The Church of the Nativity of the Virgin on the Sennaya is one of the oldest preserved architectural monuments of the Kremlin. Built in 1393-1394 at the request of Princess Evdokia, the widow of Dmitry Donskoy, it was presumably erected in memory of the Battle of Kulikovo. This is confirmed by the fact that the church is dedicated to the Nativity of the Virgin, the date of which coincides with the day of the battle. The new church replaced the wooden Church of the Resurrection of Lazarus and served as the household church for the women's section of the princely palace.

The church, made of white stone, has survived to half the height of the walls with the main portal and part of the windows. The western round columns support the vaulted ceiling of the choir, as confirmed by the internal staircase in the northwest corner. The architecture of the temple combines elements of the Vladimir-Suzdal and early Moscow schools, as evidenced by the pointed finishes of the portal and the rose windows.

In 1395, the temple was painted by Theophanes the Greek and Daniil the Black with their students. In 1479, likely due to a fire, the upper part of the building collapsed but was soon restored. In 1514, Alevis New rebuilt the church in connection with the construction of a new stone grand princely palace. The ancient temple was preserved as a basement, and a new volume with the main altar was built above it. The basement was allocated for the Lazarus chapel. The appearance of Alevis's church is known from the drawing "Kremlenagrad" from the early 1600s, where it is depicted as three-domed with three apses and two chapels.

From 1681 to 1684, during Feodor Alexeyevich's reign, the church was radically rebuilt. The Alevis church was replaced by a single-domed church with a rectangular altar and refectory. The Lazarus chapel was abolished, and in the 18th century, the basement became a storage room. In 1838, during the construction of the Grand Kremlin Palace, the chapel of Lazarus was restored, and eclectic details in the style of the 17th century were added to the architecture of the church.

A fundamental restoration of the oldest monument of the Kremlin and Moscow was carried out from 1923-1928 and 1949-1952.