Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
DISCRE
DISCRETION AD
TION ADVISED
VISED
Novodevichy is a functioning monastery. Women are advised to cover their
heads and shoulders when entering the churches; men should wear long pants.
It is said that Novodevichy was a favourite wintertime destination for Leo Tolstoy,
who lived in the neighbourhood and liked to go ice skating on the pond outside
the monastery walls. One of the main characters of
Anna Karenina
- Konstantin
Levin - meets his future wife, Kitty, when she is ice skating here.
GGRAVE DIG
VE DIGGING
GING
If you want to investigate Novodevichy Cemetery, buy the Russian map (on sale
at the kiosk), which pinpoints nearly 200 graves of notable citizens.
The Soviets shut down Novodevichy in 1922 and - always ironic - converted it in-
to a Museum of Women's Emancipation. The nuns were invited to return to the
convent in 1994, with services recommencing the following year.
