Holy Assumption Nunnery is located in the village of Staraya Ladoga, on the banks of the river Volkhov, north of the stone fortress. It - one of the oldest monasteries in the North-West of Russia.

The monastic ensemble is already mentioned in the XV century, and the date of his birth is considered to be 1156. At first, the monastery was a male, then the monastery was transformed into a female. On its territory, enclosed by a brick wall, you can count a dozen wooden and stone buildings. Most of the buildings that have survived to the present, is dated XIX century: it is a brick wall with four towers and three gates, the refectory, the hospital building, cart house, privately house, laundry, housing for nuns. Hospital structure and house Holy Cross Church was built by the famous architect AM Gornostaeva in 1861-1862 years.

Central attraction is Assumption Monastery Assumption Church. This is the northernmost church in the pre-Mongol period of ancient Russia was built around 1156 on land that was once in the possession of the holy nun Anne Novgorod. According to one legend, it was her will and was founded by the Holy Dormition Monastery.

The building of the cathedral is fully preserved. It has a length of 18 meters, width - 14 meters, height - more than 19 meters. Cathedral could accommodate more than a dozen visitors. The temple walls are painted, but painting remained bad. The restorers found fragments of murals not only in the cathedral, but also on the territory of the monastery. Today, about 13,000 fragments discovered frescoes, which is almost 35 sq.m. Assumption Cathedral Novgorod built the wizard who created an architectural masterpiece, unite all the buildings of the Assumption monastery.
The census books, dating from the years 1499-1500, there is a description of the most pure Mother of God Monastery in Lake Ladoga, who owned many lands and villages.

In the 11th year of the XVII century the monastery ruined Swedish troops. But after 6 years bayou Aquilina collected scattered sisters and the beginning of its revival. In 1702, during the terrible fire in Ladoga, all the buildings of the monastery, except for heavily impacted stone church of the Assumption, burned.

In 1718, the Assumption monastery was destined to become a haven of high disgraced wife of Emperor Peter I - Tsarina Evdokia Fedorovna Lopukhina. Behind her in the convent was exiled Evdokia Hannibal. Then, during the reign of Emperor Nicholas I, here were relatives of the Decembrists.

Donors convent were famous in Russia Alexei Romanovich Tomilov philanthropist, whose homestead on the north side is adjacent to the monastery, Count Dmitri Sheremetev, the wife of the Emperor Alexander II, Maria Alexandrovna and other famous people.

In the period from 1779 to 1822 years it was celebrated Abbess Schema-Abbess Eupraxia is both vicarious Smolny monastery. In the years 1856-1895 the monastery was under the control of the Mother Superior of Dionysus. During her work has been built many stone buildings. In the middle of the XIX century, the monastery took in its walls of the well-known poet Elizabeth Shakhov (Elizabeth schema-nun).

Before the revolution the monastery keeps two miraculous icons: Barbara and Our Lady of the Assumption. The monastery is a school. The cemetery of the monastery has been preserved, the last surviving graves were destroyed in the restoration of the Assumption church. His altar area was buried Eupraxia abbess, her grave is now lost. On the right side of the altar survived only a tombstone on the grave of the Mother Superior of Dionysius (1799-1895), who had served in the monastery prioress for almost 40 years.

Since 1917, the monastery was headed by Abbess porphyria. In addition to the buildings erected in the middle of the XIX century, its territory was privately wood and stone housing, a marina, a hotel for pilgrims, the church of St. Alexei man of God in the monastery cemetery, stone building for the clergy and the chapel on the Varangian street. The monastery served about 200 sisters. In 1922 the monastery was abolished.

In 2002 the ancient monastery was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church. In 2003, it was organized by the sisterhood. Currently, the monastery - the current, continues to recover.