The Alexander Women's Monastery, located on a high bank of the Kamenka River, is believed to have been founded in 1240 by Grand Prince Alexander Nevsky in honor of his victory over the Swedes. He also built the first wooden church, which has not survived to this day. In the 14th century, the Moscow princes supported the monastery by granting it lands. Ivan Kalita and his son also patronized the monastery, transferring land for memorial purposes. The monastery served as a burial place for princesses and likely received the name "Great Lavra" at that time. Only later tombstones remain from that period, indicating the burial of Suzdal princesses Maria and Agrippina.

In 1650, with the permission of Suzdal Archbishop Serapion, new buildings were erected on the territory of the old monastery, which were soon destroyed by fire. In 1695, a new Ascension Church was built on the site of the burned temple, funded by Queen Natalia Kirillovna, the mother of Peter I. A document has survived describing how in 1738 two dissenters were re-educated here, one of whom escaped by colluding with the guard. The abbess faced troubles, but she proved her innocence.

In 1764, during the secularization of lands by Catherine II, the Alexander Monastery was abolished, and the cathedral became a parish church of the city.

In 2006, the monastery was revived as a men's monastery within the Vladimir-Suzdal Diocese. Since 2011, its abbot has been Archimandrite Abel Urgalkin.

The oldest structures of the monastery have not survived; the oldest of the remaining ones date back to the late 17th century.