The cathedral was built onto the Toompea hill in central Tallinn to a design by architect Mikhail Preobrazhensky in a typical Russian Revival style in 1894–1900.

[1] The church is dedicated to the grand prince of Kiev, and later Russian orthodox saint, Alexander Nevsky.

The cathedral is richly decorated and has eleven bells cast in Saint Petersburg, the largest of which weighs about 16 tons, more than the other ten combined.

The cathedral was built during the period of late 19th century Russification and has been disliked by many Estonians as a symbol of former Russian oppression.

After Estonia had become an independent country, the parliament and government, by the popular demand, had to discuss and consider removing the cathedral on multiple occasions in the 1920s and 1930s, however no final decision on the demolition of the building was ever made.