Once an ancient village called Velikaya Sloboda, later becoming the royal residence of Ivan the Terrible, it eventually transformed into Alexandrov Sloboda with the Holy Assumption Women's Monastery, which became a decoration of the county town of Alexandrov, founded in the 18th century. The first mention of Velikaya Sloboda appears in a charter by Prince Yuri Dmitrievich from 1434. In the early 15th century, it was a volost center where representatives of the princely administration lived. By the early 16th century, the name "Velikaya Sloboda" disappeared, and the village of Alexandrovskoye emerged, possibly due to a fire that destroyed the previous settlement. In the first half of the 17th century, Alexandrovskoye served as a way station during royal trips to monasteries. Around 1635, a wooden palace "Upper of Three Lives" was built for Tsar Mikhail Fyodorovich. However, due to negligence, it burned down and was not restored. During the troubled times of Alexei Mikhailovich's reign, merchants decided to establish a women's monastery on the ruins of the "blood-sucking city" and sought support from hieromonk Lukian.

The museum houses the "Chronicle of the Foundation of the Assumption Monastery," compiled in the early 18th century by an unknown nun and later copied by I. Zubov. It details the events of the early years of monastic life. In 1650, builder Lukian tonsured several women as nuns, and they lived at the parish church of the Nativity of Christ. Local residents grumbled about them, as the monastery did not yet exist. An epitaph on Lukian's gravestone tells how merchants from Alexandrov Sloboda convinced him to establish a monastery on the site of the abandoned Church of the Assumption of the Mother of God. Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich allowed the monastery to be built at his own expense. Initially, seven nuns gathered. The Assumption Church was then the household church of Prince Vasily III.

According to the monastery's chronicle, stone construction began on April 15, 1650, with the repair of the Assumption Church and the construction of seven cells. In the 1660s, walls and corner towers began to be erected. In 1654, there were 18 nuns in the monastery, but a plague epidemic reduced their number. In September 1655, the founder of the monastery, hieromonk Lukian, died. The nuns endured hardships from local residents and "from the devil." From 1662, hieromonk Korniliy became the spiritual leader, overseeing the construction of the monastery for nearly twenty years. The existing seven cells were dismantled, and a one-story stone building was constructed. Materials from the dismantled palaces of the times of Ivan the Terrible were used for the construction.

During the construction, various premises appeared in the monastery, including chambers and workshops. By 1681, a vaulted chamber was added to the northern side of the Assumption Church. The construction work was carried out by "royal workers" and a team of stonemasons. With the expansion of construction, the monastery needed more labor, and Korniliy replenished the monastic community. In 1670, there were 140 nuns in the monastery who assisted in the construction. The monks of Lukyanov Monastery were outraged at Korniliy for leaving his monastery for the women's monastery. Abbess Anisiya proved the rumors about Korniliy to be unfounded, and the patriarch allowed him to reside in Sloboda. Korniliy was relocated from the women's monastery, and he lived in a house in front of the eastern gate.

The monastery fence occupied two-thirds of the area of the royal kremlin. The walls had loopholes and slots for pouring resin. The fence was built in two stages. After the order of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, the eastern wall was demolished, and the northern and southern walls were extended. In 1661, a wooden Church of the Epiphany was built next to the Mikhailovsky Palace, which the peasants dismantled and moved to their village. In 1698, a stone church was built on this site, the only example of early baroque in Alexandrov Sloboda. Under Korniliy, the monastery significantly grew and prospered. Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich transferred mills and land to the monastery. During the reign of Fyodor Alekseevich, an annual salary was allocated for 200 nuns.

In 1694, Natalia Kirillovna gifted the monastery a cross-reliquary. After the suppression of the 1689 rebellion, the sister of Peter, Princess Marfa Alexeyevna, was brought to the monastery, where she was tonsured as a nun. She lived in the monastery for nine years. During the reign of Anna Ioannovna, the remains of the nun-princess were moved under the Church of the Meeting of the Lord. Other noble women were also brought to the monastery for misdeeds. In 1727, Varvara Arsenyevna, the sister-in-law of Prince Menshikov, was brought there. After the death of Elizabeth Petrovna, her palace was left empty.

With the founding of the city of Alexandrov under Catherine the Great, the palace was given to the first city mayor Ilyin, but it burned down. Alexandrov Sloboda remained a royal estate, which hindered its development. The river divided the city into two parts: the administrative center was on the right bank, while on the left was the Holy Assumption Monastery. The white wall of the "Alexandrov Kremlin" with four towers rose on a hill, reflecting in the waters of the Sera River. Above the domes rose the tent of the Crucifixion Church-bell tower, visible from many points in the city.