The history of the St. Stephen Cathedral begins in the 14th century, when the preacher Stephen of Perm built an Orthodox wooden chapel on the site of a pagan shrine in the village of Pyras. Over time, as the population grew, the chapel became cramped, it was dismantled, and a wooden church with two altars was erected: in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and Archdeacon Stephen. The church was called St. Nicholas Church.

According to legend, in the mid-17th century, parishioners found a miraculous icon of the Vladimir Mother of God near the church. A wooden tent church was built on this site in honor of the revealed image, and the chapel was consecrated in the name of St. Stephen of Great Perm. The new parish was named the Kotlas St. Stephen Parish.

On August 3, 1776, after the evening service, the church caught fire from a lightning strike. Only a portion of the icons was saved, including the icon of the Vladimir Mother of God.

In 1785, the construction of a stone church in honor of the Vladimir icon of the Mother of God with a Nicholas chapel and in the name of St. Stephen the First Martyr and Archdeacon was completed, and the old St. Nicholas Church was dismantled.

In 1825, under the guidance of peasant Lev Trofimovich Belyaev, the construction of a stone cold church with a bell tower began on the site of the dismantled church. It was consecrated on December 8, 1829, in the name of St. Stephen the Bishop of Perm.

On September 5, 1920, the Kotlas Soviet signed a contract with the community of believers, under which the church property was transferred to the community. In June 1928, attempts were made to dismantle the fence for bricks, and in 1931, the authorities demanded the release of one of the churches and three corner wings. From 1932 to 1937, a mill and an oil factory were placed in the churches, the priests were exiled, and Deacon Ivan Trubachev was shot.

After the war, during a brief thaw, the church was returned to the believers. On September 14, 1947, Bishop Leonty of Arkhangelsk and Kholmogory appointed Priest Vladimir Zhokhov as the rector of the Kotlas St. Stephen Parish. In 1948, the iconostasis was brought from the closed Vondokur Church to the St. Stephen Cathedral, as the previous one was destroyed in 1931.

Today, active repair and restoration work is being carried out on the territory of the St. Stephen Cathedral. By the blessing of Bishop Vasily of Kotlas and Velsk, major repairs have been conducted in the lower church dedicated to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. The bell tower in honor of St. Stephen of Perm is also being restored.