Novodevichy Monastery Museum

In February 2010, the architectural complex of the Moscow Novodevichy Monastery, within the walls of which since 1934 a branch of the State Historical Museum has been located, by order of the Government of the Russian Federation was transferred to the free indefinite use of the Moscow Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Taking into account that the architectural ensemble of the ancient monastery is a visited tourist site and since 2004 is included in the list of UNESCO World Cultural Heritage monuments, Metropolitan Juvenal of Krutitsk and Kolomna in 2010 blessed to organize the Church Museum of the Moscow Diocese within the walls of the ancient monastery, appointing him director of the abbess Margarita (Feoktistova).

The main activity of the Church Museum is the excursion service of pilgrimage and tourist groups. Employees of the excursion bureau of the Church Museum conduct daily excursions around the Novodevichy Monastery and introduce the history of the monastery.

Currently, for tourist inspection are open: Smolensk Cathedral (in the summer) with unique frescoes and a five-tier carved iconostasis of the 16th-17th centuries, made by masters of the State Armory Chamber; The Assumption Church is a functioning church with a unique refectory chamber and magnificent interior decoration, a chapel-sanctuary of the Prokhorov family (in summer) with mosaics of the early twentieth century; in summer, excursions are held around the monastery necropolis, which houses the graves of Russian poets, writers, historians, state, public and military figures.

From the first days of its existence, the Church Museum conducts exhibition activities. On January 1, 2011, the First Exhibition “Children – Christmas of Christ” was opened in the Sophia Chambers, which presented art works of pupils of Sunday schools of the Moscow Diocese and students of secondary and art schools of the Moscow region undergoing training under the program “Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture”

In April 2011, in the same chambers, the exhibition “Saint Rus’ Temples” was opened, where the works of famous Russian painters of the present floor were presented. XX century from the collection "Fund for the Development of Education and Arts".

At present, in the Sophia Chambers, an exhibition of Theotokos icons from the monastery collection - "Great, my soul, the Most Pure Virgin" and a memorial exhibition dedicated to the abbess Seraphim (Black, 1914-1999), the first abbess of the Novodevichy monastery after the resumption of monastic life in it are open for inspection. To the anniversary of the Patriotic War of 1812, an exhibition “1812 in the fate of Russia and the Novodevichy Monastery” was opened in the subclet of the Sophia Chambers, which tells about the first months of the war, the Moscow Fire and how the Novodevichy Monastery survived these events.

Two more expositions are in the chambers of Queen Irina Godunova. These are the photo-exhibition “The Moscow Diocese Yesterday and Today”, which presents a panorama of the life of the Moscow Diocese; and the exhibition of icons of the early 18th century from the iconostasis of the Descent of the Holy Spirit, entitled “Fiery Languages of Grace”.