The church in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God in the village of Veliky Vrag is one of the oldest in the Kstovo district and is connected to key moments in Russian history. It was built on the site of the Velikovrazhsky male hermitage of the Moscow Simonov Monastery, founded in the 14th century.

On February 2, 1550, Tsar Ivan the Terrible, during his second campaign against Kazan, visited this hermitage and left here an icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in memory of his visit.

In 1628, Tsar Mikhail Fyodorovich gifted the Velikovrazhsky hermitage an icon of the Kazan Mother of God. At the bottom of the icon case, at the tsar's request, was depicted "The Deliverance of Moscow from the Poles in 1612," expressing his gratitude to the Nizhny Novgorod residents during the Time of Troubles.

By 1646, the monastery with two wooden churches stood on the cliffs by the Volga, nearby were 27 peasant homesteads and 2 monastery courtyards. Due to the church policies of Peter I and his successors, in 1723 the Velikovrazhsky Kazan hermitage was abolished. By the order of the Synod, Bishop Pitirim of Nizhny Novgorod and Alatyr joined the hermitage to the Nizhny Novgorod Spiritual Monastery in March 1723.

In April 1724, by the decision of the Holy Synod, the churches of the hermitage became parish churches, and most of the property was sent to Moscow.

In 1764, a parish was established on the site of the hermitage. In 1777, a fire destroyed all the monastery buildings and churches. Eleven years later, in 1788, parishioners built a small wooden church, consecrated in the name of St. Tikhon. In 1864, due to dilapidation, services ceased, and in 1887 the building was dismantled. In 1900, a wooden chapel was erected on the site of the former church.

In 1792, the existing church was built, originally with one altar in honor of the Kazan Mother of God.

In 1864, a warm chapel in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was added to the Kazan church.

In 1902-1903, the holy righteous John of Kronstadt visited the church and held a service there.

In 1937, after the exile of the rector Father Mikhail Sigriansky, the church was closed due to the lack of clergy but was not destroyed.

Services resumed on Easter 1944. On February 20, 1995, the church was granted the status of a federal architectural monument.

A parish operates at the church, which is part of the Kstovo deanery of the Nizhny Novgorod and Arzamas diocese.

Currently, the church has two altars, five domes, is wooden, and is sheathed with planks. A small refectory adjoins it from the west, under which is a tent-shaped bell tower. This is a rare type of church, an octagon on a square, a tent church. The architecture of the church reflects the features of ancient Russian wooden architecture. The main altar is consecrated in honor of the Kazan Mother of God, and the side altar is in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.