On the way to Sofiiskaya Tower

At the end of 17th century Tsarina Sofia, the half sister of Peter the Great, was forced to take monastic vow and withdrawn from Kremlin to Novodevichy convent after unsuccessful attempt to recruit the Streltsy against her brother. She was almost imprisoned there and spent the rest of her life in a small two storage chamber built at one of the towers of the convent (on the background of the picture you can see the beautiful white and red crenelated tower in baroque style). Later this tower was called Sofiiskaya and gave birth to a Russian superstition that if you touch the white stone of the tower and make a romantic wish, it will come true. There is no access to the tower from the grounds of the convent (only you can enter to the Sofiya’s chamber), so that many people come to the tower from the side of a local pond and not only touch it, but also write something (for example their name) on its surface.

The building at the right on this picture is Lopukhina Palace built 1687-1688, in present time it is administratiion building of Novodevichy convent.

Photo #029 taken on October 31, 2010 during tour of Novodevichy convent with my Dear clients from USA, Vivian and Peter Gutierrez.