According to legend, the monastery was founded in the eleventh century by Yaroslav the Wise, but the first historicall-reliable reference to it is from the early twelfth century when the main church the Church of St. George (Georgieveskii Church) was founded (in 1119) by Prince Vsevolod Mstislavich of Novgorod and Pskov and Hegumen (roughly equivalent to a western prior) Kyuriak (Kirik) and built by the master Peter. The monastery was an important source for historical information on medieval Novgorod, as part of the Novgorod First Chronicle (the Synodal text) was compiled in the monastery.