Churches and Monasteries - Sightseeing in Moscow - In Your Pocket city guide - essential travel guides to cities in Russia

Originaly founded in 1320, this monastery is famous for its icon painting monk, Andrei Rublyev who lived and died here in the early 14th century. Ryblyev is the posterboy of Russian icon painting having worked on the icons of the Kremlin's Cathedral of Annunciation and other churches. Today th [...]

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Andronevskaya pl. 10

tel. (+7) 495 678 14 67

Open 11:00 - 18:00. Closed Wed and last Fri of the month. Metro station:

Ploshchad Ilyicha

Cathedral of Christ the Saviour

This is what a new Russian orthodox church ought to look like. It is so immense you’ll be wondering how many blocks of dynamite the Soviet’s needed to get rid of the thing the first time around. That was in 1931. This newly restored example came into being from 1994 until 2000 and is a shiny beacon for the Russian Orthodox Church at home. Buy your candles to the left of the entrance way, photos and souvenirs to the right. The walls are decorated with lists of awards, battles, list of those perished and awarded in the war with Napoleon in 1812 are inscribed once more upon the walls. Women should cover their head. No mobiles or cameras inside. [...]

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Ul. Volkhonka 15

tel. 637 12 76

Open 10:00 - 17:00.
Metro station:

Kropotkinskaya

Danilov Monastery

This classical monastery, named after its founder, Alexander Nevsky's son Danil, has been in the news of late with the return of their original 18 church bells from Harvard in the US. The Soviets sold them off for scrap but a benevolent American, Charles Crane rescued them. The bells were rec [...]

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Danilovsky Val 22

tel. (+7) 495 961 14 80

Open 07:00 - 20.00. Metro station:

Tulskaya

Donskoy Monastery

The late sixteenth century saw the founding of this well-kept monastery, originally part of Moscow's fortifications, to the south of the city centre. The surrounding brick walls include twelve towers with the main entrance being decorated by bright frescoes as you enter. Formerly the headquarters of the Russian Orthodox Church until 1927, today it is a peaceful abode surrounded by pleasant parklands. Inside the monastery grounds are bizarrely, a few tanks in honour of the Church's efforts in the Great Patriotic War (WWII). [...]

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Donskaya pl. 1

tel. (+7) 495 954 10 10

Opened daily 07:00 - 18:00. Nekropolis 10:00 - 16:00. Services at 7.40, 16.40.
Metro station:

Shabolovskaya

Novodevichy Cemetery

This is the Who's Who of Russia. Anyone who was anyone is here. Given the Russian adoration for statues and immense monuments, it is a fascinating place. Chekhov's simple and modest memorial is in stark contrast to Soviet megaplinths. Buy the map for 50Rbl from the okhrana (security) fellow at the entrance way. It is in Russian but it will help you find the most important graves. Notable graves include Stalin's wife, Mayakovsky, Gogol, Eisenstein, Khrushev and Yeltsin. [...]

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Luzhnetsky Proezd 2

Open 10:00 - 17:30. Metro station:

Sportivnaya

Novodevichy Monastery

Monastery or convent, this place occupies a very specific place in Russian history. On the grounds surrounded by the Kremlinesque walls are four cathedrals including the majestic four-onion globes of Smolensky Cathedral. Founded by Ivan the Terrible in 1524, it was here that Peter the Great impriso [...]

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Novodevichy proezd 1

tel. (+7) 495 246 85 26

Open 10.00 - 17.30. Closed Tue, last Mon of the month.
Metro station:

Sportivnaya

St. Basil's Church

Standing magnificent at the head of Red Square is St. Basil's cathedral. Russia's most recognised building was built in 1561 to celebrate Ivan the Terrible's crucial defeat of the Khan of Kazan, a victory which secured Moscow's position as the region's dominant city. While the view from outside is spectacular and rightly famed, it is certainly also worth a visit inside. Visitors used to the vast open spaces of Western European cathedrals will be shocked to find a stone warren of small, intimate chapels, each decorated with countless icons and engravings and soaring in one direction only: upwards, to the height of the onion domes above. Russia's history is all about a country being simultaneously tugged towards the west and the east. A visit inside St Basil's gives an invaluable lesson on the importance and undoubted attractions of the latter.
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Krasnaya pl. 2

tel. (+7) 495 298 33 04

Open 10:00 - 17:00,
Tue Closed. Metro station:

Kitai Gorod

Vysoko-Petrovsky Monastery

Founded in the 1380s, in the same century as Moscow itself, this early medieval monastery was part of the original fortifications of the city. Today, the several churches inside have marvellous paintings and icons inside yet the exterior is really quite rundown. Today there is a friendly colony of cats, fed by the monastery faithful. [...]

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Ul. Petrovka 28

Metro station:

Chekhovskaya

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