The stone church was built in 1759 with funds from parishioners and the Kazan merchant Vasily Fyodorovich Buligin. The main altar was consecrated in honor of the Resurrection of Christ, the right chapel was dedicated to the holy martyr Theodore, and the left to the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos.

On the southwest side, a four-tiered bell tower with six bells adjoined the cathedral, the largest of which weighed 200 poods. The main shrine of the church was considered to be the icon of the Savior, brought by the shooters from Moscow in 1584. Every year on August 1, it was carried through Tsarevokokshaysk in a procession and a prayer service was held on the Kokshaga River.

The clergy of the cathedral included a protodeacon, a priest, a deacon, and two psalmists. The clergy taught the Law of God at the Berezovsky primary school and the Medvedev two-class school. The cemetery's Tikhvin church and eight chapels were attached to the church, two of which were located in the city, while the other six were in the villages of Medvedevo, Myshino, Berezovo, Gomzovo, Chikhaydarovo, and Alenikino. Since September 1916, the priest Hrisanph Ivanovich Polyakov began serving in the Resurrection Cathedral, becoming one of the first victims of persecution for faith in Mari El. In August 1918, the Bolsheviks arrested him, accusing him of counter-revolutionary activities, and on September 11, 1918, he was shot and buried in a mass grave in Yoshkar-Ola.

After the revolution, the parish of the Resurrection Cathedral remained an active center of religious life and resistance to renovationism, largely due to the efforts of protodeacon Peter Kochetkov and deacon Nikolai Yurichev. They initiated the creation of the Krasnokokshaysk Orthodox Church Administration of Old Believers. Father Peter was a member of the presidium of the Administration until April 28, 1928, when he was exiled to Solovki. Deacon Nikolai was the secretary of the clergy meetings until his arrest on May 18, 1931. Subsequently, protodeacon Peter was shot in 1938, and the fate of Nikolai Yurichev, sentenced to three years in prison, remains unknown.

On September 20, 1928, the Resurrection Cathedral was closed by the decision of the Presidium of the Maroblispolkom, and a cinema was established in its building. In 1944, the believers of Yoshkar-Ola and surrounding villages appealed for the reopening of the church, and on August 2, 1944, the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church granted this request. The dilapidated building was repaired with funds from parishioners, and the church functioned for almost 20 years. Many residents of the city were baptized, married, and received their last rites here. In 1960, the Council of Ministers of the Mari ASSR decided to demolish the cathedral, and in 1961, the building was destroyed, turning the area into a wasteland.

In 2001, a cross with an icon of Christ the Savior and a commemorative plaque was erected at the site of the former Resurrection Cathedral. By now, the cathedral has been rebuilt and was consecrated by Archbishop John of Yoshkar-Ola and Mari El on March 27, 2010. Since then, regular services have been held in the church.