The first mention of the Saratov Exaltation of the Holy Cross Monastery dates back to 1680. It was founded at the church of the same name on the Old Cathedral Square, built a few years earlier, at the beginning of the construction of the new right-bank Saratov. In 1762, a stone warm church of St. Paraskeva Friday was consecrated, but by the beginning of the 19th century, the monastery, which had suffered from a fire, was closed and transformed into a parish.

On November 30 (December 12) 1829, a decree was issued to restore the monastery at its historical site. This decision was made due to the lack of a women's monastery in the city, which complicated the sending of convicted criminals for penance and did not allow the Orthodox Church to effectively combat the spread of Old Belief. The monastery complex again included the churches of the Exaltation of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, consecrated in 1740 and built with the funds of Captain V. Ya. Surovtsov, and St. Paraskeva the Martyr. In 1857, a third church in honor of Saints James and Pelagia was consecrated in the hospital building.

The monastery had garden plots on the Guselka River, as well as sewing and icon-painting workshops. In 1903, the Paraskeva Church was replaced by a new one in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, with an altar dedicated to St. Paraskeva the Great Martyr. It was built with the funds of the widow of Saratov merchant A. I. Semidetnova, according to the design of engineer Yu. N. Terlikov. In the pre-revolutionary years, the monastery had 185 nuns, 17 novices, and temporary residents, totaling 351 people.

In 1919, the monastery was closed by the new authorities, and all buildings were transferred to the city. The monastic community remained until 1927, when it was dispersed. In 1934 and 1939, both churches were destroyed, and residential and economic buildings were demolished in the 1980s during the construction of the Slovakia Hotel.

Currently, only the holy gates of the former monastery remain. In July 2008, Bishop Longin of Saratov and Volsk consecrated an icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in the renovated arch. In the summer of 2006, a church with an altar in honor of the Exaltation of the Honorable and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord was consecrated in the partially preserved premises of the monastery.