The Chapel at Novodevichy Convent – Moscow

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The Chapel at Novodevichy Convent in Moscow.

When we visited the Novodevichy Convent we came across a beautiful and very unusual Chapel. The first thing that caught my eye was the golden onion dome. When I looked closer, I could not help but to admire the simple but beautiful architecture. At first I thought it was a small church and I left it at that. It was only when I started to write this blog post that I battled to find the correct information about this chapel.

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The beautiful chapel with the golden domes.

The famous bell tower behind the Chapel.

Many people look at this building but they notice the more famous bell tower which is just behind it. The bell tower is very impressive but this little building stole my heart.

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Burial vault for the Prokhorov Family

The Burial Vault for the Prokhorov Family.

The battle for information started. Some people called it the “Burial vault for the Prokhorov Family” and I did some research. I didn’t find a lot of information. I found out that it was designed by architect Vladimir Pokrovsky (1871-1931) in 1911 for the Prokhorov family. This raised some questions: Who was the Prokhorov Family and why were they buried here?

When we walked through the garden we learned that only the elite of the elite is buried here, like the historian S.M.Soloviev, the hero of the War of 1812 D.V.Davydov and the writer I.I.Lazhechnikov etc.  The other elite is buried at the adjacent cemetery. This family must have been very important.

I searched a little more. No luck. All I could find was that they were the former owners of the Tryokhgornaya Manufactory. This didn’t mean anything and Andrey also couldn’t help me. It was built in 1911-1917, respectively. I also read that another family has been buried on the convent premises: The Volskonsky family.

Maybe I will find more information later but for now, this will have to do.

The Chapel at the Novodevichy convent in Moscow.
The burial vault from behind with gorgeous flowers.

Don’t you think this is a charming little chapel?

Where: Novodevichy Convent – Moscow

When: 18 May 2012

I have been fortunate to have done quite a bit of travelling. By heart I am an adventurer and I love exploring new places, cultures and food. Travelling can become stressful and expensive. Over the years I have learnt to travel as cost effective as possible, simply by travelling more clever. Nelmitravel.com is a Adventure and Budget Travel site where I review Airlines, Accommodation, Transport, Restaurants and give helpful travel information.

6 Comments

  1. Dear Nelieta,
    This is indeed a charming chapel and intriguing information about the families buried there. What gets me the most are those flowers…they are so vibrant…just gorgeous! Nice capture! Thanks for sharing.

  2. It is 🙂 My dad and my sister said that Europe boasts of great architecture.

    I’ve never seen a chapel so small yet elegant 🙂 Did you enter inside?

    1. Europe has amazing architecture…some countries more than others. Unfortunately we couldn`t go inside. From what I could gather it is a private chapel and burial ground not open for the general public. It was really beautiful!

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