The Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is the only surviving Old Believer church in Syzran. Its location in one of the central districts of the city, near the Assumption Church, the city administration, the police station, the City Public Bank, and the First Women's Gymnasium, indicates the significant influence of Old Believers on the culture of the largest district in the Simbirsk province. The church was built with funds from the Belokrinitskaya Old Believer community after the persecution of Old Believers ceased in 1906. In addition to the church, two wings were also constructed nearby, belonging to the community.

Today, the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is in a severely damaged state: the main volumes have survived, but the ceilings have been lost. The building, made of red brick, is set back slightly from the red line of Simbirsk Street, Ulyanovsk, the second most important street in the city, and is oriented along the west-east axis.

The central part of the composition is a square structure, to which a narrower polygonal apse and a small rectangular refectory with two windows are attached. The two other facades of the square structure feature slightly protruding risalits, which are a bit taller than the main volume. The risalits contain side entrances. The external walls of the building are decorated with brickwork that resembles pre-Petrine architecture. The decoration includes rusticated pilasters of the refectory and embellishments at the corners of the square structure. The surface of the polygonal apse is laid with ribbon rustication. The top of the square structure is adorned with a series of decorative semicircular kokoshniks. Each of the risalits is topped with a composition of a large round rosette and two semicircular kokoshniks with keel-shaped framing. The interior space of the small column-free church was quite intimate.