The sights of the capital are the functioning convents of Moscow. Laid down many centuries ago, they still provide shelter for nuns and are centers of pilgrimage for believers.
One of the most famous among these cultural monuments is the Zachatievsky Monastery. Moscow has repeatedly witnessed the miracles that took place in it.
Women come to the monastery with a terrible diagnosis - infertility, praying to conceive and bear a child. Having knelt down before the icon of the Mother of God, repenting of sins, praying in the church of St. Orthodox Anna, women miraculously recover, give birth to healthy, strong children. One of the women said that she went through 8 IVF procedures, but the doctors could not help. Only when she arrived at the monastery and gained faith in recovery, she could become a happy mother.
The monastery helps not only barren women - an almshouse operates here, which provides shelter for the elderly and supervision of sick natives.
The Conception Monastery dates back to 1360. It was at this time that Alexy of Moscow, the famous saint of that time, laid down the church and founded a monastery with it. It is believed that his first inhabitants were the half-sisters Alexis: Mother Superior Julian and a simple nun who bore the name of Eupraxia.
In 1547 the monastery burned down. They did not begin to restore it, but moved it to another place. However, a small community of monks remained on the ashes, which restored the burnt buildings. 40 years later, the Conception Monastery began to function again.
In 1612 the monastery was again destroyed, this time during the Polish invasion, and was again reborn after some time.
Gradually, the complex begins to increase. Several new cathedrals appear, and for the poorhouse, which operated at the monastery from the beginning of its history, a new building is being built with its own temple in honor of the Descent of the Holy Spirit. In place of the old dilapidated buildings stands the Nativity Cathedral, and new and new residential and household buildings are growing throughout the territory.
In 1927, the Soviets issued a decree to close the monastery. The Conception Monastery ceased to exist. The walls surrounding the monastery were destroyed, temples and buildings destroyed. A school was opened on the territory of the monastery. Some icons were saved and transferred to other churches, but most of the works of ancient icon painters disappeared without a trace.
Restore the Zachatievsky monastery began only in the 1960s. However, instead of reconstructing the ruins, the Moskva pool was built here - this was the second desecration of the holy monastery.
Finally, in 1990, the pool was demolished: it was decided to restore the monastery. And the work began to boil. First, several buildings were restored, then divine services began, and the sisterhood was given the status of a stauropegial monastery, independent of the diocese.
Religious procession took place, during which the Staff of the last abbess and some icons were returned to the monastery. In 2001, the first inhabitants of the cloister Julian and Eupraxia were introduced to the saints.
Now divine services are held in several churches operating in the territory: Conception of the righteous Anna, the Nativity of the Christ and the Blessed Virgin, the Holy Savior, etc.