It was a very gray and snowy day when we stopped to view the Novodevichy (New Convent of the Maidens) Monastery. It was built in 1524 to commemorate the recapture of Smolensk by the Russians. The main cathedral houses and is named for the icon of the Virgin of Smolensk. Peter the Great's sister, the then regent Sofia, was imprisoned here by Peter when he came of age. Sofia and her sisters are buried in the Novodevichy Cemetery. The cemetery is a famous spot in Moscow. Over time it has become the place of final rest of the Russian famous. Khrushchev, Anton Chekhov, and other are buried there. As our group was running behind schedule we did not have an opportunity to see anything more than the outside.