The history of the Yaroslavl Kazan Women's Monastery begins with the discovery of the Yaroslavl-Kazan icon of the Holy Mother of God, which was one of the first copies of the Kazan icon found in 1579 in Kazan. According to legend, in 1588, a resident of Romanov, now the left bank of Tutayev, Gerasim, while in the village of Tetyushi near Kazan, fell under the influence of local residents leading a dissolute life. On the banks of the Volga, he was struck by lightning and lost the ability to move his right hand. Gerasim heard a voice instructing him to go to Kazan and warn the residents of an impending famine if they did not cease their misdeeds. After a second vision of the Mother of God, Gerasim conveyed the prophecy to the bishop of Kazan. In the third vision, he was commanded to acquire an icon of the Mother of God in Kazan and build a church in Romanov. After purchasing the icon, Gerasim was healed and brought it to Romanov, where it was placed in the Nikolsky Church. However, the church in honor of the icon was never built, and twenty years later, in March 1609, Romanov was destroyed by Polish-Lithuanian invaders. Yakov Lyubskoy, one of them, brought the icon to Yaroslavl, where the residents, upon learning of its presence, requested its sale. Lyubskoy gave the icon for free, and it was placed in the Church of the Praise of the Mother of God. After the invaders left in May 1609, Deacon Eleazar received a revelation from the Mother of God about the need to build a church in honor of the icon. In 1610, the first wooden Kazan church was built, where the nuns of the destroyed Women's Monastery of the Nativity of the Mother of God settled. This marked the beginning of the Kazan Women's Monastery. In 1649, a stone building was constructed on the site of the wooden church, and in 1672, the chapel of Saint Paraskeva of Serbia was consecrated. In 1680, the church was adorned with wall paintings, and in 1684, it received a stone refectory with a bell tower. The monastery suffered greatly from a fire in 1658 but was restored and surrounded by a stone wall in 1766. In the 19th century, the monastery fell into disrepair, and new stone buildings were constructed from 1808 to 1817. From 1820 to 1828, the Church of the Protection of the Mother of God was erected. From 1835 to 1838, a third cathedral church in honor of the Kazan icon of the Mother of God was built according to the design of architect A.I. Melnikov. At the beginning of the 20th century, the monastery had over 300 residents and was famous for its icon-painting and gold embroidery workshops. In 1918, the monastery was abolished, and its property was confiscated. In 1997, liturgical life resumed, and the monastery was reopened. In 2003, a memorial cross was erected on its territory in honor of the victims of the events of 1918. The locally revered relics of the monastery include the miraculous copy of the Yaroslavl Kazan icon of the Mother of God and the relics of Saint Agafangel.