After the assassination of Emperor Alexander II in 1881, donations began to be collected in Meleksess for the construction of a church in memory of the Tsar-Liberator. Due to the scale of the project and some difficulties, a location for the church was only allocated in 1890, and the foundation stone was laid in July of the same year. The project was developed by the Samara diocesan architect T.S. Khilinsky.

The church was built solidly and with great attention to detail. To strengthen the structure, chicken eggs were added to the mortar during bricklaying, which were brought from nearby villages. In June 1893, amidst a large gathering of people, the crosses were installed. The main dome was topped with a gilded cross over 5 meters tall. By the summer of 1894, construction was completed, and the church was consecrated in honor of Saint Alexander Nevsky. The cathedral, built of red brick, became popularly known as the 'Red Church.'

The stepped walls under the cross vault were richly decorated with architectural and decorative elements. The vault featured the bases of five rectangular drums, each crowned with an octagonal tent topped with a gilded dome. The hall for parishioners was filled with numerous columns, and since there was little natural light, the church was illuminated by many wall and hanging lamps. A huge chandelier with thousands of lights, suspended under the main dome, could be raised and lowered using a winch.

In 1907, a spacious narthex with a three-tiered bell tower 50 meters high, topped with an octagonal tent, was added to the cathedral. The construction was overseen by V.P. Shamansky, who became the Samara diocesan architect after Khilinsky's death in 1905. However, the bell tower's design was similar to that of the bell tower of the Kazan Church in Verkhny Sanchaleev, built by Khilinsky, so the entire Meleksess cathedral can be considered his creation. The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral was the last of the churches in Meleksess to be closed in 1939, after which it housed a Komsomol club, various organizations, and dormitories. In 1954, a decision was made to dismantle the cathedral for building materials, and by 1956 it was completely destroyed. Today, a closed cinema named 'Mir' stands in its place. In 2007, a new Church of the Transfiguration was built in Soviets Square, inspired by the lost architecture of the cathedral.