Conception Convent

Conception Convent

Conception Convent in 1882
Monastery information
Order	Orthodox
Established	1584
Disestablished	1927
Diocese	Moscow
People
Founder(s)	Alexius, Metropolitan of Moscow (1360s), Feodor I (1584)
Abbot	Hegumenia Juliania
Site
Location	Moscow, Russia
Coordinates	55°44′23″N 37°35′28″E

The Conception Convent (Template:Lang-ru) is a Russian Orthodox stauropegic convent in Khamovniki District of Moscow. The convent was closed by the Bolsheviks in 1918 and did not reopen until 1995. As most of its buildings were pulled down by the Soviets, an extensive building campaign is underway.

History

The first church and convent for women on the site of present-day monastery was laid down by Saint Alexis (1304–1378, born Eleuthery Byakont, later Alexis, Metropolitan bishop of Moscow) in 1360 in the name of Conception of Saint Anne. Alexis (Alekseevsky) convent housed Eupraxia and Iuliania, sisters of Alexis (both canonized by Russian Orthodox Church in 2001).

After the Fire of Moscow (1547), Alexis convent relocated to the site of present-day Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. Conception Convent was established on the old site in 1584 by childless Feodor I of Russia and his wife, Irina Godunova. Soon, it was looted and damaged during the Time of Troubles.

The Naryshkin Baroque barbican church of 1696

Extant barbican church was built in 1696, financed by Rimsky-Korsakov family. This church and walls are the only remains of the Convent as it existed before the Russian Revolution of 1917. The main Neo-gothic Nativity cathedral, built in 1804-1807 and attributed to Matvey Kazakov, was torn down in 1924. Fortified convent itself served as a juvenile prison, later, the city built a red brick School No.36 on site of old cathedral. Its principal relic, icon of Theotokos the Merciful, was saved at nearby Church of Elijah.

Reconstruction

Efforts to restore the convent began in 1991; the new institution was established by Patriarch in May 1995. By 2005, the church of St.Anne (third from right on the 1882 photograph) was completed. The Russian Orthodox Church declared the Gothic style of the old katholikon improper for a Russian Orthodox temple and demanded it to be rebuilt in a more traditional Byzantine style. In October 2006, Yuri Luzhkov approved a Russian Revival design by Alexander Obolensky on condition that the building's height would be decreased.

The Conception Convent in 2011. The enormous modern katholikon looms in the background.

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

Public transportation access

Moscow Metro: Kropotkinskaya, 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.

External links

• Russian: Map, schedule of services [2]
• Draft of new Nativity Cathedral, October 2006 www.archi.ru