The first stone five-domed cold cathedral dedicated to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was built over 40 years with funds from Moscow citizen Gerasim Yakovlevich Obukhov and his wife Irina, who lived in the merchant Kadashevskaya sloboda. Construction was completed in 1721, and later the benefactors were buried in the chapel under the northwest wall of the cathedral.

From 1999 to 2003, a new church was built on the site of the old cathedral, which was destroyed in 1937, thanks to the support of benefactor Viktor Ivanovich Tyryshkin. The construction was led by Vyacheslav Izhikov, who developed the project for this unique structure. The new golden-domed St. Nicholas Cathedral became an architectural adornment of Pereslavl-Zalessky, not replicating the architecture of its predecessor. The height of the new church is 40 meters, and it can accommodate up to 1000 people. Above the central portal of the cathedral is a mosaic icon of St. Nicholas, made of smalt by master E.N. Klyuchev.

On October 30, 2001, an important event took place: the domes were installed on the under-construction St. Nicholas Cathedral, and the central cross was consecrated. On October 1, 2005, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia, the solemn consecration of the cathedral took place. The main altar is dedicated to St. Nicholas, the right side altar to St. Dmitry of Priluki, and the left to the martyr Victor, the heavenly patron of the cathedral's builder. The old cathedral also had a chapel in honor of St. Gerasim, the patron saint of Gerasim Obukhov.

In 2006, work began on the frescoes of the cathedral. By Easter 2007, the frescoes of the chapel of St. Dmitry, executed by Alexander Derkachev in the style of ancient Russian Moscow painting of the 14th-15th centuries, were completed. The chapel of martyr Victor was decorated in the Byzantine tradition by Samson Marzoev, who used early Byzantine motifs and imitations of various types of marble. Under the guidance of S. Morozov, the frescoes of the altar of St. Nicholas Cathedral were completed. At the southern wall of the cathedral is a reliquary with the relics of St. Prince Andrew of Smolensk, the miracle worker of Pereslavl, who lived in the 14th century.