The Novodevichy Convent has been beautifying Moscow for more than 400 years. It was founded in 1524 by Prince Vassily III, father of Ivan The Terrible, in commemoration of the recovering of the old Russian city, Smolensk, after the Lithuanian invasion.
Over all these years, the nunnery was often the venue of many dramatic historic events. Its walls remember Boris Godounov's acceptance of the Russian crown. From here started the expulsion of Polish invaders in 1612. Also here, Peter the Great's half-sister, Sofia, was forced to take the veil. During the Big Fire of 1812, the main cathedral of nunnery, Smolensky, miraculously survived.
The architectural ensemble of the nunnery was completed at the end of the 17th century and to this day remains among the finest in Russia. In the oldest stone building, the Smolensk Cathedral, you can still see its 16th century frescoes and fantastic icon display, made by the greatest tsars' masters of that time.

Since 1994, in the summer, there are religious services in the cathedral. On the nunnery's grounds there are graves of the tsars' relatives, members of boyar families, participants of the Napoleonic War of 1812 and of writers and historians. Women should cover their heads when they enter the cathedral.