Before the current building there were two temples. The first, was built in the year 1568, as a parish of the city, which was small. A second temple was built in place of the previous one, and it is known that it was consecrated in the year 1625.

It is the result of a construction process that began in 1550 when the plan for the first parish in the city was laid out. After several constructions, additions of chapels and renovations and occasional fires that occurred over 170 years, a definitive project was reached in 1732 that sought to integrate some walls and sculptures of the previous temples to build.

In order to build a larger temple worthy of the city of "the aristocrats of silver", and that would have more space, the walls of the current building were raised in its place. Built mainly between 1731 and 1752, the work was in charge of Domingo Ximénez Hernández.[1] The first stone was laid by Don José de Izarraguirre, episcopal vicar. The work was dedicated in the year 1752 and was consecrated until 1841; It was not completely finished until 1904, the year in which the topped of the "imafronte" and the north tower were completed; this last work carried out by the lyrical master builder Dámaso Muñetón. This tower has a clock donated by Governor Genaro García Rojas.

It possesses three facades, the northern one is dedicated to the Santo Cristo de la Parroquia, considered by the ancient miners as being extremely miraculous; the southern one honours Our Lady of the Zacatecas, patron saint of the city; while the principal one was finished on April, 24 of 1745, this one takes inspiration of the Sacred Communion; in it can be found the representations of the Holy Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit being accompanied by the Apostles, all around the Eucharist, carved in the key of the rosette window.

On January 26, 1863, Pope Pius IX issued the bull that erected the Diocese of Zacatecas, raising the rank of the temple to a cathedral. The third temple, already with three naves, had its baroque wooden altarpieces, which were replaced by quarry ones, possibly designed by the Valencian architect Manuel Tolsá between 1803 and 1847, except for the largest one.