 Donskoy Monastery of the Mother of God is situated nearby Donskaya Square.
The Donskoy Monastery was founded in the XIVth century by Tsar Fedor Ioanovich in the honour of majestic deliverance of Moscow from the hordes of Khan Kazy-Girei.
The miracle was achieved thanks to the Donskaya icon of Our Lady. The church of the Donskaya icon of the Mother of God (now the Maly cathedral) was laid instead the tsar Fedor`s camp-church.
The Bolshoi cathedral with the church of the God?s Sretenie was erected at the end of the XVII century. The monastery bell-tower is a wonderful architectural monument of the XVIII century. It has been built for 20 years by famous architects one after another: D. Tresini, D. V. Ukhtomsky and Evlashev. It was at that time when the church of the Archangel Michael with the princes Golitsins` family vault appeared.
The cemetery of the Donskoy monastery is famous for its splendid decoration of the tombstones. One of the sculptors, who performed the decoration, was I. P. Martos ? the author of the monument to Minin and Pozharsky.
In the 20s of the last century the monastery was closed. In the 30s a branch of the Architectural Museum occupied its territory. Thanks to that fact the restoration of the monastery began and many buildings were preserved. The monkshood of the monastery began to recover on the 400th anniversary of the monastery.
When the relic of Patriarch Tikhon was buried in the Maly cathedral, in the house where he lived under arrest, an exposition "Patriarch Tikhon`s Cell" was placed.
Nowadays the divine services take place in the Maly and Bolshoi cathedrals.
District: Downtown
Address: 1, Donskaya Sq., Moscow
Underground: Shabolovskaya
Phones: (095)954-48-57, 952-16-46
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