The Convent of St. Ambrose and Our Lady of Kazan is a stauropegial Russian Orthodox convent in the village of Shamordino, Kaluga Oblast, Russia. It is located on the Seryona River, 12 km (7.5 mi) from Optina Monastery. The convent was founded near the village of Shamordino in 1884 by Sofia Bolotova, a local noblewoman, with the blessing of Saint Ambrose of Optina. The monastery's churches were designed by Sergey Sherwood and Roman Klein in a peculiar brick version of the Russian Revival. By 1918, some 800 women lived in the convent and its sketes, making it one of the largest monastic establishments in Central Russia. The convent was shut down by the Soviets in 1923. The sisterhood of Shamordino Convent were imprisoned in 1923 at the closure of the convent by the Soviet authorities, first in Solovki prison camp, then the sisterhood was broken up and dispersed. The Convent was resumed in 1990. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shamordino_Convent