Rozhdestvenskii Monastery

(Monastery of the Nativity), a monastery in Vladimir, founded on the Kliaz’ma River in the 12th century by Prince Andrei Bogoliubskii. Alexander Nevsky was buried in the monastery in 1263; his remains were removed to the Alexander Nevsky Monastery in St. Petersburg in 1724. Rozhdestvenskii Monastery was considered the most important Russian monastery until 1561. In 1667 it came under the direct jurisdiction of the highest church authority. In 1744 the monastery was converted into a bishops’ house, which was closed down after 1917. Architectural monuments include a belfry built in 1654 and a monastery wall dating from the early 18th century.