Moscow Guide
Krasnaya Presnya, Fili and the southwest
Novodevichie Convent
Opening time: Mon & Wed– Sun 10am–5.30pm
Price: R150; tickets are sold from a kiosk within the grounds, but nobody checks them unless you enter temporary exhibitions in the former palaces. Guided tours in English (R1200 per group of 15 maximum) can be arranged by phoning 
246 85 26
Where the Moskva River begins its loop around the marshy tongue of Luzhniki, a cluster of shining domes above a fortified rampart proclaims the presence of the Novodevichie Convent (Novodevichie monastyr). One of the loveliest monasteries in Moscow, the New Maidens' Convent was founded in 1524 to commemorate Vasily III's capture of Smolensk from the Poles a decade earlier. It was home to many high-born nuns and often played a role in politics – one of the sisters prevented the convent from being blown up by the French in 1812, by snuffing out the fuses. Here, Irina Godunova retired after the death of her imbecilic husband, Fyodor I, and her brother Boris Godunov was proclaimed Tsar. Ravaged during the Time of Troubles, the convent was rebuilt in the 1680s by the Regent Sofia, who was later confined here by Peter the Great, along with his unwanted first wife. Bequests made Novodevichie a major landowner with fifteen thousand serfs, but after the Revolution its churches were shut down and in 1922 the convent was turned into a museum, which spared it from a worse fate until the cathedral was returned to the Church in 1945 as a reward for backing the war effort. Restoration began in the 1960s and in 1988 an episcopal see was established here. Though still officially a museum, Novodevichie is once again a convent, whose nuns and novices keep a low profile.
To get here, take the metro to Sportivnaya, exit at the rear of the train, turn right outside the station and walk to the far end of ulitsa Desyatletiya Oktyabr, where the convent's domes are visible. During Easter and other festivals like the feast days of the icons of Our Lady of Smolensk (Aug 10) and Tikhvin (July 9), tourists may not be allowed to enter the churches in the convent, and the main cathedral may be closed in wintertime.