Danilov Monastery
Danilov Monastery (also Svyato-Danilov Monastery or Holy Danilov Monastery; Russian: Данилов монастырь, Свято-Данилов монастырь, romanized: Danilov monastyr', Svyato-Danilov monastyr') is a walled monastery on the right bank of the Moskva River in Moscow. Since 1983, it has functioned as the headquarters of the Russian Orthodox church and the official residence of the Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus'.
Monastery information
Holy Danilov Monastery
Orthodox
13th century
Moscow
Archimandrite Alexius
Headquarters of the Russian Orthodox Church since 1983.
Buildings[edit]
Apart from the 17th-century defensive towers and walls, the surviving buildings include the katholikon (main church), the Neoclassical cathedral of the Holy Trinity (1833–1838), the Baroque gate church and belltower of St Simeon Stylites (1681, 1732), a group of 19th-century dwellings for monks and the father superior, and the extensive modern residence of the Holy Synod and the Patriarch (1988). Right next door is the large parish church of the Renovation of the Temple in Jerusalem, built in 1832–1837 to Neoclassical designs by Fyodor Shestakov.
The oldest building is the katholikon dedicated to the Holy Fathers of the First seven ecumenical councils (a dedication not found anywhere else in the Christian world). The lower temple was built during the reign of Tsar Alexis as a church dedicated to the feast of the Intercession. Two Baroque upper churches were completed in 1730 and 1752, respectively. The katholikon is the only building in Moscow to feature two distinct churches above another church on the ground floor.
