The St. Alexander Monastery is located on the left bank of the Kamenka River, in Suzdal. According to legend, the convent was founded in 1240 by Alexander Nevsky. Ancient Monuments of the convent have not survived to our days. In 1764, during the secularization of the lands by Catherine II, the St. Alexander Monastery was abolished, the cathedral became a parochial church of the city. In 2006, the monastery was renewed as a male monastery of the Vladimir-Suzdal Diocese.
In the first half of the XVIII century, there was built the low fence, adorned with decorative turrets stylized as defensive towers around the monastery. At the same time, there were built the Holy Gates with a two-trier tower, reminiscent of the Holy Trinity Monastery Gates, now being a part of the ensemble of the Convent of the Deposition of the Holy Robe. This coincidence is not accidental: the fence and towers of the St. Alexander Monastery were constructed under the direction of Ivan Gryaznov, who participated at the end of the XVII century in the construction of the Trinity Monastery and the Convent of the Deposition of the Holy Robe.
The Church of the Ascension with a bell tower was built in 1695 at the expense of Tsarina Natalia, mother of Peter I. The Church of the Ascension is a two-story building, topped with five domes. The windows are decorated with carved architraves with simple columns in the first tier and with patterned columns in the second trier. The church-bell tower in honor of the Crucifixion of the Lord was built in the XVI century, 30 meters south of the Trinity Cathedral. The steepled building, typical of the initial period of stone construction in Russia, was widely distributed in the XVII century.
