The Desyatiny Monastery, now inactive, was previously a second-class women's monastery of the Russian Orthodox Church in Veliky Novgorod. It is located in Lyudino End, south of Prussian Street, near the rampart of the Okolny City. The reason for the monastery's name remains unclear, although it is known that the first stone church in Kyiv after the baptism of Rus was called the Desyatynna Church. It is possible that the name is related to the fact that the monastery was built on princely land known as "desyatina."

The first mention of the monastery in the Novgorod chronicle dates back to 1327, when Archbishop Moisey built the Church of the Holy Virgin Nativity in Desyatina. In 1397, the Novgorod posadnik Isak Onkifov erected a new Church of the Nativity of the Virgin, and in 1413 Ivan Morozov built another stone church dedicated to John the Baptist.

Over time, other buildings appeared: stone cell-walls, a chapel, a refectory, and a kvass house. In 1809, a stone bell tower was erected, becoming the central part of the monastery complex. In 1903, it was completely rebuilt and has remained in that form to this day. After 1820, a cemetery church of All Saints was also established in the monastery.

The monastery is associated with a famous Novgorod legend. It is believed to have been founded in the first half of the 13th century by Princess Feodosia Mstislavovna, in monasticism Euphrosynia, the mother of Alexander Nevsky, in honor of the "miraculous deliverance from the invasion of the Suzdalites in 1170." According to tradition, Archbishop John, during prayer, heard a voice calling to bring out the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos to the city walls against the enemies. He did so, and the icon of the Mother of God "Znamenie" was brought out to the wall opposite the Desyatiny Monastery. One of the arrows struck the icon, and tears flowed from the eyes of the Theotokos. The enemies were seized with fear and began to kill each other. The Novgorod militia completed the victory.

The episode of the Suzdalite invasion is one of the most famous in the Novgorod epic, and the icon of the Mother of God "Znamenie" is especially revered by the faithful. It is now kept in the St. Sophia Cathedral and is available for veneration.

The monastery suffered during the Swedish occupation of Novgorod in 1611 and 1617, after which only the Church of the Nativity survived.

Since 1918, the Novgorod GubCheka and the OGPU department were located in the monastery. The basement of the Nativity Cathedral was used as cells for the arrested, and the abbot's house served as a club for the Chekists. In 1929, the cemetery church of All Saints was demolished, and the monastery cemetery was destroyed.

The Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin, built in 1397, was severely damaged during the Great Patriotic War but retained its dome and partially its walls. In the mid-1950s, it was dismantled for bricks.

Restoration of the monastery was carried out in the 1970s and 1980s under the guidance of architect N.N. Kuzmina. The monastery has partially survived: the monastery bell tower, the buildings of the monastery premises, and the ruins of the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin remain.