The Tikhvin Assumption Monastery, founded in 1560, is one of the oldest provincial monasteries in Russia. Its construction was initiated by Ivan the Terrible, with Archbishop Pimen and Novgorod nobleman Fyodor Syrkov, an experienced builder, working on the site. The work progressed quickly, attracting peasants from twenty volosts, which was a record at that time. The monastery was built quite rapidly and received the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God as a gift, which pleased Ivan the Terrible. The monastery became one of the best in the area.

Before the monastery was established, there stood the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which housed a miraculous icon. After a fire, the church burned down, but the icon survived and was placed in a new stone church built by the order of Vasily III. The monastery endured many trials. In 1613, it miraculously withstood a siege by Swedish troops thanks to the detachment of Prince Semyon Prozorovsky. In 1623, the monastery suffered from a severe fire, but the icon again survived, and the monastery was restored. Elizabeth Petrovna later allocated funds for the construction of a stone wall, but only two walls were completed, with the remaining part being finished with the funds of Paul and his son Alexander.

With the arrival of Soviet power, the monastery was seized by Renovationists, and the icon ended up in a museum. German troops took it away and handed it over to the Russian clergy in exile, who kept the relic until 2004. After the monastery was restored, the icon was returned. The monastery has been fully restored and is now active again.