Zaikonospassky Monastery

In the very center of Moscow and just a few steps from Red Square stand the remains of the Zaikonospassky Monastery, founded in 1600 and the birthplace of Russia's first higher educational institution. The monastery supported its upkeep by selling icons on the street outside, from which its name Behind the Icon of The Savior or Zaikonospassky derives. In 1665 a school was opened in the monastery to educated clerks for government service, headed by the monastic scholar Simeon Polotsky. With the encouragement of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, Polotsky developed the school into a Slavonic, Greek and Latin Academy - the first institute of higher education in the country. The academy's alumni included many significant Russian cultural and literary figures, including Leon Magnitsky the publisher of the first Russian textbook, Volkov the founder of Russian theater, the architect Bazhenov, and Mikhail Lomonosov, the son of a peasant from the White Sea area who traveled on foot to Moscow to study at the age of 19 but 25 years later was responsible for the founding of the country's first university. In later years the academy was used to prepare entrants for the priesthood and was transferred to the St. Sergei Monastery outside Moscow and the academy's original buildings were mostly knocked down. Today all that remains of the monastery is part of its main cathedral, including the restored red and white octagonal bell tower and the adjacent monks quarters.

Just around the corner from the Zaikonospassky visitors will find the imposing facade and intricate ornamentation of the Epiphany Cathedral, part of the monastery of the same name. Although the cathedral was constructed in the last decade of the 17th century, the monastery was founded by Prince Daniil in the 13th century, making it the second oldest in Moscow. Services are still held in the cathedral and its gift shop helps to fund the ongoing restoration of the building's interiors. The adjacent monks' quarters now serve as offices.