Donskoy Monastery
Донской монастырь · Donskoy District
monastery in Moscow, Russia
Contents
8 sections · tap a section for its opening lines1Donskoy Monastery
Welcome, colleagues, to the Donskoy Monastery, a place where the spiritual and military histories of Russia are uniquely intertwined. Founded in 1591, this monastery stands as a monumental 'ledger of memory' on the site where the…
Listen in the app2The Old Cathedral — A Kokoshnik Pyramid
The Old Cathedral, dedicated to the Don Icon of the Mother of God, is the oldest building in the monastery, consecrated in 1593 shortly after the foundation. Its architecture is striking and highly representative of the late…
Listen in the app3The New Cathedral — Baroque Grandeur
Standing at the center of the monastery is the New Cathedral, a massive and magnificent example of 'Naryshkin Baroque' architecture, built between 1683 and 1698. The structure is characterized by its four rounded 'lobes' or…
Listen in the app4Patriarch Tikhon’s Chambers — A Witness to Exile
Near the Tikhvin Church, we find the modest apartment where Patriarch Tikhon, the first patriarch after the restoration of the patriarchate in 1917, was held under house arrest from 1922 until his death in 1925. These six small…
Listen in the app5The Necropolis — Russia’s elite City of the Dead
The Donskoy Monastery necropolis is often described as the most aristocratic and beautiful cemetery in Moscow. Because the monastery was never turned into a club or a camp during the Soviet era, many of its most magnificent…
Listen in the app6The Salvaged Reliefs — Fragments of the White Stone
Mounted on the eastern and northern walls of the monastery are six colossal high-relief sculptures salvaged from the original Cathedral of Christ the Saviour before it was dynamited in 1931. These fragments were brought here in…
Listen in the app7The Sretenie Church — The Crypt of the Georgian Kings
In the lower level or 'podklet' of the New Cathedral lies the Sretenie Church, which serves as the burial vault for several members of the Georgian royal families, including King Archil II and his descendants. Archil II, who…
Listen in the app8Donskoy Monastery
As our scholarly tour of the Donskoy Monastery ends, I hope you have been touched by the extraordinary density of history and memory held within these walls. We have moved from the 'kokoshnik pyramid' of the 16th century to the…
Listen in the app
What is Donskoy Monastery?
Donskoy Monastery is a place in Donskoy District with 8 story sections on Tellby. You can read the opening of each section on this page; the sound plays in the app.
| Location | Donskoy District |
|---|---|
| Type | Heritage |
| Story sections | 8 |
| Text language | English |
| Coordinates | 55.7144, 37.6021 |
| Last updated |
