According to legend, the convent was founded by St. Jacob of Galich in the late 15th or early 16th century. Until 1668, it was a male monastery. Until the early 19th century, all the buildings of the convent were wooden, and stone construction began mainly in the 1820s to 1860s. The Trinity Cathedral of the Nikolaevsky Starotorzhsky Convent is the largest cathedral in the Kostroma region. It is part of the complex of monastic buildings located on the site of the old trading post, near the ancient settlement of Balchug, where Galich originated.

The Trinity Cathedral was built from 1839 to 1859 in the style of late classicism. The original design of the church was developed by engineer Lvov, a member of the provincial construction commission, but it was significantly revised; the modified design was also implemented with adjustments. The cathedral is a centralized five-domed four-pillar temple. The small domes were destroyed during the Soviet era and restored in the 1990s, however, the restoration of the cathedral has not been completed. As of summer 2002, the church is not functioning, and restoration work is not being carried out. Fragments of monumental painting from the late 19th and early 20th centuries have been preserved in the interior. Numerous stone service buildings have survived on the convent's territory, which are now used as residential houses or state institutions, a school, guardhouses, and a fence. Entry to the territory is free.