Church of Venerable Euphrosyne, Grand Duchess of Moscow in Kotlovka
Venerable Euphrosyne of Moscow, in the world Grand Duchess Evdokia, daughter of Suzdal Prince Dmitry Konstantinovich, was born in 1353. In 1367, she married Grand Prince of Moscow Dmitry Donskoy, and their twenty-two-year union became not only a familial but also a state service. Evdokia was a wise co-ruler during the difficult era of the Tatar-Mongol yoke, and during the Battle of Kulikovo, she prayed for the victory of the Russian army. At her command, the Church of the Nativity of the Theotokos and the Ascension Convent in the Kremlin were built in Moscow. In 1395, during the threat of Timur’s invasion, it was on her advice that the miracle-working Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God was brought to the capital. After her husband’s death, she effectively stood at the head of the principality as guardian of the heir, Vasily, combining this with severe asceticism. In 1407, after the appearance of the Archangel Michael, Evdokia took monastic vows in the convent she had founded, receiving the name Euphrosyne, which means “joy,” but just a few weeks later, she passed away to the Lord. Local veneration of her as a saint began immediately, and by the mid-15th century, it had spread throughout the Muscovite state. The memory of the princess-builder was revived in the 21st century: in July 2005, on Nakhimovsky Prospekt in the Kotlovka district, on the lands of her historical estate, a church in her honor was founded. By 2012, a whole white-stone church complex in the Vladimir-Suzdal style had grown here, becoming a spiritual center and architectural landmark. Its iconostasis was created based on the lost iconostasis of the Ascension Convent, and the main shrine is an icon of the Venerable Euphrosyne with particles of her relics, which now rest in the Archangel Cathedral of the Kremlin. The church, accommodating about 600 people, hosts a Sunday school, a youth club, choirs, and active social work. A square named after her has been laid out nearby, and a sculptural composition depicting the saint with her family has been installed on the territory. Since 2007, the Order and Medal of Venerable Euphrosyne of Moscow have been established to award women for strengthening spiritual traditions and social service, emphasizing her modern veneration as the protector of Moscow and patroness of state and family piety.
Address: Moscow, Nakhimovsky ave., 8
