Bogoyavlensky Convent is one of the most populous Russian Orthodox convents. It is situated in Kostroma and is known as the location of the ancient Feodorovskaya Icon of God"s Mother. The convent was founded in the 15th century by Nikita, a disciple and a relative of St Sergius of Radonezh.
The five-domed katholikon of traditional Byzantine design was constructed under Ivan the Terrible, starting in 1559. The Tsar accused the father superior and some of the brethren of supporting his rival Vladimir of Staritsa and had them executed in 1570.
The monastery was besieged and taken by Aleksander Józef Lisowski during the Time of Troubles. The attack claimed the lives of 11 monks. A monastic house dates from the 17th century. The other buildings arose from the monastery"s reconstruction in the Russian Revival style in the late 19th century. In 1863 the monastery was transformed into the convent.
After the Revolution the convent was abolished and was not revived until the 1990s. The remains of the wall paintings in the katholikon were destroyed in a recent fire.
References:Kristiansten Fortress was built to protect the city against attack from the east. Construction was finished in 1685. General Johan Caspar von Cicignon, who was chief inspector of kuks fortifications, was responsible for the new town plan of Trondheim after the great fire of 18 April 1681. He also made the plans for the construction of Kristiansten Fortress.
The fortress was built during the period from 1682 to 1684 and strengthened to a complete defence fortification in 1691 by building an advanced post Kristiandsands bastion in the east and in 1695 with the now vanished Møllenberg skanse by the river Nidelven. These fortifications were encircled by a continuous palisade and thereby connected to the fortified city. In 1750 the fortress was modernized with new bastions and casemates to protect against mortar artillery.