The monastery was founded by the Marshall of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Aleksander Chodkiewicz, under a special ''[[tomos]]'' issued by the [[Patriarch]] of Constantinople, [[Jeremias II Tranosof Constantinople|Jeremias II Tranos]]. The original wooden [[Church]] of St. John the Evangelist on the monastery grounds was built in 1501. During the ensuing years, a number of other churches were built at the monastery. The Church of the Annunciation, built between 1503 and 1511, was [[consecration of a church|consecrated]] in 1516, followed by the Church of the Resurrection of Our Lord. This church housed the monastery [[catacombs]].