The monastery cathedral, originally wooden, was built on this site in 1576. Its construction on the northern slope of the hill was initiated by the abbot Kirill, one of the first Orthodox missionaries in the region. This is confirmed by the royal decree of Ivan Vasilyevich, which mentions that he grants "his pilgrim abbot Kirill" various privileges for having "built a common abode in the monastery and erected the temple of the Life-Giving Trinity."

Later, the construction of the stone church was initiated by Metropolitan Savvaty. At that time, the monks of the Trinity Monastery had trading shops in the city and traded in them without duties, as well as owned fishing grounds. This allowed them to accumulate funds for the construction of the stone cathedral, which was completed by 1603. In Astrakhan, large fires often occurred, and in 1623, one of them engulfed not only the city but also the Kremlin courtyard. After that, the Trinity Monastery was quickly restored.

In 1700, the Trinity Monastery was assigned to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra and remained under its administration until 1764. From 1765 to 1807, the monastery buildings were managed by the Public Charity Office, and the Astrakhan authorities even planned to demolish all the monastery structures. The cells and Holy Gates were dismantled, and the bricks were used to build a gymnasium, but Archbishop Anastasiy Bratanovsky managed to defend the church.

The temple represents a complex architectural ensemble. On the western side are the refectory chambers, Large and Small, restored in 1974, and to the north are two churches surrounded by single-tiered galleries on the basement. The churches are cross-domed, four-pillar, three-apsidal with lowered supporting arches, and five-domed; the branches of the cross and corner compartments are covered with cross vaults with round columns. Initially, the cathedral's domes were helmet-shaped, but during the restoration in 1974, they were made bulbous; at that time, the temple was covered with sheet copper roofing; new crosses and cones were made, which were gilded and installed in place; the white stone details along the cornice were carefully cleaned and restored. In the Large refectory chamber, the pillar smoothly transitions into the vaults, which gently descend onto the massive wall. At the base of the pillar is spiral masonry. Between the windows along the walls are pointed niches resembling loopholes in the Kremlin battlements, but they are blind. In these niches, lamps were installed, and along the walls were long tables for the monastery brotherhood's meals.

The Trinity Monastery was a true treasure trove of ancient Russian art. In the monastery inventory compiled in June 1769, such descriptions are mentioned: on many icons were draped embroidered towels or scarves, on the icon of the Vladimir Mother of God was draped "a red cloth, strung with small pearls, with blue fringe," and on another icon "a Kamchatka cloth, entirely strung with multicolored grains." The Trinity Cathedral has been repeatedly looted, so to this day, not a single item or ancient icon from the Trinity Monastery has survived.