Chudov Monastery, one of the oldest in Moscow, was founded on November 28, 1365, by Metropolitan Alexius of Moscow. He established it in memory of the miraculous healing from blindness of Taidula, the wife of the Khan of the Golden Horde, Janibek. In gratitude, Taidula gifted Alexius the courtyard of the Khan's governors in the Kremlin, where the monastery was built.

For centuries, Chudov Monastery played a significant role in the history of Russia. In 1382, it was destroyed by the troops of Tokhtamysh. In 1441, the deposed Metropolitan Isidore was held here. In 1504, Metropolitan Gerontius of Novgorod, stripped of his rank for fighting heresies, was imprisoned in the monastery. In 1515, the elder Vassian the Crooked (Patrikeev) found himself in the monastery. According to legend, the impostor Grigory Otrepyev was a monk of the monastery. In 1610, the deposed Tsar Vasily IV Shuisky was forcibly tonsured here. In 1612, Patriarch Germogen died of starvation in the monastery, imprisoned by the Poles.

Chudov Monastery reached its peak in the early 17th century when it was called the Great Lavra. Under Patriarch Filaret, a Greek-Latin school was opened here. In 1666, Patriarch Nikon was deposed here. In 1771, during the plague riot, the monastery was looted. In 1812, when Moscow was captured by the French, the monastery suffered greatly, but it was restored in 1814.

The monastery housed the tombs of many historical figures, including Metropolitans Alexius, Theodosius, and Athanasius, the last Kazan Tsar Edigei, and church figure Epiphanius Slavinetsky. Representatives of noble families were also buried here, such as Boyar Morozov and Princes Trubetskoy, Khovansky, Obolensky, Kurakin, and Shcherbatov. The monastery's treasury held rich donations, and its library was considered one of the largest in Russia.

The monastery included four churches. The Cathedral of the Miracle of Archangel Michael was built in 1501. The Alexiev Church, erected in 1483, repeatedly burned and was rebuilt. It baptized the children of tsars, including Ivan the Terrible, Alexei Mikhailovich, Peter I, and Alexander II. Adjacent to the church was the Annunciation Church, built in 1501 and reconstructed in 1826, which housed the icon of Nicholas the Wonderworker. The fourth church was dedicated to the Apostle Andrew the First-Called. In 1919, the monastery was closed, its premises were taken over by the cooperative 'Communist', and valuables were confiscated and transferred to the Kremlin's Lechsanup.

In October 1930, the monastery was blown up for the construction of the building of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet. The relics of St. Alexius were transferred to the Archangel Cathedral, and in 1947 they were moved to the Epiphany Cathedral in Yelokhovo, where they remain today.