Fire breaks out at Moscow's Novodevichy Convent

The bell tower at the Novodevichy Convent, one of the most popular tourist attractions in Moscow, caught on fire Sunday night.

The convent was built in the 16th and 17th centuries, and its cemetery is the resting place for Anton Chekhov, Nikita Khrushchev, and Boris Yeltsin. Law enforcement officials told Russian media that the fire started 30 meters above the ground, and went all the way up to 70 meters high, The Guardian reports. Alexander Gavrilov at the Moscow branch of the emergency situations ministry told journalists that no one was injured and that the interior of the bell tower was not damaged. The convent is undergoing renovations, and earlier in the day, workers had been gold-plating the tower's cupola, according a spokesperson for the contractor, Stroikomplekt.

The Interfax news agency reports that the city's cultural heritage department said the renovations were being conducted in violation of safety regulations, and that likely the caused fire. Because the convent is under federal control, the department said it could not take the construction company off the job, despite noted violations. —Catherine Garcia

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up