The Russian authorities have pledged to...

The convent, founded by the Grand Prince Vasili III in 1524, is the residence of the Metropolitan of Krutitsy and Kolomna, but some of its churches and other monastic buildings are still affiliated with the State Historical Museum.

"We are planning to vacate the Novodevichy monastery in 2010 and fully transfer it to the [Russian Orthodox] Church," Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill and the Minister of Culture Alexander Avdeev on Tuesday.

The Bolsheviks closed down the Novodevichy Convent and turned it into the Museum of Women"s Emancipation in 1922.

By 1926, the monastery had been transformed into a history and art museum. In 1934, it became affiliated with the State Historical Museum.

Most of its facilities were turned into apartments, which spared the convent from destruction.

Although the monastery has been under the authority of the Metropolitan of Krutitsy and Kolomna

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