In the rural area of the Kostroma region, one of the few monasteries has been preserved, whose architecture is dominated by forms characteristic of pre-Petrine architecture and provincial architecture of the 18th century. It is beautifully located on the western outskirts of the village, on both sides of a stream that flows into the Tebza River, which runs 100 meters north of the monastery. The main part of the complex, almost with all the buildings, occupies an elevation washed by the stream from the south and east. The monastery was founded around 1390 by a disciple of Sergius of Radonezh, Iakov Zheleznoborovsky, from the noble family of Anosovs. With his participation, two wooden churches were built: the Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist, possibly a tent-like structure, and in 1429, the Church of Nicholas the Wonderworker with a refectory. South of the churches, two ponds were dug. In the 15th-16th centuries, the Zheleznoborovsky Monastery became the owner of many villages and settlements, as well as significant land holdings granted by grand princes and tsars. In the 17th century, the future False Dmitry I took monastic vows here. Until the 18th century, all buildings remained wooden. In the 17th-18th centuries, the dilapidated churches were replaced by new churches and buildings. In 1650, a new Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist was built, in 1667, the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin with a chapel of Iakov Zheleznoborovsky. In 1716, the warm Church of Nicholas the Wonderworker was rebuilt, and in 1728, the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin.

The monastery inventory of 1743 provides insight into the architectural complex of the 18th century. It mentions the five-domed churches of the Nativity of John the Baptist and the Nativity of the Virgin with a chapel of Iakov Zheleznoborovsky, the single-domed churches of Nicholas the Wonderworker with a refectory and the Three Saints gate church with a porch, and an octagonal tent-like bell tower with battle clocks. On the territory of the monastery, surrounded by a hewn fence with five towers, there were abbot's and brother's cells with services. In the 18th century, both main churches were built of brick: in 1753 and 1757, the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin with chapels of Iakov Zheleznoborovsky and Nicholas the Wonderworker, and by 1761, the Cathedral of the Nativity of John the Baptist with a separate bell tower. It is likely that in the 18th century, a western porch was added to the church, connecting it with the bell tower, and a northern chapel of Sergius of Radonezh. From 1820 to 1833, with the funds of N.G. Lvov, craftsmen arranged a four-tiered iconostasis. Stone construction continued in the 19th century. In 1811, the wooden fence was replaced with a brick one about 3 meters high with small corner towers. At that time, a stone granary was also built. Around 1825, the building of the abbot's and brother's cells was erected, and from 1843 to 1850, the Three Saints bell tower with a refectory and a guesthouse. Earlier, in 1816 and 1819, wooden guesthouses and shops were built outside the monastery. In 1861, the interiors of both churches were updated, and the facades of the monastery buildings were whitewashed. At that time, the chapel of Nicholas the Wonderworker was abolished in the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin. After the monastery was closed in 1929, some of its structures were destroyed, and some were distorted. Almost all the fence and towers were dismantled, and the wooden guesthouses and shops were destroyed. The southern part of the territory was partially built up with rural houses and cut through by a street. Currently, the brick buildings of the monastery are being restored, plastered, or whitewashed according to the masonry.