The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the monastery were founded in 1604. Its towers rise on Mt Srebrna Góra, surrounded by the Wolski Forest above the Vistula Valley. The Monastery of the Congregation of Camaldolese Hermits of the Crown Mountain with Mt Srebrna Góra Hermitage is one of only two active monasteries in Poland, and the Bielany district takes its name from the monks’ distinctive white habits.

The hermitic monastic order was brought to Poland by Grand Marshal of the Crown Mikołaj of Podhajec Wolski in 1603. The monks sought a place away from human settlements to praise the Creator in peace. The choice fell on the St Stanislaus Hills, owned by Sebastian Lubomirski, who had no intention of reselling his estate. With help came the owner's wife, Anna Lubomirska, who suggested the idea of holding a celebratory feast to honour Wolski. In the course of it, a cheerful Lubomirski promised his host the wooded hills. In gratitude, Wolski gave him the silverware used at the feast. Hence the name of the place with the hermits – Srebrna Góra.

The church and hermitage were built between 1609 and 1630, according to a design by Italian architect Andrea Spezza. The monastery was modelled on similar Italian buildings, with a particular spatial symmetry and an east-west positioning. A characteristic of the building is the unusual positioning of the third tower. Polish kings, including Ladislaus IV Vasa, John Casimir during the Swedish deluge and John III Sobieski before his expedition to Vienna, visited here.

The monastery complex includes the church and two courtyards: a northern courtyard with a 70-metre-deep well surrounded by monastic buildings with a refectory and kitchen, and a southern courtyard with a guest house, founder's flats and an acoustic hall. To the south of the gate is the so-called Foresteria, where prominent visitors were accommodated in the past. Eleven chapels surround the church, and beneath its presbytery is a chapel and crypt where the remains of deceased monks are interred for 100 years. After this time, they are moved to a collective tomb. Adjoining the presbytery is a chapter house with numerous paintings and a sacristy.

The interior is decorated with rich stuccowork from Giovanni Baptista Falconi's workshop. In the presbytery is a painting of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, by Michał Stachowicz. Unique is the image of Our Lady of the Camaldolese, painted in the 17th century by the Camaldolese Father Venati of Subiaco. On the other hand, the Royal Chapel shows paintings by Tommaso Dolabella, a court painter of the Vasa dynasty. The monastery library contains a valuable book collection of more than 11,000 volumes. The monastery complex is surrounded by an extensive forest with hanging gardens, alleys and places for contemplation. A multi-mile-long wall surrounds the site. The night-time illumination emphasises the uniqueness of the ensemble.

The Camaldolese are a monastic order in which hermits live according to the strict rules of Saint Benedict. The silent monks live in modest hermit houses with gardens, some in monastery cells. They do not visit each other, meeting only at mass, during prayers and when they share communal meals a few times per year. The life of a monk is silence, work, prayer, reading, contemplation, penance, fasting, solitude and lack of access to the media and information about the outside world. Religious attire consists of a white habit with a hood, and the day starts at 3:30 a.m.

The church and monastery can only be visited in accordance with the extremely strict rule of the Camaldolese Order. Men are admitted all year round, during the opening of the gate from 8.00 a.m. to 11.00 a.m. and 3.00 p.m.–4.30 p.m. On the other hand, women are only allowed to enter the monastery 12 days a year, which is part of the monastery's long history and tradition.

There are about 60 Camaldolese monks, 20 of whom are Polish, in nine monasteries around the world.

Between 2014 and 2023, the monastery complex of the Camaldolese Fathers underwent comprehensive conservation and restoration as part of the project 'Protecting the Heritage of the Baroque Monastery Complex of the Camaldolese Monks in Kraków by Carrying Out Conservation and Renovation Works on Selected Elements of the Complex Together with Innovative Information Enhancement’ as part of the Małopolska Regional Operational Programme for 2014–2020.