The monastery is located 3 km northwest of the Cave of Machpelah, on the West Bank of the Jordan River, in sector H1, which is under the control of the Palestinian National Authority.

In 1868, Archimandrite Antonin (Kapustin), who led the Russian Spiritual Mission in Jerusalem, acquired a plot of land where the Mamre Oak, previously discovered by him, grew. On May 22, 1871, the Divine Liturgy was held for the first time near this oak. In 1874, not far from this ancient shrine, Father Antonin built a two-story stone house for pilgrims. This place became popular among Russian pilgrims, and soon the territory belonging to the Russian Spiritual Mission began to expand.

Due to the complicated situation in the city, which had a predominantly Muslim population, the issue of building a church was raised only in 1904 by Archimandrite Leonid (Sentsov), who led the Russian Spiritual Mission. From 1906 to 1914, the mission tried to obtain permission from the Turkish authorities to build and consecrate the church. In 1914, the Church of the Holy Forefathers was built, becoming the last Russian church in the Holy Land erected before the 1917 revolution.

In the early 1920s, after communication with the Russian Church in Russia was lost, the site along with all buildings and the Russian Spiritual Mission came under the administration of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia. On May 31, 1925, the monastery church was consecrated by Patriarch Damian of Jerusalem in honor of the Holy Forefathers. The southern chapel was dedicated to the Holy Trinity, and the northern chapel to Saint Nicholas. A two-story house for pilgrims was built next to the church.

On June 5, 1997, the monastery was transferred to the Moscow Patriarchate with the assistance of Yasser Arafat.