In ancient times, the area where the temple is located was marshy, and the Rzhavets River flowed nearby. Over time, the river dried up, the soil was drained, and in the 17th century, the Church of Nicholas the Wonderworker, known as Nikola in Rzhavets, was built here. In 1681, due to its dilapidation, the temple was dismantled, and a wooden church of the Nativity of John the Baptist was erected in its place, purchased from the Tula Preobrazhensky Monastery. In 1749, the parishioners of the Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist in Rzhavets appealed to Bishop Savva of Kolomna and Kashira for permission to build a stone church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary with an altar of Nicholas the Wonderworker, as the old church was becoming unusable. The blessing was granted, and in 1750, the altar of Nicholas the Wonderworker was already built. To preserve the memory of the Preobrazhensky church, the parishioners requested permission to create another altar in the name of the Nativity of John the Baptist. In 1751, the old wooden church was sold to the village of Ivan-Ozero for the construction of a church with the same name. The stone church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary was built over twenty years and consecrated in 1770. The architect who designed the Assumption Cathedral in the Tula Kremlin also created this temple, which differs from other 18th-century churches in Tula. The main decoration of the interior became the gilded iconostasis in the Baroque style, as well as icons by the Tula icon painter Grigory Belousov. In 1783, the Nicholas altar was rebuilt, and the second altar, of the Nativity of John the Baptist, was constructed in 1831 with funds from honorary citizens Nikita Dobrynin and the Lomov brothers. Nikita Dobrynin donated a silver cross to the church, while Ivan Lomov donated a large Gospel in a silver cover. One of the main benefactors was merchant Ivan Rastorguev, who donated a silver cross and censer, as well as a tabernacle. The bell tower was built simultaneously with the church and was raised in 1823 due to the dilapidation of the roof. In 1895, a church parish school opened at the temple. The Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Rzhavets was closed in the late 1930s, and during the Soviet era, its building housed warehouses and a workshop of a shoe factory. In 1991, the church building became a monument of history and culture of regional significance and was returned to the Tula diocese. Restoration of the church began in 1995 under the guidance of Archimandrite Kirill, the future Bishop of Tula and Belev. Local enterprises, such as the Kosogorsky Metallurgical Plant and others, provided assistance in the restoration. In 2004 and 2005, the church was completely painted, using frescoes by Dionysius and Andrei Rublev as a model. In the mid-1990s, a Sunday school opened at the church, and two church choirs were established. A gold embroidery school also operates, and in 2007, a prosphora workshop began its work. The church gave its name to two streets in the city that intersected at this location. Nikolskaya Street, connecting Tomilinskaya and Vozdvizhenskaya Streets, became Veresaev Street in 1924. Nikol-Rzhavsky Lane, leading from Posolskaya Street to Petropavlovskaya Street, was renamed Student Lane. However, neither Veresaev Street nor Student Lane has survived to this day.