In the 11th century, there was a five-nave St. Michael's Cathedral in the northern part of the city’s citadel, often mentioned in chronicles and destroyed in 1239 during the invasion of Khan Batu. In its place, St. Michael's Church was built. The foundations of the ancient cathedral with remnants of walls were excavated in 1949 and 1953 by M. K. Karger, as well as in 1967 by M. I. Sikorsky and V. A. Kharlamov. In 1734, the church suffered from a fire, but the damage was minor, and it was soon restored. In 1823, the original stone dome was replaced with a wooden one, which can be seen in a drawing by T. G. Shevchenko made in 1845.

The church is made of stone, plastered, and has a plan similar to the three-nave type. The main space is elongated, rectangular, covered with a semicircular vault with arches, adjacent to it are the polygonal apse and narthex, covered with vaulted ceilings. The entire building is topped with a gable roof. The walls are divided by pilasters and pierced with windows topped with pediments featuring ornamental and narrative stucco. The church is adorned with a frieze featuring glazed ceramic rosettes around its perimeter. The interior retains paintings from the 18th and 19th centuries created by artists of the Kyiv school of painting. To the east of the church are the bell tower and cells with a refectory, combined into one building.

The building is made of brick, plastered, elongated, and rectangular in plan, with a semicircular passage arch and a square tier of the bell tower above it, topped with a tent dome with a finial. It is covered with a gable roof, and the rooms are vaulted with cylindrical ceilings above the windows. The walls are divided by pilasters and decorated with a stucco ornamental frieze. The building suffered greatly during World War II and was restored in 1951 and 1953, using a drawing by T. G. Shevchenko.

The church and bell tower house an exhibition from the ethnography department of the Pereyaslav-Khmelnytsky State Historical Museum. The building is a rare example of Ukrainian architecture from the first half of the 18th century.

In 2007, a church community was established, which held services in a tent near the St. Michael's Church. In 2010, by decree of the President of Ukraine, the complex of buildings was transferred to the Orthodox Church. During this time, repair and restoration work on the church's interior was carried out. Currently, the installation of the central dome and landscaping of the surrounding area is ongoing. St. Michael's Church is the only one in Pereyaslav-Khmelnytsky where the Divine Liturgy is celebrated daily.

On January 20, 2011, the church was consecrated by Archbishop Pereyaslav-Khmelnytsky Alexander.