The Ascension Church is located on a small hill at the mouth of the Mtsna River opposite the Cathedral Mountain. In the 16th century, a women's Archangel Monastery was founded here, which ceased to exist during the Time of Troubles.

According to the land registry book of Mtsensk from 1625, compiled by Vasily Vasilyevich Chernyshov and clerk Osip Bogdanov, there were two wooden churches on this site: the Church of the Annunciation of the Mother of God and the Church of St. Archangel Michael. The Annunciation Church was in a dilapidated state. There were three courtyards for clergy and a sacristan near the churches.

By the mid-17th century, a women's community of two dozen elders formed in Mtsensk, who petitioned for the revival of the monastery. In 1659, Metropolitan Pitirim of Saransk and Polonsk issued a decree for the construction of the churches of Archangel Michael and the Annunciation of Christ. In 1662, by his order, the elder Yefrosinya Ivanovskaya was appointed as the builder of the girls' monastery, and soon the construction of the monastery buildings began. However, the monastery was located in the midst of the settlement and was surrounded by courtyards, which caused frequent conflicts with local residents. In 1675, Andrei Yakovlevich Pyatovo, followed by Vasily Chertov and other Mtsensk servicemen, donated their courtyard plots to the monastery, allowing it to expand its territory.

According to the budget book of Mtsensk from 1691, there was one wooden church of St. Archangel Michael in the monastery. On May 6, 1695, during a city fire, the Ascension Monastery was completely burned down.

This misfortune likely prompted Abbess Fevronia to begin construction at the end of the 17th century of a stone cathedral church of the Ascension with three altars: the Ascension of the Lord, St. Archangel Michael, and St. John the Baptist, which continued into the early 18th century. The monastery also had a wooden church of Archangel Michael, which was dismantled after the construction was completed, and 27 cells. In 1702, there were 56 nuns in the monastery, in addition to the abbess. In September 1744, returning from Kyiv, Empress Elizabeth Petrovna visited Mtsensk with her heir Peter Fyodorovich, donating funds for the construction of a bell tower. In memory of this visit, the cross of the church was crowned with an imperial crown.

On April 23, 1757, the monastery burned down again and was restored under the guidance of Captain Rodion Yazikov by contractors merchants P. M. Moskvitin and F. P. Inozemtsev. At that time, it was surrounded by a stone fence over 380 meters long with gates and three towers, which were dismantled in the 19th century. In 1764, the monastery was closed and transformed into a parish church. In the mid-19th century, a stone porch was added to the church according to the design of Mtsensk merchant Alexander Yakhontov.

In 1938, the church was closed and used as a club. At that time, it lost its light drum and the upper tier of the bell tower. During World War II, the Nazis turned the half-destroyed church into a firing point, and it suffered greatly in the battles.

After the war, the church faced complete destruction due to the construction of the Moscow-Simferopol highway through Mtsensk. Its salvation became possible thanks to Mikhail Vasilyevich Kaplinsky, who, understanding the futility of attempts to protect the religious building, presented it as a secular structure from the 17th century. This was made possible by the loss of external signs of a religious building. A meeting between Kaplinsky and Grigory Grigoryevich Pushkin, a descendant of A. S. Pushkin, helped convince the military of the building's significance. G. G. Pushkin confirmed Kaplinsky's words with his authority, ultimately saving the monument. Kaplinsky secured funding and materials for the restoration of the building, and in 1949, under his guidance, repairs were carried out. The building was covered with a complex-shaped roof, making it resemble a residential building from the 17th century, entering local literature as the 'boyar's house.'

In 1992, the Ascension Church was handed over to the community of believers, and in 1995, the church reopened its doors.