Nikolo-Perervinsky Monastery

The last few days have been beautiful. Welcome sunshine after a couple of months of grey skies and gloom. The sun even has some warmth in it.

Many tourists find their way to Novodevichy Convent, so I thought I'd write about a religious institution casual visitors to Moscow do not see, the Nikolo-Perervinskiy Monastery. I also think its more attractive than Novodevichy.

The blue towers of the 'Cathedral of the Iberian Icon of the Virgin' are visible in the distance and across the river from the architectural park at Kolomenskoe (see my posts dated 9 March and 6 August last year - which reminds me I need to do a more complete post on that park some time). It took me a little while to work out where this cathedral is and how to get there. You take the metro on the light green line to Pechatniki, then a bus south (the 30, 161 or 292). The monastery is very obvious - get off the bus when you see it.

The Cathedral of the Iberian Icon of the Virgin

 The monastery's existence was first recorded in 1623, but it has probably been around since the 14th century. The cathedral was built in 1908, one of the last churches to be constructed before the Bolsheviks took power. It was also one of the last monasteries to be closed, perhaps because the buses down there are pretty rickety and Stalin didn't like traveling in them.

The monastery is functioning, fully restored and the grounds and cathedral are open to visitors.

Monastery entrance