# Novodevichy Convent, Moscow > A working 16th-century Orthodox convent on a bend of the Moskva river, UNESCO-listed since 2004, with a 72-metre bell tower and Russia’s most famous cemetery outside its walls. The official price list has a 1,000 ₽ ticket for foreign visitors (grounds plus museum); the museum opens daily 9:30–17:30. Allow an hour inside, 2–2.5 hours with the cemetery. Metro: Sportivnaya. Web page: https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/novodevichy-convent - City: [Moscow](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow), Russia - YesGo score: 48/100 (Yes, if nearby) - Time on site: 1 h - Entry: Free, museum 500 ₽ - Opening hours: Museum daily 9:30–17:30; grounds open during the day (no official hours published); Smolensk Cathedral only during services - With kids: Fine with kids - Foreign visitors: 1,000 ₽ — grounds plus museum exhibition; foreign school and university students 500 ₽ - Grounds: Free for independent Russian visitors; paid for groups and for foreigners with a guide - Independent foreigners: Whether you’re charged at the gate without a guide isn’t spelt out — budget 1,000 ₽ - Museum exhibition (Russian price): 500 ₽, concessions 300 ₽ - Museum hours: Daily 9:30–17:30 - Grounds hours: Daytime; guides quote 9:00–17:00 or 9:00–18:00 — no official timetable - Smolensk Cathedral: Open during services only; no tourist visits - Museum’s own tour: 1,500 ₽ for foreigners, groups of 5+, book 2–3 days ahead - Novodevichy Cemetery: Separate gate on Luzhnetsky Proezd; May–Sep 9:00–19:00, Oct–Apr 9:00–17:00 - Metro: Sportivnaya (red line 1), 10–15 min walk - Address: Novodevichy Proezd 1 - Coordinates: 55.72597, 37.55658 - Facts checked: 29.10.2026 ## Key facts - **1524** — founded by Grand Prince Vasily III to mark the capture of Smolensk (source: Official website of the Novodevichy Convent; English and Russian Wikipedia) - **No. 1097** — the Ensemble of the Novodevichy Convent, UNESCO World Heritage since 2004 (source: UNESCO World Heritage List; English and Russian Wikipedia) - **72 m** — the six-tier bell tower of 1689–1690, one of the tallest in Moscow (source: English Wikipedia, “Novodevichy Convent”; Lonely Planet) - **1689–1704** — Peter the Great’s half-sister Sophia was confined here; she is buried in the Smolensk Cathedral (source: Official website of the Church Museum; English Wikipedia) - **12 towers** — on the walls, built under Boris Godunov (source: English Wikipedia; Russian Wikipedia) - **≈ 900 m** — of walls, about 13 m high (source: Russian Wikipedia, “Novodevichy Convent”) - **12 m** — the gilded five-tier iconostasis of the Smolensk Cathedral, by Kremlin Armoury masters (source: Official website of the Novodevichy Convent; Church Museum website) - **1934–2010** — a branch of the State Historical Museum; since 2010 used by the Russian Orthodox Church (source: Official website of the Church Museum; Russian Wikipedia) - **1812** — Napoleon’s retreating army tried to blow up the convent; the nuns saved it (source: English and Russian Wikipedia; official convent website) - **1898** — Novodevichy Cemetery opened by the south wall — graves of Chekhov, Bulgakov, Gogol and Yeltsin (source: English and Russian Wikipedia, “Novodevichy Cemetery”) ## Novodevichy Convent tickets: is it free? For Russians visiting on their own, yes — the grounds of this working convent are free. Foreigners are a different case: the Church Museum’s official price list has a **1,000 ₽ ticket for foreign tourists covering the grounds and the museum exhibition** (500 ₽ for foreign school and university students), and the museum says entry to the grounds is paid for groups and for foreign tourists with a guide. Whether an independent foreigner without a guide is charged at the gate isn’t spelt out, so budget 1,000 ₽ and treat anything less as a bonus. Pay in roubles: cash or a Russian bank card. **Visa and Mastercard cards issued abroad have not worked in Russia since March 2022.** The museum exhibition itself is small — an exhibition on Abbess Seraphima, who revived the convent, in a 17th-century guardhouse by the Naprudnaya Tower. The museum also runs a guided walk of the grounds for 1,500 ₽ per foreign visitor, for groups of five or more, booked 2–3 days ahead. > **You can only see the cathedral during a service** The Smolensk Cathedral — the oldest building, with 16th-century frescoes and a gilded iconostasis — is open only during services, and the Church Museum says it offers no tourist visits. To see it inside, come for a service (the timetable is on the convent’s website), stand quietly at the back and keep your camera away. > **Dress code** This is a working convent. Women should wear a skirt below the knee and cover their hair; men need long trousers and take hats off inside churches. Shoulders covered for everyone. Keep your voice down, and don’t take photos during services or where signs ask you not to. ## How to get to Novodevichy Convent 1. From Red Square, take the red Sokolnicheskaya line (line 1) from **Okhotny Ryad** towards Salaryevo — five stops to **Sportivnaya**, about 10 minutes. 2. At Sportivnaya, take the exit towards Ulitsa 10-letiya Oktyabrya — away from Luzhniki Stadium. 3. Walk along Ulitsa 10-letiya Oktyabrya to Novodevichy Proezd, 10–15 minutes. The main gate is the north one, under the Transfiguration gate church. 4. By bus: Novodevichy Monastyr stop, routes 220, m6, s216 and s755. 5. For the cemetery, follow the south wall to its own gate on Luzhnetsky Proezd — about 5 minutes from the convent gate. 6. The metro is the easiest option: Moscow’s station signs and announcements are in English as well as Russian. ## Is Novodevichy Convent worth visiting? Yes, if you have a second day in Moscow. It is the best-preserved monastery ensemble in the city: red-and-white walls, a 72-metre bell tower, gold domes and late-17th-century churches in the ornate “Moscow Baroque” style, all in a quiet riverside corner with few crowds compared with the Kremlin. It is less worth it if you want interiors. The main cathedral opens only for services and the museum is small, so most of what you see is from outside. Pair it with the cemetery and [Sparrow Hills](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/sparrow-hills) and it becomes one of the best half-days in Moscow; on its own, an hour is enough. ## What to see inside the walls - **Smolensk Cathedral** (1524–1525) — five domes on a high base, frescoes covering every wall and a 12-metre gilded iconostasis. Sophia, her sisters and Peter the Great’s first wife Eudoxia Lopukhina are buried here. - **The bell tower** — six octagonal tiers, 72 m; a seventh tier was planned but never built. - **Transfiguration gate church** over the north entrance, with the Lopukhin Chambers beside it. - **Dormition Church and refectory** (1685–1687) — a vast pillarless dining hall of 390 m². - **Naprudnaya Tower** — by tradition the place where Sophia was held; the museum exhibition is next to it. - **St Ambrose Church** and the chambers of Irina Godunova — 16th-century, among the oldest buildings here. - **Intercession gate church** over the south gate, with three domes in a row. ## Novodevichy Cemetery: who is buried there The cemetery lies **outside the south wall** with its own entrance. Opened in 1898, it is Russia’s best-known burial ground: **Anton Chekhov, Mikhail Bulgakov and Nikolai Gogol** (moved here in 1931), Vladimir Mayakovsky, Sergei Prokofiev, Dmitri Shostakovich, Nikita Khrushchev, **Boris Yeltsin** and Mikhail Gorbachev all lie here. Independent visitors walk in free. Guides give seasonal hours of 9:00–19:00 from May to September and 9:00–17:00 from October to April. There is a plot map at the gate; the famous graves are spread across several sections, so allow 45–60 minutes. Yeltsin’s grave is on the central alley of the newer section. ## A short history Grand Prince Vasily III founded the convent in **1524** to celebrate taking Smolensk back from Lithuania, which is why the cathedral is dedicated to the Smolensk icon of the Virgin. The name means “new maidens’ convent” — new compared with Moscow’s older convents. Royal and noble women came here, by choice or by force. Tsar Fyodor’s widow Irina Godunova moved in in 1598; Regent **Sophia**, Peter the Great’s half-sister, rebuilt much of the convent in the 1680s — and was locked up here by Peter from **1689** until her death in 1704. In **1812** Napoleon’s retreating troops tried to blow the convent up; the nuns are said to have put out the fuses. From 1934 it was a branch of the State Historical Museum. In 2010 it passed back to the Church, and nuns live and pray here today. > **The classic view is from the pond** Walk round to the park on the south-east side, by the Big Novodevichy Pond: the walls, bell tower and domes reflect in the water. Next to it stands a bronze copy of Boston’s “Make Way for Ducklings”, given by Barbara Bush in 1991. Guides often say this view inspired Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake — a nice story, but no biography confirms it. ## Before you go: checklist - [ ] Roubles in cash or a Russian bank card — foreign Visa and Mastercard won’t work - [ ] Skirt below the knee and a headscarf (women), long trousers (men) - [ ] Want the cathedral? Checked the service times - [ ] At the museum before 17:30 - [ ] Student card for the 500 ₽ foreign student ticket - [ ] A plot map or a guide for the cemetery ## Novodevichy Convent vs the Kremlin vs Kolomenskoye | | Novodevichy Convent | Moscow Kremlin | Kolomenskoye | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | What it is | Working 16th–17th-century convent | Fortress with cathedrals and the Armoury | Former royal estate and park | | UNESCO | Since 2004 | Since 1990 | Church of the Ascension, since 1994 | | Entry for foreigners | 1,000 ₽ grounds plus museum | Ticket only, from 1,100 ₽ | Park free, palace paid | | Time needed | 1–2.5 h | 2 h to half a day | 2–3 h | Do the Kremlin first. Novodevichy is the best pick for day two: calmer, cheaper and next to Sparrow Hills. Kolomenskoye suits you if you want a big riverside park. ## Moscow’s churches and monasteries compared Every church and sacred site in Moscow rated by YesGo. - [Cathedral of Christ the Saviour](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/cathedral-of-christ-the-saviour) — YesGo score 72/100 (Yes, go) · 40 min · Free - [St Basil's Cathedral](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/st-basils-cathedral) — YesGo score 65/100 (Yes, go) · 45 min · 2,000 ₽ for foreign visitors - [Moscow Kremlin](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/moscow-kremlin) — YesGo score 64/100 (Yes, go) · 2 h 30 min · from 1,100 ₽ - [Kitay-gorod](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/kitay-gorod) — YesGo score 58/100 (Yes, go) · 1 h · Free - [Novodevichy Convent](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/novodevichy-convent) — YesGo score 48/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Free, museum 500 ₽ - [Kolomenskoye](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/kolomenskoye) — YesGo score 38/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 2 h · Park free, palace ≈ 700 ₽ - [Poklonnaya Hill](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/poklonnaya-hill) — YesGo score 36/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Park free; Victory Museum 450 ₽ ## Novodevichy and Sparrow Hills in half a day Start at the convent and the pond view, walk to Luzhniki and ride the cable car up to Sparrow Hills. From the viewpoint, walk down to the river and along the embankment to [Gorky Park](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/gorky-park), then finish at GES-2. 1. [Novodevichy Convent](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/novodevichy-convent) — YesGo score 48/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Free, museum 500 ₽ 2. [Sparrow Hills](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/sparrow-hills) — YesGo score 49/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 45 min · Free 3. [Gorky Park](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/gorky-park) — YesGo score 51/100 (Yes, go) · 1 h 30 min · Free 4. [GES-2 House of Culture](https://yesgo.io/russia/moscow/ges-2) — YesGo score 42/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Free entry with registration, exhibitions 400–1,000 ₽ ## Good to know St Petersburg has its own Novodevichy Convent (the Resurrection Novodevichy Convent on Moskovsky Prospekt) — a different place. Signs and maps in Moscow may call this one Novodevichy Monastery or Bogoroditse-Smolensky Monastery; it is the same convent. ## Tips - Come at 9:30 on a weekday: the courtyard is nearly empty and the bell tower photographs well in morning light. - Start from the pond, not the gate — see the whole ensemble first, then go inside. - Chekhov, Bulgakov and Gogol are in the old part of the cemetery; ask for the plot numbers at the gate. - Autumn is the prettiest season: gold domes over yellow trees by the ponds. - Afterwards, walk to Luzhniki and take the cable car up to Sparrow Hills. - Back to the centre: two metro stops from Sportivnaya to Park Kultury for Gorky Park. ## Questions ### Is Novodevichy Convent free to visit? For Russians visiting on their own, the grounds are free. The official price list has a 1,000 ₽ ticket for foreign tourists covering the grounds and the museum exhibition, 500 ₽ for foreign students. ### What are the Novodevichy Convent opening hours? The museum opens daily 9:30–17:30. The grounds are open during the day but the convent publishes no official hours. The Smolensk Cathedral opens only during services. ### How do I get to Novodevichy Convent by metro? Take the red line to Sportivnaya — five stops and about 10 minutes from Okhotny Ryad by Red Square. From the station it’s a 10–15 minute walk along Ulitsa 10-letiya Oktyabrya. ### Can you go inside the Smolensk Cathedral? Only during services — there are no tourist visits. Check the service times on the convent’s website and keep your camera away during worship. ### Who is buried at Novodevichy Cemetery? Chekhov, Bulgakov, Gogol, Mayakovsky, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Khrushchev, Yeltsin and Gorbachev, among many others. Tsarevna Sophia is buried inside the convent, in the Smolensk Cathedral. ### How long do you need at Novodevichy Convent? About an hour for the grounds, 20–30 minutes for the pond view and 45–60 minutes for the cemetery. With Sparrow Hills it makes a good half-day. ### Is there a dress code? Yes. Women: skirt below the knee and a headscarf. Men: long trousers, hats off in church. Everyone: covered shoulders. ### Did Novodevichy inspire Swan Lake? It’s a popular story told by guides, but no biography of Tchaikovsky confirms it. Treat it as a legend — the pond view is lovely either way. ### Why is Novodevichy Convent a UNESCO site? It was listed in 2004 (No. 1097) as an exceptionally well-preserved example of the Moscow Baroque style, closely tied to Russia’s political and religious history. ## How we checked Prices, museum hours, entry rules and the cathedral’s status come from the official Church Museum website; address and churches from the convent’s own website. The museum states that entry to the grounds is paid for groups and for foreign tourists with a guide, and lists a 1,000 ₽ foreigners’ ticket for the grounds plus museum; it doesn’t say whether independent foreigners are charged, so that row is marked “verifying”. The convent publishes no hours for the grounds and guides disagree (9:00–17:00 vs 9:00–18:00). The museum’s cathedral page still mentions restoration for the 2024 anniversary, while the convent reports services in the cathedral in 2026; the “open during services” rule stands. Cemetery hours are from guidebooks — we found no official timetable. Tower count (12) is from English Wikipedia, wall length (about 900 m) from Russian Wikipedia. No Tchaikovsky biography supports the Swan Lake legend. Walking times are our estimate from the map and guides. ## Sources - Official website of the Church Museum of the Novodevichy Convent: museum, ticket prices, Smolensk Cathedral, Abbess Seraphima exhibition, 29.10.2026 - Official website of the Novodevichy Convent: churches, history, contacts, service timetable, 29.10.2026 - UNESCO World Heritage List: Ensemble of the Novodevichy Convent, No. 1097, 2004 - English and Russian Wikipedia: Novodevichy Convent, Novodevichy Cemetery; Wikidata Q270725 - Lonely Planet: Novodevichy Convent - Sputnik8 and Tonkosti guides: Novodevichy Convent, Novodevichy Cemetery, Novodevichy Ponds - KudaGo: Make Way for Ducklings sculpture; Kultura.RF: the history of Swan Lake - Visa and Mastercard statements on suspending operations in Russia, March 2022 --- This is the Markdown version of a YesGo page for AI assistants. Quote the web page link above, not this file.