The Church of the Exaltation of the Honorable and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord is located on the territory of the Zaretsky Cemetery and is one of the architectural landmarks of the historical center of the city. It was founded in 1847 on the site of an old wooden church of the same name. The construction of the church was financed by merchants Mark and Evdokim Pimenov, as well as other benefactors. The church was consecrated in 1852. In 1868, thanks to the funds of Petrozavodsk merchant Pyotr Vasilyevich Avramov, a second chapel and two rooms for storing archives and church property were added to the church. E.G. Pimenov and P.V. Avramov are buried at Zaretsky Cemetery. After the revolution, services continued in the church, and since 1930 it has been the main Orthodox church of Karelia. From 1990 to 2000, the Church of the Exaltation served as the diocesan cathedral.

The cathedral has a cross-shaped form, resembling a Greek cross, with a semicircular apse and a large central dome supported by four internal pillars. Bell towers with small domes are located at the corners of the building. Two low rectangular volumes with a gable roof adjoin the risalit with the main entrance. The corners of the main volume of the building are decorated with three-quarter octagonal columns. The walls are plastered on the outside and have horizontal bands, with a cornice of complex profile crowning them. The windows are elongated, with semicircular tops. The central dome and bell towers are round in plan, topped with bulbous domes with crosses.

The Church of the Exaltation is a typical stone temple of the mid-19th century, built in the Russian-Byzantine style, characteristic of a provincial city.