Convent of St. John the Baptist in Tomsk, Orthodox monastery in Tomsk, Russia.
The Convent of St. John the Baptist is an Orthodox monastery in Tomsk whose surviving buildings stand between Studencheskaya, Uchebnaya, Vershinina and Usova streets. Its two-storey brick school building, designed by N. I. Shenfeld and A. P. Bekhter and built in 1870–1878, mixes late Russian classicism with modern-style elements. The monastery churches were demolished in the early 1950s.
The community began in 1864, when E. I. Mikheeva founded the Tomsk Women's Community on land donated by the merchant's wife N. A. Khromova and the merchant I. A. Erenev. In 1876 the community was reorganised as a women's monastery. The Dormition Church was built between 1866 and 1872, and in 1877 a school for orphan girls opened under the patronage of Empress Maria Feodorovna. The monastery was closed in 1920 and its churches were demolished in the early 1950s.
The monastery serves as a living center of worship and spiritual gathering for the local faithful in Tomsk. People come here to participate in services and deepen their connection to Orthodox Christian practice.
The monastery was closed in 1920 and its churches demolished in the early 1950s; the site now belongs to the polytechnic campus, so look for the surviving two-storey brick school building (1870–1878, architects N. I. Shenfeld and A. P. Bekhter) among the student dormitories. The Chapel of Domna of Tomsk, opened in 1996, stands on the former monastery ground; memorial plaques inside and on its north and south walls list the founders and the people once buried in the monastery cemetery, moved to Preobrazhenskoye Cemetery in Soviet times.
The Chapel of Saint Domna was built in 1996 on the site of the former monastery cemetery, where the Tomsk saint Domna died in 1872. Inside, a memorial plaque lists the monastery's founders and clergy, including Abbess Evpraksia (Mikheeva) and Bishop Porfiry (Sokolovsky). Four more plaques on the chapel's north and south sides name people buried in the lost cemetery, among them architect Konstantin Lygin and writer Nikolai Naumov.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 93,736 contributors worldwide.