The Cathedral of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God was built in the center of the Yaroslavl Kazan Women's Monastery courtyard between 1835 and 1845. It replaced the old Kazan Church, which was demolished due to dilapidation. The construction was funded by donations based on the project of architect Avraam Ivanovich Melnikov in the style of late classicism. Major work took place from 1835 to 1838 under the supervision of provincial architect Pyotr Yakovlevich Pankov. The bricks used for the cathedral were taken from the dismantled warm church of the abolished Borisoglebsky parish.

The building of the cathedral is designed in late classical forms. Columns and half-columns adorn the entrances, the spaces between the windows, and the domes, which have the shape of octagonal towers. In 1840, the cathedral was painted by the artel of T. Medvedev, and it was equipped with a three-tiered carved iconostasis. The consecration of the church took place in 1845.

In May 1837, the monastery was visited by Tsarevich Alexander Nikolaevich, the future Emperor Alexander II. In July 1892, Saint John of Kronstadt served alongside the Archbishop of Yaroslavl and Rostov Ioanaphan in the cathedral. In 1910, during the celebrations of the monastery's 300th anniversary, the solemn service was led by Archbishop Tikhon of Yaroslavl and Rostov, who later became Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. In October 1916, Archbishop Agafangel of Yaroslavl and Rostov, the future patriarchal locum tenens, served in the cathedral.

After the White Guard uprising in July 1918, the monastery was abolished, its property confiscated, and the nuns were transferred to the Tolga Monastery. From 1919 to 1922, a concentration camp operated on the monastery grounds. In 1928, a reinforced concrete ceiling was constructed for the second floor of the cathedral, which housed the State Archive of the Yaroslavl Region. The domes and crosses of the churches were removed, and the bell tower was destroyed.

In the early 1990s, the Kazan Cathedral, still not returned to the Church, gradually received five gilded domes. In 1997, services resumed, and the cathedral became a parish church. In 1998, the monastery was reopened, and in 1999, the archive was moved to Rybinsk, freeing the cathedral. Its reconstruction began, supported by OAO 'Yaroslavl Technical Carbon' and its general director Vadim Yurievich Orlov. The reinforced concrete ceilings were dismantled, the walls were restored, a marble floor was laid, and an iconostasis was arranged. The altar painting was done by Yaroslavl artists Alexander Serikov, Mikhail Kirilchev, and Alexey Smirnov, who were awarded a regional prize.

In the 2000s, while the Assumption Cathedral was being built, the Kazan Cathedral temporarily served as the cathedral where Archbishop Kirill Nakonechny of Yaroslavl and Rostov conducted the main services.

The Kazan Cathedral houses a copy of the miraculous icon of the Mother of God of Kazan and a sarcophagus with the relics of Saint Agafangel. A small museum dedicated to the life and service of Archbishop Mikhail of Yaroslavl and Rostov has also been established here.