Ascension monastery, Orthodox monastery in Irkutsk, Russia.

The Ascension Monastery in Irkutsk was founded in 1672 by the monk Gerasim on the left bank of the Angara. After a fire in 1783 it was largely rebuilt; the surviving Dormition Church (1780–1783) has a refectory added in 1874–1875. The complex also retains two brick brotherhood buildings, a school with a kitchen, service structures, a refectory, a sacristy and a hotel.

Founded in 1672 by the elder Gerasim with the blessing of Siberian Metropolitan Korniliy, the monastery began as a wooden Ascension church, cells and fence on the left bank of the Angara. A major fire in 1783 forced a large rebuilding, and most surviving buildings date from that period. In 1933 the Soviet authorities demolished all churches except the Dormition Church, which was returned to the diocese in 1998.

The monastery is named for the Ascension of the Lord and for Innocent, Bishop of Irkutsk, who lived here from 1727 to 1731 and was canonised in 1804; his relics were venerated in the monastery cathedral. The only surviving church, the Church of the Dormition, was returned to the diocese in 1998 and has since been restored.

Most of the monastery complex was demolished in 1933; only the Church of the Ascension of Mary (1780–1783), two stone brotherhood buildings, the former abbot's house with the brotherhood kitchen, and service structures remain. The church was returned to the diocese in 1998 and has since been restored. Look for the refectory added on its west side in 1874–1875.

The monastery's founder, the elder Gerasim, died on 20 January 1676 and was buried in a wooden log coffin inside the monastery wall. In 1802, while a ditch was being dug for the wall, his coffin was found intact along with a gravestone; a two-storey chapel, the Tower of Gerasim, was built over the grave that year, and in 1840 a stone crypt was made beneath it. The chapel kept his portrait, his staff and a lectern whose height suggests he was a tall man.