Founded in 1397 by the monk St. Cyril on the shore of Lake Siverskoye. Cyril Belozersky monastery introduced the strict charter. Due to the strategically important location on the northern borders of the state has become the abode of the rich and powerful, but from arising on the settlement of the city Kirillov monastery grew.
In imperial times Cyril Belozersky monastery served as a place of imprisonment of prominent members of the nobility and the clergy
In 1600, a large stone wall with eight towers was built. At the beginning of XVII century the monastery withstood many attacks of the Polish-Lithuanian troops.
Holy Gates (1523) with the church of St. John Lestvichnika (1572).
