Marfo-Mariinsky Convent of Mercy

In the very heart of the capital lies an amazing place that combines spiritual heritage with architectural value. The Marfo-Mariinsky Convent of Mercy is a stavropegial women’s monastery with a special way of life, founded by Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna in the early 20th century. The monastery is famous not only for its tragic history but also for its unique architecture created by outstanding masters of the time.

History of the Convent’s Foundation

The Founding of the Monastery by the Grand Duchess

Elizabeth Feodorovna Romanova, née Princess of Hesse-Darmstadt, came to Russia as the bride of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich. After her marriage in 1884, she received the title of Grand Duchess, converted to Orthodoxy, and devoted herself to charitable work. The tragic event of 1905 changed the princess’s fate forever. On February 4, her husband was killed by a bomb thrown by the revolutionary Ivan Kalyaev near the Nikolskaya Tower of the Kremlin. Elizabeth Feodorovna herself gathered her husband’s remains from the pavement. After her husband’s death, the Grand Duchess decided to dedicate her life to serving others. In 1907, using money raised from the sale of her personal jewellery, Elizabeth Feodorovna purchased an estate on Bolshaya Ordynka with four houses and a garden. Here she founded a religious-charitable centre that later became the famous Convent of Mercy.

Activities of the Convent Before the Revolution

Various institutions for helping the needy were established on the monastery grounds:

• a hospital with high-quality medical care
• an outpatient clinic for ambulatory patients
• a pharmacy providing free medicines to the poor
• an orphanage for girls
• a free canteen for the poor
• a Sunday school for education

The solemn opening of the convent took place in 1909. The sisters of mercy cared for the sick, helped the poor, and raised orphans. A special feature of the monastery was that the novices did not take monastic vows and could leave the convent to start a family. Special sets of clothing were designed for them based on sketches by the artist Mikhail Nesterov. During the First World War, the sisters nursed wounded soldiers and organised aid for the front. Elizabeth Feodorovna personally assisted doctors during operations and bandaged the severely ill.

The Tragic Fate of the Foundress

After the October Revolution of 1917, Elizabeth Feodorovna refused to leave Russia despite offers from the German government. On May 7, 1918, half an hour after a visit from Patriarch Tikhon, the Grand Duchess was arrested on the personal order of Felix Dzerzhinsky. On the night of July 18, 1918, Elizabeth Feodorovna was murdered by the Bolsheviks. Together with five other members of the Romanov family, she was thrown alive into a mine shaft near Alapayevsk. Witnesses reported that for several days afterwards, the singing of prayers and psalms could be heard coming from the shaft. The remains of the martyrs were recovered by White Army forces, transported via Beijing and Shanghai to Jerusalem, and in January 1921 Elizabeth Feodorovna was buried in the crypt beneath the Church of Mary Magdalene in Gethsemane.

The Convent in Soviet Times

After the arrest of the abbess, the monastery continued to function until 1926. A significant portion of church valuables, including revered icons and precious utensils, was confiscated. On January 12, 1926, all the convent’s premises were handed over to the Zamoskvorechye District Soviet. The fates of the sisters varied:

• some novices were exiled to Turkestan on charges of counter-revolutionary activity
• others established a market-garden farm in Tver Province under the guidance of Father Mitrofan Serebryansky
• some continued working in the polyclinic on the convent grounds until the late 1920s

In the Intercession Cathedral a cinema was installed, later replaced by a house of sanitary education. A statue of Stalin was even placed in the altar. After the war the building was given to the Grabar All-Russian Art Scientific Restoration Centre, thanks to which the unique paintings by Nesterov and Korin were preserved under protective shields.

The Revival of the Convent

The revival of the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent began in 1992 when the architectural complex was returned to the Moscow Patriarchate. In 2014, by decision of the Holy Synod, the monastery received stavropegial status while preserving the special way of life established by its foundress. Today the convent continues the traditions of mercy:

• a medical centre operates for the rehabilitation of children with cerebral palsy
• a charitable canteen functions
• a patronage service is active
• sisters serve in military hospitals and the Sklifosovsky Emergency Institute
• a museum dedicated to Elizabeth Feodorovna is open

The Architectural Ensemble of the Convent

The Intercession Cathedral — Alexei Shchusev’s Masterpiece

The main architectural dominant of the convent is the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos, built in 1908–1912 to a design by Alexei Shchusev — the same architect who later designed Lenin’s Mausoleum. Shchusev brilliantly combined ancient Russian traditions with Art Nouveau techniques. The massive drum with its onion dome recalls 14th–15th-century Pskov-Novgorod churches, yet closer inspection reveals a free arrangement of windows and unusual architectural solutions typical of Art Nouveau. Distinctive features of the cathedral’s architecture:

• asymmetrical bell towers with domes shaped like candle flames
• exquisite wrought-iron grilles with a unique design for each window
• white-stone carving by outstanding masters
• twelve bells selected to match the famous Rostov chime
• a dome covered with red copper

White-Stone Decoration of the Façades

The smooth white walls of the cathedral are adorned with magnificent stone carving. The graphic templates for the carving were executed according to Shchusev’s drawings by the architect Nikifor Tamonkin, who worked in the master’s studio for forty years. On the eastern façade is a carved stone Golgotha cross depicting the Mother of God and John the Theologian. On the southern façade one can see an unusual composition — a view of Jerusalem with the rotunda of the Holy Sepulchre and the dome of the Church of Mary Magdalene, recalling Elizabeth Feodorovna’s pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The northern porch is decorated with the composition “Paradise Garden” — a wall entirely covered with a carpet of white-stone carving featuring fantastical plants and birds, including the mythical bird Alkonost. This technique was inspired by St George’s Cathedral in Yuryev-Polsky. Above the northern portal is the triptych “Etimasia (The Prepared Throne)” with two cherubim. Notably, the gentle face on the right is a portrait of Elizabeth Feodorovna herself, while on the left is the stern profile of her husband Sergei Alexandrovich. On the western façade above the portal is a mosaic of “The Image of the Saviour Not Made by Hands”, executed from a design by Mikhail Nesterov.

Unique Interior Paintings

The interior decoration of the Intercession Cathedral is of exceptional artistic value. Mikhail Nesterov created here his most famous compositions, striving to free himself from the Vasnetsov style and find his own path in religious painting. Nesterov’s main works in the cathedral:

1. “The Path to Christ” — a monumental composition with twenty-five figures on the western wall, depicting people of different estates walking towards the Saviour amid a spring landscape
2. “Christ with Martha and Mary” — a touching scene of Jesus conversing with Lazarus’s sisters beneath a flowering almond tree
3. “The Morning of the Resurrection” — a triptych dedicated to the Myrrh-bearing Women and Mary Magdalene’s encounter with the Risen Christ
4. “The Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos” — a fresco in the conch of the apse
5. “The Annunciation” — painting of the altar pillars with the Archangel Gabriel and the Virgin Mary

The iconostasis of the cathedral was also painted by Nesterov in the style of Novgorod icons. The four evangelists on the Royal Doors, the images of the righteous Martha and Mary, and the archangels Michael and Gabriel are executed with astonishing mastery. Pavel Korin, Nesterov’s pupil, decorated the drum area, window and door vaults with images of archangels and seraphim amid plant ornament. Together with Nesterov he created the drum fresco “Father Seraphim with the Infant Jesus Christ”. The woodwork — the iconostasis and seven oak doors of the cathedral with magnificent carving and embossed leather — was executed by the sculptor Mikhail Ruzheynikov.

The Secret Crypt with Korin’s Frescoes

In the Intercession Cathedral a hidden staircase leads to an underground burial vault. Elizabeth Feodorovna willed to be buried here beside the graves of the sisters, but this was not to be. The painting of the crypt was carried out in 1914 by Pavel Korin, who titled the cycle “The Path of the Righteous to the Lord”. This is probably the last church painting completed in pre-revolutionary Moscow. Korin specially travelled to Rostov Veliky and Yaroslavl to study ancient frescoes. The walls are decorated with processions of angels and holy women. Above the door is the image “The Three Youths in the Fiery Furnace” — a prefiguration of the Resurrection. The central fresco depicts the three patriarchs — Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, symbolising Paradise — with the Good Thief standing before them. The ceiling and vaults of the crypt are adorned with flaming seraphim, forming a vivid contrast with the bluish faces of the angels. The frescoes amaze with the freshness of their colours and monumental execution, although the burial vault was never consecrated.

Other Buildings of the Complex

Alexei Shchusev also designed the holy gates with a porter’s lodge, the chapel of St Seraphim of Sarov, and other elements of the ensemble in the neo-Russian style. The gates with carved wooden lattice, stylised after medieval ones, create a memorable image of the entrance to the convent. On the grounds stands the Church of the Righteous Martha and Mary attached to the hospital building, erected in 1853 and rebuilt in 1906. Its uniqueness lay in the fact that the church’s arrangement allowed bedridden patients to follow the service directly from their beds. In the depths of the garden is “Golgotha” — a small hill where in 2010 a memorial cross to the Alapayevsk martyrs was installed in Shchusev’s style.

The Museum of Elizabeth Feodorovna

Since 2008 a museum dedicated to the Grand Duchess has operated in the house where she lived. The historical appearance of the oratory and reception room has been recreated from 1911 photographs. The museum houses unique exhibits:

• an icon of the Saviour Not Made by Hands embroidered by Elizabeth Feodorovna herself
• icons of Saints Martha and Mary painted by her
• a letter to the sisters from her Alapayevsk exile
• the Grand Duchess’s piano
• a dinner service of the grand-ducal couple bearing the family coat of arms
• rare photographs and documents
• portraits by People’s Artist Vasily Nesterenko

Symbolism of the Convent’s Name

The name of the monastery refers to the Gospel story of the sisters Martha and Mary of Bethany. When Christ visited their home, Mary sat at His feet listening to the Teacher, while Martha busied herself with hospitality. To Martha’s reproach, Jesus replied that Mary had chosen the better part. Later Christ raised their deceased brother Lazarus, performing the greatest miracle. This biblical story deeply touched Elizabeth Feodorovna and explained the purpose of the convent — to unite Mary’s lofty spiritual calling with Martha’s active service. The convent was intended to become the house of St Lazarus — the friend of God, a place of spiritual and physical healing, of resurrection to a new righteous life.

How to Get to the Convent

The Marfo-Mariinsky Convent of Mercy is located at 34 Bolshaya Ordynka Street. It is in the central district of Moscow with convenient transport access. Route options:

• 5-minute walk from Tretyakovskaya metro station along Bolshaya Ordynka
• about 10 minutes on foot from Polyanka metro via Pervy Kazachy Lane
• by bus “Metro Lubyanka — Metro Belyayevo” to the “Iversky Pereulok” stop

The convent grounds are open to visitors. Here one can attend services in the Intercession Cathedral, view the exhibition of the Elizabeth Feodorovna Museum, and stroll through the picturesque garden.

The Significance of the Convent for Moscow

The Marfo-Mariinsky Convent is a unique phenomenon in the history of Russian monasticism. It is not a classical monastery but a religious-charitable community with a special way of life where spiritual service is inseparably linked with practical help to one’s neighbour. The architectural complex of the convent is an outstanding monument of the neo-Russian style and Art Nouveau. Alexei Shchusev’s Intercession Cathedral is rightly considered one of the finest works of Russian church architecture of the early 20th century. The paintings by Mikhail Nesterov and Pavel Korin are of exceptional artistic value and are part of the national cultural heritage. The history of the convent is inextricably linked with the feat of St Elizabeth Feodorovna, canonised by the Russian Orthodox Church as a holy martyr. Her sacrificial service to others and martyric death have become a symbol of Christian mercy and fidelity to ideals. Today the convent continues the traditions of its foundress, providing help to sick children, the disabled, and the needy. The “Mercy” Medical Centre specialises in rehabilitation of children with cerebral palsy; the sisters work in Moscow hospitals and hospices.

Conclusion

The Marfo-Mariinsky Convent of Mercy is a place where history intertwines with the present, where architectural perfection is combined with living charitable activity. Visiting this remarkable monastery leaves a deep impression and allows one to touch the spiritual heritage of Russia. The white-stone Intercession Cathedral with Nesterov’s paintings, the quiet garden with its memorials, the museum of the Grand Duchess — every element of the ensemble tells its own story of faith, mercy and sacrificial love. The convent remains active: services are celebrated daily and help to the needy continues. For anyone interested in the history of Moscow, Russian architecture or Orthodox culture, a visit to the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent will be a true discovery. It is a unique place where one can not only admire architectural masterpieces and see works by great masters, but also feel the special atmosphere of spirituality and mercy created by St Elizabeth Feodorovna more than a century ago.