Pokrovskiy Convent was founded by Princess Alexandra Petrovna, the wife of tsar's Alexandr II brother - grand duke Nikolay Nikolaevich. She created the convent for poor woman who needed the asylum and wanted to devote oneself to God. The consecration of the future convent took place on the 11 of January 1889: on this day the foundation of church and princess house took place.This date is considered to be the day of the convent foundation. Alexandra Petrovna settled in the convent already at the time of construction and took here the veil with the name of Anastasia. Main temple - St. Nikolay cathedral was founded in 1896 in the presence of Tsar Nikolay II and his wife Alexandra Fedorovna. The Tsar himself endowed 80 thousand rubles for the construction. In 1893 on the territory of monastery the free hospital for the poor was constructed. By its size, comfort and equipment it had no match in whole Russian Empire - it received about 500 patients during the day, and first x-ray photos were made in Pokrovskiy Convent already 1 year after its discovery. Princess herself lived in a small cell. She ruled as an abbess and spent her own money on monastery expanding and upkeep. She also cared for the patients in hospital, was present at the surgery operations and in case of need assisted surgeons. After severe illness Alexandra Petrovna died and was buried at the monastery yard near Pokrovskiy church. On her tomb according to her will stands modest wooden cross. A fter the revolution the monastery in 1925 was closed. In its buildings various institutions were situated - law-enforcement services, stomatological clinic and radio equipment repair service. Despite the fact that the greater part of monastery buildings was hand down to another organizations the monastery opened again in 1942 a never closed till our days.