Dormition Monastery was founded by the [[Archimandrite]] German (Sadyrev-Polevoy) in 1555 at the fortress of Sviyazhsk. Sviyazhsk was the base from which Ivan IV staged his final and successful assault on the khanate of Kazan in 1551. Arch. German was canonized in 1595. The monastery prospered as the adjacent town of Sviyazhsk became the chief town of the province as reflected in the name of the [[Diocese of Kazan|Diocese of Kazan and Sviyazhsk]]. While the initial economic significance of the town declined in the following years the religious importance of the monastery grew during the following centuries. By the mid eighteenth century the monastery was the most wealthy and influential in the Kazan [[diocese]].

During the years of Bolshevik rule, the monastery was closed and initially turned into a forced labor camp. Later, it was used as a detention camp for juvenile criminals. Subsequently, the monastery was used as a psycho-neurological clinic until 1993. In 1997, the monastery property was returned to the Church of Russia.