The church in the village of Semyonovka, located in the Tsarevokokshaysky district of the Kazan province, was built in 1818 with funds from the parishioners. The main altar was consecrated in honor of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the right chapel was dedicated to Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker, and the left to the holy prophet Elijah.

The architecture of the temple combines traditional Russian and classical elements. The central cube is topped with a round rotunda with a dome and a traditional cupola on a drum. A spacious refectory connects the church with a three-tiered bell tower of the "octagon on a square" type, adorned with pilasters, niches, and cornices, giving it a festive appearance.

By 1915, the church was associated with chapels in the villages of Knyazhna and Savino, the latter of which was consecrated in honor of the prophet Elijah and built with funds from the righteous John of Kronstadt. In 1884, a church parish school was opened at the temple. By 1915, there were also a school in the village of Yakimovo, an educational institution of the Ministry of Education in the village of Knyazhna, and three zemstvo schools in the parish. A library with 236 volumes of books operated at the church.

During the Soviet era, the temple lost part of its decoration and utensils. In 1922, 21 items were confiscated from it, including a silver robe from the icon of the Mother of God "Three-Handed", silver and gold crowns, crosses, a chalice, and a tabernacle.

In the early 1920s, the clergy of the church joined the Renovationist movement. The treasurer Nikolai Kirillovich Simonov, Ivan Vasilyevich Chulkov, and other believers sought to return the parish under the omophorion of Patriarch Tikhon. As a result, the rector Peter Solovyov went with repentance to Bishop Nektariy Trezvinsky of Yaran and upon his return re-consecrated the temple.

Subsequently, the Semyonov parish became part of the Krasnokokshaysk Orthodox Church administration of the Old Believers, and from the late 1920s, it was included in the Mari vicarage of the Nizhny Novgorod diocese. From the mid-1930s, the Semyonov church remained the only Orthodox temple in the vicinity of Yoshkar-Ola and served as the residence of the Mari bishops from 1935 to 1937.

From March 1937, the priest-martyr Leonid Antoshchenko served here, arrested on December 21, 1937, and shot on January 7, 1938. Along with him, the archpriest Leonid Lvov was arrested, sentenced to 10 years in prison, and died in the camp on January 1, 1942.

The church in Semyonovka was closed on January 27, 1940, after which the building was used as a cafeteria and store. On January 30, 1944, believers appealed to Patriarch Sergius with a request to reopen the church. On April 11, the Council of People's Commissars of the Mari ASSR granted the request, but the transfer of the building was delayed, and services resumed on November 4, 1944.

The Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary became the center of religious life for the Orthodox of Mari El. Initially, services were held in the side chapels, and the staff included a priest, a deacon, and a psalmist. After the closure of the Resurrection Cathedral in Yoshkar-Ola, its parish was merged with the Semyonov parish, and two priests served here.

Among the clergy of the post-war period, archpriests Vladimir Allin, Pavel Chazov, and Daniil Domrachev are especially revered. In the early 1960s, the temple received the iconostases and other valuables from the closed Resurrection Cathedral.

When the Yoshkar-Ola and Mari diocese was established on July 25, 1993, the church hosted the consecration of Bishop Ioann Timofeev. Within the church's grounds lies the grave of Archimandrite Averkij Boykov, revered in the Mari region. Currently, the Semyonov church is associated with the church in honor of All Saints at the Turunovsky cemetery and a chapel in the village of Savino.