The history of the church in honor of Archangel Michael begins in the 12th century, when the city of Karachev is first mentioned in the Ipatiev Chronicle of 1146. Like many ancient cities of Rus, Karachev was protected by earthen ramparts, on which stood a wooden kremlin, serving as the residence of the Karachev princes. One of the churches of the kremlin was the Church of St. George the Great Martyr, likely destroyed during the Time of Troubles. After the city was restored, a wooden church in honor of Archistrategos Michael was built on its site, which lasted about a hundred years before being replaced by a stone structure in the mid-18th century.

Initially, the church had one altar in honor of Archistrategos Michael. In 1786, the first chapel in honor of the Passion Icon of the Mother of God appeared, followed by a second chapel in 1809 in the name of St. Dimitri of Rostov and a bell tower. In 1844, the Karachev merchant Nikolai Bocharov arranged for a third chapel in honor of the icon of the Mother of God "The Seeking of the Lost," and in 1848, the church elder Konstantin Piskovitin built a fourth chapel in the name of St. George the Victorious. In 1900, a wooden belfry was erected to replace the dismantled bell tower. After the 1917 revolution, the church remained active for some time but was closed in 1938, and before the war, the belfry was dismantled. In 1941, during the German occupation, the church was reopened. In 1961, it was closed again by the Soviet authorities, and in 1973, the building was handed over to a children's sports school and then used as a warehouse for building materials.

In 1989, the church building was returned to the faithful, and restoration work began. From 1990 to 1992, the frescoes of the church were restored, and from 1994 to 1996, the bell tower. Since 2003, a Sunday school has been operating at the church.