The Conception Convent or Zachatyevsky Monastery (russian: Зачатьевский монастырь) is a Russian Orthodox stauropegic

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

on the northern bank of the

Moskva River The Moskva (russian: река Москва, Москва-река, ''Moskva-reka'') is a river running through western Russia. It rises about west of Moscow and flows roughly east through the Smolensk and Moscow Oblasts, passing through centra ...

in Khamovniki District of

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. The convent was closed by the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

in 1918 and did not reopen until 1995.

History

Later sources claim that the convent occupies the site of the original Alekseyevsky (Alexis) Convent, the oldest nunnery in Moscow. It is believed to have been founded by Alexius, Metropolitan of Moscow in 1360 and was consecrated to the Feast of the Conception of

Saint Anne According to Christian apocryphal and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's name and that of her husband Joachim come o ...

. Notable nuns included Alexis's own sisters Eupraxia and Juliana, both canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church in 2000. After the great fire of 1547, the convent was relocated eastward to the present-day site of the

Cathedral of Christ the Saviour The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour ( rus, Храм Христа́ Спаси́теля, r=Khram Khristá Spasítelya, p=xram xrʲɪˈsta spɐˈsʲitʲɪlʲə) is a Russian Orthodox cathedral in Moscow, Russia, on the northern bank of the Moskv ...

. In 1584, a new convent was established on the old site by Feodor I of Russia and his wife,

Irina Godunova Irina Feodorovna Godunova, later Alexandra (1557–1603) was a Tsaritsa of Russia by marriage to Tsar Feodor I Ivanovich (r. 1584–1598) and the sister of Tsar Boris Godunov (r. 1598–1605). For nine days after the death of her spouse in 1598 ...

. The couple, being childless, asked the nuns of the Conception Convent to pray for the conception of their own child. (Another version asserts that the new convent was restored on the old site by the surviving nuns of the Alexeyevsky Convent immediately after the 1547 fire.) It was looted and sustained much damage during the

Time of Troubles The Time of Troubles (russian: Смутное время, ), or Smuta (russian: Смута), was a period of political crisis during the Tsardom of Russia which began in 1598 with the death of Fyodor I (Fyodor Ivanovich, the last of the Rurik dy ...

The extant church over the main gate was built in 1696 with funds provided by the Rimsky-Korsakov noble family. This Naryshkin Baroque church and walls are the only remains of the convent as it existed before the Russian Revolution of 1917. The

katholikon A ''katholikon'' or catholicon ( gr, καθολικόν) or ''sobor'' ( Slavonic: съборъ) refers to one of three things in the Eastern Orthodox Church: * The cathedral of a diocese. * The major church building (temple) of a monastery corre ...

was built in 1804-1807 in the Russian Gothic style to Rodion Kazakov's designs. It was pulled down in the 1920s. In the Soviet period, the convent buildings were used as a prison for juvenile delinquents. A school building was constructed on the site of the katholikon. A venerated icon of the

Theotokos ''Theotokos'' (Greek: ) is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, used especially in Eastern Christianity. The usual Latin translations are ''Dei Genitrix'' or ''Deipara'' (approximately "parent (fem.) of God"). Familiar English translations are " ...

the Merciful was transferred to the nearby parish Church of St. Elijah.

Reconstruction

Efforts to revive the convent began in 1991. It was officially reestablished in May 1995. By 2005, the church of St. Anne (third from right on the 1882 photograph) was completed. The

Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

declared the Gothic-influenced style of the old

improper for a Russian Orthodox temple and demanded it to be rebuilt in a more traditional Byzantine style. In October 2006,

Yuri Luzhkov Yuri may refer to: People and fictional characters Given name *Yuri (Slavic name), the Slavic masculine form of the given name George, including a list of people with the given name Yuri, Yury, etc. * Yuri (Japanese name), also Yūri, feminine Ja ...

approved a Russian Revival design by Alexander Obolensky on condition that the building's height would be decreased. As of June, 2009, the new five-domed katholikon, made of in situ concrete, was structurally complete. On November 25, 2010 the Cathedral of the Nativity of Our Lady was consecrated. Construction works were financed by billionaire

Dmitry Rybolovlev Dmitry Yevgenyevich Rybolovlev (russian: Дмитрий Евгеньевич Рыболовлев; ; born 22 November 1966) is a Russian oligarch, billionaire businessman, and investor. Rybolovlev became chairman of the Russian fertilizer prod ...

, who was awarded the Order of St. Seraphim of Sarov by Patriarch Kirill for funding this project.

Public transportation access

Moscow Metro:

Kropotkinskaya Kropotkinskaya ( rus, Кропо́ткинская, p=krɐˈpotkʲɪnskəjə) is a station on the Sokolnicheskaya Line of the Moscow Metro. One of the oldest Metro stations, it was designed by Alexey Dushkin and Ya. Likhtenberg and opened in 193 ...

, Park Kultury-Radialnaya Convent territory is open for general public in daytime, until the end of 5pm Vespers, with certain limitations; photography inside the walls requires prior consent of hegumenia Iuliania.

Footnotes

External links

*Russian
Map, schedule of services
*Draft of new Nativity Cathedral, October 200

{{Monasteries of Moscow Monasteries in Moscow Russian Orthodox monasteries in Russia 1927 disestablishments in the Soviet Union Convents in Russia Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Moscow