In some ways, "culprit" appearance of the Transfiguration Cathedral in St. Petersburg is the Emperor Peter I, who created the "ludicrous" regiment, which later became the basis of the Preobrazhensky Guards. It was this regiment in 1741 helped Peter's daughter, Elizabeth, to make a coup d'etat and to become empress. A few days after the coup Elizabeth in honor of this great event gave orders to build at the location of the barracks of the regiment church, as a sign of gratitude to the Lord for the great kindness extended to her.

From 1743 to Sloboda Preobrazhensky under the guidance of the best architects of St. Petersburg Mikhail Zemtsov, Domenico Trezzini, Francesco Rastrelli were built stone Church of the Transfiguration. Empress personally laid the foundation stone of the cathedral, took an active part in its construction of the control of the design, when she brought more and more comments and suggestions to the direct supervision of the construction process. It is for her direction of the cathedral was designed in the image of the Assumption Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin with the traditional five-domed Russian church completion. In 1754, in the presence of Empress Elizabeth was a solemn consecration of the Transfiguration Cathedral, which was named regimental cathedral. In 1796 Emperor Paul I ordered the temple called "the cathedral all Guard."

In 1825, the cathedral, which was considered at the time a magnificent, one of the best in St. Petersburg, caught fire due to negligence of workers to repair the dome of the cathedral. Flames raged eight hours and as a result of the building there were only walls. The dedication of the temple servants and parishioners helped save the main shrine of the temple. Restoration of the temple began immediately on the orders of the Emperor Alexander I. The project manager was appointed renowned architect Vasily Stasov.

Recreating the Transfiguration Cathedral, the architect tried not to deviate from the appearance forms of the church, designed by Zemtsov .  But he made a change and, in accordance with their vision, the dictates of time and tradition of classical architecture: the western facade adorned twelve-four-column portico with a pediment, the central and side domes of the Cathedral were attached to the hemispherical shape, and the interior has changed significantly .  The magnificent iconostasis and altar canopy by the drawings of Stasov, decorated with pilasters and Corinthian columns Order .  In the center of the arch of the main dome, which is painted in the color of the sky, it shows a star with radiating .  The temple is illuminated by high semicircular windows, its walls are decorated with panels with military trappings, the central drum is decorated with bas-reliefs - garlanded with the heads of cherubs .  In terms of the Cathedral is a cross dvadtsatichetyrehgranny .  The main dome is crowned eight-Cross .

The iconostasis of the cathedral - The four-wood - a kind of triumphal arch with a hemispherical dome above the royal doors. It is decorated with gilded carvings on a white background. Icons for the iconostasis were written by outstanding masters - V. Shebuev, Ugryumov A., and A. Ivanov. In the center of the cathedral - the five-tiered chandelier with 120 candles, established under the supervision of Stasov, which now serves as interior decoration. On the belfry of the cathedral bells used to be 13, but now there are only six. The total area of ​​the cathedral is 1180 m2, and the height of it - 41, 5 meters. The cathedral can hold up to 3,000 worshipers.

On the gilt dome in the building did not have enough money, but Stasov found truly ingenious solution - now gleaming dome blued metal.

Around the cathedral designed by Stasov it was defeated Square, surrounded by a fence, construction of which were used guns captured guns taken from the walls of the captive Turkish fortress of Izmail, Varna, Silistra and Tulcea. Since the fence has become a symbol of Russia's victory in the Russian-Turkish war of 1828 Inside the cathedral is a commemorative plaque with a list of officers of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, who died in 1702 - 1917 for the glory of Russian weapons.

In 1886, architect Słupsk on donations of parishioners built a fence chapel with stained glass windows, "wrote for protection against moisture and damage the painting, on zinc." Here is located the beautiful image of Our Lady of Tikhvin, in silver gilt chasuble, studded with precious stones.

Great Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral has never been closed, has always been in operation since 1829. During the siege of Leningrad and the defense ministers of the Cathedral organized a bomb shelter in his basement. Today it is one of the most magnificent structures of the front of St. Petersburg, and not surprisingly, it has long been the most visited temple of the city.