Bogoyavlensky Convent is one of the most populous Russian Orthodox convents. It is situated in Kostroma and is known as the location of the ancient Feodorovskaya Icon of God"s Mother. The convent was founded in the 15th century by Nikita, a disciple and a relative of St Sergius of Radonezh.
The five-domed katholikon 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 and had them executed in 1570.
The monastery was besieged and taken by Aleksander Józef Lisowski during the Time of Troubles. 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 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.
References:Visby Cathedral (also known as St. Mary’s Church) is the only survived medieval church in Visby. It was originally built for German merchants and inaugurated in 1225. Around the year 1350 the church was enlarged and converted into a basilica. The two-storey magazine was also added then above the nave as a warehouse for merchants.
Following the Reformation, the church was transformed into a parish church for the town of Visby. All other churches were abandoned. Shortly after the Reformation, in 1572, Gotland was made into its own Diocese, and the church designated its cathedral.
There is not much left of the original interior. The font is made of local red marble in the 13th century. The pulpit was made in Lübeck in 1684. There are 400 graves under the church floor.