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In 1422, the Holy Trinity Cathedral was the first structure to be constructed of stone in the monastery. It was decorated by Russia's master icon painter, Andrei Rublev. During Ivan the Terrible's reign the Assumption Cathedral and the Church of the Holy Ghost were built and the monastery was enclosed in a high wall fortified with twelve towers. In 1452 Sergius was canonized a saint.
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A 15,000 man Polish-Lithuanian army, in support of False Dimitri II, laid siege to the monastery for sixteen months from September 1608 until January 1610. The monastery, which was manned by a force of just over 2,000 men, protected the northern approaches to Moscow. The defenders, suffering from scurvy, were reinforced late in 1609 and again very early in 1610. With the liklihood of additional troops arriving from Moscow the attackers withdrew in January 1610. Ivan the Terrible's walls and towers did much of the work of defending both the monastery and the approaches to Moscow.
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