Alexandro-Nevsky Monastery is one of the biggest architectural ensembles of St. Petersburg. This monastery is very important as a part of the spiritual heritage of the Russian Orthodox Church.

The monastery was founded to commemorate the victory of the great Russian military commander Alexander Nevsky in the battle against the Swedish army on the banks of the Neva in 1240. In 1713, to commemorate the victory, which, according to a popular legend, had taken place on the left bank of the Neva, at the place where the Chernaya river flows into the Neva, Peter the Great founded a monastery. In 1724, the remains of Alexander Nevsky were brought to this monastery from Vladimir.

With several intervals, the construction of the monastery lasted almost during all the 18 th century. Many builders, architects, decorators, painters and sculptors participated in the construction of the monastery.

In 1715, the architect Domenico Trezzini prepared the design of all the monastery buildings. The construction works began by Trezzini were continued by the architect Theodor Schwertfeger in the 1720s. But, because of technical errors, the construction of the Cathedral designed by Schwertfeger was never finished. In 1755, the half-built Cathedral which was about to collapse was demolished.

Later, the architects Pietro Trezzini (from 1741 to 1750), Mikhail Rastorguyev (from 1755 to 1774) and Ivan Starov (from 1776 to 1790) contributed to the construction of the monastery. There were 12 churches in the monastery. In 1720, the printing house of the monastery was founded, in 1726 – the Slavic, Greek and Latin Seminary, in 1809 – the Ecclesiastical Academy. The architectural ensemble of the monastery includes the church of Annunciation, the Trinity Cathedral, etc. There are 3 cemeteries at the monastery. Many famous people were buried here (Suvorov, Lomonosov, Glinka, Zhukovsky, Karamzin, Krylov, Dostoevsky, etc.). Some members of the Czar's family were buried in the church of Annunciation (Princess Praskovia Feodorovna, Czarevich Peter Petrovich, Princess Natalia Alexeyevna, etc.).

In 1918, the revolutionary government issued the decree Concerning Separating the Church from the State. In accordance with this decree, on January 13, 1918 , Alexandra Kollontay ordered to confiscate all the buildings of Alexandro-Nevsky Monastery.

In 1922 the monastery was deprived of its main relic. The remains of Alexander Nevsky were confiscated and, for a long time, were kept in the Museum of Atheism which was in the building of the Kazan Cathedral . The precious silver tomb was in the Hermitage. Only in the summer of 1989, the remains of St. Alexander Nevsky were returned to the Church.

In the 1930s, persecution of the Church began in Russia , and the monastery was liquidated. In 1936-1937, the museum of the Leningradian Necropolis was founded on the territory of the monastery. In 1939, it was reorganized into the Museum of Urban Sculpture.

In 1956, after the death of Stalin and at the beginning of Khrushchev's "thaw", the Trinity Cathedral was returned to the Russian Orthodox church and became one of the few functioning churches of Leningrad . At present, Alexandro-Nvesky Monastery functions as a monastery. Reconstruction of the monastery still continues.

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