Donskoy Monastery Review

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Donskoy Monastery

  • Address: 1 Donskaya Pl., Southern Outskirts, Moscow
  • Phone: 495/952-1646

Fodor's Review:

The 16th-century Donskoy Monastery, situated in a secluded, wooded area in the southwest section of Moscow, is a fascinating memorial to Russian architecture and art. From 1934 to 1992, a branch of the Shchusev Architecture Museum, keeping architectural details of churches, monasteries, and public buildings destroyed under the Soviets, was located—more or less secretly—inside its walls. Today the monastery is once again functioning as a religious institution, and the museum is slowly removing its exhibits from inside the churches. But the bits and pieces of demolished churches and monuments remain, forming a graveyard of destroyed architecture from Russia's past.

The monastery grounds are surrounded by a high defensive wall with 12 towers, the last of the defense fortifications to be built around Moscow. The monastery was built on the site where, in 1591, the Russian army stood waiting for an impending attack from Tatar troops grouped on the opposite side of the river. According to legend, the Russians awoke one morning to find the Tatars gone. Their sudden retreat was considered a miracle, and Boris Godunov ordered a monastery built to commemorate the miraculous victory. Of course, it didn't happen quite like that, but historians confirm that the Tatars did retreat after only minor skirmishes, which is difficult to explain. Never again would they come so close to Moscow. The victory was attributed to the icon of the Virgin of the Don that Prince Dimitry Donskoy had supposedly carried previously, during his campaign in 1380 (in which the Russians won their first decisive victory against the Tatars). The monastery was named in honor of the wonder-working icon.

When you enter the grounds through the western gates, an icon of the Virgin of the Don looks down on you from above the entrance to the imposing New Cathedral. The brick cathedral was built in the late 17th century by Peter the Great's half-sister, the regent Sophia. It has been under restoration for decades; services are held in the gallery surrounding the church, where the architectural exhibits were once housed. The smaller Old Cathedral stands to the right of the New Cathedral. The attractive red church with white trim was built between 1591-1593, during the reign of Boris Godunov. It's open for services.

One of the most fascinating sections of the monastery is its graveyard, with many fine examples of memorial art. After the plague swept through Moscow in 1771, Catherine the Great forbade any more burials in the city center. The Donskoy Monastery, at that time on the city's outskirts, became a fashionable burial place for the well-to-do. The small Church of the Archangel built against the fortification wall on the far right was the private chapel and crypt of the prominent Golitsyn family (original owners of the Arkhangelskoye estate). Many leading intellectuals, politicians, and aristocrats were buried here in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries.

  • Cost: Free
  • Open: Daily 7:20-6
  • Metro: Shabolovskaya
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