The Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary was erected in 1800 with donations from the merchants of Mykolaiv and until 1861 was called "Starokupesky". In 1870, a bell tower with a huge bell was built nearby. In the temple in 1874 a church shelter was founded, an honorary member of which in 1904 was Archpriest John Sergiev - St. John of Kronstadt. In 1922, all valuables for the famine relief fund were seized from the cathedral. In 1930, the authorities removed the 8-ton bell and crosses from the cathedral, and in 1936 they closed the cathedral altogether, placing the house of officers in its building.
In 1992, the church was transferred to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, it became the cathedral church of the Nikolaev diocese. The iconostasis was restored in the cathedral, as it was in the 19th century.