Bogoyavlensky Convent is one of the most populous Russian Orthodox

Russian Orthodox Church

The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...

 convent

Convent

A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...

s. It is situated in Kostroma

Kostroma

Kostroma is a historic city and the administrative center of Kostroma Oblast, Russia. A part of the Golden Ring of Russian towns, it is located at the confluence of the Volga and Kostroma Rivers...

 and is known as the location of the ancient Feodorovskaya Icon of God's Mother

Theotokos

Theotokos is the Greek title of Mary, the mother of Jesus used especially in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches. Its literal English translations include God-bearer and the one who gives birth to God. Less literal translations include Mother of God...

.

It was founded as Bogoyavlensky Monastery in the 15th century by Nikita, a disciple and a relative of St Sergius of Radonezh

Sergius of Radonezh

Venerable Sergius of Radonezh , also transliterated as Sergey Radonezhsky or Serge of Radonezh, was a spiritual leader and monastic reformer of medieval Russia. Together with Venerable Seraphim of Sarov, he is one of the Russian Orthodox Church's most highly venerated saints.-Early life:The date of...

.

The five-domed katholikon

Katholikon

A Katholikon or Catholicon is the major temple of a monastery, or diocese in the Eastern Orthodox Church. The name derives from the fact that it is the largest temple where all gather together to celebrate the major feast days of the liturgical year. At other times, the smaller temples or...

 of traditional Byzantine design was constructed under Ivan the Terrible, starting in 1559. The Tsar accused the father superior and some of the brethren of supporting his rival Vladimir of Staritsa

Vladimir of Staritsa

Vladimir Andreyevich was the last appanage Russian prince. His complicated relationship with his cousin, Ivan the Terrible, was dramatized in Sergei Eisenstein's movie Ivan the Terrible....

 and had them executed in 1570.

The monastery was besieged and taken by Aleksander Józef Lisowski

Aleksander Józef Lisowski

Aleksander Józef Lisowski was a Polish-Lithuanian noble , commander of a mercenary group that after his death adopted the name "Lisowczycy." His coat of arms was Jeż ....

 during the Time of Troubles

Time of Troubles

The Time of Troubles was a period of Russian history comprising the years of interregnum between the death of the last Russian Tsar of the Rurik Dynasty, Feodor Ivanovich, in 1598, and the establishment of the Romanov Dynasty in 1613. In 1601-1603, Russia suffered a famine that killed one-third...

. The attack claimed the lives of 11 monks. A monastic house dates from the 17th century. The other buildings arose from the monastery's reconstruction in the Russian Revival

Russian Revival

The Russian Revival style is the generic term for a number of different movements within Russian architecture that arose in second quarter of the 19th century and was an eclectic melding of pre-Peterine Russian architecture and elements of Byzantine architecture.The Russian Revival style arose...

style in the late 19th century. In 1863 the monastery was transformed into the convent.

After the Revolution the convent was abolished and was not revived until the 1990s. The remains of the wall paintings in the katholikon were destroyed in a recent fire.

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