Opening of the exhibition “Novodevichy Convent. History and Legends” in the Tula branch of the State Institute of Museums

On July 1, as part of the celebrations dedicated to the 500th anniversary of the Moscow Novodevichy Convent, the Tula branch of the State Historical Museum hosted the opening of the exhibition “Novodevichy Convent. History and Legends.

The opening of the exhibition was attended by the director of the State Historical Museum A.K. Levykin, deputy governor of the Tula region Ya. Yu. Rakov, general director of the Tula Museum Association R.V. Gavrilin and representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church: Metropolitan Alexy of Tula and Efremov, Abbess of the Novodevichy Convent Margarita (Feoktistova), and sisters of the convent.

In his welcoming speech, A.K. Levykin recalled that for a long time the Novodevichy Convent was a branch of the State Historical Museum: “As a result, we actively participated in the preparation of the celebration of the anniversary of the Novodevichy Convent, and the creation of an exhibition for the 500th anniversary of the foundation of the convent, which was opened in the museum last year.” The director of the State Historical Museum reported that in 2026, a branch of the State Historical Museum will be opened near the Novodevichy Convent.

Speaking about the uniqueness of the exhibition, A.K. Levykin noted: “For Tula residents, this is a unique opportunity to see what will practically never be taken out of the main museum exhibition for display at exhibitions. This is a unique exhibition that presents the history of our country, presents outstanding masterpieces that are preserved in museum collections in a single form. That is, similar monuments that are at the exhibition in Tula are not even in the most famous museum collections of our country,” noted A.K. Levykin.

For the first time, visitors to the exhibition will be able to see monuments from the 16th-17th centuries associated with outstanding historical figures: donations from the tsars Ivan the Terrible, Boris Godunov and Princess Sophia Alekseyevna. The exhibition also includes portraits of state and church figures from various eras of Russian history, works from the art workshops of the Novodevichy Convent - including outstanding examples of façade embroidery from the 16th-19th centuries, as well as monuments of Russian church art and icons. The exhibition space is filled with interactive technologies: projections, interactive maps, audio installations, which create the effect of immersion in the centuries-old history of the convent.

The exhibition will run until September 29.

Interfax