Founded in the 13th century on the route from Suzdal Kremlin to Kideksha, the Basil Monastery originally served as a powerful fortress, later transformed into a monastery. According to legend, this place is associated with Prince Vladimir the Red Sun, who took the name Basil upon baptism. It is believed that the people of Suzdal accepted Christianity in a church that previously stood on the territory of the modern Basil Monastery.

The Cathedral of St. Basil the Great was built between 1662 and 1669 on the site of an old wooden church. Its architecture is characterized by simplicity: a cubic shape topped with a dome on an octagonal prism. Under the roof, the foundations of two more drums have been preserved, indicating the original intention to make it a three-domed structure. The decoration of the cathedral is also simple, with the most exquisite elements being the entrance portals. A small refectory connects the cathedral with the three-tiered bell tower of the 19th century, adorned with pilasters and carved cornices. The single-domed Sretenskaya refectory church, built in the late 17th century, features an eight-pitched roof reminiscent of the church of the Archiepiscopal Chambers in Suzdal Kremlin.

In 1764, the Basil Monastery was reclassified as a non-active monastery. Until 1899, it was affiliated with the Rizopolozhensky Monastery, and until 1916, with the Spaso-Evfimiev Monastery.

From 1916, the monastery functioned as a women's monastery but was closed by the Soviet authorities on February 15, 1923.

The Cathedral of Basil was restored from 1959 to 1961 under the guidance of V. V. Gasperovich. Since the 1960s, warehouses have been located on the monastery's territory.

On January 31, 1995, the male community of the Basil Monastery was re-registered, and on June 6 of the same year, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church blessed its reopening.