the form of the letter P. In the center there is the Resurrection Cathedral itself, and on the sides there is the functioning Athos church and the closed Church of the Three Saints (restoration is currently underway there). The buildings of the monastery are painted in a delicate yellow-pink color, and their windows have the shape of arched arches, characteristic of the Russian architectural type.
The Voskresensky Cathedral stands out against the background of the monastery cells, a two-story building built in the Russian-Byzantine style. The entrance to the cathedral is a high arched portal and goes directly to Moskovsky Prospekt. Crowned Resurrection Cathedral gilded five-domed, in four domes of which are belfries. Inside the temple, respectively, there are five thrones.
Small churches of the temple complex - Athos and Three Saints - are externally absolutely identical. They are located on both sides of the Resurrection Cathedral and were built in 1850 by the architects Efimov and Sychev. Athos was named after the eponymous icon of the Mother of God (it is also called Vatopedi, or "Joy and Consolation"). The church in the name of the Three Ecumenical Saints was built on the means of a simple peasant Vasily Chizhov. Initially, it was intended to serve the monastery hospital.
In addition to them, the architectural ensemble of the monastery includes other churches:
- The Church of the Prophet Elijah, located on the Novodevichy Cemetery;
- cemetery Church of the icon "Joy of All Who Sorrow";
- The Kazan church, built in place of the old wooden church.
Today the buildings of the Novodevichy Convent are gradually being rebuilt and restored. Here there is a hospital, a library, various craft workshops.
How to get to Novodevichy Convent in St. Petersburg?
The monastery is located near the Moscow gates of the northern capital. Its official postal address is as follows: St. Petersburg, Moskovsky Prospect, 100, Novodevichy Convent.
As you know, it is more convenient to get to Novodevichy Convent by metro: you need to go to the station "Moscow Gate", and then walk a short distance to the temple on foot.
Opening hours of the Novodevichy Convent are the same as those of the majority of the capital's Orthodox churches: from 8 to 17-30. At the same time, the schedule of daily services in the Novodevichy Convent is as follows:
- on weekdays the morning service starts at 9:30, and the evening service starts at 17:00;
- on Saturdays the Divine Liturgy is held at 9-00, and the all-night vigil is also at 17-00;
- and on Sunday before the liturgy, which begins at 9:30 am, Akathist Illarion of Troitsky is also read here (at 8-40).