Documents of the Archives of Moscow on the history of the creation of the architectural complex of the Saints Martha and Mary Convent of Mercy

Abstract

The  article  describes  the  documents  on  the  architectural  and artistic  design  of  the  buildings  of  the  Martha  and  Mary  Convent  of  Mercy and Labor during the rule as prioress of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna Romanova. The search for sources on the creation history of the creation of the architectural complex of the Abode is significantly difficult due to the fact that the Abode fund did not survive as a whole collection in the archives. As part of the work on the reconstruction of the historical and documentary heritage of the Martha and Mary Convent, the author makes an attempt to systematize documents  reflecting  the  history  of  the  construction  and  arrangement  of  the Abode on the basis of a historiographic analysis of works devoted to the history of the Abode, published and unpublished sources. The author notes that in recent years, research interest in the history of the Martha and Mary Convent, and, in particular, its architectural ensemble, has noticeably increased, which was caused by the solemn events in honor of the centenary of the Convent’s foundation celebrated in 2009. However, Russian historiography  mainly  focuses  on  the  study  of  the  architectural  and  artistic design  of  the  Church  of  the  Intercession  of  the  Most  Holy  Theotokos –  an outstanding  creation  of  the  Russian  architect  A.V.  Shchusev.  The  presented review  of  archival  documents  supplements  the  already  known  information about the entire complex of buildings of the Martha and Mary Convent and gives an idea of  the information potential of the Moscow archives on the topic presented.