The second convent located within the Kremlin is the Uspensky Brusensky Convent. It was originally founded as a monastery in 1552. Only after being heavily damaged during the Times of Troubles was it reorganised as a convent. The convent's most striking feature are the neo-gothic towers which form part of the convent's walls. The convent was closed in 1922. The Dormition Church was restored in the 1970s due to its historical value but restoration work only started on the remainder of the convent in 1997, when it was returned to the Church.

Exaltation of the Cross Cathedral

The convent's main cathedral is the Exaltation of the Cross Cathedral which was built between 1848 and 1855 to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the convent. The cathedral incorporates a classical and ancient Russian style, with a beautiful combination of red brick, green roofs and white decorations. The cathedral was closed in 1932 and used as a bomb shelter in the Second World War and then as a storeroom. During this period it lost its tent-roof which was only restored in 2005.

Dormition Church

The oldest church in the convent is the tent-roofed Dormition Church which was built upon the foundation of the monastery on the orders of Tsar Ivan the Terrible to commemorate the conquest of Kazan and to hold a revered and accurate copy of the Our Lady of Kazan Icon. A refectory was built onto the church in the 19th century and the Soviet years saw it being used as a storeroom for vegetables.