[1] In the second half of the 12th century, Princess Maria, Vsevolod's widow, built the stone church of St. Cyril, which served as an ancestral burial place of the Olgovichi family.

His work also included the addition of masonry walls enclosing the monastery's courtyard, a picturesque corner tower and gate, and other monastic buildings.

[2] On May 8, 1929, the Council of Commisars of the Ukrainian SSR proclaimed St. Cyril's Monastery as a monument of historic significance and ordered that a "preservation district" be established.

[2] Like the many other numerous state protection districts throughout the Ukrainian SSR, the St. Cyril's complex was owned by the People's Commisariat of Education.

Pursuant to legislation passed by the Verkhovna Rada in June 1936, the Commissariat of Education had to grant permission for the dismantlement of St. Cyril's Monastic structures.

[2] According to the former curator of the St. Cyril State Preservation District, the monastic walls, gates, one corner tower, and the belfry were dismantled for their brick material in 1937.

[2] St. Cyril's Church, including the medieval interior frescoes and the 1880s murals by the famous Russian painter Mikhail Vrubel, were fortunately preserved.

The two lower levels of the belfry had some elements of a Ukrainian tripartite church, consisting with the belltower placed over the central part of the nave.