The Meeting Cathedral includes two churches: a cold one dedicated to the Meeting of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, and a warm one named in honor of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Myrrh-Bearing Women. The first wooden church was built in 1446 in honor of the victory of the Ustyug people over the Kazan Tatars, who threatened the city. The Meeting-Myrrh-Bearing Church was one of the first votive memorial churches of Veliky Ustyug. Therefore, when in 1690 a stone church was erected in place of the wooden one, it had five domes and looked very solemn. The church was built with the funds of the Moscow merchant Semyon Khrisanthov Shilovtsev. The church had two chapels: in honor of Saint Simeon the God-Receiver, consecrated in 1694, and Nicholas the Wonderworker.

The church's iconostasis, made in three tiers, was crafted by carpenters, painted, and distinguished by the simplicity of the ancient style, possibly preserved from the wooden church. It featured six local icons: the Almighty, Saint Nicholas with the inscription "renewed in 1794," the Annunciation of the Mother of God, the Myrrh-Bearing Women, the Sign of the Mother of God, and the Nativity of the Mother of God with the Nativity of Christ and four saints. On the deacon's door, there is an image of Archdeacon Stephen. Above the local icons in two tiers were the feasts and apostles. All the icons in the iconostasis were ancient and likely adorned the wooden churches. In 1805, with the funds of the parishioners, the construction of a stone bell tower next to the Meeting-Myrrh-Bearing Church began, lasting three years. After the construction was completed, a guard was stationed at the bell tower to watch for fires. In 1930, the bells were removed, and then the bell tower was destroyed.

In May 1925, the reconstruction of the Meeting-Myrrh-Bearing Church into a sailors' club began. The dispute between the parishioners and the authorities lasted almost a year. The museum director N. G. Bekryashev, for example, argued that the building is a unique architectural monument and should be preserved. However, the secretary of the commission L. N. Tyukavin insisted on the reconstruction, and the project was approved. A two-story extension was made on the west side for a foyer and other rooms, a vestibule was added on the south side, and a utility room on the east side. On May 15, 1926, the Sailors' Club was solemnly opened in the former church. On January 25, 2002, the club burned down, and today only the charred remains of the Meeting-Myrrh-Bearing Church remain.