The first record of the village of Selishche, located on the right bank of the Volga River near Kostroma, dates back to the 16^th century. By the beginning of the 17^th century, the village, which was initially called Novosyolky, belonged to the boyar (Russian nobleman) I. Glinsky and included two wooden churches: one devoted to St George Church and one to St Elijah. Legend says that a rich man (most likely a member of the Glinsky family) and his pregnant wife were travelling through Novosyolky when the woman gave birth to two children, a boy and a girl, who were named after the martyred saints Alexander and Antonina Rimsky. To mark this event, a wooden church devoted to the martyred saints was built. This church was mentioned for the first time in 1628, in the Kostroma cadastres.

In 1779, local landowners decided to replace Selishche's wooden churches with one made of stone. 

The Church of the Martyred Saints Aleksandr and Antonina Rimsky is built in the Baroque style. It has one dome, a three-storey belfry with a spire, and two heated chapels, one named after St George and the other after St Elijah. The landowning Myagkov family built a stone church devoted to St Basil of Moscow to the north of the Church of the Martyred Saints Aleksandr and Antonina Rimsky in 1831, but is was destroyed in 1931.

In the first half of the 19^th century, a stone wall with six gates and a chapel was built around the church. In 1861, a 4,123-kilogram bell was placed in the belfry, but was removed and destroyed in the 1930s. 

In the 19^th and early 20^th century, the church's chapels were reconstructed and expanded. A new, four-panel, carved iconostasis was installed in the church in 1908, and a large chandelier was given to the church in 1910. The church's walls and ceiling were painted from 1909 to 1917. In 1914, a carved canopy was built over the altar in the summer part of the church, and a new iconostasis was installed in the winter part. 

In the beginning of the 20^th century, two priests, a deacon, and two psalm-readers served in the church.

The Soviet government repeatedly tried to close the Church of the Martyred Saints Aleksandr and Antonina Rimsky, but did not succeed due to the efforts of the priest Ioann Kostin (hegumen or abbot Ignaty according to his monastic title), who served in the village of Selishche for 40 years and died in 1971. Born to a family of local farmers, father Ioann defended the church, collected money to pay the enormous taxes and was himself constantly persecuted by militant atheists.  

At present, the church runs a Sunday school for children, organises Orthodox summer camps and issues a newsletter called Dukhovny Sobesednik. The deceased clerics of the Kostroma eparchy are buried in the church cemetery. 

The church has several holy relics, including the miracle-working icon of Our Lady of Igritsa and an ark containing remains of the martyred saints Alexander and Antonina Rimsky. The church's interior is of particular artistic value, including its iconostases and the painted ceiling and walls.