According to legend the Voznesensky Convent was founded in 1690 but later destroyed by fire in 1724. It was rebuilt in 1764 on the same location. In 1918 the convent was closed and its 18th century Ascension Cathedral was destroyed along with its bell tower. In 1988 the territory was returned to the Orthodox Church which set about reopening the convent. Today the convent’s only surviving original church is the pretty ‘Joy of All Who Sorrow’ Icon Church which was built between 1798 and 1816 to serve as the complex’s winter church. However work is currently (2012) underway on the reconstruction of the bell tower and the Ascension Cathedral, whose domes are decorated in a fashion reminiscent of the domes of St Basil's in Moscow.