Description of the attraction
The Church of Sophia the Wisdom of God of the Kazan Mother of God Monastery is located in the central part of the city near the Kremlin on Bolshaya Krasnaya Street.
The Church of Sophia was built between 1807 and 1825 by the architect J. M. Shelkovnikov. The money for the construction was allocated by the noblemen Musin-Pushkin. The church was planned as a gateway. At the beginning of the 19th century, a new fence was built and the church was inside the monastery.
Some historians suggest that the Church of Sophia the Wisdom of God was built earlier than it is dated. Perhaps this is the end of the 17th century or the beginning of the 18th century. This conclusion was made on the basis of its appearance and decorative decoration.
The church was consecrated in the name of the martyr Sophia and her daughters Vera, Nadezhda and Lyubov. Prior to her tonsure as a nun, Abbess Sophia was Princess L. B. Volkhovskaya. She led the monastery from 1795 to 1807. During the years of her leadership, great construction work was carried out at the monastery. Abbess Sophia drew up construction plans, according to which the Mother of God Monastery was later rebuilt. In 1798, the Kazan Monastery of the Mother of God was visited by Emperor Paul I and Prince Alexander Pavlovich. They were present at the foundation stone of the construction of the main cathedral of the monastery - the Holy Cross Church.
Under Soviet rule, one of the faculties of the Kazan Pedagogical Institute was located in the Holy Cross Church. Since 1942, a tobacco factory has been located on the territory of the monastery. In the western part of the devastated monastery, five-storey residential buildings were built.
In 1994, the Church of Sofia was returned to the believers. In 2004-2005, the Holy Cross Church was restored and returned to believers. Now it contains a list of the icon of the Kazan Mother of God. The Mother of God Monastery, the complex of which includes the Church of Sophia and the Exaltation of the Holy Cross Church, is active.
