Smolny Convent

convent, Saint Petersburg, Russia

Also known as: Smolny Monastery

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July 13, 2026

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The Smolny Convent, located in Saint Petersburg, Russia, is a significant architectural complex designed by Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli. Construction began in 1748 at the behest of Empress Elizabeth, who intended to retire there as a nun. The complex features a large, two-story square of monastic cells surrounding a central, five-domed cathedral. Its abundant ornamentation gives it a unique, chiseled appearance. The Smolny complex also includes the Smolny Institute, a Neoclassical building constructed later by Giacomo Quarenghi. This institute served as Vladimir Lenin's headquarters in 1917 and now houses the city government.12

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St. Petersburg
The rise to splendour
…belong the Winter Palace, the Smolny Convent, and the Vorontsov and Stroganov palaces, among others; outside the city were built the summer palaces of Peterhof and of Tsarskoye Selo (now Pushkin). After a transitional period dominated by the architecture of Jean-Baptiste M. Vallin de la Mothe and Aleksandr Kokorinov, toward…
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…belong the Winter Palace, the Smolny Convent, and the Vorontsov and Stroganov palaces, among others; outside the city were built the summer palaces of Peterhof and of Tsarskoye Selo (now Pushkin). After a transitional period dominated by the architecture of Jean-Baptiste M. Vallin de la Mothe and Aleksandr Kokorinov, toward…
Read More

Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli
…nun, Rastrelli began building the Smolny Monastery on the outskirts of St. Petersburg. A large two-story square of monastic cells surrounds a massive inner courtyard, in the centre of which stands a grand five-domed cathedral. The structure’s abundant ornamentation makes it appear to have been chiseled out of a single…
Read More
…nun, Rastrelli began building the Smolny Monastery on the outskirts of St. Petersburg. A large two-story square of monastic cells surrounds a massive inner courtyard, in the centre of which stands a grand five-domed cathedral. The structure’s abundant ornamentation makes it appear to have been chiseled out of a single…
Read More