The foundations for the Cathedral of the Resurrection of the Novodevichy convent were laid on October 30, 1748, and the ceremony was attended by Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, the clergy and nobles. Rastrelli was to build a residence for the tsarina where she could retire away “weary with the burden of ruling”. No expense was spared on building and decorating, so it looked more like a sumptuous royal residence than a monastic building. At the entryway Rastrelli intended to erect a multi-tier bell tower of unprecedented height – 140 m tall (higher then Sts Peter and Paul Cathedral). This project was not realized. The wooden model of the bell tower, now in the Research Museum of the Russian Academy of Sciences, gives an idea how it looked like.
Construction of the Cathedral proceeded quickly at the outset. The wings of the building with monastic cells were complete soon, the main body of the Cathedral had been built and the first tier of the bell tower had been erected on solid foundations. Efforts to collect liturgical objects were under way, the bells had been cast in Moscow, and Rastrelli had the iconostasis design finished. However, the advent of the Seven Years’ war slowed down the construction pace, and the death of Elizaveta Petrovna gradually brought it to a halt.
In the reign of Catherine II the wings of the building with monastic cells accommodated the Educational Society for Noble Girls (the Smolny Institute). The Cathedral remained incomplete for nearly 70 years and its condition increasingly deteriorated. Alarming cracks developed on its vaults, its high basements were flooded with water. The Dower Empress Maria Fedorovna, acting as the guardian of educational establishments often visited the Smolny Institute and was saddened to see it in derelict condition. It was she who suggested making it the cathedral of all educational establishments.
In the late 1820s, on the orders of Nicholas I, work to complete the construction resumed under the supervision of the architect Vasily Petrovich Stasov. In January 1832 a full-scale wooden model of iconostasis was installed in the cathedral “for a faithful viewing and effect”. Work started with masonry to shore up the building: cracks in the walls, vaults and arches were fixed and damaged bricks replaced. Then the basements were cleared of water and rubbish, the roof mended, the domes covered with zinc iron, painted with cobalt and sparkled with gilt stars. In addition to the eight old bells that “provided bell-ringing” in smaller churches of the convent, twelve new ones were cast.
“With great endeavors”, Stasov recalls, chimney shafts were made in the walls – Rastrelli’s design envisaged no heating. The floor was paved with Revel tiles, marble steps and platforms for the altars were manufactured at Yekaterinburg factories. Doors and window frames were made of larch wood, and iron choir with railings installed. The walls were plastered and whitewashed, the column and pillar bases were lined in white artificial marble.
On July 20, 1835, Metropolitan Seraphim of Novgorod and St Petersburg consecrated the church in the name of the Resurrection of Christ. The northern chapel was dedicated to the righteous saint Elizabeth in memory of convent founder Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, and the southern one was devoted to St Mary Magdalene in memory of Empress Maria Fedorovna.
