Danilov Monastery, Russian Orthodox monastery in Danilovsky District, Moscow, Russia
Danilov Monastery is an Orthodox men's community in Danilovsky District, Moscow, Russia. The compound holds several churches, defensive walls with seven towers, and the Trinity Cathedral built in the first half of the 19th century.
Prince Daniil of Moscow, son of Alexander Nevsky, founded the compound in the late 13th century as the oldest in the city. After closure in Soviet times it reopened in the 1980s and became the administrative center of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The old cemetery once held writers such as Gogol and Chekhov until the graves were moved to other parts of the city in 1930. Today the compound serves as the patriarchal residence and a place where worshippers attend regular services in the working churches.
The churches are open to visitors, though modest dress is required and photography inside is usually forbidden. The compound lies south of the center and is accessible by public transport.
The bells spent the Soviet era at Harvard University in the United States. They returned to Moscow in 2007 in a ceremonial exchange that included replicas sent to Harvard in place of the originals.
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