In the past, Syzran was adorned with numerous churches, and there were four within the city limits. The main one was the Nativity of Christ Church, located within the fortress. In the Kremlin, there was a church dedicated to the Unmade Savior, and nearby, on the site of the Kazan Cathedral, within the territory of the Virgin Mary Convent, there were two more churches: a stone church in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, built in 1741, and a wooden church in honor of Sergius of Radonezh, which burned down in the first half of the 18th century. In 1764, the convent was abolished, and the church in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God became a parish church, attached to the Nativity Cathedral.

By the mid-19th century, the cathedral could no longer accommodate all the parishioners of the rapidly growing city. A new main cathedral was needed, which was laid on July 26, 1866, on the site of the dismantled Kazan church. A board of trustees was created, which included the cathedral's rector, Archpriest Arseny Petrov Uspensky, and parishioners such as merchant Boris Ipatovich Kolpachenkov, city mayor Alexei Ivanovich Lednev, and church elders Pyotr Grigoryevich Serebryakov and Mikhail Dmitrievich Sysuev, who became the main benefactors.

More than six thousand rubles were raised for the construction of the new church, and a nationwide construction began under the supervision of architect Alexander Anatolyevich Tamarinsky. Seventy thousand rubles were spent on the construction of the cathedral and the stone bell tower. On December 23, 1872, six years after the start of construction, the rector of the cathedral, Archpriest Arseny Uspensky, consecrated the altar in the chapel of Saint Alexander Nevsky, and a year and a half later, Bishop Evgeny consecrated the main altar in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God.

In 1882, the construction of the bell tower and the extension of the refectory to the cathedral began, which took 8 years. The transfer of bells from the old bell tower to the new one took place on May 9, 1906, with a large gathering of parishioners. However, on July 5, the city suffered a terrible fire. A priest from one of the rural parishes wrote in the "Diocesan News": "At night, amidst the fire in the city, like a martyr on a pyre, the Syzran cathedral with its majestic bell tower was visible. Will this shrine survive? With such thoughts, asking the Lord to preserve the altar for the consolation of the fire victims, we left our observations. The next day, July 6, early in the morning, burning with impatience to learn about the fate of Syzran, we hurried to the ferry. Coming out to the Volga, some got out of the boat and walked. Suddenly they shouted: 'Cathedral! Cathedral! The bell tower and crosses on the dome are visible.' And we, who remained in the boat, saw the facade of the cathedral through the smoke and morning haze. 'Glory to You, Lord! At least the cathedral survived.'"

The history of the former Kazan Cathedral in Syzran ended in 1917, when the advance of Soviet power against religion began. "By the resolution of the presidium of the Syzran city council on January 28, 1932, it was decided to close the churches, including the Kazan Cathedral, and to remove the Fedorov Icon from the Ascension Church." "Comrade Alexandrov was instructed to immediately inform the believers about the closure of the churches."

By 1940, all 15 churches in Syzran had ceased operations. The cathedral experienced a second birth in 1944 due to the change in the state's attitude towards the church and the active participation of believers in the Great Patriotic War. However, by that time, only bare walls remained of the cathedral. Parishioners brought icons from home and donated money for restoration.

For fifty-two years, the Kazan Cathedral remained the only functioning church in Syzran. In recent years, the Dean of the Syzran district, the rector of the Kazan Cathedral, Father Grigory Koberik, dedicated all his efforts to the revival of Orthodox churches. Reconstruction of the men's Ascension Monastery, the Ilyinsky Church, the construction of the church of the Fedorov Icon of the Mother of God in the village of Novokashpirsky, and the construction of a chapel at the site of the appearance of the Fedorov Icon of the Mother of God are underway in Syzran.