In the 15th-16th centuries, the current church site was home to the Nikolsky pogost. The 1585 land registry mentions that the wasteland, previously the pogost of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker on the Rzhavka River, belonged to the Novinsky Monastery. In 1709, these lands passed to Ivan Ivanovich Buturlin, a chamberlain of Peter I. After his death in exile, Buturlin's widow sold the lands to Prince Alexei Borisovich Golitsyn. In 1749, the Nikolsky pogost was inherited by the prince's grandson, Alexander, who built a wooden church here in 1756.

In 1778, Alexander Golitsyn sold the estate to Nikolai Vladimirovich Dolgorukov, a representative of an ancient noble family. Later, the estate passed to his son Ivan, who decided to build a large stone church in Nikolsky.

Construction of the church in the then-fashionable pseudo-Gothic style began in 1802. A two-story building with winter and summer parts was planned. The construction was completed in 1827.

Today, the church complex includes the church building, a bell tower with premises for the Sunday school and the cells of the nuns. The church is depicted on the coat of arms and flag of the Savyolki district.

The building is shaped like a large cube with projections: a rectangular altar to the east and polygonal sides elsewhere. It is topped with a large dome-semi-sphere. The light pointed openings are done in a pseudo-Gothic style. A low pediment runs along the edge of the building. Initially, the church had two chapels: St. Nicholas and the martyr John the Warrior. Later, four more were added: the Resurrection of Christ, the Protection of the Holy Virgin, the Great Martyr Catherine, and St. Mitrophan of Voronezh. The windows of the church and the decor of the bell tower are made in a unified style. The walls of the bell tower are adorned with pilasters and niches.

In the winter of 1941, when the Germans broke through the village of Matushkino, Soviet troops set up fire positions near the village of Rzhavka. The bell tower of the Nicholas Church housed a communication point, from which the fire of the howitzers of the 7th Guards Division was adjusted, targeting German tanks and infantry. In the 1990s, during the restoration of the church, traces of a machine-gun nest were discovered.