Donskoy Monastery is one of the most famous in Moscow; it is in second place in terms of polarity among tourists (after Novodevichy). Founded in 1591 by Theodore Ioannovich, the monastery has a rich history.
The monastery is located on Donskoy Square (buildings 1-3), the closest to it is the Shabolovskaya station, but you can get from Tulskaya, Leninsky Prospekt and the Gagarin Square MCC station (including on foot).
Donskoy Monastery is often called the historical pearl of the city and a unique architectural monument. At the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century, a stone fence of the monastery with twelve towers was erected (at the expense of Yakov Kirilov, the son of the famous deacon Averky Kirillov).
Pay attention to the painting on the walls and ceiling of the Gate Church of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God.
The church was made in the Moscow Baroque style by the architect Ivan Zarudny in the 18th century.
The monastery has several gate churches, but the entrance to the territory of the monastery is open only from one side.
The main building of the monastery is the Great Cathedral, it was erected in 1698. Under his altar, a side-chapel of the Presentation of the Lord was created, which served as the burial vault of the Imeretian princes and the princes of Georgian Dadian and Bagration.
The cathedral still has cast iron floors made of cast slabs. The cathedral is active, therefore photography in the temple is prohibited. You can shoot on the territory of the monastery, no one forbids.
There are eleven churches on the territory of the monastery, some of them are gateways.
The necropolis of the Russian nobility and wealthy merchants has been preserved here; it is the only one in Moscow. During the Soviet era, the ancient necropolises of monasteries were destroyed, so it is considered unique in the Donskoy Monastery.
Famous architects, poets, writers, scientists are buried in it. In the necropolis you can see the grave of Osip Bove, Pyotr Chaadaev, Vladimir Odoevsky, the sarcophagus of Lieutenant General Alexander Bruce. He was buried in the Glinka estate at the St. John the Theological Church, but his sarcophagus (according to data from the Internet) is listed in the Donskoy Monastery.
In the early 2000s, the ashes of prominent figures of the White emigration were reburied in the Donskoy Monastery. In 2008, writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn was buried under the altar in the Church of St. John Climacus.
Through the necropolis you can get to the most interesting part of the monastery wall, on which the statues of the destroyed Cathedral of Christ the Savior were fixed (it is surprising that the statues were preserved and brought to the Museum of Architecture, it was located in the Donskoy Monastery during the Soviet era).
There is a garden on the territory of the monastery, recently it was forbidden to walk on it. Low fences appeared on the territory of the monastery, so it is not possible to walk everywhere. Because of them, it is impossible to fully inspect the walls and portals.
The monastery has a tour desk, you can use the services of a guide. So far, the entrance to the monastery is free.
