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Simonov Monastery

1370 establishments in Europe14th-century establishments in Russia1923 disestablishments in RussiaChristian monasteries established in the 14th centuryCultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Moscow
Former monasteries in RussiaMonasteries in MoscowRussian Orthodox monasteries in Russia
Simonov monastery 01
Simonov monastery 01

Simonov Monastery (Russian: Симонов монастырь) in Moscow was established in 1370 by monk Feodor, a nephew and disciple of St Sergius of Radonezh. It became one of the richest and most famous monastery, comprising six major churches (often with multiple side chapels), and many icons. Job became the abbot in 1571, and became the first patriarch in Russia in 1589.The monastery land formerly belonged to Simeon Khovrin, a boyar of Greek extraction and progenitor of the great clan of Golovins. He took monastic vows in the cloister under the name Simon (hence the name); many of his descendants are also buried there. In 1379, the monastery was moved half a mile to the east. Its original location, where bodies of the warriors killed in the Battle of Kulikovo had been buried, is still commemorated by the old Simonov church. During the 15th century, the cloister was the richest in Moscow. Among the learned monks who lived and worked there were Vassian Patrikeyev and Maximus the Greek. A white stone cathedral was erected in 1405; it was later enlarged by order of Ivan the Terrible. As the monastery defended southern approaches to Moscow, it was heavily fortified in the 1640s. The last addition to the complex was a huge multi-storied bell-tower, modelled after Ivan the Great Bell Tower of Moscow Kremlin. The monastery was abolished by the Communist government in 1923, and soon thereafter most of its buildings were demolished to make way for an automobile plant. Surviving structures all date back to the 17th century and include three towers of cannon-like appearance and auxiliary buildings in the Naryshkin baroque style. Recently the Moscow government announced plans for a full-scale reconstruction of the famous cloister. According to several sources, part of the former monastery buildings was transferred in 1990 from the Ministry of Culture of the USSR to Russian Orthodox Church and Orthodox community of deaf people, who began the works on restoration and reconstruction of its facilities. The first service after the restoration was held in 1992.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Simonov Monastery (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Simonov Monastery
Восточная улица, Moscow Danilovsky District

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N 55.713769444444 ° E 37.656597222222 °
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Симонов монастырь

Восточная улица
115280 Moscow, Danilovsky District
Moscow, Russia
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Novospassky Monastery
Novospassky Monastery

Novospassky Monastery (New Monastery of the Savior, Russian: Новоспасский монастырь) is one of the fortified monasteries surrounding Moscow from the south-east. Like all medieval Russian monasteries, it was built by the Russian Orthodox Church. The abbey traces its history back to Moscow's first monastery established in the early 14th century at the location where the Danilov Monastery now stands. The Church of the Savior in the Wood (Собор Спаса на Бору) of the Kremlin, the oldest church of Moscow, was its original katholikon. Upon its removal to the left bank of the Moskva River in 1491, the abbey was renamed Abbey of the New Savior, to distinguish it from the older one in the Kremlin.The monastery was patronized by Andrei Kobyla's descendants, including the Sheremetev and Romanov boyars, and served as their burial vault. Among the last Romanovs buried in the monastery were Xenia Shestova (the mother of the first Romanov Tsar), Princess Tarakanova (a pretender who claimed to have been the only daughter of Empress Elisabeth) and Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia. In 1571 and 1591, the wooden citadel withstood repeated attacks by Crimean Tatars. Upon the Romanovs' ascension to the Moscovy throne, Michael of Russia completely rebuilt their family shrine in the 1640s. Apart from the large 18th-century bell-tower (one of the tallest in Moscow) and the Sheremetev sepulcher in the Church of the Sign, all other buildings date from that period. They include: The Cathedral of the Transfiguration (Russian: Преображенский собор) (1645–49), a large five-domed katholikon with frescoes by the finest Muscovite painters of the 17th century The Intercession Church (Russian: Покровская церковь) or Church of the Veil of the Virgin (1673–1675) with a refectory The Church of the Sign or Church of the Znamenie Icon of the Virgin (1791–1795) The bell tower (1759–1785) The infirmary Church of St. Nicholas the Miracle Worker and monks' living quarters The house of Patriarch Filaret The House of Loaf-Giving.During the Soviet years, the monastery was converted into a prison, then into a police drunk tank. In the 1970s, it was assigned to an art restoration institute, and finally returned to the Russian Orthodox Church in 1991.