The history of the church dedicated to the holy righteous prince Alexander Nevsky in Krasnoufimsk began at a City Duma meeting on October 18, 1880. The construction of the church is associated with Sergey Petrovich Sigov, a member of the Duma, who proposed to build the church in honor of the 25th anniversary of Alexander II's reign, who freed the peasants from serfdom. On September 14, 1902, on the day of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, after the liturgy at the local cathedral, the icon of Saint Alexander Nevsky was transferred to the site of the future church, where a prayer service was held. The church was built in 1914 according to the design of Dmitry Pavlovich Ryabov, who worked pro bono.

In January 1930, the church was closed, and a local history museum was established in its building, which remained there until January 1998. On September 8, 1999, the church was consecrated again by Archbishop Vikentiy. In May 2008, the church experienced a fire but was restored thanks to donations. The rector of the church is Mitrophor Priest Andrey Ivankov.

The cathedral was built in memory of the reign of Alexander II, who was assassinated by Narodnaya Volya on March 1, 1881. During this time, churches were actively built in Russia in honor of the tsar. Pavel Sergeevich Sigov recalled that his father, Sergey Petrovich, intended to build a church in Sennaya Square to immortalize the memory of the liberator tsar. He contacted architect Dmitry Ryabov and received a plan and estimate. Sergey Petrovich began collecting donations, signing 10 rubles on a sheet and attracting his relatives, who donated 150 rubles. Having raised 300 rubles, he presented the project to the City Duma, which accepted it after heated discussions. On March 12, 1881, the Duma decided to allocate at least 100 rubles annually for the construction of the church.

Sergey Petrovich's dream might have remained unrealized for a long time if it had not been for the intervention of contractor Fadey Nikolaevich Malkov, who suggested using leftover bricks for construction. He was allocated a site for a brick shed and timber for its arrangement, brick firing, and the construction of scaffolding for the church.