The history of the village of Snegirevo and the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross is closely connected with the Saltykov family. The estate of the princes Saltykov was founded in the late 70s of the 17th century by Prince Nikolai Ivanovich Saltykov, and was originally called Cherkutino-Snegirevo. In 1804, a new estate was built at the confluence of the Vorsha and Medvedka rivers - a palace, outbuildings, a greenhouse, a carriage yard, and an almshouse for elderly parishioners and clergy. Earlier, since 1798, there was a house church in honor of the Deposition of the Lord's Robe. The palace was surrounded by a vast landscape park with cascading ponds. Near the upper pond there was a healing spring, which has survived to this day - "Gleb's Well", consecrated in honor of the faithful princes Boris and Gleb. Numerous testimonies of miraculous healings that took place here have been preserved. The estate palace and the house church have not survived.
The Church of the Exaltation of the Cross was built over the course of 7 years and was consecrated in 1813. It later became the family burial vault of the Saltykov princes. According to legend, Field Marshal General His Serene Highness Prince N.I. Saltykov, having received a mortal wound in battle, vowed to build a church. This happened on the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross.
Initially, the church was only a summer church with three altars; in 1889, a winter church with two altars was added. In 1915, construction of the bell tower began. But it soon ceased due to difficulties associated with the beginning of World War I.