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Nifont was born in Greece and came north to the [[Monastery of the Kiev Caves]] where he was monk. After Bishop John of Novgorod retired, Nifont was chosen Bishop of Novgorod. He was [[consecration of a bishop|consecrated]] [[bishop]] in Kiev by Metropolitan Michael in 1130. As much of the area around Novgorod was largely pagan, Nifont chose to concentrate his missionary efforts, first, around Pskov, and then the area of Ladoga, where he laid the cornerstone of the Church of St. Clement in 1153.
After Bp. Nifont’s arrival in Novgorod, the political situation began to shift to election of a “ruling” prince from the local area over one from Kiev. In 1136, the Kiev backed Prince [[Vsevolod of Pskov|Vsevolod]] Mstislavich, son of Mstislav Vladimirovich and grandson of Vladimir Monomakh, was banished from Novgorod and replaced by Prince Svyatoslav Olgovich. Prince Vsevolod found refuge in the town of Pskov, a rival of Novgorod. Soon, Bp. Nifont joined Vsevolod in Pskov after he refused a second marriage for Prince Svyatoslav that was against the Church canons. This exile lasted until about 1142.
As part of his evangelical zeal, Bp. Nifont had initiated before his exile a program of repairing and building churches in Novgorod, notably construction of Dormition Cathedral on the market square, in 1135. With his exile to Pskov, Bp. Nifont launched an active evangelistic program in the Russian territories adjacent to the town. Pskov became a center of [[church]] and monastery building. Between 1137 and 1142, two monasteries were started in Pskov, the [[Mirozhsky Monastery (Pskov, Russia)|Mirozhsky]] and the Nativity of St. John the Baptist of Ivanovsky Monasteries, monasteries in which the new missionaries were trained in spreading Christian ideals with sermons that bore personal examples of asceticism. At Mirozhsky Monastery, he also initiated the building of the [[Transfiguration Cathedral (Pskov)|Transfiguration Cathedral]] with twelfth century frescos that have survived to today.
