In 1848, in memory of the liberation of the residents of Kozlov from cholera, the townspeople decided to build a church in honor of the Bogolyubskaya Icon of the Mother of God and establish a women's monastic community. In 1850, they appealed to the Holy Synod with a request to open the Bogolyubskaya women's community, and eight years later their petition was granted. Although permission to build the monastery was obtained in 1858, work only began in 1867. The delay was caused by a severe fire in Kozlov in 1865, which destroyed two-thirds of the town. The fire consumed the dormitory of the Ilyinskaya church along with the belongings of the novices, and three of them perished. However, this trial did not break the faith of the worshippers in the swift construction of the monastery. The sisters, who were in different places, continued to pray and hope for the creation of their new refuge. Their hopes were fulfilled thanks to the help of the Kozlov benefactor and merchant Fyodor Voronov, who built stone cell buildings with a chapel at his own expense over two years. By the fall of 1869, the construction was completed, and a brick fence with two holy gates and corner towers was erected around the monastery. In early December 1869, the sisters moved to the new community.