The Sretensky Monastery was founded in 1397 at the place where the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God was met in procession in memory of the salvation of Moscow from the attack of the troops of Tamerlane (Timur). In 1925 the monastery was closed, most of its buildings were destroyed. On the monastery land adjacent to the buildings of the Cheka on the Lubyanka, a hostel for Chekist officers was located, executions of those arrested were carried out. In memory of these victims, in 1995, a worship cross was erected and consecrated in front of the monastery.
In 1996, the courtyard of the Pskov-Caves Monastery, temporarily transferred to the territory of the Sretensky Monastery, was transformed into the Sretensky Stauropegial Monastery. The monastic premises were restored, new buildings were built, which housed the monks and the seminary, and a bell tower was erected.
The monastery keeps Christian shrines, such as a life-size copy of the Shroud of Turin and an icon with a particle of the relics of St. Seraphim of Sarov.