Assumption Monastery, Staraya Ladoga, Orthodox monastery in Staraya Ladoga, Russia

The Assumption Monastery is a religious complex on the left bank of the Volkhov River in Staraya Ladoga, built around a stone Dormition Cathedral that ranks among the oldest surviving churches in northern Russia. Several other buildings stand on the grounds, added over the course of the 18th and 19th centuries.

Founded around 1156 in the Novgorod Republic, the monastery was destroyed by Swedish troops between 1611 and 1617. Its stone Dormition Cathedral, built in 1154–1159, was reconsecrated in 1617 and is the northernmost pre-Mongol church of Rus'. A fire in 1702 left only the stone church standing, and the complex was largely rebuilt over the following quarter-century.

The cathedral's interior frescoes, painted at its construction in the mid-12th century, survive only in fragments. About fifty square metres were uncovered and partly restored in 2004, adding to finds made in 1980; they come from the apses, window edges and pillars. Many fragments are kept in the Russian Museum and in Novgorod's museums, and their style matches other Novgorod and Staraya Ladoga ensembles of the first half of the 12th century.

The monastery stands on the left bank of the Volkhov, north of the Staraya Ladoga fortress, in the village of Staraya Ladoga. The cathedral and the partly surviving stone wall are the main points to look for on the grounds. The site was returned to the St Petersburg eparchy in 2004 and restoration work has been under way since 2005, so some buildings may be closed off.

From 1718 to 1725, Eudoxia Lopukhina, the first wife of Peter the Great, was sent to live here after being forced out of the royal court. Her presence turned this remote monastery into an involuntary residence for one of the most talked-about figures of early 18th-century Russia.