In 1551, the murza Turtas Grigorievich was brought to Moscow, who accepted Baptism with the name Sergius and lived with the boyar Zakharia Pleshcheev. He decided to dedicate himself to God and, after wandering through the deserts, met the hermit monk Niphont, with whom he began to lead a strict ascetic life. After a period of testing, Sergius asked to be tonsured into monasticism and was named Serapion.
Serapion and Niphont began to gain recognition, and those wishing to lead a spiritual life started to come to them. Serapion's hermitic life lasted almost 18 years. When a sufficient number of monks gathered, Niphont went to Moscow to request land for the monastery but passed away before starting the work. A famine began in the monastery, and Serapion, showing compassion, went out to beg for alms, saving the brethren from starving to death.
Upon learning of Niphont's death, Serapion went to Moscow, where he received a decree from Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich granting land for the new monastery. Upon returning, he and the monks cleared the land, fenced the monastery, and built two churches: in honor of the Holy Theophany and Saint Nicholas. Patriarch Job gave him holy antimins.
In 1608, at the request of the elder, Serapion's disciple Abraham was appointed as igumen. Blessed Serapion passed away on June 27, 1611, leaving behind up to 40 monks and was buried in the church of the Kozeezerskaya Monastery.
In 1613, the monk Bolep wrote a tale about the foundation of the monastery and its first builder – Blessed Serapion.
