Motronynskyi Holy Trinity Women’s Monastery is located in the heart of Kholodnyi Yar, on the site of an ancient Scythian settlement dating back to the 6th century BCE. According to legend, the monastery was founded by Motria, the widow of a military commander, who transformed the fortress into a cloister and became its first abbess. The monastery is officially mentioned in chronicles from the year 1198, when Bishop Pavlo of Pereiaslav established the Church of St. John the Baptist on the site. In the 18th century, the monastery became a center of the Haidamak movement: in 1768, 3,000 insurgents received blessings here for their struggle against the Polish nobility, which marked the beginning of the Koliivshchyna uprising.

The monastery has an extensive network of underground passages which, according to legend, connected it to other fortifications in Kholodnyi Yar. Some of these tunnels were used by monks for liturgical services and as shelter in times of danger. Next to the monastery lies the healing spring of St. Onuphrius, accessible by a descent from the entrance to the cloister. Nearby is a lake known as Haidamaky Pond, where, according to legend, the rebels once blessed their weapons.