The Epiphany Convent is the largest monastery in Uglich. It occupies an entire block on Rostovskaya Street, 500 meters from the Uglich Kremlin. Domes of several temples rise above the monastery, which are visible from different parts of the city.
The Epiphany Monastery was founded in 1584 by Maria Nagaya. Initially, the monastery was located inside the Uglich Kremlin. At that time, the size of Uglich itself was limited to the territory of the Kremlin and the houses located around it.
Maria Nagayaya was the seventh wife of Ivan the Terrible, but their marriage did not receive the blessing of the church, since the church approved only three consecutive marriages. Maria had a son Dmitry by Ivan the Terrible.
After the death of Ivan the Terrible and the accession to the throne of Fyodor Ivanovich, Maria Nagayaya and Prince Dmitry were sent to live in Uglich. Some boyars questioned the rights of Prince Dmitry to the succession to the throne, since the marriage was not sanctified by the church. But considering that Fyodor Ivanovich had no heirs, Dmitry became the only legitimate heir.
In 1591, Prince Dmitry was killed. However, the commission of Vasily Shuisky, who arrived from Moscow, announced that "the Prince killed himself." More than 200 residents of Uglich were executed for rebellion, and Maria was sent to the Epiphany monastery as a nun. In 1609, a detachment of Poles captured Uglich and burned many wooden buildings of the Kremlin, including the Epiphany Monastery.
In 1620, the Epiphany Monastery of Uglich was restored with the participation of the nun Marfa, the mother of Mikhail Romanov, who in 1613 became the Russian tsar. Tsar Mikhail Romanov came to Uglich on a pilgrimage to visit the monastery restored by his mother.
In 1661, Tsar Alexey Mikhailovich moved the Epiphany Monastery outside the walls of the Uglich Kremlin, as the nuns lived in very cramped conditions in the Kremlin. In the new place, the monastery was given a huge plot of land. Metropolitan Jonah, who built his residence in the Rostov Kremlin, took part in the construction of the first stone cathedral. He also built the stone churches of the Resurrection Monastery in Uglich.
To this day, three large temples have been preserved in the Epiphany Monastery: the Church of the Smolensk Icon of the Virgin Mary in 1700, the Church of the Fedorovskaya Icon of the Virgin Mary in 1805 and the Epiphany Cathedral. The huge cathedral was built in 1843, designed by the famous architect Konstantin Ton.
