The Convent was founded in 1364; however, its architectural ensemble was formed in the 16th century, when the Convent became the place to which the disgraced tsarinas and women from the high-ranking boyars’ families were banished. The center of the ensemble of the Convent is the Cathedral of the Intercession built by the unknown masters in 1518. It is solemn, majestic and at the same time very intimate, one of the most poetic churches in Suzdal. While decorating the Cathedral, its talented masters used traditional methods of the old white-stone architecture of Suzdal. There was no painting in the Cathedral. Its white walls and ceramic floor could create an impression of the emphasized asceticism, but the splendid icons and the works of artistic embroidery made the interior refined and festive. The Cathedral served not only the main church of one of the richest convents in Russia but was also a burial vault for more than 20 nuns of noble birth.

The Cathedral is connected by a gallery with a tent-roofed belfry of the 16th century. The tent above it appeared at the end of the 17th century. The original architecture of the Cathedral is repeated in another building of the ensemble – the Holy Gate of 1518. On its tetrahedral tower with two arched flights the small elegant Church of the Annunciation was built. Near the northern facade of the Cathedral the Refectory Chamber with the Church of the Conception of Sts. Joachim and Anne was built in 1551. It is a large two-story building with the modest ornament made in the common bricks. A hexahedral belfry supplements the architectural appearance of the building. The spacious hall of the Refectory is very impressive with its powerful arches, resting on one pillar, which stands in the center.Another rare monument of the 17th century architecture is a Departmental House, attached directly to the fence. In 1970 the museum recreated the interior of the Departmental House of the 18th century with the authentic exhibits of the 18th–19th centuries, and also made an exhibition devoted to the history of the Intercession Convent, one of the oldest and aristocratic Russian abodes.