The Kremensky Ascension Men's Monastery was founded in 1693 by hieromonk Nikanor and his brethren on the banks of the Don River, in a picturesque location 10 km from the Kremenskaya stanitsa. It is one of the oldest monasteries of the All-Great Don Army. After one of the parishes donated the logs of an old chapel, the monks approached Peter I for permission to build a church. The Tsar allowed the logs to be transported and installed on the condition of adding a round altar and constructing the church's upper part in the style of other churches, but not in a tent style. The church in the name of the Ascension of the Lord was entrusted to be consecrated by the treasurer of the Ust-Medveditsky Transfiguration Monastery, hieromonk Joseph. However, the old structure was soon dismantled, its logs burned, and the ashes scattered over the Don.

In 1711, monk Kapiton built a hermitage, and in 1712, after receiving a blessing from the vice-president of the Synod, Ryazan Metropolitan Stefan Yavorsky, igumen Nikanor and his brethren began the construction of a wooden church in the name of the Ascension of the Lord. The church was completed and consecrated in 1716. In 1782, with the blessing of Bishop Tikhon of Voronezh, a stone Ascension Cathedral was erected in place of the wooden church. It had two chapels: the northern in honor of the Apostle Andrew the First-Called and the first martyr Archdeacon Stephen, and the southern warm chapel in honor of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos, arranged by the efforts of Ataman Efremov. The iconostasis in four tiers, chandelier, vestments, and other church utensils were acquired through donations from Ivan Perfilov. Later, igumen Ilya and his brethren arranged a chapel in honor of St. Sergius of Radonezh at their own expense in the refectory part of the church. A silver angel weighing 3.5 pounds was also made for the church, as if descending from heaven. The construction and decoration of the cathedral cost 13,000 gold rubles. The wooden bell tower had 7 bells, the largest of which weighed 100 poods.

The church and monastery were closed in 1918 and returned to the Russian Orthodox Church in 1991.