The Cathedral of the Exaltation of the Honorable and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord is located in the northeast part of the Holy Yuriev Monastery. The stone church was built in 1823 under Archimandrite Photii on the site of a wooden church that burned down in 1810.

The cathedral, with its slightly protruding Doric pilasters and large windows, resembles a sturdy provincial merchant's house. It is adorned with five massive light drums topped with blue domes, on which are placed 208 carved eight-pointed golden stars. The exterior of the church is simple and unadorned.

After the monastery was closed in the 1920s, the Cross Exaltation Church lost its wall paintings, and now its interior walls are simply painted white. During the Soviet era, the cathedral housed a museum and an art gallery.

In the summer of 2004, the cathedral was restored: the northwest dome was rebuilt, the metal cladding of the other four domes and all five crosses was replaced. Services are now regularly held in the church.