Anthem of history: the museum will open a branch near the walls of the Novodevichy Monastery

The State Historical Museum is preparing to open a new exhibition complex near the walls of the Novodevichy Monastery. The building has already been commissioned, but it will take about two more months to complete the exhibition. 40 thousand exhibits from the five million collection of the State Museum of Fine Arts will be placed here, including rarities that have not been shown to the public before. The new complex will allow unloading the main building of the museum on Red Square. Izvestia was one of the first to appreciate the architecture of the new space and learned how a large-scale exhibition was being prepared for the 500th anniversary of the founding of the monastery.

State will and monastic diplomacy

The establishment of this center is not just the opening of another branch, of which GIM currently has four, but an important strategic step for the country's main historical museum. The transfer of part of the stock collections to Khamovniki will significantly expand and update the exhibition areas in the main building on Red Square.

— We are talking about a unique collection. This is one of the gems of the Historical Museum," said Alexey Levykin, General Director of the State Museum of Fine Arts. — We are transporting works related to the history of the Russian Orthodox Church here. This facility is the result of a serious state will. This event has no analogues in the cultural life of the country. A serious cluster will be created here. This is not just an exhibition or a storage facility, but a real center for the study of Russian Orthodox culture and art.

A new museum complex with an area of about 10 thousand square meters was built in just two years in the UNESCO protected buffer zone. However, the project has been maturing since 2015. The ideological inspiration was Vladyka Juvenaly, who was then the head of the Moscow diocese, as Metropolitan of Krutitsky and Kolomna. Ideological training began at the same time. And the key success factor was the personal control of the country's leadership.

Since the halls were built on the territory of the World Heritage Site, the museum and the Russian Orthodox Church have been sending joint appeals to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee with a draft project since 2015. The abbess, Abbess Margarita, became the main negotiator with international experts from the monastery.

The World Heritage Committee almost immediately agreed on the sketch, noting that the exhibition of objects from the Novodevichy Monastery would only enhance the outstanding universal value of the monument itself. An official appeal to France led to support for the construction. The decisive success factor was the phenomenal speed: all legal issues were resolved before 2022.

— We are lucky that we started doing all this much earlier, — says the abbess. — All the requirements of the International Convention for the Protection of Cultural Heritage were strictly observed here. This is a rare, happy occasion when everything went perfectly.

Once every six years, the Russian Orthodox Church and the Ministry of Culture provide all the necessary information to Paris. Next time, in a couple of years, the newly opened museum will officially take its place in the international reports in the usual working order.

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Secrets of a storage facility without sockets

The second floor of the building is occupied by an ultra-secure storage facility (1100 square meters), which provides exceptional security measures. To preserve ancient icons and fabrics, strict climate control has been set up here (18-20 degrees, humidity 55%), and electricity has been completely removed from the halls to protect against fires.

Icons will be placed on special sliding panels with metal grids, and graphics and fabrics will be placed in pull—out shelves. All the equipment, including the software, was created in Russia and is organized exclusively for this collection. The storage system completely eliminates the human factor and accidental access to rarities. Each shelf is closed and sealed. Each keeper has his own key, without which it is impossible to get to the treasures. It is important that after the collection is placed, at least 20% of the free space for new arrivals will remain here.

The halls on the third and fourth floors will occupy 2,000 square meters, which is four times more than the last temporary anniversary exhibition. The architectural appearance of the building was delicately integrated into the panorama of Khamovniki. The exhibition will include items presented at the exposition dedicated to the 500th anniversary of the Novodevichy Monastery, which was held with great success at the State Museum of Fine Arts two years ago.

— The main task was to create a modern but modest object that would enter into a visual dialogue with the Novodevichy Monastery, — said architect Vladimir Plotkin. — We achieved this through simple shapes, cantilevered balconies facing the monastery and the repetition of its dominant colors — red, terracotta and white stone. There is also a counter-relief with the silhouette of the monastery on the facade.

The new permanent exhibition will be based on precious contributions that have been handed over to the monastery sacristy by representatives of the royal family over the centuries.

— The most valuable things, unique icons of the XVI–XVII centuries, a large volume of objects of applied art are moved here. This monastery has always been under the patronage of the royal family, so contributions of the highest artistic significance were made here," Alexey Levykin emphasizes.

Among the main masterpieces of the future exhibition are the Holy water chalice, the salary of the Gospel of the first third of the XVI century and the famous iconostasis of Princess Sophia, made by masters of the Kremlin armories. The opening is scheduled for the first quarter of 2027. In the meantime, the museum staff will begin to settle into the new building of the Historical Museum.