The first and foremost church in the city of
Odesa, the cathedral was founded in 1794 by
Gavril Bănulescu-Bodoni. Construction lagged several years behind schedule and the newly appointed governor of
New Russia,
Armand-Emmanuel de Vignerot du Plessis, Duc de Richelieu, employed the Italian architect Francesco Frappoli in 1798 to complete the edifice. Several churches in the region, including the
Nativity Cathedral in
Chişinău, were built in conscious imitation of the Odesa church. The cathedral was the burial place of the bishops of
Tauride, including Saint Innocent of Kherson, and Prince
Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov, the famous governor of New Russia. The original structure was demolished by the Soviets in 1936. The cathedral's foundation was excavated in 1996, a few years after the
Declaration of Independence of Ukraine. From August to September 1999, a competition for the best reconstruction project was held by the local government, resulting in the implementation of the project by V. Meshcheriakov, A. Martynenko, and Institute "Ukrproektrestavratsiia". The reconstruction started in 2000, and the cathedral was opened on May 22, 2005. The remains of Prince Vorontsov and his wife were reburied in the cathedral on November 10, 2005. There is
a statue of him on the cathedral square, On July 21, 2010, the cathedral was consecrated by
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow. On July 23, 2023, the cathedral was severely damaged by a
Russian missile attack.
UNESCO strongly condemned repeated attacks by Russia on the Historic Centre of Odesa. The cathedral was restored with support from the Italian government and UNESCO, with the bulk of the restoration works completed by October 2024 and the heating system restored by December 2025. == Description ==