Tserkov' Uspeniya Presvyatoy Bogoroditsy V Novodevich'yem Monastyre, Moscow

Saint Peter, transferring the residence of the Russian metropolitans from Vladimir to Moscow in 1325, put the strength and piety of Moscow in close connection with the construction in this city of a church in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary; he recommended to the Grand Duke Ivan Danilovich Kalita to erect here "a temple worthy of the Mother of God." According to this will of the saint, in 1326 the first stone church in the name of the Dormition of the Mother of God was laid in Moscow, and subsequently a significant part of the churches erected in Rus' were named in honor of this holiday, and among them is the ancient church revered by the believers of Moscow in b. Novodevichy Convent. According to its original purpose, the temple b. The Novodevichy Convent belongs to the type of special churches built only in monasteries - refectory churches. This is a construction of a semi-church, semi-civilian character: the temple itself occupies a small part here; everything else is adapted for needs that are not directly related to Divine services. Temples of this type arose and were built in cenobitic monasteries. The father of northern Russian monasticism, Rev. Sergius of Radonezh, bequeathed to the monks: “firmly observe all the commandments of the holy fathers and acquire nothing ... have everything in common,” and according to this testament, the monastics had nothing of their own; clothes and shoes were obtained "from the treasury", food was eaten at a common meal. “Eat and drink at the meal all together,” says one of the 15th-century monastery charters, “and eat nothing outside the meal.” A large number of monks, who ate according to the charter together and at the same time, necessitated the construction of spacious dining halls in the monasteries. Such premises, designed to meet the natural needs of the monastic community, were connected according to the plan with the church. Along with the temple, the services necessary for the community canteen were also built here. The combination of various parts into one whole created a characteristic type of building, called the temple-refectory. refectory b. The Novodevichy Convent with the Assumption Church attached to it is one of the most majestic and interesting structures of its kind. The monastery (founded in 1524) for a long time was a court, privileged monastery, and its refectory was built not only for the daily dining of monastics, but also for receiving kings and other dignitaries who often came here, arranging crowded holidays and memorial dinners . It is a vast (over 2,000 square meters) well-lit building, arranged on a high basement with a number of halls, three front porches and rich exterior and interior decoration. The refectory itself and the temple attached to it form a single structure, and the temple in relation to the refectory is greatly elevated and is equal to two cubes placed one on top of the other. The temple has two floors; at the bottom is a “warm” church in the name of the Assumption of the Mother of God, at the top is a “cold” (unheated) church in honor of the Descent of the Holy Spirit. A narrow staircase in the southern wall leads to it. Both churches and the refectory were built in 1685-1686. by order of the sister of Peter I, Princess Sophia. The construction of the building was connected with the general reconstruction of the monastery. Almost the entire monastic settlement was then created anew, in the same style. The churches of the Assumption and the Holy Spirit, built at the same time, were consecrated in a short time one after the other. In the “Cases of the Patriarchal Order” of the late 17th century, there are the following records about their consecration: “194 (1686) September 6, His Holiness the Patriarch went to the Novodevichy Convent to consecrate the Church of the Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos, which is near the meal ... 195 (1687) July 24, the Grand Sovereign and Grand Duke John Alekseevich and Grand Duchess Sophia Alekseevna deigned to go from Moscow to the Novodevichy Convent to consecrate the Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit ... ”The Patriarch then was Joachim (1674-1690), at the consecration of the throne he was co-served by His Graces of Krutitsky, Suzdal and Tambovsky. By the time the refectory of the Novodevichy Convent appeared, an architectural style had developed, which was called the Moscow, or Naryshkinsky, Baroque. The nature of Uspensko architecture

A place where the soul rests. I like to visit when there are no services and the temple is half empty. It evokes history and the very territory of the Novodevichy Convent. Imagine people who have lived here or visited these places since the 15th century.

Here too a beautiful, not so flashy church but distinctive in style.

Prayer place 🙏🙏 Not familiar to the Orthodox Church temple, in the form of a rectangle. Now in the Novodevichy Convent this is the only Temple that is always available for visiting, the rest are under restoration. Services are regularly held here, a Sunday school is open, on great holidays you can listen to a concert of sacred music or a children's concert 👏

The refectory chamber with the Assumption Church was erected in 1682-1687. This building is one of the best monuments of the "Moscow Baroque". The building, which has come down to us with great losses, nevertheless survived in its main architectural volumes. Numerous refectory windows with white stone architraves alternate with hanging pilaster consoles rhythmically dividing the walls of the facades. After the fire of 1796, the five domes of the Assumption Church were not restored, and the rows of zakomar-kokoshniks were also lost.